by Faye Adams

A local author promises to have his readers hiding under their duvets and checking beneath their beds as they look forward to plenty of sleepless nights.

'Ghosts Far From Subtle' is the latest release from Joseph Freeman, whose collection of horror and ghost stories is guaranteed to make uncomfortable bedtime reading.

Joseph, 24, says he and his contemporaries aim to rescue horror writing from the likes of Freddy Krueger, Jason and the blood-thirsty slasher movies and return the genre to its origins.

"Horror became a victim of its own success - in the early twentieth century great writers such as Dickens were producing a lot of work about the supernatural but in the 80s and 90s it attracted not as talented film makers and writers," he said.

"It's now getting back to what it should be, not just about sickening people and going for the big shock."

"My stories are very atmospheric and I try to recreate that feeling we've all had - we know something can't possibly be creeping up the stairs but it's about what could be out there."

Joseph even says he ends up scaring himself with his active imagination and steers clear of writing at night.

The book due to be released at the beginning of October is Joseph's second collection of stories. His first 'Love Stories of the Undead' was published in February 1999, which he began work on at the age of 18.

Currently he is busy working on a screen-play adaptation of a fellow writer's work which has attracted attention from a major film company.

And fans can also expect another book in 2004 from the hard-working author as he has embarked on an ambitious project to edit a collection of updated fairy tales.

"Fairy tales are some of the most gruesome stories there are, with talking animals and murderous step-parents, they are some of the biggest thrills that anyone experiences in childhood so it is something that hopefully lots of people will connect with."