The Other Door by Tim Jeffreys (audio book)

The first audio short story collection by Tim Jeffreys for sometime this, as he’s been busy with longer and non-audio forms of fiction just lately, and in The Other Door we see a slight departure from his past work. There’s less (well none in fact) traditional ghost stories, nor any summer spooky strangeness  (for want of a better way to describe them) that marks much of his earlier collections. Instead TJ is developing the more secular fable/parable side of his fiction in quirky and surreal stories: exploring themes such as morality, mortality, alienation, psychoanalysm and dreams, which in fairness has always been there – just not as prominently as this. While this collection is less immediate than his last two they show an extra depth and conceptual development in his writing, which has to be commended. And upon a second listening I’ve warmed to the collection immensely. In fact I think I’d best describe The Other Door as a slow burn. TJ’s prose is literary, rich and evocative, his tales are rewarding, meaningful and intelligent: it’s good stuff. It’s a pity that there doesn’t appear to be an outlet for it in the wider fiction-land, but that’s their loss… and anyway I’m liking the DIY ethos. Proof that there might be legs in the self-publishing phenomenon yet…

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The best stories are: the title story ‘The Other Door,’ a Kafkaesque thing that brings to mind Nietzsche’s eternal recurrence, ‘We are Three,’ a Freudian dreamland fable, and ‘Soft Clocks,’ a Daliesque nightmare, which has been aired before (somewhere in another collection) but seems to find its home here. Another interesting tale is ‘The Toymaker’s Ruin:’ a slightly confusing  parable about… well several things (I think) but you can find out  for yourself by buying  yourself a copy As usual the narration is excellent and the recording  is highly professional. TJ’s regular storytellers Mia Jaye and Josh Cass are both there and new boy Klemens Koehering adds an appropriate Teutonic tone to this collection.

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This CD can be found and bought at Tim Jeffreys’ lovely new website here, where every month he’s posting some examples of his fiction to read too.

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Reviews of his other CDs can be found by clicking on the audiobook tab on this blog.

The Orange Grove by Tim Jeffreys (audio book)

Just a plug I’m afraid, rather than a full review, but Tim Jeffreys has just released a new audio book. This time it takes the format of a double-CD length novella instead of a single-CD collection of short stories and I have to say that it is up to his usual high standards. It has the flavour of some of his atmospheric work like ‘Spanish Landscapes’ mixed with an healthy dose of Stephen King. As usual the naration is done by the excellent Mia Jaye and I’ll give a special shout about the artwork by Stephen Calcutt which is excellent.

Anyway you can find more details about buying it here.

The Secret Season by Tim Jeffreys (2006)

The latest audio book by Tim Jeffreys is another fine home-brewed collection of macabre short stories – compiled together with almost concept album-like care. At first glance this might seem like more of the same; however – this time – there is an almost summery feel to the proceedings, as Tim Jeffreys drops the more melancholy tales that have been increasingly present on his last few releases, for stories with a quirkier and more lively attitude. As usual Tim Jeffreys’ tales are told by Mia Jaye and Josh Cass, who as usual are both in fine form. In sheer quality ‘The Secret Season’ marks a quantum leap in terms of writing and production standards.

• The Secret Season’s opener: ‘Bones in the Meadow,’ is so good that it pretty much makes this collection worth it’s price by its presence alone. Tim Jeffreys’ is certainly playing to his strengths with this one: it is a distinctively English ghost story, full of heady summertime delight, childish teasing and adolescent sexual awakening, all overshadowed by an ancient evil and an almost Freudian fear of the female - slightly reminiscent of Arthur Machen’s seelie stories and Graham Joyce’s horror parables. The main difference between Tim Jeffreys past fairy tale horror and this, is the sheer quality of the prose and his understated delivery of the story’s ‘money shot.’ Mia Jaye casts her usual vocal spell over the events: adding a bitter-sweet after-taste to an already quite sinister tale.

• ‘The Caged Sea’ is perhaps the least successful story here, being more of an enjoyable unhinged rant than anything else. Like many rants against society, there is a lot that strikes a chord with me here, yet the problem with other people’s rants is that they can soon grow tiring for the listener, and ‘The Caged Sea’ certainly goes on far too long for my liking. More importantly its angry presence is entirely out of place with the rest of this collection. However Josh Cass, the narrator, obviously enjoyed the opportunity to let rip, which he does with some gusto, and although out of place ‘The Caged Sea’ will certainly entertain your ears – for a while at least.

