20A Lordship Road

The house in which I was born (20A Lordship Road), had only been occupied by my future family for a few months before my birth. Coming from the London suburbs, they settled in the green-belt area of Cheshunt in Hertfordshire. Unlike the other two-storey houses in our street which were parallel to the road, ours, at three storeys, was not only bigger than all the others, it also faced at right angles to them and parallel with Cheshunt Great House.  

In the stained-glass window on our front door was a picture of Oliver Cromwell. Why Oliver Cromwell should be depicted, as he had no known attachments to Cheshunt unlike his son, Richard Cromwell, who resided, using a hidden identity in the form of John Clarke in Cheshunt around 1680, until his death in 1712, remains a mystery. Though recorded as being buried at Hursley, in Winchester, there was rumour that his real resting place was, in fact, in an unmarked tomb in the grounds of St Mary’s church, in Cheshunt.   

St Mary’s church was close to, or in part of, the former grounds of Cheshunt Great House, which was gifted to Cardinal Thomas Wolsey by Henry VIII; and, as the crow flies, St Mary’s church was less than two minutes’ walk from our house. In fact, Cheshunt Great House was only ten minutes away. Our road was a cul-de-sac; its name was ‘Lordship Road’.

Oh, I forgot to say...our house was haunted...

Brighton Schlock

What happens when a biker drag queen uncovers an evil trafficking plot, with the help of his dominatrix side-kick from the flat downstairs; a certain type of wart invades a hospital ward; your teenage GBF turns out to be related to you; shredding machines and other devices take on a life of their own; and horny gargoyles abseil into cocktail parties – all in one of the nation’s most louche hotspots? And just who are these two young boys, skulking through many of the tales? With shared locales and dramatis personae, Merryman Downes’ Brighton Schlock is a fast-paced, surreal, happy, sexy, sad, and ultimately tender suite of interrelated tales where intrigue, horror and seemingly magical occurrences affect the well weird residents and enclaves of Sodom-on-Sea – or Brighton, as those of us who love it, call it.

Oh – and did anybody mention the astral body-snatching?

Dark Regressions

What do you know about the occult? Michael Deville knew very little.

He is suffering from the effects of a terminal illness and lives with his wife Helena Rose, his only companion, who is a working nurse.

During the long periods of time when he finds himself alone, Michael occupies himself by reading through old papers and documents that he found in the spare room, some of which were decidedly unusual. Michael finds himself experiencing particularly disturbing hallucinations that seem to be connected in some indefinable way to the strange manuscripts he had discovered.

Are they dreams; or perhaps visions of times from a distant past? Times that held him trapped in history – his history?

What is the connection between The Count and the Convent of the Golden Orb?

Who is the Man in Black?

Dead? Undead? Limbering Bastards

What would you do if you found yourself stranded miles from home and your family during a sudden and unexplained virus outbreak? People are dying all around you… while others are quickly coming back to life as the limbering undead… complete with a ravenous hunger and thirst for human blood. You need to get home… you need to know if your family are safe… but can you really survive the swelling hordes of the limbering undead… not to mention other survivors.

Ethereal

Are you there? Do you still wish to continue to the journey’s end?

Do you wish to buy fully into my madness?

If so, partake further of my world, and on your own soul be it.

However, have a care, as I shall surely enter into yours, become the substance of your own shadow, part of the fibre of your being.

Do you wish still to continue to the journey’s end, into my world, my lunacy?

Then indulge, partake of my realm: HELL!

Ghost Hunters

A young Australian tourist is brutally murdered and dismembered in the grounds of a historic British manor house. A man is convicted of her murder on the flimsiest of evidence, and the distraught owner sells the house. The new owners – keen to profit from the gruesome history – open the house up for ghost hunts, and it is on one Halloween night when a group of people searching for paranormal activity come face to face with the building’s past. What starts out as a night of fun, evolves into a battle of survival as one by one the hunters become the hunted.

Ghost Tours of Hertfordshire and Essex

Ghosts are ubiquitous! This guide has 62 tours, which incorporate over 280 towns and villages, and more than 800 sites. Directions are given in each tour to enable the investigator to find the sites. Map references have been included using Ordnance Survey Maps, together with the map numbers, to enable the investigator to find the haunted sites. The purpose of the guide is to enable the enthusiast to seek and observe. There are notes of interest and history notes as the counties are awash with fascinating stories and legends. 

So decide which tour you are going to tackle first. You may wish to meet the phantom army at Thundridge Church ruins, the screaming woman in Water Lane, Bishop's Stortford, the Witchfinder General, Mathew Hopkins at Manningtree, or maybe the ghostly monks carrying a coffin at Belchamp Walter.

Goldberg Hall

Who haunts Goldberg Hall? Could it be the past owners? Or did someone from more recent days meet a cruel fate there? Could it be the woman and child who Ava saw walking along the road towards Waterfall River? Or Jack Armstrong, the builder who renovated the Hall? He was discovered frozen to death in a solid block of ice inside his car. Or could it be Lord Goldberg himself who raped his own daughter and died from a revenge killing. There are many theories as to whom or what haunts the manor. Nevertheless, the locals stay away from Gallows Hill where the old hall used to stand.

They know the rumours of the hanging Goldberg judges and the orgies there. The remaining part of the Hall has now been refurbished and sold to a young couple with three children. Unknown to the new owners is the fact that not everyone leaves the Hall alive. The only people who could explain the inexplicable events there are the dead souls themselves who haunt Goldberg Hall.

Hollow Puppets

What started out as an investigation into possible murders soon reveals a much darker, older game at play. Suspending everything they have come to believe in and drawing on powers previously unimagined, Jackson and Alex embark on a journey that will leave you breathless in anticipation and horror. Their road is twisted and dark but they face it together, drawing ever closer, united in terror. In their quest for answers, Jackson will need to master himself and his evolving abilities so that he will be ready for the inevitable, climactic showdown with a shadowy, mysterious force. A force of unimaginable age, intent upon manipulating them towards its own evil ends by squeezing every bit of horror, heartache and desperation from the both of them. Jackson has limited time to become what he was always meant to be, will it be enough?

Insanitus

Make it to resemble a man

Sans emotions of any kind

Ignorant of pain and pleasure

Cold: bereft of heart and soul

One to kill at my command.

From  ‘PANDORA’

Night Highway

One Friday afternoon, Steve and Mark Cross head off on an adventurous father and son weekend in the Australian bush. The long drive provides plenty of time to shake off the weekday woes, have a few laughs and soak up the rugged landscape. In the early hours of the morning, as they near their destination in a remote part of the country, through the endless darkness of the ‘night highway’, they notice a dull light on the road up ahead.

As they get closer to the light, it becomes painfully apparent that something is not right. What unfolds from that point will see Steve, Mark and others, encounter a group of locals who subject them to sinister and relentless demands, over and over. If they are to survive, they’ll need to push themselves beyond all physical, mental and emotional boundaries. Either way, life will never be the same.

Something Out There

What is the connection between an abandoned vehicle and the mysterious and gruesome death of a shepherd in an isolated barn 100 years ago? Will PC Gary Olson's interest in eventually acquiring the iconic vehicle for his own use be clouding his judgement? It's easy to say that, with hindsight, he should have been very, very afraid but, of course, hindsight always seems to come just that little bit too late. Please don't have nightmares.