Review: ‘Zorrie’ by Laird Hunt
Zoë Wells Finishing Zorrie and finding out, through his acknowledgements section, that Laird Hunt kept a copy of Virginia Woolf’s The Waves on hand throughout the writing process is the least surprising part of a novel that, generally, does not try very hard to surprise you. Zorrie is a gentle book, or at least is […]
The Brothers Karamazov in Eight Memes
Michael BirdFeedback and Editorials Editor Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brother’s Karamazov is a cornerstone of classic literature centering on the emotional, philosophical turmoil and legal fallout of the murder and robbery of the Karamazov patriarch, Fyodor. This 700+ page saga focuses on themes of faith, morality, and freedom in small-town Russia. And we’ve cut this epitome […]
Volunteer Vacancies: Social Media Assistants
One of the biggest challenges facing publishers like us is the fight to get our name out there. After a ten minute browse on Twitter, you’ll find countless small publishers, independent presses, and online ventures focused on getting the work of newer writers out there. The problem is trying to stand out from the crowd. […]
Book vs Film: French Exit
Pitting the written word against the moving image in a battle to determine the best fiction.
Is It Worth It? The Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing
Harry Wilding During my Creative Writing MA at the University of Nottingham this last year, advice and feedback from peers, tutors and established writers has, without a doubt, made me a better writer. However, the seminars led by literary agents and publishers (of all sizes) have paradoxically made me less confident I will ever get […]
Book by Book: ‘The Iliad’
A walk through your favourite classics, one book at a time. Michael A. Arnold Who enjoys playing war games? Me. Call of Duty, Battlefield, You do too (I assume) they are so much fun! But as we die and respawn over and over, because one mission is just too hard, it is worth thinking about […]
Book vs Film: Requiem for a Dream
Pitting the written word against the moving image in a battle to determine the best fiction.
What We’re Reading This Month: An Algerian COVID Premonition, a Woke-Busting Brat Packer, a One-Eyed High School Girl God, and the Greek Orthodox Diaspora
Compiled by Michael Bird What are you reading this month? Our team of international volunteers at Bandit Fiction share with us the highs and lows of the current book scene. Keep reading to learn what Bandit volunteers find engrossing or disappointing about their choice of novels, poetry and memoirs. 1. ‘White’ by Bret Easton Ellis It […]
How The Bandit Submissions Process Works
How does a publisher decide which submissions are good and which aren’t? What makes something ‘publishable’? And, perhaps more importantly, what makes something ‘unpublishable’?
An Interview with Lynn Buckle Author of “What Willow Says”
Zoë Wells Lynn Buckle is the author of two novels, the latest of which, What Willow Says, was published by epoque press in May 2021. She lives on the Bog of Allen in Rathangen, Ireland, where she is a UNESCO Cities of Literature Writer in Residence. She is the founder of the Irish Writers’ Center’s […]
Review: “What Willow Says” by Lynn Buckle
How do you fill the gaps where no words exist? That’s the question at the heart of What Willow Says, a novel which follows the interactions of a deaf granddaughter and her grandmother as the two connect over their shared love of nature. What Willow Says is author Lynn Buckle’s second novel, both published with […]
An Interview with Christina Delia
Gab Harvey Christina Delia writes horror fiction, plays and poetry. She holds a BFA in Writing for Film and Television from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Christina is an affiliate member of the Horror Writers Association (HWA). Her plays have been performed in The Theater Project’s Think Fast Festival and The Secret Theatre’s Act […]
Anna Karenina in Eight Memes
