Official Newsletter No. 9
Celebrating the Life and Works of Guy N Smith 1939-2020

Greetings Fans, Friends and Fiends!

Welcome! We have details of the imminent GNS Fan Convention 2025 (still time to sign up, the more the merrier) plus current and future projects by Black Hill Books. We’ve been busy with re-releases and audio! Recent highlights include the Night of the Crabs audiobook and new ebook/paperback editions of Crabs on the Rampage, Crabs’ Moon, Crabs: The Human Sacrifice, Werewolf by Moonlight, Return of the Werewolf, and Son of the Werewolf. Don’t miss this newsletter’s heartwarming Last Word article by Chris Hall of DLS Reviews.

The Guy N. Smith Fan Convention 2025

Located at Knighton Community Centre, Powys, the GNS fan convention this year, on Sunday September 7th, will begin at 12.30pm (doors open 12:15).

Highlights:

• Win exclusive Smith-themed merchandise in the raffle
• Meet award-winning Welsh comedian Bennett Arron (see below), who’ll lighten the darkness with his take on our world of crabbery and werewolfery
• Listen to Mickey Lewis read from Werewolf by Moonlight
• Enjoy a reading from David Owain Hughes’ cannibal story Dacchus
• Grab a signed limited edition of the Fan Con chapbook
• Test your knowledge in our Were-Crab Quiz
• Snack on a free buffet by Borders Bites
• Watch a horribly ghoulish GNS-related film clip…
• Save with fan-con prices (£8 each or three for £22)
• Bid in our auction for GNS rarities
• Forget your cares with blood, guts and jump-scares!

Bennett Arron (writer, actor, award-winning comedian)

Bennett Arron is an award-winning writer, comedian and actor who starred in all four series of the Radio 4 Sitcom ALONE. He has written and starred in two radio series, Bennett Arron is Jewelsh, and Bennett Arron Worries About… both of which were nominated for the Celtic Media Awards, and he was a presenter on BBC Three Counties Radio. He has performed around the UK and internationally (Italy, Australia, Germany, Poland, South Africa and Hong Kong). Bennett presented the BBC documentary The Kosher Comedian and was BAFTA-shortlisted for presenting and directing the Channel 4 documentary How To Steal An Identity. He is a past winner of both the TAPS Comedy Writer of the Year Award and the BBC New Writer's Award and is a past finalist of the BBC New Comedy Awards. However his proudest moment was coming third in an International Disco Dancing Championship in Tenerife.

And now for a sneaky peek at some of the goodies…

You’ve got to be there to get something rare!

Latest Releases

Robin Ince – Crabs on the Rampage Foreword Writer

A multi award winning comedian, author, broadcaster, bibliomaniac and populariser of scientific ideas, Robin Ince is perhaps best known as the co-host and co-creator of the Sony Gold Award winning BBC Radio 4 series The Infinite Monkey Cage with Professor Brian Cox. As a stand-up, Robin has toured the world and as an author he has written four acclaimed books, including Bibliomaniac, which earned him the prestigious Booksellers Association Author of the Year award. His fifth, Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal is published in May 2025. He co-created the Cosmic Shambles Network and created the groundbreaking science variety night Nine Lessons and Carols for Curious People which has been adapted worldwide. He has received an Honorary Fellowship of UCL, an honorary doctorate from Royal Holloway College (University of London), and is a fellow of the British Science Association.

Simon Clark – Crabs’ Moon Foreword Writer

Simon, born in Wakefield and a denizen of Yorkshire, adapted his award-winning novel The Night of the Triffids as a two-hour full-cast audio drama for Big Finish, leading to BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcasting the production in 2016. Simon is also the author of dozens of short stories and more than thirty novels, including Vampyrrhic, Blood Crazy, and Darker, many of which have been published worldwide in Japanese, Italian, Greek, Estonian, Spanish, Czech, Polish, French, German and Dutch. Recently, Simon co-scripted The Protos Experiment, a dystopian sci-fi/horror feature film, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2024, and went on general release last summer.

Graham Holden (G. P. Nedloh) – Crabs: The Human Sacrifice Foreword Writer

Graham (G. P. Nedloh) grew up in rural Sussex, and after some time away finds himself back in the county he is most fond of, with the Southdowns on his doorstep. Inspired by the writing of Guy N. Smith he's taken the plunge to attempt to do more writing. He recently published his first novella The Woodlice, very much a 1980s British pulp-horror inspiration, and is currently finishing an entirely different novella called mindNet, a 1990s-inspired cyber-thriller that will have an accompanied music release.

Graham’s dog Pepper appears as Molly in The Woodlice

Listen up! Night of the Crabs audiobook

Narrated by Pete Gold. Released May 2025, available on Spotify, Audible and all well-known platforms. Killer Crabs audiobook is in production…

Listen on Audible: Night of the Crabs (Audiobook)

Also available on Libro, Storytel, Audiobook, Booktopia, Chirp, Kobo, Google Play and more.

