Willaim Meikle celebrates his birthday, and I’d like to do something to help him celebrate it. He has had a horrible year, with a cancer diagnosis, my heart goes out to him, he is not just a good friend, he is a great writer, so I would like to use this space to promote some of my favourite books by Willie.

It was Willie who suggested I should think about setting up my own review site, which I did; it was never meant to be called The Ginger Nuts of Horror, it was supposed to be called The Ginger Nutcase of Horror, as I am if you didn’t know a Ginger and was nutty about horror. However, I was totally out of it on prescription painkillers, and when it came to registering on the website, I put in the wrong name. I though sod it, this is just something fun to do while I am off from work, little did I know that it would grow into the monster it is now. Sometimes I wonder if I should change the name. I think sometimes the name might put some of the bigger film studios off from sending us screeners, but more fool them.

But Willie was always super supportive and gave me loads of great advice. But it was the morning when I woke up to a parcel sent all the way from Canada from Willie, containing an ARC of his latest book. Now, what you have to remember is that this was way before it was so easy to publish books and get ARCs from Amazon. Willie had printed out the book himself, cut the pages to book size and bound it himself. If I had planned this better, I would show you a photo of it, but it is in our safe in the attic, and I can’t get into the attic these days. I was bowled over by his kindness and generosity.

Please check the books out and purchase a few, lets pay it forward!

Here is a selection of my favourite William Meikle books but please check out his full collection on Amazon.

Island Life by William Meikle 

Some legends are true…

The old stories tell of an evil far beneath the earth. When an archaeological expedition ignores local wisdom and opens an old barrow on a remote island in the Scottish Hebrides, they unleash a horror beyond their darkest nightmares. Will anyone survive the onslaught of the Island Life?
William Meikle spins a tale of terror that will keep you awake until you turn the final page!

Praise for Island Life

“…brooding, misty Scottish atmosphere… Many fears come into play—agoraphobia, claustrophobia, acrophobia…solid prose commands attention…through to the climax…” Cemetery DanceMagazine.

“…draws the reader in, weaving a tightly spun web of folklore, horror, and suspense from which there is no escape…” Modoc Record

“Hard to put down, difficult to forget, Meikle weaves a nightmarish story that leaves me wanting more.” Bookbrowser

The Valley

A lost world has been found again… and no one is getting out alive.

1863, a group of mercenaries in Montana come upon the remains of a once-thriving mining town. They soon discover that the destruction was not wrought by human hands, but by creatures long forgotten. William Meikle delivers a classic Lost World story with just the right touch of Horror and Western. You’ll be on the edge of your seat as you descend into The Valley.

“The Valley is a fast paced adventure that will keep you turning the pages until it’s explosive climax.” The Man-Eating Bookworm

Generations: A Creature Feature Kindle Edition

Tom wants to see a dragon. And his grandad wants to make one. But neither of them are prepared for the consequences when they accidentally spill Grandad’s special growth formula on the ground. Insects, grown to giant-size, start to emerge, a few only at first, then more and more…a huge, swarming, mass of them. Now Tom, along with farmer’s daughter, Kate, must battle against the giant bugs to save Kate’s parents. They need help…big help. The kind of help a dragon can provide… –

I grew up watching the “creature features” and b-movies of the 50s and 60s, titles like Them!, Fiend Without a Face etc. and this took me right back to them. Giant ants and other assorted creepy crawlies, the scientist and the hero kids.

If you like those films, you’ll absolutely LOVE this title. – Amazon Review

The Auld Mither

The Auld Mither, a crone-like hag with razor sharp bones for fingers, is killing off the proponents of a new abattoir in a deer farming community. And Dave Duncan seems to be next on the list. Can he figure out how to stop her? Or will he have to pay for the sins of his father?

“Meikle weaves a tight story with some very nice character development considering this book is very much on the shorter side of things. The ending did feel a rad rushed, but it did not take away from what was an entertaining Scottish folklore tale.” – Amazon Review

Fungoid 

When the end came, it wasn’t zombies, asteroids, global warming or nuclear winter. It was something that escaped from a lab. Something small, and very hungry.

It starts with deadly rain that delivers death where it falls, but soon the whole planet is under threat as the infection spreads, consuming everything before it.

