My short story 'The Office Block' was recently selected as one of thirteen stories for Parthian's new contemporary gothic anthology A Flock of Shadows. Last week, I read an extract at a special Halloween preview event for the anthology, held at Mozart's Bar in Swansea. The event featured readings from eight of the thirteen contributors to the anthology, seven of which are pictured above (along with Rebecca Parfitt, co-editor of the anthology). Don't ask me why I look so pissed off – I was really pleased to be there!

Halloween is by far my favourite time of year (Christmas runs it close, but you can't beat a bit of pumpkin carving and a Vincent Price marathon). I've kept up the Halloween spirit this past week by regularly dipping into the anthology, and it's already been the cause of at least one restless night. A Flock of Shadows won't be available in bookshops until February next year, but it's available for pre-order directly from Parthian now: http://www.parthianbooks.com/content/flock-shadows

Photos taken by Paula R. C. Readman and Laura Piper

This Thursday (6th November), I will be reading some of my poems at 'In Our Crafty Sullen Arts' – an event run by Swansea University Libraries as part of the Dylan Thomas Centenary celebrations.

"Join our celebration with refreshments and relaxed readings from poets who are all students or alumni of the Creative Writing courses here at Swansea University. Many of the invited writers are already published and all are established contributors to the Swansea spoken word scene. You may never again get the chance to see these talents all together in one show. Event is free but ticketed as space is limited, so book as soon as you can to guarantee a place."

The event is to be held in John Smith's Bookshop in the University's Taliesin Building, starting at 6pm. Confirmed poets include Sarah Coles, Natalie Ann Holborow, Claire Houguez, Liza Penn-Thomas, Georgia Carys Williams, Tyler Zammit and myself.

Refreshments will be available from 5.45pm. To register your interest, visit the Facebook event page or go here to book your ticket: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/in-our-crafty-sullen-art-tickets-13485358069?ref=estw