I Bid You Welcome

As a medium I am used to spirits walking in and working with me. There are a lot of books out there with my name on, all of which have been dictated by spirit authors. Richard Laymon arrived some time before we actually began work on the novel he wanted to write: he was just there, a companion whilst I fought my way through the process of getting the first channelled book into the public arena. Once the book was published, he began hinting that it would be rather fun to begin something which was not historical, which we did. We then started to write what felt like a non-stop stream of short stories which have been published in anthologies, both print and on-line. Richard asked me to collect them into a separate anthology as we worked.

In my computer the file was marked ‘Richard’s anthology’, knowing that sooner or later the right title would appear. I thought for a while it would be When Our Graves Grow Cold, initially the first story in the collection (and my all time favourite) but it didn’t happen because Bela Lugosi arrived to collaborate on the novel (which explained why it stalled for some weeks, the two men were in discussions) and I went looking at Bela’s official website. His startling image and unmistakeable voice saying ‘I bid you welcome...’ was all I needed - we had at last pinned down a title.

Bela wrote stories with me, as did many others who walked in, smiling, offering their tales of death and destruction. Some only came once, having said what they wanted to say, others returned to give me more stories. My grateful thanks go to Roald Dahl, Edith Wharton, Charles L Grant, Virgil Grissom and Yul Brynner for their welcome contributions. Most of the collection was written by Richard Laymon, that I know. There was no mistaking the oft-times evil chuckle when he wrote something particularly gory...!

The invitation is sent out. Richard, Bela, all the other contributing writers and I bid you welcome to a set of stories that will, we trust, entertain and possibly chill you as you read late at night.

Enjoy.