Michael Bird Leo Tolstoy’s 1878 epic of adultery and bigotry ultra-condensed into a one-minute read. Fin. Which literary classics should we memeify next? Follow us on Twitter @BanditFiction and we’ll turn your favorite works of literature into expressions of our modern world. About the Contributor Michael Bird (he/him) is a Romania-based writer and journalist, with […]
An Interview with Mark Wilson, Author of “PowerPoint Eulogy”
Zoë Wells Mark Wilson is an author and visual artist based in Chicago. His first poetry pamphlet, PowerPoint Eulogy, was published by Fly on the Wall Press in 2021. It is a darkly comic collection of narrative poems that follow the life and death of the enigmatic Bill Motluck, and the PowerPoint presentation that eulogises […]
Review: “PowerPoint Eulogy” by Mark Wilson
Zoë Wells With offices opening up and the end of the Work-From-Home year in sight, there might never have been a more relevant book to read than PowerPoint Eulogy, one of Fly on the Wall Press’s latest publications in its “Shorts” series, and artist Mark Wilson’s first poetry pamphlet. Then again, there might never have […]
What We’re Reading This Month: Genre-busting Korean Prose, Reimagining Rumpelstiltskin, Italians in the Orkneys, a Welsh Classic, and Robot Saviours
Compiled by Michael Bird What are you reading this month? Our team of international volunteers at Bandit Fiction share with us the highs and lows of the current book scene. Keeping reading to learn what Bandit volunteers find engrossing or disappointing about their choice of novels, poetry and memoirs. Korean Poetry and Han Kang’s White Book […]
AN INTERVIEW WITH… SCOTT COLBERT
Scott Colbert is the creator and cohost of The Imaginarium podcast, author of the acclaimed novella Barbed Wire Kisses, and was a popular contributor, cofounder and editor of the now defunct talkbacker.com and the supernaughts.com websites. He’s also published a collection of essays on the films of John Waters, Terry Gilliam, David Lynch and David Cronenberg. Scott resides in Phoenix, AZ and currently working on his next novel, A Pocketful of Broken Glass.
Review : ‘Elatsoe’ by Darcie Little Badger, Illustrations by Rovina Cai
Prachi Pati *CONTENT WARNING: DEATH, XENOPHOBIA, SOME TORTURE AND GORE, MURDER.* Isn’t it great when you discover a book that is under hyped or was never on your radar and you just happened to stumble upon it and it made you really happy? Which is one such book you stumbled upon recently and loved and […]
AN INTERVIEW WITH… GAVIN GARDINER
An upcoming horror author from Scotland, Gavin Gardiner believes there are no greater terrors than that which reside within our own minds. For this reason, he specialises in the psychological, and pushes the themes and subjects of his work into areas seldom explored in the genre.
His debut novel is now available. Experience the nightmare:
https://linktr.ee/GGardinerHorror
AN INTERVIEW WITH… LOUIS STEPHENSON
L. Stephenson graduated university with a degree in Film & TV Screenwriting. Despite this achievement turning out to be spectacularly useless, after 11 long years, and featuring in a handful of horror anthologies, L. Stephenson finally realises a childhood dream of becoming a published author with the release of his first book ‘The Goners’.
An Interview with Ryan Dennis, Author of ‘The Beasts They Turned Away’
Zoë Wells Ryan Dennis is a former Fulbright Scholar in Creative writing, and has taught at several universities. He recently completed a PhD at the National University of Ireland, Galway. His work has been published in a number of journals, including the Cimarron Review, The Threepenny Review, and Fusion. He is also a syndicated columnist […]
Review: ‘The Beasts They Turned Away’ by Ryan Dennis
Zoe Wells The old man and the young boy, struggling to make their way through an unforgiving environment. It’s a story you’ve heard before, likely read and enjoyed before, but in Ryan Dennis’s debut, The Beasts They Turned Away, everything familiar is made eerily different. The novel follows Iosac Mulgannon, a farmer, who is taking […]
What We’re Reading This Month: Serial Killers in Nigeria, Modern Vietnam, Polish Travelogue, and Murder in Cornwall
Our team of international volunteers describe what they find engrossing, and disappointing about their choice of novels, poetry and memoirs.
