Kent musician hits right note with spooky book
Added: (Wed Feb 27 2019)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
Horror dolls, a heavy metal band and the untimely loss of his late girlfriend have inspired a Kent musician to embark on a series of horror novels.
Matthew Lee Hanson has just released his debut novel, The Countess of Black Hill: Fallen.
The 41-year-old from the Isle of Sheppey admits much of the inspiration for picking up the pen came from the ensuing grief, a love for fantasy and the supernatural and even the atmospheric and dark places one of his favourite bands encase him in, as well as his large collection of Living Dead Dolls.
Matthew said: “Cradle of Filth’s music has been a huge inspiration for forging ideas and plots. Their albums are mostly conceptual, telling stories within the music, and the lyrical nature.
“The music alone can be very dark and atmospheric and above all very heavy, so they provide a great soundtrack for writing horror, supernatural, and Gothic tales of all kinds.
“But it was my late girlfriend Victoria who actually believed that I had the talent to do it after reading some of the lyrics I had written for my band The Dark Divine. In fact the last song on the album was going to be a theme tune for her own novel Darkseed:Awakening after she was asked to script her story for television, but unfortunately we never got the chance to fulfil that dream sadly, although I was so happy that she got a chance to hear it, and I was elated that she absolutely loved it.
“Her untimely death in 2014 was the absolute final push for me to have a go, if not for me then for her, in her memory.
“Further inspiration to really help with the character building was down to imagination, various dolls from my collection and even images of anything gothic, supernatural or fantastical. Inspiration is available everywhere I look, so an amalgamation of everything really.
The Countess of Black Hill: Fallen tells the eerie story of 16-year-old Gretchen who arrives in Victorian London with her family in 1882.
Landing a maid’s job at the notorious Dassindale mansion brings the naïve teenager into contact with vampires for the first time.
Suddenly Gretchen has to fight for survival amidst the capital’s dark and untrusting alleyways.
Since the release of The Countess of Black Hill: Fallen it has earned rave five-star reviews from captivated readers.
Matthew’s debut novel has been described as ‘very enjoyable’, ‘gripping’ and ‘compulsive reading’ by readers.
Ashley Hayward added: “The Countess of Black Hill: Fallen is a great read, well put together with some great characters.”
Following the response to his first book, Matthew has already started writing the sequel The Countess of Black Hill: Resurrection.
He added: “I have started the second book where the characters really begin to come into the story.
“I feel I am writing better this time around and think The Countess of Black Hill may even run to a third book, I’ll have to see. Also arriving in 2019 is a collection of short stories and poems which I also hope to release in 2019”.
For more details, visit Amazon and search for Matthew Lee Hanson, where the paperback and Kindle formats of The Countess of Black Hill: Fallen are both available.
Notes to the editor
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