Morgan Delaney
Morgan Delaney is an Irish writer of dark, strange, and fantastic fiction, some of which has appeared in Not One Of Us, ParSec Magazine, and Fraidy Cat Quarterly.
He reads peculiar bedtime stories on his YouTube channel.
If reincarnation were a thing, he would come back as a lizard.
His best friends say it is.
And he did.
Find Morgan here:
Website: morgandelaney.info
YouTube: @MorganDelaneyAuthor
Facebook: MorganDelaneyAuthor
What kind of reactions have you had to your latest book?
My most recent book is A Grave & Dreadful Business. Set in 18th century Ireland, graverobbers Thaddeus Aicke and Cuno Bowen only dig up trouble when they start selling bodies saturated with dark fairy magic. Mark Stay, the author of the Witches of Woodville series, described it as being “like James Joyce and Seán O’Casey on mushrooms.”
Mark Stay is a very perceptive author.
What can you tell us about your next book?
The Cat Wore Black is a return to Hawkinge-By-Hythe, the only seven-time winner of Great Britain’s Most Superstitious Town. It’s the fifth stand-alone adventure in this series.
The intrepid Alumière sisters don’t believe in witchcraft or the supernatural. Making the arrival of a terrifying monster, and a doomsday countdown over the new wireless radio sets, quite hard to explain…
Do you take notice of online reviews?
Only when they’re good.
What did you do before you became a writer?
You name it, I’ve done it. Most recently, I worked as a building manager. Before that, I worked for the German Energy Agency, helping local authorities understand and improve the energy efficiency of their buildings.
Which authors inspire you?
I love P. G. Wodehouse’s writing. I love Flann O’Brien’s erudition, and Nick Harkaway’s exuberant plotting.
A Grace & Dreadful Business
Which genres do you read yourself?
I was a horror-only fan when growing up. I still think of myself as a horror fan, but I enjoy most genres nowadays. If the story is good, I don’t care about the genre. I tend to latch onto an author whose style I like, regardless of genre.
What is your biggest motivator?
A guilty conscience. Why haven’t I written more already?
Were you a big reader as a child?
Enormous.
I read everything. And after I’d done that, I read my mother’s Mills & Boon books.
What were your favourite childhood books?
In roughly chronological order, my favourites were Richard Scarry’s books then the Mr Men books, then Terry Pratchett then Stephen King then Clive Barker. I remember getting Barker’s Weaveworld when it first came out. I would have been eleven.
But it’s Mr Tickle who still gives me nightmares.
Do you have a favourite bookshop? If so, which?
Berlin is my adopted home, and Otherland in Kreuzberg is my favourite bookshop there. German books, English books, pre-loved and new. They have it all, and the staff is amazing.
Do you have any rituals when writing?
No, I don’t want any. It might become a crutch, rendering me unable to write in its absence.
What is your current or latest read?
I just finished Robert Aickman: An Attempted Biography by R.B. Russell. Next up is Jack Womack’s Let’s Put the Future Behind Us.
Any books that you’re looking forward to in the next 12 months?
It’s January 2026, as I write this, so I’m looking forward to Paul Tremblay’s horror-sci-fi-noir mashup Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep in June.
I know Catriona Ward’s Nowhere Burning won’t let me down when it comes out in February.
Patrick Ness returns to the Chaos Walking trilogy in Piper at the Gates of Dusk, so that’s a must when it comes out in April, while Dan Coxon’s folk horror collection, Come Sing for the Harrowing, is being touted as perfect for fans of Robert Aickman, so I’ll be getting that, too. That’s also out in April.
My own latest, The Cat Wore Black, should be out towards the end of the year.
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