Our Latest Volunteering Opportunities
We’re excited about what the year ahead of us has in store. There’s a lot of projects we’d love to dip our toe into. To do this properly, to do each project justice, we’re doing possibly our largest single volunteer recruitment drive since we first started. The Roles We’re Looking To Fill Project Lead – […]
Review: The Octopus Man by Jasper Gibson
Chiara Pistillo *CONTENT WARNING: MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES, INCLUDING SUICIDE* Many of us will probably describe ourselves as progressive, modern, even woke, but we all have our taboos, and schizophrenia and mental health are most certainly some of them. If you have indeed at any point thought that mental health issues are not a serious matter […]
Review: The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells
Michael A. Arnold Most people have thought about the future – these days it makes sense to fear it. Other than nuclear weapons, the major threat to our continued survival is climate change. This is another, metaphorical, bomb that could explode and make our planet uninhabitable. The book The Uninhabitable Earth: A Story of the […]
AN INTERVIEW WITH… JAYSON ROBERT DUCHARME
Jayson Robert Ducharme is the author of over 40 short stories, 10 novellas and two novels. His work has appeared in the New Hampshire, Science Fiction and Horror editions of Z Publishing’s “America’s Emerging Writers” series. His novellas “Alessa’s Melody” and “Ceremony of Ashes” are available for sale on Amazon.
AN INTERVIEW WITH… JEFFREY THOMAS
Jeffrey Thomas is the author of such novels as The American (JournalStone), Deadstock (Solaris Books), and Blue War (Solaris Books), and short story collections such as Punktown (Prime Books), The Unnamed Country (Word Horde), and Haunted Worlds (Hippocampus Press). His stories have been reprinted in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII (editor, Karl Edward Wagner), The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror #14 (editors, Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling), and Year’s Best Weird […]
Review: Ogadinma Or, Everything Will Be All Right by Ukamaka Olisakwe
There’s something unnerving about historical fiction that feels like it could have played out just the same today. Though set in a tumultuous Nigeria in the 1980s, Ogadinma’s themes are sadly, infuriatingly, entirely too relevant today. After a rape turns into an unwanted pregnancy, which in turn is resolved with a dangerous and illegal abortion, […]
Review: The Book of Jakarta
The Book of Jakarta is a collection of ten short stories put together by Maesy Ang and Teddy W. Kusuma, publishers and owners of an independent bookshop in Jakarta, Indonesia. The authors you will meet in the collection are Indonesian, or have lived in Jakarta at some point, or have other connections with the city.
AN INTERVIEW WITH… ROBERT P. OTTONE
Robert P. Ottone is an author, teacher, and cigar enthusiast from East Islip, NY. He delights in the creepy. He can be found online at http://www.SpookyHousePress.com, or on Instagram (@RobertOttone). His collections Her Infernal Name & Other Nightmares and People: A Horror Anthology about Love, Loss, Life & Things That Go Bump in the Night are available now wherever books are sold.
Top Five Book Recommendations from My Almost Five-Year-Old Daughter
My daughter is four and a half years old and loves being read to. I think I’ve already achieved my parenting goals. Now only if this continues as she grows up! There is something special and magical about books – reading them aloud to your child and having your children grow up with books. I […]
AN INTERVIEW WITH… BECKY WRIGHT
Becky Wright is an author with a passion for Gothic literature, history, the supernatural and things that go bump in the night. As a child nothing tantalised her senses as much a good ghost story.
Blessed, she lives in the heart of the Suffolk countryside, surrounded by rolling green fields, picturesque timber-framed villages, country pubs and rural churches – and lots of haunted houses.
She is married, with a young son, four grown-up children, and grandchildren. Family bonds and the intricate nature of relationships feature strongly in her books, using the emotions of her characters to lead their actions. With her inherent fascination for all things paranormal, Gothic and the macabre, her writing tends to lean towards the dark side.
