Ghost Story Writing Workshops! Audiobook! Submissions Opening! Editor Picks!
Dear Reader,
This coming weekend is a very special one, it is both Winter Solstice and Yule so I wanted to wish you all a very peaceful season of festivities – whatever and however you celebrate.
It’s been a very busy year for us and we’ll be taking a little break from the 23rd of December to the 5th January when we will be announcing our submissions window opening for our Spring issue! Keep your eyes peeled for that…
I also wanted to tell you about a couple of things I have for you: firstly, I have just launched a brand new series of writing workshops! So if you want to kick start some writing, or revive some old work, look no further! Once a month, we’ll be getting together on a Sunday afternoon to write ghost stories. If this sounds like something you would be interested in, please join us for a relaxed writing session exploring all things ghostly. Booking essential as there are very limited spaces. More info can be found on my page here:
For those long Winter nights, we also have a brand new audio story: Katherine Stansfield’s ‘Record’ from book 22, sound design masterfully curated by Alex Gillinder. It is available to listen for free here:
And to round off the year I wanted to bring your attention to two fantastic authors, previously published by The Ghastling, who’ve released their debut novels this year. It’s always very exciting to see an author’s writing career develop and take off like this, so I’m thrilled to share the news on here!
Charlotte Tierney – The Cat Bride
This book was published by Salt in April 2025
”The heatwave of 1995. Sixteen years since an infamous tiger-lynx hybrid escaped a small moorland zoo and ate someone. Sixteen years since the animal was euthanised. Sixteen years for the zoo to fall into disrepair.
Then sixteen-year-old convalescent Lowdy, and her Mumma, are forced to move to the remote old zoo to care for her dying grandmother, and rumours of the animal stalking the moors resurface. Vengeful locals blame the three women for the predator on the loose. Mumma insists all the cats are dead. Grandma whispers that the ‘tynx’ needs to be fed. Lowdy, still recovering from her own mysterious illness, begins to wonder who she can trust. Can she even trust herself when she wakes up covered in ticks with no recollection of the night before?
As Lowdy searches for the truth – the truth of her childhood, what it means to be a woman, and the truth about the cats – she realises something feral runs in the blood, something she cannot ignore.
Much more than simply the wry horror of a young woman’s beastly metamorphosis, The Cat Bride views the eerie liminality of teenaged girls through a pastoral gothic fug of lairy nineties lads, booze and fags.”
This is a truly original book, Tierney’s attention to the senses creates a deliciously cloying and visceral atmosphere. It’s location and array of untrustworthy characters sets the heady and oppressive scene of a summertime Gothic. Full disclaimer: I am not a cat person. This book made me even less so, at times I felt physically sick. If you are a cat person, this book will likely horrify and delight you in equal measure. But you’ll need to read it for yourself to find out!
Mari Ellis Dunning – Witsh
This book was published by Honno Press in October 2025
”Sixteenth century Wales, amidst relentless rain and failing crops, a woman is accused of Witchcraft.
Whispers of witchcraft and hangings begin to cross the border from England, catching like wildfire in the small village of Llynidwen. After several miscarriages, a bereft Doli seeks the help of a local soothsayer, putting herself and the women around her in danger.
A story of women’s courage and defiance in the face of persecution and paranoia.”
Inspired by the largely unknown history of Welsh witchcraft, Dunning has nurtured a magical novel rooted in tradition and realism, creating a rich feminist tale that will captivate readers.
This story crept over me like the tide of fear, suspicion and paranoia surrounding the midwives, healers and soothsayers at the centre of this tale. I could not put this book down. A must-read!
Whatever you’re up to this season, I do hope that you get a chance to curl up with a ghost story or two…
Happy Reading, happy writing, happy sleeping!
With all good wishes,
Rebecca and the ghosts at Ghastling Towers
The Ghastling 