My new free short story Auto Rewind has turned out to be a novelette, clocking in at 12,000 words.  It's hopefully a surprising and emotionally-charged thriller which involves Christmas, VHS, Doctor Who and a nail-gun.

On the afternoon of Monday, November 30, it will go out to my early-adopter supporters at Patreon, the site which lets people back creators with a recurring pledge.  Supporters there get Kindle, epub and PDF files direct from me, along with various perks, such as getting to see earlier red-pen-edit pages of the story or receiving scribbled postcards sent by me.  Then everyone else gets free access to the story a week later on December 7.

If you'd like to join those Patreon supporters, by pledging as little as $1 for each of the new stories I'll be publishing (at a planned rate of one every two months), why not check out my Patreon page? 

Here's the blurb for Auto Rewind:

Stephen Skipp loves his mum, even though she's “really old” at the age of 27.  They have a great time in their Camden Town home, renting films on video from mobile salesman Mick and decorating the Christmas tree, even if Stephen can hardly ever get her to watch Doctor Who on Saturday nights.

If their life is so very ordinary, though, why is a dead body slumped in the corner of their living room – and another in the downstairs toilet? 

Ever since the 2012 release of my short story A Sincere Warning About The Entity In Your Home, I've made a special Paper Edition available.

I only ever expected to sell the odd one, here and there, but they've ended up selling by the hundreds.

A Sincere Warning... takes the form of a letter written to you, the reader, by the person who lived in your home prior to you moving in.  As a result, the story describes your home in a generic way.  However, the Paper Edition of the story gets very specific.  It's tailored to you, featuring details such as your name, your home address and a few places in your home town.

Funnily enough, this creeps people out rather a lot.  Especially when their friends buy the letter for them, without warning them beforehand.  (To guard against malicious use, I include an italicised line at the very end which explains how the letter was purchased for you by Person X.)

Needless to say, the Paper Edition is also printed on, well, paper. It's an actual paper letter hitting your mat. I don't always have time to create these things, but the run-up to Halloween is traditionally one of the times I make a concerted effort.  So if you'd like an unique ghost story snail-mailed to either you or a friend, you'd better get ordering.  The cut-off point for guaranteed Halloween delivery is October 18, 2015, so get to it and order!  And let me know if you'd like me to write 'DO NOT OPEN TILL HALLOWEEN' on the back-flap...

Here are just a few of the reactions from worldwide recipients of the Paper Edition of A Sincere Warning About The Entity In Your Home...

"I had a scary letter made for my fiancé Ian recently, for his birthday.  It was so personal and creepy.  A brilliant idea" –  Daisy Leverington, Derby

"The letter arrived on Christmas Eve!  Scared the bejeesus out of the wife on the long drive to family" –  Jonathan Crossfield, Sydney, Australia

"Masterfully creepy" – Sam Kurd, Leamington Spa

"Brilliant.  I cheated and read it in daylight and it's still made me uneasy to be at home" – Tiernan Douieb, London

"Thoroughly enjoyed it and the ending was excellent!  Best 'PS' ever" – Bianca, Lamberhurst

"Got a page-and-a-half in and lost the ability to continue.  Am now hiding in the bedroom.  Awesome!" – Lisa Gemino, British Columbia

"Highly original, chilling tale. I made the mistake of reading it alone, after dark, and couldn't sleep afterwards... Thoroughly and terrifyingly enjoyable" - Marjorie Taylor, Wiltshire

"Very creepy, very good story, I just hope I can sleep tonight now" - David M, UK

"Brilliant story - and weaving in a unique local element was the crowning glory" - Martyn Swain, York

"My wife just called me to congratulate me on freaking her out. She was waiting in line at the post office when she opened up the envelope, and she got 4 pages in before flipping through the rest of it to see the note at the end letting her in on the gag. She could tell the woman at the counter was concerned about what she was reading" – Scott Beggs, Homburg, Germany

Order your Paper Edition here!

Any questions?  Contact me here or check out this FAQ page.