Join Our Team – Marketing and Social Media
Bandit Fiction is growing faster than I’d ever have expected. To me, it’s still that exciting venture started by myself and a few friends, but the reality is we’re much more than that now. We’ve published close to 200 different writers and poems (with more already agreed to publish in the coming weeks), and we’re […]
Our First Training Exercise, and What We Found
by Greg Forrester This past week, we decided to carry out a training exercise with our submission readers. It’s the first time we’ve done anything like this before; it’s the first time we’ve had guidelines for reading (and scoring) submissions before, and so we wanted to share the results of what we found with you. […]
An interview with… FELIX I. D. DIMARO
I am primarily a psychological thriller and horror writer, though I do venture outside of those genres. I was born in Nigeria, the youngest of five children. I moved to Canada when I was four and was raised in Toronto, in areas that were considered to be ‘high risk’. In those areas I learned hard lessons at a young age, about things like death and discrimination, but also about strength, survival and passion. I was able to graduate from the University of Toronto with a BA in Psychology (minors in Philosophy and Classical Studies) and I have worked mainly as a Social Worker since my graduation.
So far, I’ve released two books and I am working on several projects at the moment. My first release was an anthology of psychological horror stories called “How To Make A Monster: The Loveliest Shade of Red”. My debut novel is entitled “Bug Spray: A Tale of Madness”. It deals with topics such as toxic relationships, retribution, and mental health issues.
An interview with… ELIZABETH SUGGS & JONATHAN J. REDDOCH FROM COLLECTIVE TALES PUBLISHING
JONATHAN J. REDDOCH:
Jonathan is a father, a copy editor, a test developer, an academic, and a lifelong learner. He rarely dabbles in writing horror but loves to read it and watch it and occasionally live it. He is the Associate editor in the anthology.
He and his business partner, Elizabeth Suggs, started a company Collective Tales Publishing to publish authors in anthologies. He has worked in publishing and editing for over fifteen years.
When he’s not writing or working on the business, he hangs out with his two adorable daughters and watches superhero, horror, and drama movies.
ELIZABETH SUGGS:
Elizabeth Suggs is a writer, an editor, and a leader in the writing community. She obsessively writes each morning, lunch, and evening. When she’s not writing, she’s leading a group of writers through bi-weekly workshops on feedback and focused writing. She believes these meetings help writers understand themselves in the world and better prepare them for major publishers.
She and her business partner, Jonathan Reddoch, started a company Collective Tales Publishing to publish authors in anthologies. She is also published in a podcast, a poetry journal, with news agencies, and several anthologies.
Outside of writing, Elizabeth devours literature through reading or listening. She tries any genre once, but she especially loves classics, horror, sci-fi, and psychology texts. Sometimes she even listens to audiobooks while playing games because she can stay productive that way.
World Mental Health Day 2020
This year has been shit. Let’s get that out there from the start; after all, it’s not a secret we’re trying to hide. 2020 has been shit. Many of us have struggled through the lockdown months, fighting to keep our mental health in check while unable to spend time with friends and family. This year, […]
Barter Books
Article by Michael A. Arnold Stepping inside from a cold autumn day, you enter a Victorian world of books. Almost as soon as you walk in the air gets toast-like warm – maybe there is a lit fireplace nearby. Paper lanterns hang from the ceiling in the entrance room, and portraits of great writers line […]
Review: One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each
In 2018 Penguin Classics reissued the collection of Classical Japanese poetry One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each translated by Peter MacMillan, which is a full translation of an ancient and very popular book that in Japan is called Hyakunin isshu. This book is a key influence on Japanese literature to this day, and (comparable to Shakespeare in the English-speaking world) is a major part of their national syllabus.
An interview with… Hailey Piper
Hailey Piper is the author of The Possession of Natalie Glasgow, An Invitation to Darkness, and Benny Rose, the Cannibal King. She is a member of the HWA, and her short fiction appears in Daily Science Fiction, Flash Fiction Online, The Arcanist, Year’s Best Hardcore Horror, and elsewhere. She lives with her wife in Maryland, where they spend Friday nights raising the dead. Find her on Twitter via @HaileyPiperSays or at http://www.haileypiper.com.
An interview with… HALEY NEWLIN
Haley Newlin attended Southern New Hampshire University, where she earned a Master of Fine Arts in English and Creative Writing -Speculative Fiction. When she’s not spinning tales of blood and terror, Newlin is likely falling victim to jump-scares and strobing torments from The Conjuring Universe or reading Stephen King.
