 Out of the Darkness collects together brand new stories by Jenn Ashworth, Alison Moore, Nicholas Royle, Laura Mauro, Aliya Whiteley, Tim Major, Simon Bestwick, Eugen Bacon, Gary Budden and many more. They all deal with mental health in some way, and many are written by people who have first-hand experience of the challenges mental illness can present. They tackle the topics of anxiety, depression, obsessive–compulsive disorder and other issues, as well as the pressures mental illness can place on family members and friends – sometimes obliquely, sometimes head-on. At times that can make for challenging reading, but the authors have all actively engaged with the central philosophy of this book: that with support and open discussion, those who are suffering from mental health problems can move out of the darkness and into the light. In addition, all the authors are donating their fees and royalties to Together for Mental Wellbeing. Today is the penultimate article in this series of articles where some of the authors discuss their stories, links to the other articles in this seres can be found at the end. Simon Bestwick on ‘The Hungry Dark’ ‘The Hungry Dark’ was actually written during a period in which I was signed off work due to a combination of anxiety and depression. A lot of Tom’s experiences in the story are my own – the weight gain, the inability to get out of bed, the neglect of so much basic self-care. Depression’s often called ‘the Black Dog’, but that seems a bit of a slander towards dogs, who are one of the things that makes the world a better place. The hyaena – a scavenger that hunts in packs and preys on the weak and vulnerable – is a far better metaphor for it. The first draft of the story was actually called ‘Hyaenidae’, but ‘The Hungry Dark’ sounds better. The most pernicious thing about both depression and anxiety are the ways they work to cut you off from others, to isolate you. Interacting with people can be exhausting. Social media can be a double-edged sword in that respect, as it can make interactions considerably easier, but it can also be a sure-fire recipe for sending you spiralling into despair. I was very lucky to have had a very patient and supportive employer, good friends, and, above all, a loving spouse who understood what I was going through, having had her own share of encounters with this particular beast. It would be nice if depression was some kind of monster that could be defeated and destroyed, but like the Hyaenids in the story, the best we seem able to do is keep it at bay. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON SIMON CHECK OUT HIS WEBSITE HERE CHECK OUT SIMON'S BOOKS ON AMAZON Sam Thompson on ‘Bloodybones Jones’ Out of the Darkness is a timely book. Right now it feels more important than ever to share stories about lived experiences of mental distress. Weird fiction can tell such stories with a special truthfulness: when I read the contributors to this anthology, writers who explore dark and uncanny corners of the mind, I’m unsettled, but I’m also comforted. There’s a strange consolation in recognising your nightmares in someone else’s words. After a year in which so much has been atomised, I think we need all we can get of the secret sharing that fiction makes possible; we need every reminder that mental wellbeing is something we have to work for together. Richard V. Hirst on ‘Oblio’ One bit of practical advice I always offer whenever I’m leading a creative writing workshop is this: if you can, set your story on a holiday. ‘Oblio’ is set on holiday. This isn’t because I’m a writer who particularly enjoys (or is skilled at) writing descriptively about a story’s settings. Rather, the appeal is an environment in which the characters are largely contained, mercifully shorn of the context of their daily lives, able only to interact with one another in any meaningful sense. As well being a handy way to bring these characters into sharper relief, a holiday setting also allows for tension to be built up with a ready plausibility, as the unfamiliar surroundings and encounters can slide smoothly into the ominous. Briefly: ‘Oblio’ features two sisters who also happen to be a musical duo called Taurig. They are touring Europe to promote their debut album and we find them in Palermo, Italy, home of Carrie Viner, a reclusive and long-retired pop-star whose music had a great influence on Taurig. So they set out to find her. But overshadowing their jaunt are two things: the first is memories the narrator has of a traumatic trip her family took to Palermo he was a child. The second is her sister’s depression. There are also, for those who find such things interesting, connecting incidents between ‘Oblio’ and an earlier ghost story of mine called ‘Kloya and Klik’ which also concerns two people who find they are at odds with one another while holidaying in Europe. Writing about music and musicians is something I’ve developed an interest in over the past few years, and when I was tasked with writing a story which touches on both the supernatural and depression, I was immediately put in mind of one musical artist in particular: Nico. Nico is best remembered as a member of the Velvet Underground and for her austere performance on their 1967 debut album. After leaving the group to record the soft-rock Chelsea Girl in the same year, Nico embarked on a career that saw her create a new sound, one defined by cryptic lyrics, stark, spectral arrangements, droning harmonium and an overwhelming sense of doom. I’m not sure who described Nico’s music as ‘not so much music you get into, more a hole you fall into’ but I’ve always thought it an accurate summation, not just of her records but of also of a certain broader strata of culture of which Nico are just a small constituent part. Indeed, it also seems an apt way to describe a certain mode of depressive thinking. Nico’s music follows its own terminal logic, alive with a strange, frightening sense of mourning: it’s there in her wintry vocals and accompanying harmonium, a handheld reed organ which gives her music a pre-modern feel. It was this haunting, haunted sensation I wanted to capture as best I could in ‘Oblio’. As to why this project is important to me: we all have mental health and it’s positive that the topic of mental illness is far more publicly discussed a topic than in the past, increasingly free of its taboo and stigma. However, the reality can often be far more alienating than the discourse suggests. For many, their mental wellbeing can come with a history of behaviour which is alienating and involves a loss of dignity which is hard to live with, both for them and for their loved ones. For these people medical and clinical interventions become an essential aspect of their lives. The current ‘hugs and chats’ discourse, while serving most people well, masks a mental health provision which is suffering from years of systematic underfunding. As the past year has seen widespread isolation, unemployment, record deaths and disruption to these services, the opportunity to create any kind of art which plumbs the mire of the human mind is a gift. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON RICHARD CHECK OUT THEIR WEBSITE CHECK OUR RICHARD'S BOOKS ON AMAZON  Out of the Darkness challenges some of the most exciting voices in horror and dark fantasy to bring their worst fears out into the light. From the black dog of depression to acute anxiety and schizophrenia, these stories prove what fans of horror fiction have long known – that we must understand our demons to overcome them. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, what began as a mental health crisis has rapidly become an unprecedented tsunami. The Centre for Mental Health has estimated that 10 million people will need mental health support in the UK as a direct consequence of Covid-19, with a staggering 1.5 million of those being under eighteen. Edited by Dan Coxon (This Dreaming Isle) and featuring exclusive stories by Alison Moore, Jenn Ashworth, Tim Major and Aliya Whiteley, this collection harnesses the power of fiction to explore and explain the darkest moments in our lives. Horror isn’t just about the chills – it’s also about the healing that comes after. Back the kickstarter by here https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/unsungstories/out-of-the-darkness-an-anthology-of-horror-and-dark-fantasy RELATED ARTICLES |
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