A band of survivors on the Eastern coast of Canada watch as their world falls and crumbles to ruin. The infection seems relentless. More than that, it seems to be learning, adapting and evolving faster than they can fight it. Worse still—it is infecting not just their bodies, but is creeping into their minds, dancing in their dreams.

Can they stop it before it takes them?

Or must they all join in the final dance of death?

The Coming of the King (Watchers Book 1) 

It is 1745, and the long awaited night has come.The BloodKing calls his army to battle and will bring them South to claim his birthright; the throne of Britain.Only the young Watchers on the old wall stand in his way.It is time for them to face their destinies – to whatever end that might lead them.

“…horrifying Highland vampires from the bloodline of the diabolical Stuarts. This first novel…offers excitement that never slackens.” — Margaret L. Carter, author of the Eppie Award-winning vampire novel DARK CHANGELING

“…superb story. Thoroughly enjoyable from the first word to the last. William Meikle has a wonderfully unique style…” — The Eternal Night Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror

“Breathtaking, Scary and Original. A must read. An impressive blend of horror, history and imagination.” — Dave Dreher, Horror News Network

Clockwork Dolls

Does all human passion, all memory, all imagination come merely from the chemistry in our brains, like the movements of a clock follow from the arrangement of its cogs and wheels? 

Are we just clockwork dolls?

Or is there an organizing principle at work, something we can ask for answers to the important questions of existence … something that might answer?

Dave Burns has asked.

Now he, and his friends, might not live long enough to understand the reply.

The Road Hole Bunker Mystery 

Murder and skullduggery on the oldest course in golf.
St. Andrews might never be the same again.

Private investigator John Royle takes on a routine missing person case in search of his client’s brother. When the body turns up in a bunker on the Old Course at St. Andrews and John is framed for the murder, the very future of St. Andrews itself is at stake.

John has to get himself out of the frame and ensure the town’s place in history remains safe.

Professor Challenger 

Author William Meikle resurrects Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic character Professor Challenger in this fast-paced novella. The book is available in a leather-bound Deluxe Hardcover with slipcase edition which is stamped with a raptor on the front cover in red foil as well as a trade paperback edition.

Strange lights on the moors, weird noises in the night, cattle disappearing; these are more than enough to prompt Malone’s newspaper to send him to investigate. And when his old companion Professor Challenger also goes missing, the hunt is on.

The trail leads Malone to the British military, and to a research station in the Bristol Channel, where an old terror proves, once again, that some things are not meant to be contained.

“This may well be a highly entertaining story, but for this story to really work, it has to stand up to being a Professor Challenger novel, otherwise there is no point in it being marketed as one. Rest assured folks Willie does a grand job in capturing the essence and spirit of what made these books a favourite of mine. If ever there was a character that Meikle was destined to resurrect then I think Professor Challenger is it.” – Ginger Nuts of Horror.

Eldren: The Book of the Dark

Two boys in the West of Scotland awaken an ancient vampire. And the only way to stop it is in the power of a book–a bible detailing the dark religion of the Eldren. But time is running out, and the sun is getting low. Are you afraid of the dark? You will be.

Praise for Eldren!

“Takes the reader on an escalating ride of terror. Full of intriguing subplots, you hang on for dear life, hoping to discover the truth. Meikle does a fine job with delivery.” Nancy Kilpatrick, Author of The Power of the Blood series

“A gem of a book…essential reading if you are literate, and if you want the vampire genre to grow beyond stagnant velvet clad fops.” -Shirlie Leighton for Bite Me Magazine

“These are real people facing down a fantastical supernatural menace and that’s what gets you. It’s real. It’s dirty. And, by the gods, it’s bloody. No sparkles.” The Occult Detective

“This well written novel effectively delivers both horror and low-key fantasy. Once you start reading the need to find out the fate of the characters will keep the pages turning late into the night.” LoveVampires.com

“I enjoy a well-written book that whisks me deep within its pages and doesn’t let me go until the end when I’m left wanting more. Eldren is a combination of horror, comedy, drama, romance and action – a must read for any reader who wants it all.” Ashley L. Knight author of FINS

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