Ancient folklore and local mythology adapted for contemporary fiction.
Simon McCall
Contemporary British folk horror rooted in Cumbria, the Borders, and Scotland—where real landscapes, inherited loyalties, and ancient creatures collide.
Official Editorial Review: “The writing is exceptional… gripping, refreshingly original, and the perfect work for fans of folk horror.” — Romuald Dzemo
9–11 October 2026 | Crowne Plaza Glasgow
Official attending guest and author panelist. Available for in-person media interviews, podcast recordings, book signings, and rights discussions.
The Author Universe
Britain’s old stories, brought back into the weather.
Simon McCall writes atmospheric supernatural fiction where ancient folklore is not safely contained in the past. It waits beneath reservoirs, beside lonely fells, and inside the names of places people think they know.
Across two published collections and the forthcoming novel The Corpse Road, retired Royal Military Police investigator Connor “Mac” McClymont (51) is drawn into a hidden conflict between the human world, the Fae, and corporate syndicates weaponising landscape, ancestry, and memory.
Books in the Universe
Published collections and forthcoming full-length novels.
The Cumbria Chronicles
Eight interlinked folk-horror encounters introducing Connor “Mac” McClymont and his converted Land Rover ambulance, “The Badger.” When corporate deep-drilling breaches an ancient tomb under Skiddaw, Mac must navigate rogue mercenaries and awakened aquatic horrors.
The Clan Chronicles
The conflict expands across the border. The Campbell Heritage Trust systematically provokes Scotland’s most dangerous dormant entities (the Each-Uisge, Baobhan Sith, and Nuckelavee) to forge a geographic blood-sacrifice circle. Mac must invoke his Norse-Gaelic heritage to break the contract.
The Corpse Road
When drought exposes the drowned ruins of Mardale, an ancient coffin road awakens. A riderless packhorse bears an empty coffin while a wounded Fae woman seeks sanctuary. Pursued by Ironbound guardians, Mac must prevent the deadway from becoming a permanent crossing.
Press, Podcast & Festival Angles
Ready-made discussion topics for broadcasters, reviewers, and event chairs.
Folklore Beneath Familiar Ground
How real British fells, drowned valleys, and Gaelic lore operate as active narrative forces rather than decorative scenery.
Investigator to Monster Hunter
Deconstructing Mac’s military policing discipline—approaching supernatural entities as tactical problems rather than gothic tropes.
When Old Routes Wake Again
The history and legal customs of corpse roads and coffin paths, exploring the fictional question: Who decides where the dead belong?
Across the Border
Expanding a dark fantasy universe from Cumbrian ghost lore into Scottish clan history and isolated island mythology.
Author Bio & Press Assets
Official bios approved for festival programmes, podcasts, and reviews.
Short Bio (50 Words)
Simon McCall is a Cumbrian author whose supernatural fiction draws on the folklore, ghost lore, and ancient mythology of Cumbria and Scotland. He is the creator of Mac Versus Monsters, combining action-thriller pacing, regional history, and a reluctant former military investigator who tracks monsters hidden in the landscape.
Available For
• Guest Author & Panel Appearances
• Podcast, Radio & Broadcast Interviews
• Regional Press Features & Folklore Articles
• Review Copies (ARCs) & TV Rights Discussions
Step Onto the Road
For interviews, review copies, panel bookings, and advance information:
Britain’s old stories, brought back into the weather.
Simon McCall writes atmospheric supernatural fiction in which ancient folklore is not safely contained in the past. It waits beneath reservoirs, beside lonely roads and inside the names of places people think they know.
Across two published books and the forthcoming full-length novel The Corpse Road, retired Royal Military Police investigator Connor “Mac” McClymont is drawn into a secret conflict between the human world, the Fae and forces that treat landscape, ancestry and memory as weapons.
The stories combine the forward momentum of a thriller with place-based folklore, dry British character work and the unsettling idea that every legend began as a warning.
“A loch, a fell, a ruined church or an abandoned road can carry a story before a character even arrives.”
Cumbria
Eight interlinked encounters move through Skiddaw, Bassenthwaite, Muncaster, Windermere, Armathwaite Hall and the Solway coast.
Across the Border
Scottish lochs, glens and island coasts open a wider conflict shaped by folklore, clan rivalry and old bargains.
The deadway
A drowned village and an awakened coffin road draw Mac into his first full-length standalone supernatural thriller.
