A horror writer from Lancaster has released her first novel with a terrifying back story linked to the city's St George's Quay.
One of the characters in MJ Mars’ debut novel, The Suffering, came to her while she was on a guided tour of the city.
MJ, real name Michelle Marsden, said the gruesome history of Lancaster has given her plenty of inspiration for her book, which is getting great reviews.
“I knew I wanted to include Lancaster in my debut novel as I love living in the city and learning as much as I can about its fascinating and dark history," she said.
"I decided to focus on St George’s Quay. The character of the teenaged oracle who cursed the sailors who approached her for a reading came to me after a guided tour of the city, learning about the women who used to work to entertain the sailors when they stopped at Lancaster in the 1700s. Having a novel published is a dream come true, and I’m pleased I was able to include Lancaster in the plot.”
MJ's work has previously been published in a number of horror anthologies, including Dark Peninsula’s Negative Space, Colors in Darkness’ Deadly Bargains, and Silver Empire’s Secret Stairs, which was number one in the Amazon horror chart. Her stories have also featured on the No Sleep Podcast, and The Dread Machine.
The Suffering was published by Wicked House Publishing last month.
It tells the tale of the legend of Brackenby House’s séance massacre, which didn’t faze Kyle Birbeck and his friends when they got a cheap deal on their student house.
But the five monstrous ghosts of the Victorian séance have been lurking inside Brackenby’s walls, and an ill-advised Halloween Ouija board session unleashes them back into the house.
As each ghost latches onto one of the students, they come to realise it’s not the house that’s haunted. It’s them. And the ghosts will stop at nothing to continue The Suffering…
Along with a three-eyed Incan giant, a 17th century executioner with a murderous hobby, a fallen factory thief, and a member of the Hellfire club who struck a deal with the devil to keep his fortune in the afterlife, the powerful Lancastrian oracle with a horde of deadly sailors haunts the students.
The book hit the number one spot in Amazon’s LGBTQ+ horror category during its pre-release, with reviewers saying it was "phenomenal...this is how you write a gory and horrifying ghost story" and “I got so engrossed in this book that I killed my battery on my phone several times".
The Suffering is available on Kindle and in paperback from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
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