Weston Horror Book Con, 2025.

Like so many spirits, the Indie Horror Chapter mascot visits with a message: in this case, to follow the QR code.

So there's this collective known as the Indie Horror Chapter, who are "a collaborative of Indie Horror Authors from the UK and Europe who share a single vision: to bring high quality horror literature and affordable, accessible events to readers across the UK." Yes, I'm one of those authors.

My introduction to any iteration of this chapter was in April last year, at the launch of the For Tomorrow anthology. Those of us close to the incident that begat the book still can't bring ourselves to speak about it. Similarly, when Phil Sloman was caught creasing his book page instead of using a bookmark (as befits such an awful and wicked man), I felt unsettled again. Quips aside, I digress.

The launch was a reading and signing affair of that book, but one of the guests was Trish Wilson. This is the first time I'd met Trish, and what I remember about the conversation she had with myself and others was around her love for the genre and the indie fiction that came from it. So much so that she vowed to take steps to bring indie horror fiction to a wider audience. Fast forward a year and a half, and she's done just that - and continues to do so.

Bear witness: the Table of Contents for this get-together.

The Weston Horror Con, which was held - not surprisingly - in Weston-super-Mare - was the third convention held by the Indie Horror Chapter. As my friend Nella has astutely observed, most of the conventions I go to are 'incestuous' - in that it's an audience of your peers; fellow writers, editors, publishers, illustrators, podcasters, etc - rather than the horror-consuming public who represent the audience at large. And, on hearing that it was 'the audience at large' who would be there as well as a bunch of authors, this is what persuaded me to go.

Having had the foresight to hit up my publishers a month beforehand to top up my book quantities, I made sure that I left the house with a suitcase full of books - what amounted to a large suitcase full of books. Not the smallest size suitcase, but the next size up - I filled one of these with books. I have no shame in saying this was fucking heavy, and I lift weights! Anyhow. I get up at stupid o'clock and get the tube to Paddington, from which I catch my train to Weston-Super-Mare. The thinking here is that I'd rather be horribly early as opposed to horribly late. Once I'd arrived in Weston-Super-Mare, it was then a scenic walk to the venue, dragging a ton of books behind me. Even as I write this, I remember how awkward it was - and then remembered the days when suitcases didn't have wheels on them, because Mama used to have a whole stack of such suitcases on top of her wardrobe. Again, I digress.

As is usually the way, the organisers for such an event were gracious and accommodating. For Trish and her team of Rachel, Gemma, et al., the day went smoothly - everything from welcoming the various authors as they arrived, and helping us get set up on our tables to flourishing touches, like heavy white tablecloths for each signing table, regular author Q&As over the PA, and background music of horror film theme scores. The last one really resonated with me, especially since most of the horror films I've seen were from my time as a kid - so it was definitely a cool trip down Memory Lane to hear the music that added such atmosphere to those films: be it Phantasm, The Thing, The Evil Dead, Jaws, etc.

The main event, now well under way.

The real revelation for me was actually meeting those genre fans who weren't exponents of the genre; the authors, the publishers, etc. - just straight-up fans. To just sit and talk to them about a love of horror, their preferred flavour of horror, etc. was genuinely cool. And they were voracious! Be it known that as much as I like to read, I'm not the fastest reader, now would I buy more than a couple of books at a time. But, at this convention, I'd seen people with armfuls of books, carrying them with the love they might show a newborn infant. Or hauling rucksacks of books, or even suitcases of books. I know my excuse - I used a suitcase to bring books to sell. But I'd seen at least one guy fill a suitcase - albeit, a little suitcase - with his purchases. Which prompted Dave Jeffery to comment, "He must be parked outside on the lawn," so that he wouldn't have to go far to get his purchases into his car.

Regardless, it was a good day. Sold some books - which made a for a lighter suitcase and heavier bank balance on the way home. Met some of the usual suspects: Dave Watkins, Dave Jeffery and Kev Harrison - and finally met Ross Jeffery. Made some new connects, such as Joseph Sale. And ultimately spent a day in the presence of my community: talking shop, indulging in some comedy and giving the audience what they came for.

Not bad at all.

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