More new releases: Return of the Werewolf, Son of the Werewolf

Following on from our new edition of Werewolf by Moonlight, we have now released Return of the Werewolf (with foreword by J.R. Park) and Son of the Werewolf (with foreword by Chris Elphick)!

J.R. Park – Return of the Werewolf Foreword Writer

J. R. Park is a horror author based in South Wales, UK. His works have featured in Year's Best Hardcore Horror and the award-winning Splatterpunk Forever anthology. Described by Scream magazine as having “the darkest imagination in the universe,” his stories take the pulp-horror template, twisting and mashing them into new forms. As well as his own books such as Upon Waking and Punch, Park has co-authored with extreme-horror maestro Matt Shaw (Postal) and even Guy N. Smith himself (Beheaded). Park is honoured to write the foreword to Return of the Werewolf, himself a werewolf-fiction fan, penning his own lycanthropic book Mad Dog.

Chris Elphick – Son of the Werewolf Foreword Writer

Chris Elphick is a writer and photographer from South Wales. He has published nine pulp horror novels, along with several guidebooks celebrating the Gower Peninsula—his beloved childhood playground. In addition, he produces a range of photozines and has a second visitor's guide to Glastonbury, Avalon, slated for publication in August 2025. A lifelong fan of Guy N. Smith, Chris has admired the horror author for nearly half a century. Recently, he dedicated an entire year to reading and exploring Smith's work. This deep dive inspired his first fan-based zine, GNS – 50 Years of Pulp Horror, a personal and passionate exploration of collecting Guy N. Smith books and ephemera, and discovering new ways to celebrate the author’s wildly imaginative legacy.

Chris Elphick is about to release his long-anticipated GNS zine Number 2! The book contains several GNS-inspired shorts by author-fans of Our Great Scribbler and also the introduction to Nightmares from the Black Hill, Guy’s London Mystery Selection short story anthology (2017), and a special republication of “The Mummy” from that publication. Available on Amazon.

On the way: Cannibals

The re-release of Smith’s Cannibals ebook and paperback is now in production, timed to (nearly) coincide with author and GNS fan David Owain Hughes’ special 10th anniversary limited edition of his own cannibals-themed horror oeuvre, All the F*cks. The book includes a novel, a novella, a comic strip, two short stories, a foreword by Guy’s daughter Tara and an introduction by Chris Hall of DLS Reviews!

In 2016, Hughes wrote a Smith-inspired short story called Dacchas which picks up where Cannibals stops, first published in Hell of a Guy, a limited-edition tribute anthology to Smith, compiled and edited by J.R. Park and Chris Hall to mark the 25th Fan Convention. Dacchas is in fact this year’s special Fan Con Chapbook, limited to just 100 numbered copies, published by Black Hill Books and illustrated by Tara.

David Owain Hughes

David Owain Hughes is an ink-slinger of sick, perverse horror and filth who grew up on cheap beer, lewd ’80s horror, and sticky skin mags he’d find in the woods behind his childhood home. The aforementioned porn was usually always rescued from in between used, come-filled rubbers, broken needles and shit-stained underwear. Hughes will tell you that Sybil Danning awoke his sexuality, although, truth be told, it was probably Danny DeVito. Hughes has had multiple short stories published in various online magazines and anthologies, along with articles, reviews and interviews. He’s written for This Is Horror, Blood Magazine, and Horror Geeks Magazine, with a one-off review appearing in Rue Morgue Magazine. He is the author of six horror novels, four short story collections and a plethora of novellas. When he’s not writing B movie-like rubbish and daydreaming about Ingrid Pitt’s tits, he can be found penning crime fiction, having carved out a superb series of crime/noir thrillers under the umbrella title of South by Southwest Wales. Hughes is a forty-something manchild who lives with an epic housemate and three cats in the Rhondda Valleys, South Wales, Wales.

Thanking you kindly…

There’s always a touch of GNS in the industry – here are a couple of instances we've spotted since the last newsletter. Thanks Justin and Trevor!

1Phantasmogoria Issue #25 Winter 24/25, edited by Trevor Kennedy


Paperback Fanatic #50, edited by Justin Marriott

Fiends with Benefits (well, blogs…)

Guy’s stories have always thrived on word of mouth, whispered praise, and bloody good recommendations. Fortunately, there are fiends out there spreading the gospel of pulp horror across the internet. Here’s a selection of sites and blogs keeping the Great Scribbler alive:

• Gavin Kendall
• Paul Ebbs on Facebook
• Chris Hall / DLS Reviews
• Mike Howlett
• Hal C. F. Astell's The Nameless Zine
• Hal C. F. Astell's Apocalypse Later Empire
• The Monster Librarian Interview With Guy N. Smith
• Lord Sampers Library (@lordsamper on X)
• Chris Elphick
• Meet Guy N. Smith on Boing Boing

And if you’re hunting physical treasures, our Official UK Seller, Paul Evans, keeps a stash of hard-to-find titles on AbeBooks.

