About Mark Humphries

Mark Humphries teaches English to refugees and asylum seekers, but is happiest when writing darkly humorous sci-fi and horror.

Whilst living in Paris and Indonesia, he dabbled with poetry and short stories. But it was not until the Covid pandemic and lockdown, that he sat down to flesh out the idea that had followed him everywhere. After finishing his novel, he focused on short stories, flash fiction and drabbles.

His characters often confront the fantastical in domestic settings; floorboards restrain angry bulls, household fixtures lash out, time-travelling cars appear in living rooms. He loves the outdoors so events also unfold against rural backdrops; carnivorous hedges devour caravaners, barns swallow hikers, bloodthirsty birds lay siege to Air BnB holidaymakers.

His main influences in literature and film include Magnus Mills, Roald Dahl, Stephen King, Andrew Michael Hurley, Shaun of the Dead, An American Werewolf in London, Deliverance and Dead Man's Shoes.

To date, he has written a speculative sci-fi horror novel, its novella prequel and a short story collection. Mark lives with his wife (and Ideal Reader) in Leeds, Yorkshire.