The Dark Man

I first wrote about the 'Dark Man' in my 2004 novel, Killing Time, and as with all good horror 'bad guys', this one won't stay dead. In looking for some kind of creature to inhabit Falling Star, the concept of the 'Dark Man' stalking his victim(s) has come back from the deep recess that I left him in.

It is also not the same 'Dark Man' who was stalking the life of Nicole Hutton, the heroine of Killing Time, but another one of his kind. This brought to me the idea that in the world of my ficton there is not just one 'Dark Man' roaming the earth, but many 'Dark Men' all around us, hidden from our natural senses though can be seen by those with the gift, or curse, of a connection to something beyond. Who they are and why they are here is part of their mystery, and really adds to the fear that they can generate.

In Killing Time, the 'Dark Man' was trapped inside a mantle clock, until Nicole unwittingly releases him to torment her life and kill those around her. This is not the case in Falling Star, where he came from and why he is after Star is something that drives the plot as I'm writing it, and adds more dimension to the story.


By working on both books at the same time, (writing the first draft of Falling Star while revising Killing Time for its second edition), it is really giving me more of a feeling for the character of the 'Dark Man' as it develops, and gives the possibility of new stories for 'Dark Men' to appear.

The 'Dark Men' are everything you fear. You know those things you see out of the corner of your eye or hiding in the shadows, the voices you can hear in empty rooms, the chill that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end? They are all 'Dark Men', watching you, and waiting...