A small group of industrial archaeologists head into the center of Newfoundland, investigating a rumor of a lost prospecting team of Irish miners in the late Nineteenth century.
In this one you'll meet some Irishmen, some archaeologists, a fair bit of booze, some mannequins, a song, two mineshafts, hospitals, the wee folk, cigarettes, a lot of foliage and more booze.
THE GREEN AND THE BLACK was originally going to be about Kobolds, the goblinesque things that knock in coal mines.
Goblins in the deep places have haunted my dreams since a first read of THE HOBBIT, way back in 1968, and I’ve long wanted to do a modern times novel with them at the center of things. I started one a while back, but that fizzled out and ended up as a story in Dark Melodies. And similarly, when I got to the point in THE GREEN AND THE BLACK for the reveal, there was something else behind the curtain.
The wee folk who turn up drinking and singing in the mines and the camp are close cousins to goblins of course, but give off the appearance of being something more jolly, at first glance at least.
I dredged these ones up out of some old Scottish tales originally, of people being trapped in fairyland after overindulging in booze and song and dance at the wee folks’ party.
And then things took an even darker turn, when I realized what song it was they were always singing in my story. I have my auld grannie to thank for all the snippets of folk songs, lullabyes, show tunes and hymns that provide me with regular earworms. One of those is prominent throughout THE GREEN AND THE BLACK.
The dolls of stick, leaf and branch that became a motif throughout likewise came from old stories from home. Originally, they were going to be scarecrows, with goblins inside, but they too took another turn, when I realized the wood and leaf was still alive, still capable of taking root, and growing.
Some of my family did spells as coal miners, back in the auld country, and their tales too found their way in into the mix, of friendship and bonds, of dark places and sudden deaths.
Mix all of that in with some of my archaeology experience and you can see that THE GREEN AND THE BLACK came from a soup of influences from a lifetime of songs and stories.
I said what I wanted to say, and got out before I dredged up anything more to complicate things further.
You could call this folk horror, dark fiction, weird fiction, or dark fantasy. But it is what it is.
It's a horror story, plain and simple, and it deals with some of my own fears, particularly that of dark, enclosed, spaces, and the perils of drinking too much.
Here's some links with more background on where THE GREEN AND THE BLACK came from, and see the Newfoundland and Me link under the cover image for a bit more.
- The Things We Leave Behind (GNOH)
- On Drinking (William Meikle Blog)
- Where I got the idea (Ink Heist)
A small group of industrial archaeologists head into the center of Newfoundland, investigating a rumor of a lost prospecting team of Irish miners in the late Nineteenth century.
They find the remains of a mining operation, and a journal and papers detailing the extent of the miners' activities. But there is something else on the site, something older than the miners, as old as the rock itself.
Soon the archaeologists are coming under assault, from a strange infection that spreads like wildfire through mind and body, one that doctors seem powerless to define let alone control.
The survivors only have one option. They must return to the mine, and face what waits for them, down in the deep dark places, where the green meets the black.
Just as you think things can’t get any worse in this story, it does. The ending will send chills down your spine. It did mine. - CAT AFTER DARK
William Meikle at his best, delivering strong, deftly-written prose entwined with a highly imaginative and richly-detailed mythological plot. It digs out the most disturbing elements of local folklore and legend and then uses them as a framework for a powerful, atmospheric and slow-burning piece of horror fiction that is often almost unbearably tense. - The Sci-Fi and Fantasy Reviewer
Once I started reading, I didn’t set this book down. Fast-paced and expertly written, I was absorbed in the story world immediately. - Sci-Fi and Scary
With a cast of sympathetic characters and a fantastically original infection, The Green and the Black is another fine addition to the Meikle catalogue. Fans of folk horror, body horror would do well to invest in this fine, fine book. - The Grim Reader
This book was a quick, chilling, and entertaining read with an intriguing combination of the historic and the supernatural. Definitely worth my time and highly enjoyable. I would recommend it to horror and dark fantasy fans alike. - Word Blurb
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