Matthew G. Rees - Writer
Interviews with Matthew G. Rees followed by reviews of his writing
Interview with Matthew G. Rees (Dark Lane, 2022) HERE
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In-depth interview with Matthew G. Rees (AmeriCymru, 2020) HERE
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Interview with Matthew G. Rees (Frost Zone, Canada, 2021) HERE
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'I knew I had a winner of a book here. I wasn't wrong.' Nancy Oakes
Reviews of writing by Matthew G. Rees
THE SNOW LEOPARD OF MOSCOW & OTHER STORIES - 'NOTHNG SHORT OF PERFECTION'
"... the results are nothing short of perfection, with not one weak story in the book. All in all, The Snow Leopard of Moscow & Other Stories is a treat."
CHRIS ANDREWS, Buzz, REVIEW of THE SNOW LEOPARD OF MOSCOW & OTHER STORIES
www.buzzmag.co.uk/the-snow-leopard-of-moscow-other-stories-matthew-g-rees-book-review/?fbclid=IwAR2q3UQ02ki05riqwne4lITXEK-sInCFv5s1KAo-FCTbisIyyODX9WSbGXo
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FIRST REVIEW IN A PUBLICATION - THE SNOW LEOPARD OF MOSCOW & OTHER STORIES
"superbly wrought... He manages to pull off certain stories like skilled bank robbers pull off heists... accomplished, evocative and arresting throughout."
JON GOWER, NationCymru, REVIEW of THE SNOW LEOPARD OF MOSCOW & OTHER STORIES
nation.cymru/culture/review-the-snow-leopard-and-other-stories-by-matthew-g-rees/
'MEMOIR OF A MOSCOW DOG-KILLER' - A story in THE SNOW LEOPARD OF MOSCOW & OTHER STORIES - 'A STRIKING CINEMATIC TALE'
'A striking cinematic tale... I was forced to feel exhilarated by the sheer bravado... its singular narrative force'
D.F. LEWIS, Gestalt Real-Time Reviews
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THE FEAST - 'A DELIGHT'
'First of all, this collection is no meagre helping. All in all there are around twenty-three tales to devour, and each is a delight! I loved the 'food' theme, though they were all different.
As with any collection, I had my favourites, though I enjoyed every single one. The author's voice is strong, distinct, and yet it reminded me of some of the great short-story tellers, especially Arthur Machen and Colin Wilson.
Highly entertaining, with many elements of cynical, dark humour. Very enjoyable indeed!'
CATHERINE McCARTHY, author, 5-star review on AMAZON
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09MYSHMN4
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THE FEAST - BOOK OF THE MONTH at website AmeriCymru
"We have expressed the opinion that Matthew G. Rees is a major new talent elsewhere and this new collection confirms our estimation. The Feast is a deliciously dark and frequently amusing collection that leaves one in no doubt that Rees is a writer at the top of his game and destined for popularity and acclaim ... His tales have the capacity to simultaneously delight and disturb and always stay in your thoughts for some time after reading. The Feast by Matthew G Rees is AmeriCymru's selection for Book of the Month January 2022."
CERI SHAW, AmeriCymru, REVIEW OF THE FEAST
americymru.net/welsh-literature#book-of-the-month
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THE FEAST - 'DELICIOUS'
"delicious collection... from Matthew G. Rees, in which this masterful storyteller clearly lets down his hair and has a great deal of fun... The collection assembles as curious a cast as you're ever likely to encounter, all brought to vivid and pulsing life... the eponymous 'The Feast'... has all the macabre panache of, say, Rhys Davies... Evidence of an unfettered imaginatoin at play, a serious and seriously gifted writer happy here to be a little more frivolous, more tongue-in-cheek."
JON GOWER, NationCymru, REVIEW OF THE FEAST
KEYHOLE - 'HUGELY RECOMMENDED'
"This is a hugely recommended collection that marks Rees out as a writer capable of spinning tales of vibrant imagination and who is unafraid to peer into strange places.''
