Dan Coxon

Twenty years ago, two friends and I decided to write, produce and direct a series of three short horror plays for Halloween. The trilogy was called Scream! Scream!! Scream!!!, and it enjoyed at least one rather lukewarm review. What was remarkable about it was the range of our ideas. One of the plays was a moody serial killer thriller, another was a sliver of weird horror straight out of the Twilight Zone , while the third was a bizarre slasher-pantomime that climaxed with the audience throwing Halloween candy at the blood-drenched actors. None of the plays had much in common, yet they all lurked beneath the Horror banner.   Fast forward twenty years, and Litro #138 has the same Horror theme. Of all the issues I've edited of the magazine, this is probably my favourite. In part that's due to the quality of the writing. We have a fantastically haunting tale by Toby Litt , a sliver of near-future horror from Richard Thomas , and a deeply disturbing story about toys from Ada

These days, it's not unusual to see writers out and about in the real world, reading from their work, signing, and generally promoting what they do. It's become an inevitable part of the modern publishing deal. These 'tours' are usually tied to a book release - but I've decided to buck the trend, by having an unreasonably busy October without actually having a book to promote. Go figure. Here are the events I'll be appearing at this month. Please drop by and say hello, buy me pint, give me some homemade knitwear, present me with figurines you'd made of me out of your own earwax, etc. All are welcome (except for the earwax sculptors... you can stay at home). Thursday 16 October - Litro Book Club event w/ Marc Pastor Shutterbug, 1 Rivington Place, London EC2A 3BA. Doors open 6.30pm. Marc Pastor will be reading from Barcelona Shadows , after which I'll be interviewing him on the book and its themes. There will also be a chance for audience question