The other tales are an eclectic mix of summertime strangeness:

• ‘The Monkey and the Munequita’ is a bizarre and highly enjoyable little tale – perfect for a dreamland siesta escape from the harsh realities of our cold-grey world – all told with flamboyant charm by Mia Jaye – this story is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

• ‘Two Cards on the Table’ is the most complex and ambiguous offering on The Secret Season: a quirky Neil Gaiman-esque story about a sleepless night and some symbolic dream-like almost mythological musings about destiny or chance or the decisions we make or… life, I guess? Well, you get the idea. Here Tim Jeffreys shows a timeless sophistication and subtlety, allowing the reader to draw his own conclusions. Josh Cass abilities to narrate and deliver dialogue has come on a long way since Black Flowers (Tim Jeffreys’ previous audio book) and he is quite excellent throughout this collection, although it is just about noticeable that his voice has been pitched up a notch or two for main squeaky female character in ‘Two Cards on the Table,’ yet – never fear – it does not get too far into The Chipmunks territory.

• ‘After Closing’ is a somewhat stilted ghost story, lacking any real sense of dread or otherness, and feeling -sadly – quite mundane. Even the normally superb Mia Jaye seems less than enthused about this story and her usual gift for accents seeming a little less than convincing to my ears. Still, ‘After Closing’ is a passable if unremarkable ghost story.

• The collection’s title track: ‘The Secret Season’ is a poetic, fragmentary and demented celebration of summer, death and sex, all told with ye oldie theatrical vigour by an over the top Josh Cass. A suitable and brief finale to a generally fine collection of short stories.

The production of ‘The Secret Season’ is simply outstanding, with little to separate it from more so-called professional productions. If I was being picky perhaps the relative volumes between stories could have been further normalized; however – as I have said – that is being highly picky.

The Secret Season comes entirely recommended to any fans of spooky tales, literary short stories or for anybody fancying something a little different. If you are tempted by any of Tim Jeffreys audio books then it is certainly the one to get. Quite excellent.

If you are interested in finding out more about Tim Jeffreys and his audio books then check out his website or you can listen before you buy on his new MySpace writer’s profile. The Secret Season (for £3.99) and other audio books are available via his Ebay shop. Also further reviews of his earlier work can be read here in the audio book section of this very blog or via the A-Z page.

Welcome to Mars by Ken Hollings (writer and presenter) and Simon James (music & electronic sound production) 2006

First broadcast on Resonance FM, the London and online based art house radio station, and now available as twelve half-hour podcasts: Welcome to Mars is an ambitious, satirical and deeply engaging series, which encompasses the birth of the American half centaury in the 1950s, the Cold War, B-movies, UFO sightings, weird science and cover-ups – all told over an eerie ambient psychedelic sci-fi Theremin-inspired soundscapes. The unscripted narrative by Ken Hollings: author and trash culture buff, is highly informed and will be fascinating to anyone with even a passing interest in popular culture, politics and science. The sonic backdrops by Simon James: sound designer and studio engineer, are frankly superb in their own right and successfully adds an appropriately unnerving atmosphere to the proceedings. Within the soundscapes space-echoed 1950s adverts remind us of the naive hopefulness of post-war America against the cynical Machiavellian manipulations of industry and government.

Ken Hollings takes us on a surreal historic tour documenting the origins of post-modern history: from 1947 to 1959, from the development of the suburban America dream of household appliances and the nuclear family to Red Planet and the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Ken Hollings does not hold back in referencing, cross-referencing and discussing just about every murky event and character of the era, including: the theory of Atlantis, flying saucers, Alistair Crowley, L. Ron Hubbard, the RAND Corporation, brainwashing and mind control, and that is just in the first couple of episodes. Some of the less ethical weird science experiments which stand out are: the U.S navy releasing anthrax bacteria in San Francisco Bay area and experimenting the effects of radiation on unwitting children with learning disabilities by lacing their milk with radioactive calcium and iron (courtesy of Atomic Energy Commission and Quaker Oats). All this is cleverly juxtaposed with a sarcastic but appreciative analysis of the classic B-movies of the time. In part four: Absolute Elsewhere, Ken Hollings walks us through the events of The Day the Earth Stood Still, making humorous observations about Klaatu’s general lack of progress and the unlikely residence of Earth that he meets. Lines like “It sounds as if you are talking about some kind of super carrot!” taken from the film The Thing from Another World which would ordinarily add a real sense of the absurdity are frequently overshadowed by the bigger picture truth: that truth is indeed stranger than fiction. Perhaps at times Ken Hollings is a little guilty of bringing together a few too many incongruent elements in attempting to make a cohesive whole. Certainly at times Welcome to Mars seems to be taking a step down the road of conspiracy theory fantasy, which might appeal or repel listeners, depending on their own opinions. However Ken Hollings largely debunks these conspiracy myths, while posing questions as to the validity of the bizarre fantasies of science at that time.