Newlin has published two novels, Not Another Sarah Halls and Take Your Turn, Teddy. Her love of all things dark and grim inspired Newlin to share the horror genre’s inherent beauty through her writing. Newlin weaves stories of madness and curiosity that whisper, “What are you afraid of?” She believes that horror begs self-reflection, and perhaps that is what makes these twisted tales truly terrifying.
On Being A Writer
Ah to be a writer. It’s a wonderful thought, isn’t it? I have always wanted to be a writer, even when I was very small. And then, at thirteen, I read the Lord of the Rings trilogy. And that was that. I would imagine my favourite authors writing their works with relish. There’s Tolkien, walking around the woods at Sarehole Mill, Hobbits running just ahead, the promise of a pint of ale at the Green Dragon awaiting him.
An interview with… Andrew Post
Andrew Post lives in Minnesota with his wife, who is also an author, and their two dogs.
An interview with… ROBERT FORD
Robert Ford has written the novels The Compound, and No Lipstick in Avalon, the novellas Ring of Fire, The Last Firefly of Summer, Samson and Denial, and Bordertown, as well as the short story collection The God Beneath my Garden. He has co-authored Rattlesnake Kisses and Cattywampus with John Boden, and A Penny For Your Thoughts and Lady Luck with Matt Hayward. You can find out more about what he’s up to by visiting robertfordauthor.com
An interview with… ANDREW BRANDON CARROLL
Andrew Brandon Carroll is a writer from Chicago who started writing poetry in 2015 and short fiction in 2018.
Review: The Poems on Catallus, Translated by Peter Whigham
Have you ever found something that makes you really think? I was in a second hand bookshop recently and saw a copy of Catullus’ poems, translated by Peter Whigham, under the always attractive Penguin Classics label. It was not going for much, about £2, so I picked it up with a ‘why not?’.
Event Review: Where No Novel Has Gone Before
Singer in the Night is a novel about the Balkans conflict of the 1990s and the long term trauma it inflicted on its youth. It tells the story of the generation that came of age during the war and how they internalised its violence and hatred. Now 38, Clementine lives in modern-day Slovenia, working as a successful screenwriter. But after a car accident leaves her comatose, she awakes to re-evaluate her life and realise that, by distancing herself from memories of conflict, she has thrown away her chance of love.
An interview with… SCOTT J. MOSES
Scott J. Moses is a Baltimorean writer of horror and dark fiction. His short fiction has appeared in STORGY, The Cabinet of Heed, Coffin Bell, and elsewhere. His debut horror collection, Hunger Pangs, is slated for release in October, 2020.
An interview with… NICHOLAS GAGNIER
Nicholas Gagnier is the author of the eight-book Shroud Saga, which include the genre-bending sub series Olivia & Hale and its spin-off The Book of Death. He lives in Ottawa, Canada.
Review: Singer in the Night by Olja Savičevic
Singer in the Night is a novel about the Balkans conflict of the 1990s and the long term trauma it inflicted on its youth. It tells the story of the generation that came of age during the war and how they internalised its violence and hatred. Now 38, Clementine lives in modern-day Slovenia, working as a successful screenwriter. But after a car accident leaves her comatose, she awakes to re-evaluate her life and realise that, by distancing herself from memories of conflict, she has thrown away her chance of love.
An interview with… JOHN E. MEREDITH
John E. Meredith is a Halloween baby, sometimes photographer, and freelance writer currently slouching toward his first novel. His writing about movies has appeared on the website PSYCHO DRIVE-IN. He’s got horror stories in three published books from PDI PRESS (all available on Amazon) and a continuing series on Instagram called RETAIL JESUS. John is a cool dude who hopes, like all artists do, to one day keep the lights on and get his car repaired with the proceeds from his art.
