Story-by-story: Night of the Fox

The inspiration for this story should be pretty obvious: British films with titles that begin ‘Night of the…’

That is, Night of the Demon from 1957 and Night of the Eagle from 1962.

The hero of the story is pretty obviously based on Dana Andrews, Brian Donlevy, Macdonald Carey, and other American actors who washed up in Britain when their careers began to founder.

Lots of low-budget British B-movies of the 1950s and 1960s have American stars looking bleary-eyed and rumpled round the edges, taking whatever work they could get.

The story was also prompted by conversations with my pals Jamie Evans, Rory ffoulkes and Stephen Graves, at various points, about the extent to which folk horror is ‘played out’.

I wanted to have a go at writing a folk horror story which hit all the prescribed beats while also presenting some new images and ideas.

What are those prescribed beats? I don’t want to spoil the story but let’s just say that I think The Wicker Man is prime folk horror and Witchfinder General isn’t, really, despite its place in the canon.

Also in the mix were my memories of visits to Tewkesbury and Lübeck, which both have intriguing networks of alleys and courts – survivors of mediaeval street patterns. Tewkesbury also has its old Mythe Road – what a street name!

This story shares the name of its setting, Newhamstead, with another story in the collection, ‘British Chemicals’. As I said in the post about that piece, I’m not sure if they’re the same town or not. But I would be surprised if I don’t use the name again, when it feels right.

The idea of a village being absorbed into a post-war new town appealed to me because I’ve spent quite a bit of time thinking about new towns.

In 2017, I co-wrote a book about pubs under the name ‘Ray Bailey’ and spent time visiting places like Harlow and Stevenage. And I’ve written here about the uncanny potential of new towns.

Finally, I should also admit that a significant inspiration – almost the spark for the story – was an American on Twitter sharing their astonishment the first time they heard a British person say, completely in earnest while offering to pour tea: “Shall I be mother?”

What a weird country this is.

Intervals of Darkness will be published on 7 September. You can pre-order the eBook now.