Welcome to Mars is an informed and intellectual discussion on the 1950s, which brings together many disparate topics, with a keen eye on their socio-political influences and repercussions. While highbrow, Ken Hollings narration is always accessible and never pompous, although a little background knowledge probably would not hurt the listening experience, as his familiarity with the era and its trash culture could intimidate the uninitiated. Still, whatever your knowledge, I guarantee that there will be at least a few juicy morsels of arcane wisdom here for you, and if you are not interested in at least some of what is on offer here then you probably have a problem walking and talking at the same time. Simon James’ music is a real bonus and I for one would eagerly snap up an official soundtrack for my listening pleasure. Best of all: all this is availably for free. So what are you waiting for?

Information on Ken Hollings can be found here: http://www.kenhollings.com/

Welcome to Mars can be downloaded here and you can also find more information on Simon James: http://www.simonsound.co.uk/index.html

Welcome to Mars was originally broadcast on Resonence FM, which can be listened to in London or online, and can be found here: http://www.resonancefm.com/

An Interview with Tim Jeffreys

An Interview with Tim Jeffreys

Tim Jeffreys has self-published eight audio books since 2000, three of which are reviewed in the audio book and fiction review sections on this very blog. His stories range from pulp horror to macabre fairytales to slip-steam and non-genre, but always with a personal edge and a melancholy atmosphere.

Tim Jeffreys has kindly agreed to answer some questions about his work, audio books and his influences.

English Assassin: What inspired you to self-publish and what was the inspiration to go down the audio book route rather than more traditional printer mediums?

Tim Jeffreys: It’s just in me to self publish, it was just a matter of figuring out the ways and means. I can’t spend my life waiting to be picked up by a publisher. I’m too restless. I was sitting on a box of stories wondering what to do with them. It’s exiting when you first realise you can do something on your own – that you can get your stuff out there. I’ve been amazed by the encouragement and receptiveness. There are always a few people who want to shoot you down, but then there always will be.

The audio book route came about by chance. A tutor at University encouraged me to do my first recording. He must have been thinking ahead much more than I was because at the time I was sceptical. But hearing your stories read back to you gives you a certain distance and allows you to be more objective about them. Also, suddenly, it was easy to produce CDs. I think the audio format is becoming more and more popular these days as people have less time and energy to sit down with a book. It was just a matter of this all coming together at the right time. I am interested in the printed medium, though. In a way I consider that the ideal format. I just haven’t figured out a way to make books as easily as I can make CDs. Also I do like the fact that making an audio book involves more people. It becomes more of a joint effort. I’ve met some great people I wouldn’t otherwise have met, and had a lot of fun doing this. Writing is quite a solitary pursuit otherwise.

English Assassin: To what extent do you tailor you work to the audio medium? Do you have a specific audio actor in mind or is it more general, like a male or female voice for a specific story?

Tim Jeffreys: I don’t consciously tailor my work for audio, but I think it has influenced what I do. Over time I’ve brought certain things out in my writing – rhythms and rhyming lines (I’m thinking of a story like ‘The Hand-Made Tail’). Technically, writing wise, it’s frowned upon but it works well for the audio medium, and it’s also something that comes from me having a huge interest in song lyrics and the way they work as snippets of writing.

I usually only think of a story as having a male or female voice, and I’m constrained by who’s available to work with me, but the more actors I’ve worked with the more I’m able to think ‘This would be good for such a person’ or ‘Such a person’s not so good with this kind of thing.’

English Assassin: Could you briefly describe the process of making an audio book and how has your method changed since ‘I Retched Hard and the Man Spewed Forth and Crawled Away’ to ‘The Garden Where Black Flowers Grow’?

Tim Jeffreys: It’s an ongoing learning curve. Apart from providing the stories on ‘I Retched…’ I had no input. I had to take control of the recordings, which was difficult in the beginning because I wasn’t sure exactly how I wanted things to sound or how to work with actors. But actors encourage instruction, that’s what they’re used to. I’ve learnt by going back into the studio time and again. I’ve got to a point now where I feel more confident directing an actor. Over time I’ve learnt my own process of how to get what I want. I work quite quickly, because of money constraints. It’s not a case of doing take after take. Often I’m willing to see where an actor will take something, which can be interesting, but there will be some things that I will want done in a particular way. I do all the editing myself at home. Again, you learn a lot just from listening back to things.

English Assassin: What are your influences, in literature and any other mediums? And who do you rate in genre fiction today?