Mac Versus Monsters:
The Cumbria Chronicles
Eight interlinked folk-horror novellas rooted in the landscape, legend and ghost lore of Cumbria.
Cumbria is a land of brooding fells, mist-shrouded lakes and secrets that have slumbered since the last Ice Age. Retired Royal Military Police investigator Connor “Mac” McClymont wants only the quiet of the road, travelling in “the Badger”, his black-and-white former military Land Rover ambulance. Instead, he is pulled into an ancient war armed with an investigator’s instincts, silver-tipped rounds and the weight of a past he cannot outrun.
The eight encounters
- The Skiddaw Ghost
- The Fae of Elva Hill
- The Genius Loci
- The Bassenthwaite Eachy
- The Muncaster Boggle
- The Witch of Windermere
- The Grey Lady of Armathwaite Hall
- The Solway Phantom Barge
“A fantastic read with a very well plotted storyline. Looking forward to another book.”
★★★★★ Amazon customer review
Mac Versus Monsters:
The Clan Chronicles
Scotland’s lochs, glens and island coasts become gateways to old folklore and a clan conflict that refuses to stay buried.
The world of The Cumbria Chronicles expands north. Each story offers a self-contained supernatural encounter while a wider arc reveals the human and otherworldly consequences of old bargains, inherited loyalties and the Lamont–Campbell feud.
The opening story uses Carlisle as a borderland threshold. From there, the narrative moves towards Highland water, ancient glens and exposed island coasts — places where landscape and legend seem to occupy the same ground.
Why it stands out
Across the Border: a connected regional fantasy universe moving from Cumbria into Scottish folklore and clan history.
Short-form intensity: novella-length supernatural encounters that stand alone while feeding a larger mystery.
Folklore with consequences: traditional beings are treated as living forces with motives, territories and history.
Amazon UK: amazon.co.uk/dp/B0H8P5TD4F
Mac Versus Monsters:
The Corpse Road
Two worlds. One Guardian. One road the dead must travel.
When drought exposes the drowned foundations of Mardale, an iron-bound object is removed from the ruins and an abandoned Cumbrian coffin road awakens. A riderless packhorse begins carrying an empty coffin towards Shap, while an impossible funeral procession gains a new mourner every time it crosses running water.
A wounded Fae woman asks Mac for sanctuary. On the Corpse Road she cannot disguise herself, alter a memory or speak an outright lie. The Ironbound guardians hunting her claim she stole something from the dead centuries ago — and the Campbell Heritage Trust intends to turn the road into a permanent crossing between worlds.
The central rule
A coffin road does not lead from one place to another. It leads from one state of being to another.
The dead may travel the road once. The Fae may cross it only in their true form. The Ironbound may never leave it.
Strong editorial angles
The books offer ready-made entry points for regional press, literary festivals, podcasts, book clubs, folklore programmes and genre features.
Folklore beneath familiar ground
How real Cumbrian and Scottish landscapes become active forces in contemporary supernatural fiction.
From military investigator to monster hunter
Building Mac as a dry, practical and reluctant hero whose investigative discipline collides with the impossible.
The road from novella to novel
Moving from eight tightly connected encounters to the broader, full-length architecture of The Corpse Road.
Cumbria as dark-fantasy territory
Why fells, drowned villages, lakes, halls and the Solway coast provide more than atmospheric scenery.
Across the Border
Expanding one supernatural universe from Cumbria into Scottish clan history, folklore and island landscapes.
When old routes wake again
The historical idea of coffin roads and the fictional question at the heart of the new novel: who decides where the dead belong?
About Simon McCall
Short bio • 52 words
Simon McCall is a Cumbrian author whose supernatural fiction draws on the folklore, ghost lore and ancient mythology of Cumbria and Scotland. He is the creator of Mac Versus Monsters, a dark-fantasy series combining action-thriller momentum, regional history and a reluctant former military investigator who keeps finding the monsters hidden in the landscape.
Feature bio • 111 words
Simon McCall is a Cumbrian author and creator of Mac Versus Monsters: The Cumbria Chronicles and The Clan Chronicles. His fiction draws directly on the fells, lakes, coastlines, folklore and ghost lore of northern Britain, combining action-thriller pacing with supernatural mystery and place-based storytelling. At the centre is Connor “Mac” McClymont, a retired Royal Military Police investigator and reluctant monster hunter whose practical instincts are repeatedly tested by forces older than the roads he travels. McCall’s forthcoming full-length novel, The Corpse Road, returns Mac to the eastern Lake District, where an awakened funeral route turns grief, identity and the boundary between worlds into weapons.
