FROM TAPPET WOODS BY DION WINTON-POLAK

Ahem.

Beneath the Leaves was a charity anthology from 2020, created as a birthday gift to Em Dehaney, the Burdizzo Babe. The theme was autumn, her favourite time of year, and the brief was pretty broad. All proceeds would go to the charity of Em's choosing, and I'll tell you about that shortly.

The story I wrote was called 'From Tappet Woods' and I was thrilled it was accepted. It's a story I'm proud of.

Here's a synopsis:

Our narrator is an older man, recalling a disturbing chain of events from his childhood that have left him... reticent, shall we say, to enter the woodlands, particularly during the autumnal months.

A child has gone missing. Strange sounds are heard outside. There are rumours of an escaped prisoner, but who can say what is real and what's mere childish fancy? An impulsive hunt is begun, taking our lad into the dark and toothsome woods where horror and madness await.

'It was an extensive stretch for the area, a forest of fairy-tale proportions to our imaginations. But they were not savoury, those woods, and no family named 'Tappet' ever claimed them— so far as I've been able to discover. Some things do remain buried, I suppose.'

From Tappet Woods is my attempt at evoking M.R. James' classical, understated horror vibe in a more pastoral setting. The narrative voice I had in mind was that of the actor, *Robert Lloyd Parry, who does such an excellent job in performing James' stories on stage.

Today (Saturday, 20th Feb), I am releasing my performance of From Tappet Woods, in what I hope is something approximating Robert's manner.

This recording will be permanently available for anybody to access for free, though I very much hope that anybody who chooses to listen would consider making some small donation to NAPAC (National Association for People Abused in Childhood), the charity to which the anthology was dedicated. I hope you enjoy it.

There'll be a donation link on the page itself but, for those of you wanting to find out more, here are the details of how NAPAC helps people.

Should anyone want to get hold of Beneath The Leaves itself, you can do so from Amazon.

Aaaand that's about it. If you want to chat about the story, about editing, or anything else, you can hit me up on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Linked In. My website is www.thefinetoothed.com and I absolutely, positively will not bite unless you ask me to.

Enjoy.
Dion.

*You can see some of Robert's work on his YouTube channel, and his MR James shows are also available to buy on dvd. Highly recommended. Utterly mesmerising.

Listen to From Tappit Woods here