Tim Jeffreys: I don’t read much straight genre fiction. It takes a lot to ‘wow’ me and I like books that have a lot of ideas in them. My literary influences tend to be women – Angela Carter, Margaret Atwood, Maggie Gee, Isabel Allende, Shirley Jackson. I don’t consider these genre writers; rather they’re writers that have used genre trappings for their own ends. Woman writers, for me at least, tend to go deeper into things and bring out more of an emotional side, which I like.

I’m also influenced by the bands that I listen to. Many of my ideas have come from hearing fragments of song lyrics and just having my imagination seize on it and run with it. Ideas can be suggested to you in song, because song lyrics can be misheard and they tend to be slightly vague or abstract. Or they can really nail something with just a few words.

English Assassin: In your opinion, how healthy is the market for short fiction in the UK today? Are things getting better or worse?

Tim Jeffreys: There are very few, if any, outlets for short fiction in the UK outside of woman’s magazines. Clearly, things are getting worst in the sense that there’s been this huge ‘dumbing down’ in the publishing world. Like most things it’s been damaged by this cult of celebrity. I read something not long ago which said that the future of publishing is ghost written books by people like Wayne Rooney and Geri Halliwell. It’s horrible and frustrating, but to my mind it only encourages a reaction. It encourages the DIY, small press mentality amongst people who are sick of it and want something more.

English Assassin: In your stories, quite often the doomed protagonist is victim to the destructive impacts of alcohol, such as: ‘The Garden where Black Flowers Grow,’ ‘The Revenge and I Retched Hard and a Man Spewed Forth and Crawled Away,’ is this a deliberate subtext and an issue you feel strongly about, or am I reading far too much into things?

Tim Jeffreys: I think what I’m addressing in these stories is more a person’s potential to lose control or lose themselves, whether through alcohol, drugs or whatever. It’s something that frightens me – the idea that something can take someone away from themselves and force them to act in a way that they wouldn’t normally act, hurt their loved ones, or behave irrationally. I seem to be drawn to writing about my own fears and concerns. I’ve witnessed alcoholism first hand, so maybe that’s why I tend to end up writing about it.

English Assassin: There appears to be a development in your writing away from genre-related spooky fiction to more real world situations, i.e. ‘The Revenge,’ ‘Vampire,’ ‘An Exhibition,’ etc…, and more recently your writing has shown a more worldly influence and seem less British in focus, i.e. ‘Spanish Landscape’ and ‘View of Burano.’ Is this direction you wish to continue to explore in the future?

Tim Jeffreys: If anything I’d like to make my stories more personal, more provincial in a way – in the way that a Smiths song, say, is provincial. I’d like to drawn more on my own environment. I’ve been travelling a lot over the past few years. I’ve been spending a lot of time in Spain, for example – not just on the beach, but in the towns, in people’s houses. It’s all experience to draw on. Hopefully, my stories will reflect where I am and what I’m doing, what I’m experiencing. As far as spooky stuff goes, it has certain limitations, but I want to place that at the centre of my own experiences, make it more personal, and take it from there. And expand it. Even though a story like ‘An Exhibition’ doesn’t contain anything supernatural, I still consider it a horror story because what happens is truly horrifying to the protagonist. It’s her own personal horror story.

English Assassin: Which of your audio books and which story are you most happy with? Would you like to expand any of your shorts into a full length novel?

Tim Jeffreys: I’m probably most happy with ‘Black Flowers’. I think it’s my most accomplished technically, and a good solid collection of stories. I like the fact that it was written over the course of one spring/summer and gives an indication of where my head was at a particular time. Although my stories are fiction, in another sense they’re like diary entries. Even a story which may not seem to have been drawn from my own life usually has at its heart some nugget of truth. It’s difficult to write without drawing on what you’re experiencing or what’s already in your head, floating around.

One of my favourite stories is ‘Their Eyes Were Flints’ simply because it’s one of my most original ideas. Sometimes you look back on a story and think ‘where did that come from? How did I ever think that up?’ I’ve no plans to expand any short into a full length novel. A story usually finds its own length. I’m happy for something just to be a page long if that’s as far as it wants to go.

English Assassin: Any releases or projects planed in the near future?

Tim Jeffreys: Hopefully there’ll be another set of stories out soon. I have most of them already written. Also, I’m working on a sort of novella called ‘The Orange Grove’ which I hope to eventually spread across two CDs. An illustrator friend of mine is currently working on pictures to go with some of my more fairytale-esque stories, which he plans to turn into a book. It’s still in the early stages though.

