Guest Post – A Moment To Chill The Blood by Simon Cheshire

Throughout the month of October myself and the lovely Heather over at  heatherreviews.wordpress.com  thought we would team up and do a read along with some spooky reads!

We have both been enjoying the Red Eye series published by Stripes Publishing this year so thought these would be ideal for a spooky read along!

Everyone is welcome to join in!

We have a hash tag on twitter where you can keep up to date on our progress and tweet out yours – #RedEyeReadAlong

We also have a Goodreads Group set up for the occasion for even more discussion and to comfort each other when we get scared – you can find the group here

As part of the read along the lovely people at Stripes and the brilliant Red Eye authors have agreed to play along with a weekly spooky guest post throughout the read along!

Today I am honoured to have the super scary Simon Cheshire, author of Flesh & Blood, talking to me about a chilling scene from Dr Who  !

**wimpers**

I must record the facts that have led me to where I am now. So that, when someone reads this, they understand. Sam Hunter’s neighbours are pillars of the community, the most influential people in town. But they’re liars too. The Greenhills are hiding something and Sam’s determined to find out what it is. As his investigation unfolds, he realizes the lies reach further than he ever imagined – is there anyone he can trust? Uncovering the horror is one thing …escaping is another. Simon Cheshire’s chilling novel is part of the Red Eye series.

A Moment To Chill The Blood!

I saw it again the other week, for the first time in years. And although it didn’t utterly un-nerve me the same way it did back then, it still sent a shudder up my spine. If I had to pick one single moment that turned me into the horror/ sci-fi geek I am today, it could easily be a short scene from a 1970 episode of Doctor Who called Spearhead From Space:

From her garden, a woman hears something crashing about in her country cottage. She calls out. She hears the dog indoors bark, then whimper into silence. She calls out again. No answer. Nervous fear clouding her face, she enters the cottage slowly.

The floor is littered with broken furniture. She stumbles towards the doorway that leads into the next room. As she does so, a figure quickly emerges. Tall, dressed in blue overalls. Its head is bald, smooth, plastic. Its face is basic, like that of a shop dummy. With smooth motions, it stalks silently towards her. She screams…

I’m pretty sure I first saw that scene, as a kid, peeking out from behind a cushion. Nothing had ever conveyed to me a sense of ‘alien-ness’, of otherworldliness, more dramatically than those few seconds. An ordinary, domestic setting, into which comes… something… humanoid, yet inhuman; moulded to look like a person and yet blank, empty of personality.

It was called an Auton. The following Monday, every kid in the playground was being one. Jon Pertwee – who was playing the Doctor in that episode – used to say that the essence of scariness was coming home and finding a yeti sitting on your loo in Tooting Bec. I see what he meant.

That scene taught me the terrifying thrill of The Unknown. It’s a thrill that’s never loosened its grip. To me, that moment of confrontation, when all that is You meets its opposite, is what lurks in the heart of Flesh And Blood, of the Red Eye series, of all horror fiction.

About Simon Cheshire

Simon Cheshire grew up in Warwickshire. He was always the quiet kid at the back of the class, and spent a lot of time staring out of the window. From a young age, he was a dedicated reader and would spend many hours absorbed in books, happily dreaming of faraway places, and completely ignoring his mother’s cries of “Go out and get some fresh air, for heaven’s sake!”

His first book appeared in 1997, and since then his books have been published in many countries around the world, and in several languages. He writes in a tiny room that used to be a walk-in cupboard, but which is now crammed with books, pieces of paper and empty chocolate bar wrappers.

His hobbies include movies, repairing old computers and wishing he had more hobbies. He lives in Warwick with his wife and children, although he spends most of his time in a world of his own.

You can buy this book here and on Little Tiger here

Find out more about Simon Cheshire by visiting his website here

Check out a previous Guest Post by Simon Cheshire with his top 5 scares here

Also check out my review of Flesh & Blood here

Check out the #RedEyeReadAlong Q&A with Simon Cheshire here

You can also find out more about the RedEyeReadAlong here and the Flesh & Blood Read Along here which includes details of the weekly challenge.

A huge thank you to Simon for stopping by and for Jen at Stripes for organising this with us!

Do join in using the has tag on twitter #RedEyeReadAlong and why not join the Goodreads Group here

You can follow me on twitter using @ChelleyToy or Heather using @hlwrites0490

Happy Halloween!