IAN HOLLOWAY, WYRD BRITAIN, REVIEW OF KEYHOLE
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KEYHOLE - 'MASTERPIECE'
"Matthew G. Rees' Keyhole is a masterpiece of literary speculative fiction ... Rees writes atmospheric, nuanced and elegant prose that is a pleasure to read. He is an excellent storyteller who effortlessly creates a captivating and eerie atmosphere that lures the reader into his fiction's compelling world where anything can happen."
SEREGLI OF RHIMINEE, RISING SHADOW, REVIEW OF KEYHOLE
www.risingshadow.net/articles/reviews/1088-review-keyhole-by-matthew-g-rees
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KEYHOLE - 'UNLIKE ANYTHING I'VE EVER READ'
"I knew I had a winner of a book here. I wasn't wrong ... quite unlike anything I've read ... set in what seem to be normal locales to the outsider. The closer you get, however, the stranger things become - for example, a pub that appears and disappears, a mine complete with its own set of ghostly horses, an old wartime submarine discovered under the sands, crew and all, ready for their mission...'
On the story 'The Press': 'Absolutely gorgeous in the writing, it's the incredibly visual, horrific ending that got to me this time ... oh my god."
NANCY OAKES, ODDLY WEIRD FICTION, REVIEW OF KEYHOLE
www.oddlyweirdfiction.com/2021/11/keyhole-by-matthew-g-rees.html
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KEYHOLE - 'WORLD CLASS'
"...the very best of Rees's stories such as the tale of the venal antique dealers in 'The Word' are simply world class.''
JON GOWER (right), NATION.CYMRU, REVIEW OF KEYHOLE
Photo: Emyr Jenkins
KEYHOLE - 'GIFT'
"Rees is fully in control of that particular gift of authors of fantastic stories, which consists of placing banal objects, or characters, in situations where they are at the same time innocent and threatening . . . On other occasions, his stories are wonderfully weird and funny at the same time . . ."
GUIDO EEKHAUT (right), AUTHOR OF ABSINTHE, MEDIUM, REVIEW OF KEYHOLE
medium.com/@guidoeekhaut/haunted-manors-and-empty-beaches-734692ad99ba
KEYHOLE - 'BEAUTIFUL WRITING'
". . . enhanced by beautiful writing throughout . . . wonderfully accomplished"
CAROLYN PERCY, WALES ARTS REVIEW, REVIEW OF KEYHOLE
walesartsreview.org/books-keyhole-stories-by-matthew-g-rees/
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KEYHOLE - 'WARM WELCOME'
". . . the overall effect is one of utter oddity and insight into a world which, as Machen's was, is clearly ours - but experienced at a slant. And that slant makes all the difference . . . A bonus is that the stories are accompanied by evocative, complementary photographs taken by their author. Matthew G. Rees is an author whose name was new to me, but is now noted. Further work from him will receive a warm welcome!"
JOHN HOWARD, WORMWOOD, REVIEW OF KEYHOLE
KEYHOLE - 'WONDERFUL COLLECTION'
'Lushly imaginative, lyrical, full of intriguingly funny interludes, Keyhole is a wonderful collection I’m busy recommending to friends.’
PETER KENNY, A WRITER'S NOTEBOOK, REVIEW OF KEYHOLE
KEYHOLE - 'REFRESHINGLY DIFFERENT'
'His great stories are refreshingly different, he paints a startling and detailed portrait of a world slightly askew, and he knows how to cast a spell with a sentence.'
KATE TYTE, THE SHORT STORY, REVIEW OF KEYHOLE
theshortstory.co.uk/short-story-review-keyhole-by-matthew-g-rees
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KEYHOLE - 'MAJOR TALENT'
'It is always a pleasure to welcome a major talent... and 'Keyhole', by Matthew G. Rees clearly establishes the author's claim to this title... These stories never fail to delight and intrigue and we have no hesitation in recommending 'Keyhole' to anyone with a taste for fine writing and exquisite story telling. You will not be disappointed!'
