Dark Horses is an anthology of science-fiction by Friends of the Arts Lab, FOALs for short. All writers have attended Arts Lab events organised by Arts Labs from around the UK. Arts Labs were a Sixties cultural phenomenon, and from them came many well-known creators including David Bowie and Alan Moore.
Most of the writers of this anthology are from the Northampton Arts Lab, which was ressurected in 2016 following an event to discuss counter-culture at Northampton University, which featured guests including Alan Moore, Robin Ince, Josie Long, Francesca Martinez, Scroobius Pip, John Higgs, and Grace Petrie. Attendees were encouraged by the idea of collaborating on lots of different artistic projects in the manner of their Sixties predecessors, and to date the friends have created fanzines, comics, sketches, and plays, and organised poetry and comedy events.
Contributors include Alan Moore, Alistair Fruish, Sophie Sparham, Kev Rooney, The Spence Brothers, KB Willson, James Milton, Yoshe, Laura Roklicer, K.S. Dearsley, Michel Louis, Tom Clarke, Tom Jordan, Joshua Spiller and me. Cover art by Scott Jeffery.
There are stories about post-apocalyptic house choices, vengeful robots, sentient waste-fed microscopic creatures taking over, murderous social media, dissolved languages, time-looping assassins, and more!
Fruish, Alistair: - The love of science fiction helped the young Fruish overcome aspects of his dyslexia and learn to read fluently. He spent the last part of the 70s with his head stuck in a Doctor Who comic or a Terrance Dicks novelisation. These were the keys that eventually opened up the whole of literature for him.
Moore, Alan: - Alan Moore is an English writer, magician and performer. He is widely regarded as the best and most influential writer in the history of comics and won a Hugo for Watchmen. His seminal works include From Hell, Lost Girls, and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. He is also the author of the best-selling novel Jerusalem. Between 2011 and 2018, Moore has also created five short films and one feature-length film, The Show, with film director Mitch Jenkins. Alan Moore was born in Northampton and has lived there ever since.
Scott, Donna: - Donna Scott is a writer, editor, comedian, podcast presenter, storyteller, performance poet, and actor, originally from the Black Country, now living in Northampton. She was the first ever Bard of Northampton, a finalist of both Old Comedian of the Year and BBC New Voices, and is also part of the multiple award-winning The Extraordinary Time-Travelling Adventures of Baron Munchausen comedy group. Her podcast, The Lemonade Budget for Champagne Social Butterflies has been top ten in the Apple Stand-up podcast charts, and top-twenty in the all-time charts. Her stories have been published in many anthologies and magazines, and she is the editor of the Newcon Press Best of British Science Fiction series. She is a Director (and former Chair) of the British Science Fiction Association. www.donna-scott.co.uk.
