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Postcards from the Void: Twenty-Five Tales of Horror and Dark Fantasy
The photos are real. The places are not. From the creative team behind the award-winning "Shadows And Teeth" horror series comes a reality-bending anthology that combines eerie vintage photos with terrifying stories. The places in this book are shunned, abandoned and forgotten. They do not exist, and yet here you will find the stories of people who have gone and survived to tell their tales, complete with photographs. These are the postcards from the void, frightful evidence of places that should not be, and yet exist in our nightmares. Should you dare to venture into these blighted places, don't talk to strangers; don't stray far from home; and never, ever go in alone.
523 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 2018
1 person is currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Guy N. Smith
173 books297 followersI was born on November 21, 1939, in the small village of Hopwas, near Tamworth, Staffordshire, England. My mother was a pre-war historical novelist (E. M. Weale) and she always encouraged me to write.
I was first published at the age of 12 in The Tettenhall Observer, a local weekly newspaper. Between 1952-57 I wrote 56 stories for them, many serialized. In 1990 I collated these into a book entitled Fifty Tales from the Fifties.
My father was a dedicated bank manager and I was destined for banking from birth. I accepted it but never found it very interesting. During the early years when I was working in Birmingham, I spent most of my lunch hours in the Birmingham gun quarter. I would have loved to have served an apprenticeship in the gun trade but my father would not hear of it.
Shooting (hunting) was my first love, and all my spare time was spent in this way. In 1961 I designed and made a 12-bore shotgun, intending to follow it up with six more, but I did not have the money to do this. I still use the Guy N. Smith short-barrelled magnum. During 1960-67 I operated a small shotgun cartridge loading business but this finished when my components suppliers closed down and I could no longer obtain components at competitive prices.
My writing in those days only concerned shooting. I wrote regularly for most of the sporting magazines, interspersed with fiction for such magazines as the legendary London Mystery Selection, a quarterly anthology for which I contributed 18 stories between 1972-82.
In 1972 I launched my second hand bookselling business which eventually became Black Hill Books. Originally my intention was to concentrate on this and maybe build it up to a full-time business which would enable me to leave banking. Although we still have this business, writing came along and this proved to be the vehicle which gave me my freedom.
I wrote a horror novel for the New English Library in 1974 entitled Werewolf by Moonlight. This was followed by a couple more, but it was Night of the Crabs in 1976 which really launched me as a writer. It was a bestseller, spawning five sequels, and was followed by another 60 or so horror novels through to the mid-1990's. Amicus bought the film rights to Crabs in 1976 and this gave me the chance to leave banking and by my own place, including my shoot, on the Black Hill.
The Guy N. Smith Fan Club was formed in 1990 and still has an active membership. We hold a convention every year at my home which is always well attended.
Around this time I became Poland's best-selling author. Phantom Press published two GNS books each month, mostly with print runs of around 100,000.
I have written much, much more than just horror; crime and mystery (as Gavin Newman), and children's animal novels (as Jonathan Guy). I have written a dozen or so shooting and countryside books, a book on Writing Horror Fiction (A. & C. Black). In 1997 my first full length western novel, The Pony Riders was published by Pinnacle in the States.
With 100-plus books to my credit, I was looking for new challenges. In 1999 I formed my own publishing company and began to publish my own books. They did rather well and gave me a lot of satisfaction. We plan to publish one or two every year.
Still regretting that I had not served an apprenticeship in the gun trade, the best job of my life dropped into my lap in 1999 when I was offered the post of Gun Editor of The Countryman's Weekly, a weekly magazine which covers all field sports. This entails my writing five illustrated feature articles a week on guns, cartridges, deer stalking, big game hunting etc.
Alongside this we have expanded our mail order second hand crime fiction business, still publish a few books, and I find as much time as possible for shooting.
Jean, my wife, helps with the business. Our four children, Rowan, Tara, Gavin and Angus have all moved away from home but they visit on a regular basis.
I would not want to live anywhere other than m
I was first published at the age of 12 in The Tettenhall Observer, a local weekly newspaper. Between 1952-57 I wrote 56 stories for them, many serialized. In 1990 I collated these into a book entitled Fifty Tales from the Fifties.
My father was a dedicated bank manager and I was destined for banking from birth. I accepted it but never found it very interesting. During the early years when I was working in Birmingham, I spent most of my lunch hours in the Birmingham gun quarter. I would have loved to have served an apprenticeship in the gun trade but my father would not hear of it.
Shooting (hunting) was my first love, and all my spare time was spent in this way. In 1961 I designed and made a 12-bore shotgun, intending to follow it up with six more, but I did not have the money to do this. I still use the Guy N. Smith short-barrelled magnum. During 1960-67 I operated a small shotgun cartridge loading business but this finished when my components suppliers closed down and I could no longer obtain components at competitive prices.
