STEPHEN VOLK is best known as the creator of the notorious BBC-TV “Halloween hoax” Ghostwatch and the award-winning British TV drama series Afterlife. He co-wrote the recent big screen ghost story The Awakening starring Rebecca Hall and Dominic West, while his other credits include Ken Russell’s Gothic and William Friedkin’s The Guardian, as well as standalone scripts for Channel Four’s Shockers and the short film The Deadness of Dad, which won him a BAFTA. His short stories have been finalists for British Fantasy, Stoker, and Shirley Jackson Awards, and have appeared in several Best-of anthologies. His first collection, Dark Corners, was published in 2006, followed by the acclaimed novella Vardøger, while 2013 sees the publication of Whitstable, his new novella featuring Peter Cushing. Visit his site at www.stephenvolk.net
CLIVE BARKER was born in Liverpool, England, where he began his creative career writing, directing, and acting for the stage. Since then, he has gone on to pen such bestsellers as The Books of Blood, Weaveworld, Imajica, The Great and Secret Show, The Thief of Always, Everville, Sacrament, Galilee, Coldheart Canyon, Mr. B Gone, and the highly acclaimed fantasy series Abarat. As a screenwriter, director, and film producer, he is credited with the Hellraiser and Candyman pictures, as well as Nightbreed, Lord of Illusions, Gods and Monsters, The Midnight Meat Train, Clive Barker’s Book of Blood and Dread. Mr. Barker lives in Los Angeles, California.
THE EDITORS
PAUL KANE is an award-winning writer and editor based in Derbyshire, UK. His short story collections are Alone (In the Dark), Touching the Flame, FunnyBones, Peripheral Visions, Shadow Writer, and The Adventures of Dalton Quayle, with his latest out from the award-winning PS Publishing: The Butterfly Man and Other Stories. His novellas include Signs of Life, The Lazarus Condition, RED, and Pain Cages. He is the author of the novels Of Darkness and Light, The Gemini Factor, and the bestselling Arrowhead trilogy (Arrowhead, Broken Arrow, and Arrowland), a post-apocalyptic reworking of the Robin Hood mythology. His latest novels are Lunar (which is set to be turned into a feature film), and the short Y.A. novel The Rainbow Man (as P.B. Kane). He has also written for comics, most notably for the Dead Roots zombie anthology alongside writers such as James Moran (Torchwood, Cockneys vs. Zombies) and Jason Arnopp (Doctor Who, Friday The 13th). Paul is co-editor of the anthology Hellbound Hearts—stories based around the Clive Barker mythology that spawned Hellraiser — The Mammoth Book of Body Horror, featuring the likes of Stephen King and James Herbert, and A Carnivàle of Horror: Dark Tales from the Fairground (PS).
His non-fiction books are The Hellraiser Films and Their Legacy and Voices in the Dark, and his genre journalism has appeared in such magazines as SFX, Dreamwatch, and DeathRay. He has been a Guest at Alt.Fiction five times, was a Guest at the first SFX Weekender, at Thought Bubble in 2011, plus The Derbyshire Literary Festival, Edge-Lit, and Off the Shelf in 2012, as well as being a panelist at FantasyCon and the World Fantasy Convention. His work has been optioned for film and television, and his zombie story “Dead Time” was turned into an episode of the Lionsgate/NBC TV series Fear Itself, adapted by Steve Niles (30 Days of Night) and directed by Darren Lynn Bousman (SAW II–IV). He also scripted The Opportunity, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, Wind Chimes (directed by Brad “7th Dimension” Watson), and The Weeping Woman—filmed by award-winning director Mark Steensland and starring Tony-nominated actor Stephen Geoffreys (Fright Night). You can find out more at his website www.shadow-writer.co.uk which has featured Guest Writers such as Neil Gaiman, Charlaine Harris, Dean Koontz, John Connolly, and Guillermo del Toro.
CHARLES PREPOLEC is a freelance writer, editor, and reviewer. His articles, interviews, artwork, and reviews have appeared in Scarlet Street, Sherlock, All-Hallows, and Canadian Holmes, as well as the Doctor Who fanzines Peladon Press and Into the Vortex. He has been acknowledged for various research contributions to Starring Sherlock Holmes (Rev. Ed. Titan Books 2007), Sherlock Holmes On Screen (Reynolds and Hearn 2002), Christopher Lee: The Authorised Screen History (Reynolds and Hearn 2001), In All Sincerity… Peter Cushing (Xlibris 2004), Heroes & Monsters: The Unofficial Companion To The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Monkeybrain Books 2003), and spent two years editing news for actor Christopher Lee’s official website www.christopherleeweb.com
Alongside his frequent collaborator Jeff Campbell, he has edited five Sherlock Holmes anthologies—Curious Incidents Vols. 1 & 2 (Mad For a Mystery Publications 2002 & 2003), Gaslight Grimoire: Fantastic Tales of Sherlock Holmes (EDGE SF&F 2008), Gaslight Grotesque: Nightmare Tales of Sherlock Holmes (EDGE SF&F 2009), and Gaslight Arcanum: Uncanny Tales of Sherlock Holmes (EDGE SF&F 2011). Currently in the works is a revival anthology of new stories featuring Arthur Conan Doyle’s “other” character—Professor Challenger: New Worlds, Lost Places (EDGE SF&F 2014).
An active Sherlockian for more than twenty-five years with Calgary’s The Singular Society of the Baker Street Dozen, he was designated a Master Bootmaker in 2006 by The Bootmakers of Toronto—Canada’s national Sherlock Holmes Society. He maintains an online presence via www.sherlocknews.com, as well as www.bakerstreetdozen.com, and currently resides in his hometown of Calgary, AB, Canada with his wife Kristen and their cat Karma.