Clark, Simon
Entry updated 15 January 2024. Tagged: Author.
(1958- ) UK author, principally of Horror, who began to publish work of genre interest with "A Letter from John Shaw" in Dark Dreams #2 for Spring 1985 and has been a prolific author of short fiction ever since, with many of his stories (often set in his native Yorkshire) assembled as collections beginning with Blood & Grit (coll 1990; exp vt Blood and Grit 21 2011) [for further titles see Checklist below]. His first novel was the horror tale Nailed by the Heart (1995); his only series to date – the Vampyrrhic sequence opening with Vampyrrhic (1998) – deals energetically with the Vampire theme. Clark is of greatest sf interest for the Sequel by Another Hand The Night of the Triffids (2001), which was authorized by the John Wyndham estate to mark the fiftieth anniversary of The Day of the Triffids (6 January-3 February 1951 Collier's Weekly as "Revolt of the Triffids"; 1951). This book is set in the Near Future foreshadowed at the end of Wyndham's novel, with the Triffids a continuing presence whose ambulant habits and Poison stings are more a nuisance than a menace until – echoing the mass blindness of the original – a mysterious darkness descends on the Earth and once again gives an advantage to the vegetable hordes. One item of sf invention has triffids learning to hide underwater and thus ambush unwary humans; in general, though, Horror tropes predominate and the darkness is never satisfactorily explained in sf terms. The novel won the British Fantasy Award.
Also of direct sf interest, The Dalek Factor (2004) is a contribution to the Shared World of Doctor Who and – as indicated in the title – features the ever-popular Daleks. [DRL]
Simon Clark
born Doncaster, Yorkshire: 20 April 1958
works
series
Vampyrrhic
- Vampyrrhic (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1998) [Vampyrrhic: hb/Chris Moore]
- Vampyrrhic Rites (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 2003) [Vampyrrhic: hb/Steve Crisp]
- Whitby Vampyrrhic (London: Severn House, 2010) [Vampyrrhic: hb/]
- His Vampyrrhic Bride (London: Severn House, 2012) [Vampyrrhic: hb/]
- Her Vampyrrhic Heart (London: Severn House, 2013) [Vampyrrhic: hb/]
individual titles
- Nailed by the Heart (London: New English Library, 1995) [pb/Steve Crisp]
- Blood Crazy (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1995) [hb/Steve Crisp]
- Darker (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1996) [hb/Steve Crisp]
- King Blood (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1997) [hb/Steve Crisp]
- The Fall (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1998) [hb/Chris Moore]
- Judas Tree (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1999) [hb/Larry Rostant]
- Darkness Demands (Baltimore, Maryland: Cemetery Dance Publications, 2001) [hb/Alan M Clark]
- The Night of the Triffids (London: New English Library, 2001) [tie to The Day of the Triffids (1951): hb/Chris Moore]
- Stranger (London: Robert Hale, 2002) [hb/Derek Colligan]
- The Dalek Factor (Tolworth, Surrey: Telos Publishing, 2004) [novella: tie to Doctor Who: Doctor Who: hb/]
- In This Skin (New York: Leisure Books, 2004) [pb/Judy York]
- The Tower (New York: Leisure Books, 2005) [pb/]
- London Under Midnight (London: Severn House, 2006) [hb/]
- Death's Dominion (New York: Leisure Books, 2006) [pb/]
- Lucifer's Ark (London: Severn House, 2007) [hb/]
- This Rage of Echoes (New York: Leisure Books, 2007) [pb/]
- The Midnight Man (London: Severn House, 2008) [hb/]
- Stone Cold Calling (Launceston, Tasmania: Tasmaniac Publications, 2008) [hb/Vince Natale]
- She Loves Monsters (Escanaba, Michigan: Necessary Evil Press, 2008) [hb/]
- Vengeance Child (London: Severn House, 2008) [hb/]
- Ghost Monster (London: Robert Hale, 2009) [hb/Derek Colligan]
- Humpty's Bones (Tolworth, Surrey: Telos Publishing, 2010) [hb/]
- Secrets of the Dead (London: Severn House, 2014) [hb/]
- Rage Master (Northborough, Massachusetts: Earthling Publications, 2015) [hb/Tomislav Tikulin]
collections and stories
- Blood & Grit (Chesterfield, Derbyshire: BBR Books, 1990) [coll: pb/Dallas Goffin]
- Blood and Grit 21 (Sheffield, South Yorkshire: BBR Books, 2011) [coll: ebook: exp vt of the above on its 21st anniversary: na/]
- Annabelle Says (Stockport, Cheshire: British Fantasy Society, 1995) [story: chap: pb/Brian Aldrich]
- Salt Snake and Other Bloody Cuts (Eugene, Oregon: Silver Salamander Press, 1998) [coll: hb/Fredrik King]
- Exorcising Angels (Northborough, Massachusetts: Earthling Publications, 2003) with Tim Lebbon [coll: hb/Les Edwards as Edward Miller]
- Hotel Midnight (London: Robert Hale, 2005) [coll: hb/Derek Colligan]
- Midnight Bazaar: A Secret Arcade of Strange and Eerie Tales (London: Robert Hale, 2007) [coll: hb/Derek Colligan]
- This Ghosting Tide (Anaheim, California: Bad Moon Books, 2009) [novella: pb/Zach McCain]
- Butterfly (Baltimore, Maryland: Cemetery Dance Publications, 2010) [novella: chap: hb/Steve Gilberts]
- The Gravedigger's Tale: Fables of Fear (London: Robert Hale, 2010) [coll: hb/]
- Bastion (Baltimore, Maryland: Cemetery Dance Publications, 2015) [novella: hb/Alan M Clark]
- Cemetery Dance Select (Baltimore, Maryland: Cemetery Dance Publications, 2016) [coll: ebook: na/]
- Case of the Bedevilled Poet: A Sherlock Holmes Enigma (Alconbury Weston, Cambridgeshire: NewCon Press, 2017) [novella: in the publisher's NewCon Press Novellas series: hb/Vincent Sammy]
works as editor
- The Mammoth Book of Sherlock Holmes Abroad (London: Robinson, 2015) [anth: Sherlock Holmes: Mammoth: hb/Joe Roberts]
links
previous versions of this entry