I would like to say thanks to Tim for taking the time to doing this e-interview and wish him luck with his future releases and in getting his work out to a wider audience.

More information on Tim Jeffreys audio books can be found here: http://timjeffreys.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/index.jhtml

Tim Jeffreys Ebay Shop: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/The-Dark-Lane

Tim Jeffreys My Space: http://www.myspace.com/22154396

The Garden Where Black Flowers Grow by Tim Jeffreys (audio book)

The Garden Where Black Flowers Grow is the latest collection of short stories released by Tim Jefferies, consisting of only seven short stories, although they are generally longer than his earlier stories. There are only two readers on this collection: the excellent Mia Jaye, who appears on The Stairs to the Attic (reviewed below) and the newcomer Josh Cass. The choice to limit the pool of readers on this collection has really helped to give it the most distinctive and satisfactory feel yet. The approach with music intermissions is also more minimal than that of The Stairs… with simple yet effective shimmering synthesised textures, provided by Ennis Lloyd at Mouse Studios, adding to the atmosphere without trying to overpower the stories themselves.

The stories:

• ‘The Garden Where Black Flowers Grow,’ sharing its title with this audio book, is only one of two offering here which could really be described as horror, although this is far subtler than it first appears. Ben, a young boy, who dares to investigate a spooky old house’s where strange almost sentient black flowers grow, is forced to make a pact with the house’s strange occupant. Ben’s life goes steadily off the rails and alcohol becomes his only escape. Mia Jaye does a decent job in this story’s recital, although it is not her best performance to date – seeming a little flatter than usual.
• ‘The Revenge’ is the least effective story here. Colin: an overbearing, bully and hideous boss, happens to meet Mark (or Stinky as Collin likes to call him): an old school victim. He of cause continues to reminisce with his reluctant mate about past school boy taunts; eventually realising that poor Mark is less than impressed. The story itself, which defies any cliché expectations that the title may conjure up, works well enough, but the principle character of Colin feels forces, lacking any real depth and never succeeds in transcending the simple caricature of a bully. Admittedly lack of character development is probably a problem with the short story format in general; however the dialogue never really comes to the character’s rescue. Indeed, Josh Cass seems to struggle to come to terms with Colin’s dialogue, in what unfortunately happens to be a dialogue heavy story, although otherwise Josh’s voice is good: having a rich timbre and deep resonance, with the faintest hint of a slightly camp undertone, which seems to suit these weird tales.
• ‘The Hand-Made Tail’ has a sense of Ronald Dahl and the Brother’s Grimm. Sarah wakes to the insensate mewing of a fat feline who has fed on her birds and threatens to feed on Sarah should she not make the cat a new tail. There are some delightful turns of phrases in this witty fairytail (please, forgive the pun!), such as: “a confusion of paw print” and “wild as a hare who has chewed on a secret.” Mia Jaye read this story with real relish, obviously enjoying the feline role and Tim Jeffreys’ rhyming prose, although some of the cat sound effects (presumably from a sound effects CD and not a real cat) do not work so well, with some amusingly sounding more like the bah of a sheep, but this is never to the detriment of the story.
• ‘Spanish Landscape’ is a poetic and fragmentary narrative of a man and his Spanish lover. They take in the hot Spanish landscape by day, morbidly musing on the rural Spanish life, while they huddle from the cold nights in her old family home. Through the landscape and rural customs the narrator begins to understand his lover: “I’m piecing you together like a jigsaw. Here a piece I never saw before.” The narrator bitterly associates his own cynical mood to his own dark and rainy British childhood, when he compared to his lover’s sunnier past to her sunnier disposition. He is aware that she brightens his days, while he darkens hers. ‘Spanish Landscapes’ is by far the most personal and heartfelt story on this collection and is Tim Jeffeys most accomplished work, showing an ambiguous depth and his most lyrical prose, which is suitably and sombrely read by Josh Cass.
• ‘Vampire’ defies any horror expectations which its title may suggest. John a middle-aged man spends the day visiting his unfortunate friends, each of which supply him with snippets of their own mundane or disastrous lives, which he uses to reinforce his own ego. Mia Jaye gift for dialogue helps bring this story and characters to life, although the story, despite having some charm, never really captivates. A worthy inclusion, although not an indispensable one.
• ‘The Lord of All Horizons’ tells of a fallen shadowy figure who stalks a contemporary urban landscape, out of place, out of time – seeking a purpose. His imposing visage, although ludicrous compared to his modern surrounding, is ignored by the inhabitants of the city. However despite his invisibility, somewhere in the city a young girl is going to notice him. John Cass does solid job of bringing together the stories disparate elements, although he seems to struggles with the girl’s voice.
• ‘View from Burano,’ told by Mia Jaye, is a pleasant and brief outro to the collection, giving the listener poetic morsel of the life of the Island of Burano.

Without a doubt this is the strongest of the three audio books by Tim Jeffreys reviewed on this blog: being by far the most accomplished and professional. Gone are most of the amateurish qualities of I Retched…, gone is unfamiliar footing of The Stairs…; this audio book has retained the consistency and quality of the début, while successfully delivering the diversity of The Stairs… Indeed The Garden Where Black Flowers Grow surpasses Tim Jeffreys’ previous offerings in all departments. Standout stories are: ‘The Hand-made Tail,’ ‘Spanish Landscape,’ and the title story itself, all of which are by far the finest stories Tim Jeffreys has written, with only ‘The Revenge’ really failing to deliver the goods. If you are new to Tim Jeffreys’ audio books yet feel tempted then The Garden Where Black Flowers Grow is the best place to start. Recommended!

The Garden Where Black Flowers Grow is available for £5.99 via Tim Jeffrey’s website or for a mere £3.99 from his Ebay shop.

More information on Tim Jeffreys audio books can be found here: http://timjeffreys.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/index.jhtml

Tim Jeffreys Ebay Shop: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/The-Dark-Lane

Tim Jeffreys My Space: http://www.myspace.com/22154396

The Stairs to the Attic by Tim Jeffreys (audio book)

Tim Jeffreys’ audio book The Stairs to the Attic, a collection of nine spooky and quirky tales, shows greater maturity and diversity than his first offering I Retched and the Man Spewed forth and Crawled Away (reviewed elsewhere on this blog).

The first noticeable difference is the introduction of musical introductions and intermissions by Newtoy Productions replacing the slightly twee if eerie flute-like notes of I Retched… The second difference is the completely new line-up of voice actors, including Tim Jeffery’s new regular readers Mia Jaye and Trevor Brown, and two readers unique to his collection: Rosemary Blayds and Heather Bagot. These changes have a mixed success, although generally they work well and confirm that this release is a much more professionally produced product.

The music chosen, while dark and discordant, is at times a little too abrasive and intrusive, although the more ambient intermissions certainly enhance the mood. The stories on offer here have a less obvious Poe and Brothers Grimm influence than those on I Retched…, indicating that Tim Jeffreys has become increasingly confident in developing his own style of storytelling. Indeed several of the stories have little or no supernatural or traditional horror elements.

The stories:

• ‘The Stairs to the Attic,’ sharing the title of this audio book, is the longest and most developed story on this audio book. It tells the story of an elderly couple who receive an unexpected and unwelcome late night visit from their nephew Tom, who grows suspicious of the strange noises coming from their attic. The traditional horror concept of ‘the Stairs in the Attic’ is nicely juxtaposed by the everyday lives of the old couple and their, none too subtle, dark secret. Tim Jefferys prose and dialogue feels vastly more mature and accomplished than much of I Retched… However despite the story’s strengths, its climax is projected a little too early and lacks an appropriately shocking twist to shock the listener or the necessary build-up of tension which would lead to a truly satisfying crescendo of fatal inevitability. Still it is an enjoyable and effective story and is superbly told by Mia Jaye, who is by far the most talented of the narrators on this collection. Mia has a warm and attractive voice, and a natural gift for delivering dialogue and storytelling: deftly changing the pace and tonal inflection of her delivery to subtly emphasis mood and emotion. The only criticism of Mia Jaye’s voice is that it is perhaps a little too friendly at times to inspire a powerful sense of dread in the listener.
• ‘Their Eyes Were Flints’ is a short and darkly humorous story of a man who, finding himself in the volatile hands of a kidnapper, discovers that all is not entirely right with the mental wellbeing of his strange captor. The story’s final twist is original, sinister and highly amusing – and I will not spoil it here! Suffice to say that structurally it has the much in common with the tales I Retched… and the weird tales from horror’s pulp roots, but conceptually it is unique. Trevor Brown delivers ‘Their Eyes Were Flints’ competently, showing talent for dialogue and storytelling, although lacking the resonance and gravitas really needed to add the melodrama to match the sublime silliness of the twist.
• ‘An Exhibition’ is the first of this collection’s non-genre related stories, although this is not immediately clear at the beginning as its structure still owes much to pulp storytelling techniques. Unfortunately the twist is a little too obvious and mundane to really matter, and Rosemary Blayds: this story’s narrator, is so monotonous she almost kills the story dead in its tracks.
• ‘The Death of Old Sonny’ starts the next mini-sequence of stories which drop the pulpy plot-twists and feel much more personal. This is the most interesting and subtle tale on offer here and one of Tim Jeffreys best stories. In spring, Tom and Martha meet in the street to sweet music of Old Sonny a colourful busker who accompanies them through the street and, as they fall in love, accompanies them into their lives and home: staying with them over a blissful summer. As summer turns to autumn and then winter, Tom becomes resentful of Old Sonny’s constant presence, while his beloved Martha stay quite enamoured. Eventually Old Sonny leaves and Tom realises what he has lost. Old Sonny: a hobo-Cupid figure, seems to represent the rise and fall of romantic love; a metaphor for the blissful fascination of first falling in love with someone and the inevitable monotony of familiarity. Interestingly it is only Tom who becomes bored of Old Sonny, and therefore bored of his relationship with Martha, although at the end Tom seems the most affected by the loss of Old Sonny and their love, while Martha accepts that it is over – that there is no going back. The changing seasons seem to mirror the warm arrival of Old Sonny and the cold loneliness of Old Sonny’s death: the loneliness of splitting up. He also seems to symbolize the coming of summer and the release from the winter blues with the rise in serotonin, which of course often precipitates in a blossoming romance. Mia’s fine voice again is used to good affect, although this time there is a melancholy edge to her voice – a sense of loss.
• ‘The Empty Place’ a personal, almost poetic and sincere account of grief and loneliness caused by a departed lover. It is a perfect accompaniment to ‘The Death of Old Sonny.’ However the funny thing with sincerity is that it can also be slightly cringable, especially when it is melancholic, and Trevor Brown certainly lays the melancholy on a bit too thickly here, but despite this Tim Jeffreys successfully uses an easily relatable metaphor here to describe that familiar empty feeling.
• ‘He Thought of Stars’ is a pleasant if modest tale, told again by Mia Jaye, about a man who rediscovers his obsession for astronomy, where he escapes his more Earthly and mundane responsibilities such as money, work and fatherhood.
• ‘Under the Oak’ is a dreamy fairytale, told by the young and unconvincing voice of Heather Bagot, about a young man who wishes for his dream woman to be with him in his favourite place: under the oak. Unfortunately ‘Under the Oak,’ while a pleasant enough story, having shades of a ye oldie fable, never really captivates – perhaps lacking a sinister edge of a great fairytale.
• ‘Walls Obscure the View,’ told sombrely by Trevor Brown, is a fragmentary story cutting between nightmare vehicular flashbacks to the cold, reluctant sex of a dying relationship. Thematically, within the context of this collection’s other stories, perhaps ‘Walls Obscure the View’ would have worked better between ‘The Death of Old Sonny’ and ‘The Empty Place,’ although this story feels much bleaker and lacks the charm of the other stories.
• Lastly ‘The King of Shadows’ is an enjoyable short spooky tale, told with some panache by Mia Jaye, which has much in common with Ronald Dahl, Brothers Grimm, Poe and Tim Jeffreys’ earlier work.

Overall this collection of short stories shows a clear progression of style, diversity, maturity, quality of prose and production standards, when compared to those contained in I Retched…, although these developments have come at the cost of some consistency and an element of the début’s creepiness. While these stories are distinctly less sinister, they are also far more varied and seem to have a greater personal resonance to the writer, but without the teen-angst, which occasionally got out of hand on those earlier stories. ‘Their Eye’s Were Flints,’ ‘Death of Old Sonny,’ and ‘The Empty Place’ are particularly strong, showing a greater confidence, originality and depth from those Poe-inspired début stories. This collection shows that Tim Jeffreys is willing and able to stretch his writing away from the, presumably, safer ground of macabre tales into new and less genre orientated territories. However it is apparent that here he is a little less sure of his footing, with the less genre-related tales, such as: ‘An Exhibition,’ ‘He Thought of Stars’ and ‘Walls Obscure the View,’ generally weakening the collection as a cohesive whole. Still The Stairs to the Attic makes a worthwhile inclusion to any body’s collection and offers something different for genre and non-genre fans alike.

The Stairs to the Attic is available for £5.99 via Tim Jeffrey’s website or for a mere £3.99 from his Ebay shop.

