Shirt...

...Has a Horror(ble) Time.

Naughty Asteroid had announced a Halloween signing (six days early), featuring over thirty Horror authors. Scanning the list, Shirt found several with a WHO connection, and so resolved to go. One name in particular caught his eye – Stephen Gallagher – who would allow Shirt to put right a perceived injustice.

Shirt therefore made his way up to Naughty Asteroid for the lunchtime signing, and joined a rather confusing queue, the number of signers seriously taking up queueing space. Shirt found himself at the front of a second queue which would rejoin the original queue when it finally got moving. After about ten minutes, the queue began slowly moving, and several people having been shooed away from joining the back of the first queue, Shirt was at the book table, selecting from the fourteen books available, an anthology that featured at least some of the guests that he wanted - The Mammoth Book Of Best New Horror - 25^th Anniversary Edition.

First up was Stephen Jones, who proved to be the hold-up, being involved with ten of the fourteen books, mainly as editor. Having edited the tome that Shirt was buying, he was the book's first signature, closely followed by two other authors, Ramsey Campbell and Michael Chislett (the other authors sitting in alphabetical order).

Moving to a second row of tables, first up was Stephen Gallagher, who had not contributed to the book, so Shirt put down his 'Terminus' video cover.

“I did already have this signed by you”, he told Stephen, relating the story of the impatient Liza Goddard (see S...I Want It Now!!)

Stephen happily re-signed the cover 'To Shirt, Again,'

“Now I can sleep at night again”, said Shirt, only slightly joking.

Stephen then signed Shirt's 'Terminus' and 'Warriors Gate' DVD covers, borrowing a Sharpie from Shirt.

Next was Large Endings' scribe, Mark Morris, who signed 'House of Blue Fire', 'Freakshow' and 'Torchwood: Mr Invincible'.

Journalist, film critic, and fiction writer, Kim Newman, was next, signing the anthology, and then 'The Secret Files of the Diogenes Club', a collection of his short stories based at the London Club partly founded by Mycroft Holmes.

Three further signatures - Thana Niveau, Reggie Oliver and Lynda E. Rucker – and Shirt reached Rob Shearman. Having got the anthology signed, Shirt placed down the CD booklet for the Large Endings' reading of his short-story collection 'Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical'.

“Love Songs... Not many people bought that. Thank you for buying it”, Rob told Shirt warmly.

(Shirt decided not to mention that he bought it in a LE sale)

“I think it's because it's only six of the stories”, mused Rob, before flicking through the booklet and commenting how he preferred his wife Jane's hair back then, before resolving to bring this up when he got home.

Having been thanked again, Shirt moved off to get a final two signatures in the book - Lavie Tidhar and Stephen Volk – before paying for the book and some blind-boxed Character Building figures.

Wending his way home, Shirt was at last at peace over the 'Liza Goddard incident'.

[PL]