Who are you? My name is David Watkins, Dave to my friends and just about everyone who knows me, except my mum or when I’ve done something wrong.
 
Your signature style: I’m not sure I have a signature style yet as I’m still learning my craft. If forced to pick, I’d say fast paced, action orientated horror fiction.
 
Toot your own horn: I’m proud of the three books I have out there, but I was amazed to be invited to be part of Leaders Of The Pack: A werewolf anthology, released by Horrific Tales Publishing. At the time the invite arrived, I’d not met Graeme Reynolds (head honcho of HTP), so it felt like a real validation of my work. The anthology is getting great reviews and my story is being mentioned lots and that is beyond amazing for me.
 
Books read: Right now, I’m about halfway through Experiment 9 by Eric Ian Steele and Coffinmakers Blues by Stephen Volk (I tend to read at least two books at once – not at the same time, that would be madness). I have recently finished Postal by Justin Park and Matt Shaw, which is just as twisted as you’d expect from those two but it was also excellent. Another recent read was Godbomb! by Kit Power – I loved it. Shout out to CC Adams as well, as his Semen was also good. Now, there’s a sentence I never thought I’d write.
 
Movies watched: As I’m writing this, the lockdown due to Covid-19 is in full swing, so we’re watching lots of TV and films – far more than we usually do. We take it turns (my wife and my two sons) to choose. Today is going to be Rainman, with Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. I’ve not seen it for years, but remember liking it and I’m curious as to what my kids will make of it. The last film we watched was Terminator 2, which is a classic (although the thumbs up at the end still annoys the shit out of me).
 
Sadly, no-one wants to watch Midsommar with me.
 
Games and/or music played: My gaming days are becoming increasingly limited, but I am thoroughly enjoying The Outer Worlds as it has a bleak sense of dark humour running through it.
I really like playing board games, so my friends and I have bought Tabletop Simulator so we can carry on gaming night. It’s not the same as being around the table with everyone, but it’s a really good substitute until we can all meet up again. TTS has just about every board game out there, but Scythe is our current favourite. It’s an economic game where you’re trying to build a better empire than everyone else, but you’ve also got massive mechs at your disposal. Brilliant game.
I also try to play board games with my wife and kids a few times a week. We had fun playing Imperial Assault – a board game set in the Star Wars universe – until my son turned into some kind of teenage Darth Vader and stropped, Hayden Christenson style, because his brother went for a crate instead of shooting the storm troopers coming for them. Board games and arguments: it’s like Christmas all over again.
 
Words written: As I said, I’m writing this during the lockdown, and I’m bouncing between massive productivity and crippling anxiety. I usually set myself a goal of 500 words a day and at the moment I write anything from zero to two thousand. There is no rhyme nor reason to it and I wish I could switch off from all the news and social media posts as they really don’t help me. The daily death toll posts are the ones that get me the most: why don’t we have a daily survivor count instead? Perhaps I’m finding it difficult to write fictional horror when our lives are full of a very real horror at the moment.
 
Future stuff: Currently working on what was supposed to be a short science fiction novella but is currently expanding into a novel with far more horror elements than science fiction. Working title is The Memory Shades. The length is a concern: either I’ve bloated it to levels that JK Rowling would approve of, or I’ve got a lot to do in the edit.
 
Brain worms: Why is Avatar so popular? It’s Ferngully with mostly real people, far too many special effects and not enough story for its running time (and don’t get me started on Titanic).

Grant Longstaff is from Gateshead; a small, suitably dismal town in the north east of England where nothing much happens. He had no choice but to write fiction.
His short story, Dissolution, appeared on The Other Stories Podcast. His work is also forthcoming in Arterial Bloom, edited my Mercedes M. Yardley, and Aurealis Magazine.
You can find him on Twitter @GrantLongstaff.

When myth becomes nightmare … The price of blood is always blood. 

Natalia’s in trouble. She only looked away for a second, and now her brother’s hurt. Her relationship with her mother is fractured, her brother’s condition is deteriorating, and her only hope lays deep in the unforgiving forest. A secret spoken only in whispers offers a way out. But when help comes in occult forms a sacrifice may be the only way to restore the balance. 

Humanity and nature collide in The Balance by Kev Harrison, a modern reimagining of the Slavic folk tale of Baba Yaga, set in Cold War Poland.