This is the cover for ‘Never Again’ , Greyfriars Press, an anthology of fiction in response to the murder of Sophie Lancaster
My story “Ghost Jail” is one of the stories included. This story is about censorship and control; about people not being able to speak the truth. The setting was inspired by three blocks of flats now demolished in Suva, Fiji. These flats were so decrepit they were condemned, but people still lived in them.
The thing that struck me every time I passed by was the respect the inhabitants had for their home. It may be falling down, but still the children played happily, the washing hung to dry, the pathways were kept clean. This spoke to me of the triumph of the human spirit, that regardless of surroundings, people don’t have to sink into self-pity.
Of course I’m mostly a horror writer, so “Ghost Jail” fails to capture that sense of a positive future!
Edited by Allyson Bird and Joel Lane, ‘Never Again’ contains one of my all time favourite stories, Joe R. Lansdale’s “The Night They Missed the HorrorShow.” It’s one of those stories which inspires me to try harder, to write better. To do another draft, and another, to come up with another idea and another.
Kaaron Warren 