INTRODUCTION

 

I'm a sixty-something Scottish lad from Ayrshire originally. I'm a graduate of Glasgow University, in Botany, after which I had a career in IT in London, Aberdeen and Edinburgh before leaving the rat race behind. I now live in a small fishing town on the eastern side of Newfoundland on the Atlantic shore with whales, bald eagles and icebergs for company.

I didn't chose writing, it chose me. The urge to write is more of a need, a similar addiction to the one I used to have for cigarettes and still have for beer. It's always been there, in the background. I wrote short stories at school, and dabbled a couple of times over the years, but it wasn't until I was in my 30s that it really took hold. 

Back in the very early '90s I had an idea for a story... I hadn't written much of anything since the mid-70s at school, but this idea wouldn't leave me alone. I had an image in my mind of an old man watching a young woman's ghost. That image grew into a story, that story grew into other stories, and before I knew it I had an obsession in charge of my life.

So it all started with a little ghost story, "Dancers"; one that ended up winning a prize in a national ghost story competition, getting turned into a short movie, getting read on several radio stations, getting published in Greek, Spanish, Italian and Hebrew, and getting reprinted in The Weekly News in Scotland.

Since then I've sold over 300 short stories, including appearances in the likes of NATURE and THE WEEKLY NEWS among many others, and I've had over 30 novels published in the horror and fantasy genre presses in the USA, with more coming over the next few years. 

I went full time in 2007. Haven't starved us yet.

The biggest influences on my particular style of writing would have to be the reading I did as a teenager in Kilbirnie in the early-seventies, before Stephen King and James Herbert came along. I graduated from Superman and Batman comics to books and I was a voracious reader of anything I could get my hands on; Conan Doyle, Alistair MacLean, Michael Moorcock, Nigel Tranter and Louis D'Amour all figured large.  Pickings were thin for horror apart from the Pan Books of Horror and Dennis Wheatley, which I read with great relish. Then I found H P Lovecraft and things were never quite the same.  

Mix that with TV watching of Thunderbirds, Doctor Who, the Man From Uncle, Lost in Space and the Time Tunnel, then later exposure on the BBC to the Universal monsters and Hammer vampires and you can see where it all came from. Oh, and Quatermass. Always Quatermass. 

A lot of my work is still particularly Scottish though. My series character THE MIDNIGHT EYE is a Glasgow PI who gets involved with the occult and monsters. He works out of a flat above Byres Road, smokes like a lum and drinks like a fish. I have a lot of fun with him and he appears in three books and numerous short stories and novellas of mine. 

My current work is largely focused on creature features, in particular the S-SQUAD series from Severed Press. The series is up to book #17, with more coming, and features a team of sweary Scottish squaddies facing up to big beasties around the world. Think Dog Soldiers meets Aliens through a Ray Harryhausen lens and you'll get a feel for them.

If you're in the mood for something shorter, I've self-published over 50 chapbooks on Amazon Kindle ( free on Kindle unlimited) that showcase the whole range of my work over the years. There's something for everyone here; Scottish supernaturals, Lovecraftian horrors, Holmes and Carnacki pastiches and novellas not available anywhere else. Dig in and enjoy.

You can find details of all of these and more at https://www.williammeikle.com

Scotland's Greatest Horror Writer
GINGER NUTS OF HORROR

One of the premier storytellers of our time
FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND

BROKEN SIGIL...has a strong and interesting story. The dread is mostly in the unseen, with little violence or gore. It’s all very subtle, and following a satisfying conclusion, very rewarding.
SCREAM MAGAZINE

THE GHOST CLUB is... a collection of stories that was thoroughly entertaining, presenting a series of clever and canny exercises in style and subject matter by an inventive and accomplished writer.
BLACK STATIC MAGAZINE

SONGS OF DREAMING GODS is decidedly different from the haunted house canon. What it is isn’t important. What is important is the telling of the story and layering of both the house and characters. Once the characters dig deeper in the house, and themselves, the reality they knew cannot be retrieved. All they can hope for is to escape with whatever the house allows them.A fast read, a good read, Meikle’s latest is a welcome addition. Recommended reading.
CEMETERY DANCE MAGAZINE

THE GHOST CLUB is... a massively ambitious anthology of stories 'by' classic authors as imagined by the extremely talented William Meikle. Massively entertaining, too.
SIMON CLARK, author of the award winning The Night of the Triffids

THE WATCHERS SERIES is... very well-written. The language is rich, and I found myself carrying the book everywhere, and taking slightly longer over lunch than I should have, as I just had to know what was happening!
THE DRACULA SOCIETY

THE DUNFIELD TERROR is... another masterpiece from Mr Meikle – one that should grace the bookshelf of any fan of those genres, or simply those who appreciate fine writing.
THE SCI-FI AND FANTASY REVIEWER

FUNGOID is... a fast paced ecohorror thriller that delivers on all fronts. The large cast of characters combined with Meikle's tight plotting and a keen eye for dialogue bring a real cinematic feel to the narrative. By focusing more on the fast based plot rather than getting bogged down by over characterisation Meikle has created a real page-turner.
GINGER NUTS OF HORROR

For anyone who loves great storytelling and well crafted stories THE QUALITY OF MERCY and Other Stories is for you. For Sherlock Holmes fans this book is an absolute must and I highly recommend it.
FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND

In BERSERKER the narrative crashes over you like a tidal wave, punches you like a mailed fist and carries you along with joyful, gory abandon. This book is meant to be consumed with gusto.
INNSMOUTH FREE PRESS