Available for
- Author interviews and profiles
- Podcast and radio conversations
- Festival and library appearances
- Folklore and regional-history panels
- Book-club discussions
- Review copies and extracts
- Cover artwork and press images
- Advance coverage of The Corpse Road
Step onto the road.
For interviews, review copies, cover artwork, extracts, event appearances and advance information about The Corpse Road, contact Simon directly.
“What leaves the house must reach the earth.”
Press use: cover images and supplied promotional artwork may be used in connection with editorial coverage of Simon McCall and the listed books.
Monster Hunting in 21st Century Britain: Mac’s Arsenal
Mac Versus Monsters / field inventory
Mac’s Arsenal
Five field assets developed for subtle and safe tactical use against supernatural threats in the UK.
M46A–IL
Iron-Leaf M46A
Double Eagle FAMAS-style spring airsoft replica, carried in the fiction as a controlled non-lethal platform firing Iron-Leaf-coated ball bearings for manifestation deterrence.
ENERGY / threshold DISRUPTION
WIND–IL
Kaya Wind Fighter Bow and Iron-Coated Blunt Arrows
Korean traditional bow assigned a quiet field role: a 50 lb draw strength, 70 m effective range carrying fictional Iron-filings-coated blunt arrows for stealthy manifestation disruption.
Stealth / ENERGY DISPERSAL
SANCTUM–3
Consecrated-Water Projector
Cordless pressure washer paired with a three-litre CamelBak reservoir of consecrated holy water. Accurate, high pressure, long range delivery of manifestation-disrupting holy water
ENTITY DISTRACTION OR DETERRENCE
VEIL–50
Iron-Silver Veil Cannon
50 cm twist-base confetti cannon, filling replaced with iron and silver foil slivers used in fiction as a single-burst device aimed into the materialising core of a poltergeist or malevolent spirit.
NON-CORPOREAL HAND GRENADE OR CLAYMORE
M.I.C.K.
Mythical Intelligence and Cryptid Knowledge (M.I.C.K.)
Mac’s portable research, intelligence, and real-time monitoring AI assistant: a custom mobile app linked to a collar-mounted Bluetooth microphone and speaker, drawing on Yusuf the Magi’s metaphysical library and a GCHQ-programmed tactical layer.
Research / intelligence / live monitoring
Cumbria – an ancient corner of England, rugged and remote. The Romans built a wall to keep things out, but they never dealt with what was already here. The Norse, the Celts… they left their mark, and their myths. And myths are just memories of things that were, and often, things that still are.
Someone’s got to deal with these supernatural creatures, and guess who drew the short straw?!
Non-fiction by Simon McCall
Creatives, artists, artists-to-be, and art lovers…here is the book you’ve been waiting for.
I crossed over to the ‘Dark side’ and started creating digital art years ago, and I’ve never looked back. But I’m frequently asked the same questions…
- What is digital art?
- Is it really art?
- Is digital art “cheating”?
- How can I start creating digitally?
- What tools do you use?
- I’ve created a digital artwork…now what can I do with it?
So let’s explore these questions together, because the answers will be different for everyone!
Short mental exercises to calm and unwind.
We all experience those times when our minds are in ‘overdrive’…lots of things all competing for our attention at the same time, all going around and around in our heads.
The exercises in this book are designed to act as your ‘Circuit-breaker’ and quieten those noisy thoughts to give your mind a rest, and help you to regain your sense of calm control. Whenever you feel the need to give yourself a ‘time-out’ and give your mind a break from all the noisy thoughts swirling around in there, reach for this book…and Relax.
Visualisation exercises are particularly good for quieting the mind before sleeping, and colouring exercises are a great way to relax on your commute. This book has been designed to be small and light enough to carry with you so it can be within reach wherever and whenever you need it.
Combining two powerful techniques for relieving feelings of anxiety, guided visualisation and distraction, ‘First Aid For The Anxious Mind’ is your take-anywhere, use-anytime toolkit for the times when you sense those overwhelming feelings are looming.
Colouring Therapy Books by Simon McCall