My writing in those days only concerned shooting. I wrote regularly for most of the sporting magazines, interspersed with fiction for such magazines as the legendary London Mystery Selection, a quarterly anthology for which I contributed 18 stories between 1972-82.
In 1972 I launched my second hand bookselling business which eventually became Black Hill Books. Originally my intention was to concentrate on this and maybe build it up to a full-time business which would enable me to leave banking. Although we still have this business, writing came along and this proved to be the vehicle which gave me my freedom.
I wrote a horror novel for the New English Library in 1974 entitled Werewolf by Moonlight. This was followed by a couple more, but it was Night of the Crabs in 1976 which really launched me as a writer. It was a bestseller, spawning five sequels, and was followed by another 60 or so horror novels through to the mid-1990's. Amicus bought the film rights to Crabs in 1976 and this gave me the chance to leave banking and by my own place, including my shoot, on the Black Hill.
The Guy N. Smith Fan Club was formed in 1990 and still has an active membership. We hold a convention every year at my home which is always well attended.
Around this time I became Poland's best-selling author. Phantom Press published two GNS books each month, mostly with print runs of around 100,000.
I have written much, much more than just horror; crime and mystery (as Gavin Newman), and children's animal novels (as Jonathan Guy). I have written a dozen or so shooting and countryside books, a book on Writing Horror Fiction (A. & C. Black). In 1997 my first full length western novel, The Pony Riders was published by Pinnacle in the States.
With 100-plus books to my credit, I was looking for new challenges. In 1999 I formed my own publishing company and began to publish my own books. They did rather well and gave me a lot of satisfaction. We plan to publish one or two every year.
Still regretting that I had not served an apprenticeship in the gun trade, the best job of my life dropped into my lap in 1999 when I was offered the post of Gun Editor of The Countryman's Weekly, a weekly magazine which covers all field sports. This entails my writing five illustrated feature articles a week on guns, cartridges, deer stalking, big game hunting etc.
Alongside this we have expanded our mail order second hand crime fiction business, still publish a few books, and I find as much time as possible for shooting.
Jean, my wife, helps with the business. Our four children, Rowan, Tara, Gavin and Angus have all moved away from home but they visit on a regular basis.
I would not want to live anywhere other than m
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 20, 2019
I really like this collection. It represents a genre that really has no name, but appeals to me greatly-let’s call it Alternate Universe or Ghost Town genre. I would say all of these stories were better than the rest with the exception of the first and last story which I felt were exceptionally weak and lacking in any imagination-this stories read like goosebumps and some angry PC screed disguised as a short story respectively. Other than those, I ate this book up! If you like horror like movies like Silent Hill or Blair Witch,literature like Found Audio or the Red Tree....this is right up your alley!
July 21, 2020
This one is a tough one to rate because many of the stories were 5 star worthy (Circle Of Evil, Carcer, Pennsylvania, Four Beasts Gate, China, and my favorite, Barker, Alberta), and those that run on a bit too long for their (or your) own good, (Spirit, Ohio is the worst offender). Some are memorable for their plot, others for their characterization, or just good old fashioned writing. And then there's the downright horrible that could have been cut from the over-long running time (the inclusion of Springland Meadows, Virginia - the worst story in the collection - is the immediate standout.)
This is why the book is so hard to rate. It's rather hit-or-miss (though, thankfully, more hit than miss). But the low points are so low that it drags the entire book down overall. I think the editor made a wise choice in trying to appeal to as many readers as possible, but in doing so, many stories totally fall flat when they fail to grab your interest. I was determined to finish all of the stories, which made it an unbearably slog in a few places, but those that I did enjoy, I enjoyed a lot.
I'll admit to losing my patience over the last two hours, which may have tarnished my enjoyment of the last couple of stories (I stand behind my disdain for Springland Meadows), both otherwise it's an enjoyable read, best suited for a late night in front of a fire.
This is why the book is so hard to rate. It's rather hit-or-miss (though, thankfully, more hit than miss). But the low points are so low that it drags the entire book down overall. I think the editor made a wise choice in trying to appeal to as many readers as possible, but in doing so, many stories totally fall flat when they fail to grab your interest. I was determined to finish all of the stories, which made it an unbearably slog in a few places, but those that I did enjoy, I enjoyed a lot.
I'll admit to losing my patience over the last two hours, which may have tarnished my enjoyment of the last couple of stories (I stand behind my disdain for Springland Meadows), both otherwise it's an enjoyable read, best suited for a late night in front of a fire.
dnf
February 11, 2025The writing is too terrible for any of it to be scary.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews