Simon Clark (novelist)

Simon Clark

Born (1958-04-20) 20 April 1958
Doncaster, England
Genre Horror novel
Notable works The Night of the Triffids
Website
bbr-online.com/nailed

Simon Clark (born 20 April 1958) is a horror novelist from Doncaster, England. He is the author of the novel The Night of the Triffids, the novella Humpty's Bones, and the short story Goblin City Lights, which have all won awards.

Most of his stories are based in Yorkshire, his home county. He also uses a technique that he calls "The Art of Wandering". The idea for Goblin City Lights arose from wandering in a London graveyard.

Biography

Simon Clark was born on 20 April 1958 in Doncaster, England. He is married and has two children.[1]

Clark began his career writing stories for fanzines. One of these was the semiprozine Back Brain Recluse (BBR).[2] His first published collection of stories was Blood And Grit, published by BBR in 1990.[3] In 1994 an editor named Nick Austin at Hodder Headline bought both Nailed by the Heart and Blood Crazy.[4] An agent agreed to represent Clark. At this point, Clark decided to become a full-time writer.[5]

After his seventh novel had been published in England, the American publisher Leisure Books republished his first book, Nailed by the Heart. Clark's first book for the American market, Darkness Demands, was set in the small English village of Skelbrooke, South Yorkshire.[4] Clark has also written prose material for U2 in the fan magazine Propaganda.[6]

Major works

Vampyrrhic novels

One of Clark's most popular novels, Vampyrrhic, has been followed by several sequels. Clark has said that he is not a fan of vampire novels. In the 1990s it was his view that vampires were becoming romantic, attractive figures. His intention in writing the book was to make the vampire loathsome, repellent, and ultra-violent again.[4]

The Night of the Triffids

The Night of the Triffids is Clark's sequel to The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham.[4] His agent contacted the trustees of Wyndham's estate, who agreed to the proposal.[4]

Doctor Who

Clark's Doctor Who novella, The Dalek Factor, was published by Telos Publishing just before the rights to publish Doctor Who were reacquired by the BBC. Around the same time, Clark was commissioned by the BBC to write a story for the second series of an animated Doctor Who series starring Richard E. Grant. This is the Doctor known as the Shalka Doctor. Three episodes were written before the commission was cancelled due to the imminent return of the live television series.[7]

Awards

In 2002 Clark won the British Fantasy Award for best short story, "Goblin City Lights", and best novel for The Night of the Triffids.[8] "Goblin City Lights" originally appeared in Urban Gothic: Lacuna and Other Trips (2001), published by Telos Publishing.[9] Clark said that the story first started when he wandered into a London graveyard, which he cites in an article, "The Art of Wandering", as a good example of his technique.[10]

In 2011 he won the British Fantasy Award for best novella for Humpty's Bones.[11]

Adaptations and other broadcasts

Clark's story "Six Men with Fire", a story about a picket-line during the UK miner's strike of 1984–1985 was read by Paul Copley on Morning Story on BBC Radio 4, on 27 July 1988.[12]

A Big Finish Productions audio adaptation of The Night of the Triffids was released in September 2014. It stars Sam Troughton as David Masen.[13]

Bibliography

Churchyard at Skelbrooke
Graveyard in Whitby
Dalek
Gravedigger

Novels

Novellas

Collections

Critical reactions

Reviewers at Publishers Weekly have given Clark's works mixed reviews. The reviewer of Darker said it was "disappointing" and hoped Clark would do better next time.[15] The reviewer of Whitby Vampyrrhic called the novel a "cookie-cutter story of an English town infested by the undead".[16]

However, His Vampyrrhic Bride was described as "romantic without being soppy or sentimental", and "a palate cleanser for horror readers tired of the same old blood-suckers".[17] The Night of the Triffids was said to be "a crafty continuation" of The Day of the Triffids, being "more literary than many books of its ilk" and a "truly enjoyable voyage".[18] The reviewer for Death's Dominion wrote that "all the monster-burning, skull-crushing, village-razing, castle-raiding fun ... make for a satisfying son of Frankenstein".[19]

References

  1. "Simon Clark (Author of Blood Crazy)". Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  2. "BBR catalogue". Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  3. "Horror Author Interview: Simon Clark is nailed by the heart". Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Shadow Writer – The Official Paul Kane Website". Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  5. "Simon Clark Special Part 1". Horror Zine. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  6. "Simon Clark – Darker – Hodder & Stoughton". hodder.co.uk. 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  7. Ian Berriman. "Doctor Who: The Simon Clark Story That Never Was". Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  8. A short history of the British Fantasy Awards
  9. ISBN 978-1903889008 The collection was inspired by the Urban Gothic (TV series) on Channel 5.
  10. Simon Clark. "The Art of Wandering". The Horror Zine. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  11. "The Strange Horizons Blog: British Fantasy Award winners 2011". strangehorizons.com. 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  12. "Morning Story – BBC Radio 4 FM – 27 July 1988 – BBC Genome". BBC. 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  13. "Big Finish". Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  14. "Hale Books". Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  15. "Darker". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  16. "Whitby Vampiric". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  17. "Fiction Book Review: His Vampyrrhic Bride by Simon Clark". Publishers Weekly. 18 September 2006. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  18. "Fiction Book Review: The Night of the Triffids by Simon Clark, Author". Publishers Weekly. 18 November 2002. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  19. "Fiction Book Review: Death's Dominion by Simon Clark". Publishers Weekly. 18 September 2006. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
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