Alfred McLelland Burrage (1889–1956) was noted in his time as an author of fiction for boys which he published under the pseudonym Frank Lelland, including a popular series called “Tufty”. After his death, however, Burrage became best known for his ghost stories. After his father died in 1906, A. M. Burrage began writing fiction, partly to support his family. Burrage’s main market for his fiction were British pulp magazines, such as The Grand Magazine, The Novel Magazine, Cassell’s Magazine and The Weekly Tale-Teller.

He served in the Artists Rifles in the First World War, and published a memoir of his war experiences, War Is War, as “Ex-Private X”. Burrage is now remembered mainly for his horror fiction, some of which was originally collected in the books Some Ghost Stories (1927) and Someone in the Room (1931) – often under his “Ex-Private X” name. His work generally is on a spectrum somewhere between the ghost stories of M.R. James and H.R. Wakefield, neither as stuffily antiquarian as the former, nor as sensationalistic as the latter. He died at Edgware General Hospital at the age of sixty-seven on 18 December 1956.

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Marc Burrows is an author, critic, musician and occasional stand-up comic from London. His 2020 biography of Terry Pratchett won the Locus Award for Best Non-Fiction, and his second book, The London Boys: Bowie, Bolan and the Sixties Teenage Dream will be published in 2022. He is a member of the cult punk band The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing, and lives in North London with his wife, who deserves your sympathy, a small black cat called Princess (who doesn’t) and two tropical fish he suspects might be psychopaths.

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Preston Buttons hosted “Air Out My Shorts“, with The Word Whore, for a ten-year stint. The duo (REDACTED) unvetted works of listener-submitted short fiction —often absentmindedly, always drunkenly, and completely unencumbered by any relevant credentials— from 2005 through 2015. Rumors of a reboot of this ‘offbeat Canadian classic’ have been greatly (REDACTED). Preston Buttons also narrated Escape Pod 57: Chuckles Mulrooney, Attorney for the Damned.

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MICHAEL BYRNE a London based Writer/ Film Maker originally from Rochdale in Lancashire. He writes for his own blog, Static Culture and is currently seeking representation. He says he never truly sets out to write dark or subversive stories but for whatever reason they usually end up that way. His previous work, ‘Gast’, received wonderful reviews from readers of Scribble Magazine, coming second in their quarterly competition. ‘Gast’ can also be found at Static Culture. His film work people can be viewed at Cracked Films.

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Your reader this week – Joe Calarco – is an actor and sound designer living in Los Angeles. He’s also one of the founding members of Coeurage Theatre Company in Hollywood.

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Tad Callin is an Associate Editor at Pseudopod and the Wikia Wrangler for Escape Artists, Inc. He has had many adventures over the years, serving as a linguist in the U.S. Air Force, failing at truck driving, and raising his family. He published most of those stories in his 2016 memoir/novelTad’s Happy Funtime. Other previous published work includes an urban fantasy story, “Silver,” published on the Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine podcast. His current projects include finishing his family history, drafting a sci-fi novel, and completing his long-dormant music degree.

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STEVE CALVERT (usually) lives in the UK. He usually writes horror fiction, but occasionally writes in other genres. His fiction has been published in Arkham Tales, Hub, and Necrotic Tissue. Further slices of his fiction can be read in his horror anthology Written in Blood, which is available in the Amazon Kindle store.

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Madhu Campbell grew up in India and currently lives in California with three cats, two dogs, one baby and a very patient husband. She writes science-fiction, fantasy, and horror stories rooted in the histories, mythologies and experiences of South Asian communities. Her work has recently appeared in Bowery Gothic magazine and she graduated from Wayward Wormhole writing workshop in 2023. You can find more of her writing at www.mgcauthor.com.

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