Agog: New Short Story

Welcome to my new website. The domain (www.stephenvolk.net) is the same, obviously, but the design is different (thank you, weebly) and I've added lots of juicy new material, including YouTube clips and links, on most, if not all, of my projects. Have an explore, and do let me know what you think. 

Needless to say, I will be posting any news via this new Blog page. And today that news is the exciting publication of a new short story of mine in the magazine The Dark, Issue 62, July 2020. The story is called "Agog" and it's an unusual one for me, in that I'm not sure it's horror at all, but that's increasingly often the case. Anyway, I hope you like it.

I've always been intrigued by the name Gogmagog and looked into its origins. Turns out Gogmagog was the last of Albion's race of giants, and I wondered if he wasn't actually the last, but he'd had a son. The image of a lonely, centuries-old giant came to mind, and the story evolved slowly in ways I didn't plan, or expect, but I'm pleased with the result.

A few months back, those on twitter will know, I vowed not to write a story about the Covid-19 pandemic in the near future. To me, the experience was all too recent and all too raw. But whether this story is about the times we live in, in some way, is for the reader to say. Perhaps the story wanted to tell something I didn't.​