Website

In the run-up to the Fan Convention 2025, our digital crypt at guynsmith.com is growing fast! It already holds past newsletters, Mystery Man Diary instalments, a biography of Guy, and a large slice of the back catalogue.

But the site is very much a work-in-progress. With more than 150 pages (and still not a complete list of Guy’s books), there are bound to be gaps and the occasional error. We’d love fans to help us shape and expand it.

How you can help:

• Submit reviews of your favourite GNS books or chapbooks
• Spot a mistake? Let us know so we can correct it
• Know of missing editions, cover art, or interviews? Send them in
• Want to get hands-on? We’re even happy for fans to edit pages directly

This is bigger than any one person’s project. With the help of the community we can build the most complete, living archive of the Great Scribbler’s work. So please, drop by, browse, and contribute — your input keeps Guy’s legacy alive online.

Guy N. Smith Patreon Membership

In October 2024 we opened a Patreon to help fund ongoing GNS restoration, re-releases, and community projects. For just $4/month you can keep the Great Scribbler’s legacy alive — and get a little something back for your devotion.

Why join?

Every pledge goes directly into editing, typesetting, cover restoration, audiobook production, and hosting costs. Cancel any time.

Become a Patron → patreon.com/greatscribbler

Amazon Author Page

Guy’s official Amazon page gathers together all available titles — paperbacks, ebooks, and audiobooks — in one place. By following the page, you’ll be notified when new reprints or editions are released.

→ Follow Guy’s Amazon Author Page

Every follow helps boost Guy’s visibility on Amazon, keeping the Great Scribbler in front of new readers — and ensuring the crabs, werewolves, and pulp horrors never fade away.

Last Word by Chris Hall

Okay, so I first came across Guy N Smith’s work after picking up a copy of ‘Satan’s Snowdrop’ from a second hand bookshop probably around 1996 – 1998. At the time I was churning through Barker, Hutson and Herbert novels, but with a seemingly unquenchable thirst for more tales of macabre. The stark and bold cover of ‘Snowdrop’ instantly grabbed my attention, whilst reminding me of the cover for Herbert’s ‘The Survivor’ – so I absolutely had to add it to my TBR pile.

For some reason it was a little while before I read my next GNS book. Probably a combination of spending my time gigging (I was in a grunge rock band at the time) and heading off to uni, plus gurls, booze and all the shenanigans life as a later teen offers.

Anyway, roll on a handful of years and I made friends with a fella at a beer festival (Adrian Walsh) and for some reason we got talking about Guy’s pulp horror. Turns out he was a big fan of Guy’s work. The next thing I know, he’d lent me ‘Night of The Crabs’, ‘The Sucking Pit’ and a whole host of other GNS titles. Over the next few weeks, I lapped up each one like a proverbial pig with its nose in the trough. And from that moment I was hooked.

Of course, this is still very much the early days of the internet, so establishing quite how many GNS titles were actually out there, was a tad tricky. As such, it became a mission of mine to try to unearth them all. And so I began avidly collecting GNS books, constantly adding them to my ever-increasing stack, and flaunting any new discoveries to the aforementioned Adrian.

Over the next twenty or so years, GNS became a huge part of my life. I’ve attended every annual GNS Fan Convention since 2010. Guy and his wonderful family have also become good friends. I’ve also been lucky enough to be killed at the claws of the giant crabs within the novella ‘Killer Crabs 2: The Return’. I’m the proud owner of a deer skull which Guy found in the Blackhill woodland, which he swore blind was the result of a Big Cat kill. For the GNS geeks out there, this exact skull appeared on the covers for both Shane Agnew’s insanely informative Bibliography, as well as the ‘Dangerous Wild Animals In Britain’ chapbook.

Following Guy’s sad passing, the annual GNS Fan Conventions have continued, organised by Guy’s hard-working daughter – Tara. If you’ve not attended one before, then I strongly urge you to! Just being around so many passionate fans, sharing in our love and admiration for Guy, is something truly special. In fact, over the years I’ve formed so many wonderful friendships which will undoubtedly last a lifetime.

So yeah, because of how special these conventions have always been, in 2016 Justin Park and I put together a (now highly sought-after) anthology of GNS inspired fan fiction, which was presented to Guy at that year’s Fan Convention, to celebrate 25 years of the conventions. A wonderful chapter in the GNS world that I and all the contributors are immensely proud of.