More information on Tim Jeffreys audio books can be found here: http://timjeffreys.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/index.jhtml

Tim Jeffreys Ebay Shop: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/The-Dark-Lane

Tim Jeffreys My Space: http://www.myspace.com/22154396

I Retched Hard and the Man Spewed Forth and Crawled Away (and Other Stories) by Tim Jeffreys (audio book)

I Retched Hard and the Man Spewed Forth and Crawled Away is the first of Tim Jeffreys’ self published audio books. If you have not heard of Tim Jeffreys then that is no surprise as – to date – he is unpublished in the world of print, instead he has released eight CDs of macabre tales. This collection contains eleven short stories, approximately an hour in length told by three voice actors: Andrew Dunn, Zole Kennedy and John Ross (presumably not he of Film 2006 fame). The tales are of a subtle slightly old fashioned horror tradition reminiscent of Edgar Allen Poe and Victorian-era ghost stories. The audio book format suits the fireside oral tradition of the weird horror and ghost story genre and is one which I would like to see employed by other horror storytellers. The stories themselves often have a hallucinatory dream-like quality to them with a distinct British feel and, although at times feel a little clunky, they are predominately satisfying and imaginative.

The opening story ‘I am the Walls’ is the most Poe-like: telling the tale of a man trapped in an ingenious prison, the walls of which reflect hideous caricatures of the narrators form. Although superbly constructed, Tim Jeffreys is guilty of over emphasising the metaphor that the prison represents, leaving little for the listener to determine for themselves. The Poe influenced stories are the most personal and it is Tim Jeffreys’ eagerness to share these inner thoughts, which seems to be his occasional undoing. Here Tim Jeffreys is also somewhat guilty of self pity, which at times borders on the naff side of teen angst. ‘I am the Walls’ is delivered by Andrew Dunn, who has a resonant voice with a tinge of haunted melancholy, giving the story the appropriate gravitas. It is a pity that Andrew Dunn is used the least of the three voice actors here, as his voice particularly suits these macabre tales. The second story ‘Eva Sterling’s Last Big Event’ is without doubt the poorest story of what is on offer here with a twist that feels dated in a naff 1970s BBC kind of way and lacks any real impact, although it does contain some amusing dialogue, which is superbly delivered by Zole Kennedy who, although she lacks the resonance of a great storyteller, has a natural gift for voices and dialogue. The third story, sharing its title with that of the audio book, is again Poe-esk, telling a confrontation between a man and his violent drunken alter-ego. It is told by John Ross, who I feel is the weakest here: his voice, while listenable, sounds too matter-of-fact for weird horror.

‘Fox Baby, Crow Baby’ has shades of the Brothers Grimm’s fairy tails as if they were told by Mervyn Peake, although it apparently lacks a strong parable which would have added to its folk story feel. ‘Alice and the Scarecrow’ is probably the most straight horror in the Stephen King mould from this collection, although again it has something of Poe and Grimm, giving it a strange dream-like quality. The next four stories: ‘the Life Stealer,’ ‘the Sleeper,’ ‘the Lady and the Sea’ and ‘the Graveyard Cats’ are all firmly in a Poe tradition: telling of terrible yet subtle tortures and prisons, each with their own sinister or haunting endings. All are quite excellent, although unfortunately they all lack Andrew Dunn’s fine voice, which is a pity as neither Zole Kennedy nor John Ross are capable of imbedding the same resonance and sense of deep sadness needed for these spooky tales. ‘HUmonkey’ stands out from the others as it has an almost sci-fi premise: telling of a genetic hybrid, half man-half monkey, who has been acquitted of murder due to his lack of human status. The stories narrator: who objects to the acquittal and sees the HUmonkey to be an aberration of God’s work, tells the story of the assassination of the HUmonkey. While less traditional in comparison to the other stories, ‘HUmonkey’ is still firmly told in a Poe-like manner again by Andrew Dunn’s doomed voice. Lastly the collection finishes with ‘the Kiss of Death’ another Grimm-esk fairy tale with a Poe-like twist. Although fairly satisfying, it is far too predictable to be truly memorable.

In general it is a satisfying a successful collection of strange horror stories, which although sometimes are perhaps a little amateurish, show much promise for the future and are highly listenable. Unfortunately the same can not be said for the CDs production values. The sound is variable, with noticeable volume changes occurring during a story as the distance between a narrators mouth and mic is obviously no constant. It also sounds like the whole thing was recorded in one take, as there are a good few mistakes, especially by John Ross, which slightly spoil the experience. It doesn’t sound like any of the stories have been edited after the event. This low-fi quality is fine as it is not a professionally produced product, however I would like to have heard some subtle use of music and ambient noises to add to the spookness, which at times feels a little bare. Still I Retched Hard and the Man Spewed Forth and Crawled Away represents a worthwhile purchase for any fan of horror, weird tales and ghost stories at an affordable price: £5.99 from: http://timjeffreys.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/index.jhtml or also for sale from Tim Jeffreys on Ebay at an even cheaper price. I will certainly be tracking down some of his latter work.