This Is Midnight: Stories

by Bernard Taylor

The complete short fiction of a master of modern horror fiction

In ‘Out of Sorts’, things get hairy for a man’s wife and his mistress when he begins to feel unwell on the night of a full moon. In ‘Travelling Light’, a traveller is obliged to share a room with a strange man who seems to know a little too much about a series of bizarre murders in which wives have been slain by their husbands. A tourist fascinated by the serial killer John Reginald Christie undergoes an uncanny and horrific experience on a trip to London in ‘Forget-Me-Not’. And in ‘Samhain’, marital strife threatens to turn deadly when a witch turns to black magic to do away with her pathetic husband.

The thirteen stories collected here represent the complete short fiction of Bernard Taylor, one of the bestselling horror authors of the 1970s and ’80s, author of The Godsend and Mother’s Boys, both adapted for film, and Sweetheart, Sweetheart, hailed by Charles L. Grant as the finest ghost story of all time. In these tales, which often feature an unexpectedly cruel or bizarre twist, Taylor offers a clever mixture of horror and black humour that will delight fans of the genre.

Critical Acclaim for Bernard Taylor

‘I enjoyed every horrid word of it’ - Daily Telegraph on The Godsend

‘The best ghost story I have ever read … a potential classic’ - Charles L. Grant on Sweetheart, Sweetheart

‘Weaves a web that grows tighter with each turn of the page’ - Booklist on The Reaping

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction

194 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 14, 2019

About the author

Bernard Taylor was born in Swindon, Wiltshire, and now lives in London. Following active service in Egypt in the Royal Air Force, he studied Fine Arts in Swindon, then at Chelsea School of Art and Birmingham University. On graduation he worked as a teacher, painter and book illustrator before going as a teacher to the United States. While there, he took up acting and writing and continued with both after his return to England. He has published ten novels under his own name, including The Godsend (1976), which was adapted for a major film, and Sweetheart, Sweetheart (1977), which Charles L. Grant has hailed as one of the finest ghost stories ever written. He has also written novels under the pseudonym Jess Foley, as well as several works of nonfiction. He has won awards for his true crime writing and also for his work as a playwright. It was during his year as resident playwright at the Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch that he wrote The Godsend. There Must Be Evil, his latest true crime study, is to be published in England in September.

Reviews

[Karl]

This hardcover edition is copy 40 of 250 copies for sale and is signed by:

Bernard Taylor
Lisa Desimini

[Latasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've only read 2 things by Bernard Taylor, Sweetheart, Sweetheart (which i liked) and Godsend (which i don't remember). I really didn't know what to expect from this collection. OMG! Well let me tell you! it's great. I enjoyed every story and i loved several of them. Some of these stories play with perception, there's a few different types of monsters, a tale of the Innsmouth kind, witches and more! The story that the collection ends with--wow! After listening to this, i definitely want to read more by Mr. Taylor.
David McClelland does such a great job reading this and with the accents. His voice is quiet lovely. I could listen to him for days.

I would like to thank Valancourt Books for this audio book. This is my honest review of it.

[Alex (The Bookubus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

An enjoyable collection of short stories by one of my favourite authors. Some of the stories feature everyday people in everyday situations until something horrific happens. Others feature very unique elements and there are some really great ideas here. There is a theme of family and relationships present in many of the stories. Some are lighthearted whereas others are downright brutal!

My favourite of the collection was Travelling Light. I thought the premise was so good it would have been really interesting if it had been developed into a novel.

I listened to the audiobook which is narrated by David McClelland. I thought he did a great job and I enjoyed his delivery.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read a bunch of books since reading this one but still find myself thinking about these stories. Apparently these are all the stories Taylor has written and each one is a treasure. For me this collection had the perfect mix of horror with wicked humor and every story went to unexpected places. You get as many ironic and evil twists you could possibly want without having to read an entire novel for one surprise ending. These are perfectly timed, entertaining and wry with a pace that doesn't waste your time but doesn't rush you either

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

THIS IS MIDNIGHT is a collection of short stories by Bernard Taylor. As in any collection, some are more likely to stand out than others. I particularly enjoyed "One of the Family", and "Cera".

Overall, I didn't find much new in here, and several of the stories I'm certain I had read before. A decent collection, but if you have read a lot by this author, some may be re-reads to you.

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bailed on this about halfway through. I've really enjoyed all of his novels but these short stories are just not very good.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thirteen extremely well-written and yet devastatingly dark stories— that's what this book is about.
Consume in very small portions.

[Alisi ☆ wants to read too many books ☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed these short stories. I feel like I've read some of these before but I'm not sure where. Still, I enjoyed them all. The second to last was really sad. =/

[Ross McClintock · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Bernard Taylor's novels. He excels in the slow burn, eventual dread mode of storytelling. However, that doesn't quite make a successful leap to short stories. With less space to flex his storytelling muscles, these come across rather rushed. Sometimes the climax is in the very last paragraph, and there's no revelling in the gory details. Though there's still some fun and tense horror gems in here, my personal favorite, Samhain being a comedy about a murderous wife plotting to do in her husband, with the twist being that they are both witches. Definitely a perfect book for a fall afternoon like today!

[Cameron Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Midnight contains thirteen short stories from the mind of Bernard Taylor. I'm glad I was able to read this. It was fun to see him go down different avenues of horror. There are supernatural tales. There are monsters. There is body horror. There are killers. And there is tragedy. Taylor knows how to write tragedy.
His stories are not for everyone. There were a couple in this collection that I'd rate as 'ok.' The majority of them are fun in one way or another.
The perfect read to kick-off Halloween season.

[Leonardo La Terza · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could definitely see the same style that made The Reaping an effective slow burner. Taylor's horror elements show up late but when they do, they come screaming. I liked some stories more than others, my favourites were "Out of Sorts", a take on werewolf lore; the slow burning of "Forget-Me-Not" about a woman fascinated with a serial killer and slowly losing her grip on reality; and "Mother's Programme", about a mother trying to watch her favourite soap opera on tv.

The other stories rained from fine to cliched, but none of them were outright bad. Enjoyable read.

[Esther Clifford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant!

[Geo Seven · Rating 1 out of 5]

Seems a bit too suspiciously anti-woman for my liking.

[Michael Frasca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bernard Taylor started his writing career with these short stories. It was interesting to see him improve over time. However, most of them are occurrences than stories. One was a classic "Jar of Tang."

My favorite was "Out of Sorts," which pairs well with Lamb to the Slaughter and Other Stories.

I am looking forward to reading the Centipede Press release of his novels to see if he became better at breaking a story.