As anyone who spends five-minutes in my company will no doubt testify, preserving the legacy of GNS is very important to me. To this day I’ve continually done what I can to promote Guy’s work and document what was published. My website – DLS Reviews – an openly verbose labour of love, is where I continually add more in-depth reviews of GNS’s work, more to provide an online reference for those wanting to find out more about Guy’s back catalogue, than anything else.

Anyway, I love that we have these fan Newsletters. That we get to see all the work Tara and numerous others are putting in, to keep Guy’s legacy alive and well. I urge anyone who has found something special in Guy’s books and his life, to continue to support the mission, in whatever way you can. Whether it’s through monthly contributions to the GNS Patreon account, through purchasing the rereleases that keep coming out, through reviews, word of mouth, or from attending the Fan Conventions.

And if you do come to a convention, please do come say hi to me. I love chatting to fans and making new GNS friends. The GNS community is amazing and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Chris Hall

(dlsreviews.com)

And Last But Not Least - “Mystery Man” Diary 1957

Here is the seventh instalment of Guy’s secret teenage diary, originally handwritten, and published in our GNS newsletters for the first time. Guy would have been just 18 years old when he wrote it and was already working in the Midland Bank. Enjoy!

Thursday April 4th
We were bit slacker today. Mum & Grandma came to B’ham & got me a new raincoat. I went down to Powell’s & got a box of cartridges. I had a hectic race up Corporation St & Bull St to get the bus. Just caught it at Grey’s. I walked home from Mile Oak. I weeded a path & had a short chat with Billy. Helen Brewster came & gave me a book-keeping lesson.

Friday April 5th
Just a normal routine day. We were moderately busy though. When i came up the road tonight. I saw Billy was watering his front garden with the hose so I stopped & gave him a hand. He said, “Give him a penny rattle and he’ll play for hours.” Rev. Shufflebottom called to see Dad & interrupted the last 10 minutes of “Dragnet.”

Saturday April 6th
Felt ill when I got up. Went to the office. I felt sick & dizzy most of the morning but was O.K. by lunchtime. I walked back from Mile Oak. I did a lot of gardening. I went to see Billy & Nellie. He wants me to put a notice up outside Coles saying “No Refuse. Offenders will be prosecuted. Penalty £5.” I went shooting but didn’t get anything. Very tired. Went to bed early.

Sunday April 7th
Went to church in the morning. A man fainted at the altar & had to be left there for the rest of the service. I did a lot of gardening today & I have now only the front drive & I have now only the front drive to weed & then I’ve finished. I saw Billy & Nellie. Tonight I did that notice for him. Mum says he can put it up himself. I felt much better today.

Monday April 8th
A busy day. I got the 5.40pm bus home. We lost the batch sheets. I hope I didn’t put them in the Head Office Sack! I put a bucket and a half of lime on the garden tonight. I finished off the notice I was making to fool old Dale. It Reads “NO REFUSE (red). OFFENDERS WILL BE PROSECUTED (black). BY ORDER (silver).” What a laugh.

Tuesday April 9th
Quite a good day. Got the 5.15 train home. I went down to Grandma & sat on an “invisible chair.” Very humiliating. Went up to Mrs Winfield’s with Sam Loughead. I got plenty of dancing if not anything else. I’d got my eye on one dame & I thought of asking her in the last waltz but she said she was hoping her ex-boyfriend was going to make it up with her.

Wednesday April 10th
Another good day. I came back on the bus (5.5pm) with Mr & Mrs Davis. He is out of Burntwood now & getting better. I weeded the drive tonight. There was a meeting at our house tonight of Dad, Mr. Price & the Vicar of Tamworth. The reason was the Vicar was trying to claim the collection at Hopwas on Easter Sunday for himself while the priest-in-charge should really have it. Dad and Mr. Price talked him round and made him see reason.

Thursday April 11th
I got the 4.42 train back but it was late & didn’t get into Tamworth until 5.15pm. I went & had a chat to Jack Marriott & got the 5.40pm bus up. I finished weeding the drive. When I took the dog for a walk down the road last thing, I met P.C. Windsor. I introduced myself & we had a friendly chat. He seems a decent sort of chap.

Friday April 12th
We had a nasty £10 difference in the ‘Midland’ listing tonight. A cheque was finally discovered for that amount stuck in the Recordak. I got the 5.50pm bus home. Walked from Mile Oak. Home at 7 o/c. I did not do any gardening. Jack Marriott got my record of Victor Silvester playing “Alabama Jubilee.” A reasonable “Dragnet” on T.V.

Saturday April 13th
Back home at 2pm. I limed the fruit trees, put weedkiller on the paths & cut & edged the front lawn. Had a cup of tea & a chat with Billy & Nellie. I went shooting in Hopwas wood. Had a bit of trouble with Tregaskiss again. He was narked because I was down by Pearce’s when I “had been told” to keep to the top plantation.