Picture it; Barnard Castle, 2024.
My writer’s group were doing a ghost stories night for Halloween season, and being someone who easily succumbs to peer pressure I decided to write my own spooky lil’ contribution. I remember laying in bed and scribbling in my notebook, just feeling so fat and lazy, not wanting to write anything and desperately wishing that I could play Call of Duty Zombies instead. But I was still the new boy of the group at that time, and in my first meeting I had nearly set the house on fire by laying my fur-lined corduroy too close to a burning candle. Basically, I wanted to make a good second impression.
So I wrote it. Considering that this story is the literary equivalent of a last-minute homework assignment, I think it’s good and I’m very proud of it. I called it ‘The Summoning’, which is a pretty lame title but gosh, I was in a rush! We sat around and drank non-alcoholic beers and read out our spooky tales. I could barely push the words through my lips because I was still early in recovering from my paralyzing agoraphobia – that’s not important. One thing I vividly remember from that night is the moment I discovered another writer in the group (Virginia Harrison) had done the exact same plot twist as me, only more skilfully executed and with a much stronger story attached. You win this round, Virginia.
I submitted ‘The Summoning’ to a bunch of things online, basically anything I could find that was taking submissions. I sometimes didn’t pay attention to where I was sending it to. True story I received one rejection from a publication named Gray’s Sporting Journal. The email read, and I quote “Very nice. But not a fit for Gray’s. We are a wingshooting and fly fishing publication.” Well, I’m not about to learn what wingshooting is, but I definitely think they should have reeled me in when they had the chance, because it wasn’t long after this when I discovered that ‘The Summoning’ had been selected as part of the Camden Fringe Festival! Courtesy of the Liminal Tales theatre, a group of very talented and creative individuals with exquisite taste in short story work.
Of course, you know for a fact that I was telling people about this as though I had personally sold out the Royal Albert Hall. When I saw the actual venue I noticed that it was a little bit smaller than the RAH. Actually, it looked suspiciously like a diner. Above the doorway it said “Fresh pizza!”, which I thought was a big act to follow. I didn’t sample the food myself, but I know that the show had a very strong reception, four stars in the London Fringe Theatre Reviews! It was such a wonderful production, and I’m so so grateful that I got to be a part of it.
Not long after that, ‘The Summoning’, was performed as part of the Lunatics Radio Hour podcast. It was very titillating for me to hear my name read out by these professional American people with their beautiful Mean Girls accents, and the actress in question gave a truly elevating performance. How fun!
If you’re one of the many unwashed unfortunates who did not attend the Camden Fringe festival this year, rest assured you can still listen to ‘The Summoning’ on the Campfire Tales Podcast. Also, watch out for the upcoming Shadows of Barnard Castle book, an anthology of horror stories written by all my talented friends at the Barnard Castle Writer’s Group which will soon be available to order online!
So you see there are so many ways to enjoy the genius of my work, as well as the work of my local contemporaries who sometimes write my own ideas better than me. For now I continue to write every day except for when I can’t be bothered. I’m hoping to finish my novel ‘Snowglobe’ by this time next year. I’m hoping it will be adapted into a hollywood film the year after that, and then a Bethesda video game by the turn of the decade. Whatever happens, please keep an eye on the BCWG homepage for further updates, and follow me on substack and instagram if you haven’t already!
Joseph Hare
Barnard Castle Writing Group 