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IFWG is very pleased to announce the acquisition of Helena O’Connor’s horror novella, Willow Close

“IFWG is always interested in acquiring quality long fiction, best represented by our ‘IFWG Chapbook series’,” said Gerry Huntman, Managing Director. “O’Connor’s horror piece is certainly such an example, and we are very much looking forward to publishing it as part of the series.”

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Helena lives in sunny coastal Australia where she can write with an assortment of flavoured coffees and a nice view of the sea. 

Previously an academic in neuroscience research, she now writes full time across fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Her work tends towards bittersweet themes and dark dystopian landscapes, more often than not wrapped in a wry sense of humour.

Her short fiction has appeared in several anthologies, such as Killer Creatures Down Under: Horror Stories with Bitefrom IFWG publishing and It Was All a Dream: An Anthology of Bad Horror Tropes Done Right from Hungry Shadow Press, as well as literary magazines such as Nature: Futures, Aurealis, Andromeda Spaceways Magazine, Abyss & Apex, and Kaleidotrope. Her work has been twice shortlisted for an Aurealis Award; in 2020 for best short horror story and 2022 for best short science fiction story.In her spare time, Helena is an avid video game and coffee aficionado. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram @HelenaFiction where she posts mostly about games, the writing life, and cute cats. A full list of publications and other info is available on her website – HelenaOConnor.blogspot.com.

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Kess Hawkins just wants to play video games, eat pizza rolls, and hang out with her cat. But when a determined journalist comes asking about Kess’ past, she is drawn into a thirty-year old mystery. A childhood photo sparks Kess’s memories of an abandoned orphanage called Willow Close, as well as a brother she never knew she had and a boy she once shared a bond with despite his dark and troubled history. Meanwhile, a serial killer dubbed the Family Man is working his way down the coast and Kess’s home of New Haven lies directly in his path.

Willow Close is an old-school slasher with two kick-ass, contemporary heroines. A good old-fashioned mystery wrapped in a creepy old orphanage, with cosmic horror, a monstrous killer, and several lovely cats.

Willow Close will be released in April 2025.