There is a theory as to why he hasn’t lasted as long as those of his contemporaries and that’s because even in the 70s and 80s Grant’s horror did not represent the pulse of the time, that pulse being grotesquery and blood-letting. His characters often remark that their is something buried in Oxrun Station’s fabric that makes it a spawning place for the horrible things that occur there, but they never uncover what, allowing for stories to continue. It’s something of a cross between King’s Derry and Lovecraft’s Innsmouth, only while readers get explanations from both authors as to why things in such places are weird Grant never does. Take Oxrun Station for example, a fictional town that is the setting for many of his books. He dealt in shadows, fogs and darkness, in worlds like ours, but somehow slightly off-kilter. Grant was a master of suspense, of gradually building pressure in the readers mind until the skin at the back of their neck tickles with anticipation and fear. Those second-hand ones are available on Amazon, but only at ridiculous prices all. You won’t find his paperbacks in books stores unless their second hand having gone out of print.
Nor are there many articles to be discovered concerning him, those that do exist seem light on information about the author and his work. Grant never makes it onto Goodreads or any best-of lists for that time period. Collins, Peter Straub and Elizabeth Engstrom to name a few and regarded highly by many of them. He was published alongside Stephen King, Robert R.McCammon, Lisa Turtle, Nancy A.
Grant belongs to that bygone golden era of horror publication of the 70s and the 80s whenever everyone wanted horror. So who is he? A newly published indie author making strides to break down barriers in the current horror scene while shunning bigger publishers that only seem interested in publishing sedate, middle-of-the-road stories made by commission. What? Never heard of him? That’s okay, I hadn’t either until two years ago when I accidentally stumbled upon his work having gone down a Google wormhole looking for my next favourite read.
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