CERI SHAW, AMERICYMRU, REVIEW OF KEYHOLE
americymru.net/ceri-shaw/blog/5236/keyhole-a-stunning-debut-from-a-major-new-talent
SMOKE HOUSE & OTHER STORIES - 'AT THE TOP OF HIS GAME AND THEN SOME'
"When we talk about the writer’s imagination, we sometimes suggest there’s a sliding scale, that some are more ample than others. If that is indeed the case, then writer Matthew G. Rees certainly operates at the upper end of things… One of the signal features of the collection is a regard, a reverence even for language… Rees is an incredibly confident deviser of narrative. This second engaging and darkly amusing collection certainly offers plentiful evidence of oddball, quirky and very compelling storytelling skill."
JON GOWER, NATION.CYMRU, REVIEW OF SMOKE HOUSE & OTHER STORIES
nation.cymru/culture/review-a-welsh-quartet-jon-gower-surveys-the-latest-crop-of-fiction-from-wales
SMOKE HOUSE & OTHER STORIES - 'UNIQUE COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES'
'Matthew G. Rees has crafted a superb 'smorgasbord' of weird, unusual and often terrifying characters and events which make up this unique collection of short stories. 'Unputdownable' is often an overused adjective, but never has it been so appropriate. From 'Dead Wood' to 'A Shining Beacon' this adventurous and imaginative author really has pulled out all the stops. I will no longer be pruning trees or take up brass rubbing, and will also try and avoid potentially tricky situations as in 'The Examination' while the eponymous 'Smoke House' is a warning, albeit an amusing one, not to tangle with anyone who has the surname 'Root'. More please!'
SALLY SPEDDING, author, 5-star review on AMAZON
'SMOKE HOUSE & OTHER STORIES - 'DAZZLING... BEAUTIFULLY CRAFTED'
'The dazzling follow-up to Keyhole... fourteen stories venturing into Edgy Edgelands; High WeIrdness, Liminal Spaces, Dark Folk and Toxic Magick. By turns, bawdy, hilarious, thrilling, breathtakingly inventive - effortlessly exploding imaginative horizons. This is such beautifully-crafted work. With Rees, you never know what's lurking around the next page. His sparse, poetic prose is often at its best when deployed to describe mean, bleak, decaying, inland or seaside towns and existential pain. Spite, vanity, loneliness, ambition, guilt, cruelty - all collide with Other, Limitless Worlds. Masterly - and huge fun.'
KEITH DAVIES, writer of print and broadcast short stories
SMOKE HOUSE & OTHER STORIES - 'I LAUGHED OUT LOUD & WAS UNSETTLED IN EQUAL MEASURE'
'impossible to put down! With every tale, I laughed out loud and was unsettled in equal measure. I highly recommend this anthology to anyone who enjoys intelligent, original horror where unnerving situations arise in seemingly ordinary settings. I will definitely read more by Matthew G Rees. Brilliant!'
MARK HUMPHRIES, writer, author of the story 'Hawthorn', 5-star review on Amazon
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HARVEST - 'MASTERFUL' - WINNER OF THE RHYS DAVIES AWARD
“Matthew G. Rees’s Harvest exhibits a distinctive and masterful voice in storytelling. With a surety of narrative control, and delicious, newly-minted language, Rees succeeds in portraying the character of Cock Davies and the physical setting he inhabits in this tale of belligerence and inevitability. Harvest held me from the opening line and kept holding me long after the final sentence was read."
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JANE FRASER, judge of the Rhys Davies Award, Wales's national prize for the short story, 2023
www.parthianbooks.com/products/the-rhys-davies-short-story-award-anthology-1
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Dreamcoat Audio story
'fascinating and special . . . this story will be of great interest to readers who love literary fiction and enjoy reading stories by such authors as Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Aickman and Joel Lane. This story is wholly different from what these authors have written and isn't exactly horror fiction or fantasy fiction, but there's something about the atmosphere and the author's prose that reminds me of their stories . . . I can guarantee that you'll find the story evocative and touching. Highly recommended!'
SEREGLI OF RHIMINEE, RISING SHADOW, REVIEW OF DREAMCOAT
risingshadow.net/articles/reviews/1027-audio-story-review-dreamcoat-by-matthew-g-rees
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Listen to this story here
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcCsY_YKnG0
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