An interview with… Todd Sullivan
Todd Sullivan teaches English as a Second Language, and English Literature & Writing in Asia. He has had numerous short stories, novelettes, and novellas published across several countries, including Thailand, the U.K., Australia, the U.S., and Canada. He is a practitioner of the sword-fighting martial arts, kumdo/kendo, and has trained in fencing (foil), Muay Thai, Capoeira, Wing Chun, and JKD. He graduated from Queens College with a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, and received a Bachelor of Arts in English from Georgia State University. He attended the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and the National Book Foundation Summer Writing Camps. He currently lives in Taipei, Taiwan, and looks forward to studying Mandarin.
An interview with… Jo Quenell
Jo Quenell lives in Washington State and writes. Their short fiction has been featured in anthologies and magazines such as Zombie Punks Fuck Off, Bleak Friday, Dark Moon Digest, When the Sirens Have Faded, and LAZERMALL. Their first novella, The Mud Ballad, was released April 2020 from Weirdpunk Books.
An interview with… Sam Richard
The owner of Weirdpunk Books, Sam Richard is also the co-editor of the Splatterpunk Award nominated The New Flesh: A Literary Tribute to David Cronenberg and editor of Zombie Punks Fuck Off. 2019 saw the release of his debut collection, To Wallow in Ash & Other Sorrows, and his short fiction has appeared in LAZERMALL, Strange Stories of the Sea, Breaking Bizarro, and many other anthologies and publications. Widowed in 2017, he slowly rots in Minneapolis, MN with his dog Nero. His debut novella, Sabbath of the Fox-Devils, came out Spring 2020
AN INTERVIEW WITH… BRIAN SHERLOCK
Brian Sherlock has made it to his early 30s and lives in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne – he was eight years old when he decided he wanted to write novels for the rest of his life.
Chaos Surging, the first part of his adult fantasy trilogy, has been in the works for going on seventeen years and he’s very happy to have published it independently.
When he isn’t writing he enjoys backpacking and eating… but he has no stomach for Krispy Kreme or tinned beetroot!
An Interview With… Carl R. Jennings
The next thing that inspired this story is what worlds and characters can be opened up by examining the small details. There are many times, I’ve found, in books and movies where such meaningful parts of a story are ignored for the “grand scheme.”
An Interview With… Stephanie Rabig
My elementary-school librarian remembers me to this day (I’m nearing 40) because I tried to check out Dracula in kindergarten. I’m pretty sure that was foreshadowing for the rest of my life
An Interview With… Tim Murr
I do have a writing routine. Monday through Friday I go to work from eight to three then I come home, eat, and afterwards write. I usually write until 11. On weekends I wake up, eat breakfast, write for three/four hours, take a shower, eat again, then write for the rest of the night. Once I finish a piece, I edit it with the same routine.
An Interview With… David Nora
I do have a writing routine. Monday through Friday I go to work from eight to three then I come home, eat, and afterwards write. I usually write until 11. On weekends I wake up, eat breakfast, write for three/four hours, take a shower, eat again, then write for the rest of the night. Once I finish a piece, I edit it with the same routine.
An Interview With… Beverley Lee
There’s been a wonderful influx of new writers into the horror fold over the last few years. From all walks of life. Diverse, intelligent writers with their own stories to tell, driven by how they view their world and fuelled by their backgrounds and experiences. I think we’ll see a break away from some of what is considered horror, with more emphasis on cosmic horror, body horror and cross overs into noir. And, of course, the horror of a post-apocalyptic world, with the political climate and the environment. It’s a very sobering thought that this last one might be more fact than fiction.
An Interview With… David Turton
I think historical horror is something that needs exploring more. There’s nothing more frightening that the dark capabilities of human beings over the course of history. There have been acts of pure evil over the centuries, and these acts continue in present day. My current work-in-progress explores the experience of a psychic with telekinetic powers who finds himself in a concentration camp. The setting of real-life evil is going to be an interesting one to draw out. It’s rather like Carrie meets the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas if that makes sense. So I think drawing on the real horrors of the past is a bit of a gap in current horror.
Interview: Lily Hawkes
I wrote the short story for an assignment at university. I always worry about ideas and when the next one will come along. This one started as a daydream about my childhood. My brother and I used to build dens, they were never more than a bit of old carpet but they seemed amazing at the time.
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