Winter Chills becomes Chills

With issue five the word "Winter" had been dropped from the title. And, more importantly, Simon MacCulloch joined me on the editorial team. We dropped "Winter" because the magazine started to appear in the other seasons and hence was deemed inappropriate. Also, Chills was / still is a snappier title (and the abbreviation no longer sounded like a London postcode or for the rest room).

Chills 5, edited by Peter Coleborn and Simon MacCulloch, was published by the British Fantasy Society in 1991. The cover price was £1.80 / $4.00. Eight stories appeared in this issue:

"Black Leather Kites" by Norman Partridge. Illustrated by Bob Covington
"Uncle E and Uncle T" by Roy Bayfield. Illustrated by Nigel Pennington
"Twilight Shifts" by Phil Emery
"Out of His Mind" by Ken Cowley. Illustrated by Alan Hunter
"In the Arcade" by Lisa Tuttle. Illustrated by Bob Covington
"Come With Me" by Conrad Williams. Illustrated by Dallas Goffin
"My Giddy Aunt" by D F Lewis. Illustrated by Sylvia Starshine
"The Real Wolf" by Thomas Ligotti. Illustrated by Jim Pitts

The cover illustration was by Charles Dougherty and designed by Nigel Pennington (who also designed the logo). Additional artwork was by Alan Hunter and Nigel Pennington. The back cover illustration was for H P Lovecraft's "The Haunter of the Dark" by Jim Pitts. "In the Arcade" originally appeared in Amazing Science Fiction (1978). "The Real Wolf" first appeared in Nocturne 1 (1988).

Issue 6 of Chills was published by the BFS in 1992, and again edited by Peter Coleborn and Simon MacCulloch. The cover price was £2.00 / $4.00. The chapbook contained seven stories:

“The Big Ol’ Clown Lady” by Jeffrey Osier. Illustrated by Jeffrey Osier *
“Out Of the Storm” by Rick Kennett. Illustrated by Alan Hunter
“Junctions” by Conrad Williams. Illustrated by Martin McKenna
“Spiritual Radio” by Mark Rainey. Illustrated by Bob Covington
“Lost Child” by D F Lewis
“Shadows” by Richard Coady. Illustrated by Dave Carson
“The Pet Peeve” by Rick Kleffel. Illustrated by Jim Pitts

The cover was by Allen Koszowski and the back cover (illustrating Robert Bloch’s “The Shadow From the Steeple”) was by Jim Pitts. Additional artwork came from Dallas Goffin, Allen Koszowski and Martin McKenna. Jeffrey Osier’s story was originally published in Grue 11.

We featured a competition this issue, sponsored by Grafton Books, to win copies of Shadows in the Watchgate by Mike Jefferies and a T-shirt designed by Jefferies. The question was: In which sporting event did Mike Jefferies represent Britain in 1980? In these days of the Internet, I suspect answering it is so much easier than back then.


Once again, a version of this originally appeared on the Alchemy Press website.