Vaudeville and Other Nightmares — Greg Chapman

The stories you are about to read showcase a wonderfully talented writer; someone with a vivid imagination and the unique ability to create stories that can just as easily shock and frighten as they can move and disturb (often all in the one story). These are serious works, not merely light entertainment designed simply to give the reader a quick jolt or a nervous chuckle, but designed to make you think and feel.







Chapman's stories are Barker-esque, dark fantasies that deal with the metaphysical; other realms infringing on our own, humans making deals with grotesque demons and souls lost in purgatory. Some deal not with unreality coming to our own reality, but with a different reality to begin with â€" the myths and legends of the fantastical, such as the Arabian Nights-inspired ‘Everlasting' and the wicked take on the classic fairy tale, Rumpelstiltskin, ‘The Name in the Dark'.







Even when the stories are based in a recognisable universe, there's never the sense of the ordinary in Chapman's world.







Whether it's about the deadly consequences of spousal abuse (‘Baptism'), the torturous tale of the worst job interview in the world (‘Human Resources') or the pain of a child dealing with the loss of a parent (‘Vaudeville'), Chapman imbues his stories with rich imagery and a sense that the real world is just a thinly-built construct that can be taken apart or taken over by other realms and monsters at any time.







While Chapman may not be as grotesque or baroquely blood-spattered as Clive Barker, his stories, like those of Barker, are overflowing with ideas and imagination, and the power and originality of them are often striking and many of the stories will surely haunt you long after you've closed the book.







You're about to embark on a dark and wondrous journey through the mind of a very talented young writer. Be prepared to visit strange worlds and even stranger beings. Horror and violence abounds, but there's also time for reflection, to ponder some of life's most important questions.



- Brett McBean, 2014