Award-Winning and Prize-Winning Author of Access Denied, The Wretched, The Roots of Evil, The Ghost of Clothes, Omonolidee, First Words and Unzipped: The Mind of a Madman, The Deeper Roots of Evil, UFO, Cinema, Realm of Rhyme, BD & Thrashman, Safe Place and Windows of Time along with numerous short stories, poems and articles.
David E. Gates, who has interviewed the likes of Clive Barker, James Herbert and Terry Pratchett, has published several books and short stories and won prizes and awards for his work.
His first book, Access Denied, is a true story. A deeply personal and heart-wrenching account of becoming a father and having to fight the mother and Family Courts to see his daughter and also battles against the incompetence and lies of the Child Support Agency who seem hell-bent on ruining him, emotionally and financially.. It has garnered 100% positive reviews.
The Roots of Evil, his first horror novel, is a graphic, violent, intense and gore-laden horror story. It's sequel, The Deeper Roots of Evil, released on Friday the 13th of March 2020, has been getting rave reviews.
His second fictional novel, The Wretched, is an original horror story set in and around Portsmouth.
A short story, My Mother and the Medium, written by David, won The News (Portsmouth) Creepy Story Competition in December 2019.
His memoir, Motorcycle Man, is a joyous reminiscence of his motorcycling days.
He turns his attention to compiling a selection of stories, investigative reports and testimonies from witnesses and investigators from the wealth of material available, most notably that from recently retired or declassified records currently in the custody of the US National Archives and other sources, in his new book, UFO: The Edinburg Incident and Other UFO Stories.
Mind Blood is a collection of macabre and spooky short stories, many of which have never been published previously.
Realm of Rhyme is a collection of poems that have been inspired by historical events and includes some silly rhymes along the way and shows David's frustration and joy of the world around him.
His recent memoir, BD and Thrashman: The Express FM Years, tells of his and his friend's adventures and experience hosting a rock radio show on Express FM. Following this, David released a short travelogue called The Horror of the Hebrides and a short story called 'Til Deaf Us Do Part. His latest novella is a haunted house story called Safe Place, based on real experiences.
A unique selection of historical poems makes up Windows of Time. Featuring tales of fascinating and fierce women, such as Mary Ann Bevan, Susanna M. Salter, Mary Church Terrell, Harriet Tubman and The Mother of Angola. Poems telling of the cruelty of the Romans and the collaboration of two disabled men of different faiths. The survivor of a bizarre accident, Phineas Gage, is also remembered, alongside macabre events such as The Mary Celeste and poems that honour those lost in World War I and World War II.
David has previously written film reviews for Starburst and Samhain magazines and interviewed the likes of Clive Barker, Terry Pratchett, James Herbert and many others and his work has been featured on Express FM radio and Solent TV.
David's first book, Access Denied, was nominated for the 2017 Readers Choice Awards. His first horror novel, The Roots of Evil, was voted best to read on the Novel Festival site. His second horror novel, The Wretched, won silver in the AuthorsDB 2017 Cover Contest and Unzipped: The Mind of a Madman is currently a semi-finalist in the AuthorsDB 2019 Cover Contest.
David's poem, The Magic of Mushrooms, made runner-up in the Grow Wild poetry competition. Other poems, such as Vape Away, Terminators and Outrunning The Rain, have been featured in The Poetry Festival and The Ode of Phineas Gage is one of the poems being featured on the PoetrySoup website.
David also won the silver prize in the AuthorsDB 2016 Cover Contest for his short story, The Ghost of Clothes, and won best Horror Novel Logline for 2016 for The Roots of Evil.
He’s previously won first prize (Gold) for The Roots of Evil and third prize (Bronze) for Access Denied in the 2015 AuthorsDB Cover Contests, and previously won a competition to write the second part of a short horror story, called Savages. The first and last parts were written by the famous horror writer Shaun Hutson and are hosted on Shaun’s website.
David is currently working on a full-length novel called The Climbing Frame, producing a short film, and developing and writing the second sequel to The Roots of Evil.
It’s World Poetry Day today and, in tribute to this, and given the current circumstances, the following is my contribution which seems rather apt. For more poems and short stories, see my anthologies: First Words and Unzipped: The Mind of a Madman.
The Deeper Roots of Evil is the astonishing sequel to David E. Gates’ first horror novel, The Roots of Evil.
Eric Barber investigates his father’s legacy, uncovering devastating family secrets and a malevolent force that haunts the village of Ropely. A force that seeks to destroy, in horrific, bloody and violent ways, his friends and all that he holds dear along with those that perpetuate the sins of lust and perversion. Eric must battle the evil and come to terms with his history in order to survive.
eBook available now at Smashwords,Barnes and Noble, Apple iBooks and Amazon (Kindle). Available in eBook and Paperback everywhere from Friday 13th March 2020.
The artwork for the eBook and Paperback release of The Deeper Roots of Evil is now completed.
On the NEXT Friday the 13th (in March 2020), the astonishing sequel to The Roots of Evil, called The Deeper Roots of Evil, will be released. Details of where to pre-order coming soon.
My short story, My Mother & The Medium, has won the Christmas ghost story competition in The News (local Portsmouth Newspaper).
“It was the story which stopped editor Mark Waldron in his tracks and sent a tingle down his spine..” they said.
The short story originally appeared as part of David E. Gates’ second anthology of short-stories, poetry and articles in Unzipped: The Mind of a Madman which is available from Smashwords and Amazon and all good online bookstores.
On the NEXT Friday the 13th (in March 2020), the astonishing sequel to The Roots of Evil, called The Deeper Roots of Evil, will be released. Details of where to pre-order will come soon. Draft cover below…
David meets Meg. They fall in love and, despite a turbulent relationship, have a child together fulfilling David’s dream to be a father.
After they separate, David has to fight the mother and Family Courts to see his daughter and also battles against the incompetence and lies of the Child Support Agency who seem hell-bent on ruining him, emotionally and financially.
A must-read for ANY parent.
For anyone who has had to deal with the CSA/CMS and the Family Courts, this is compelling reading. Thought-provoking, honest, extraordinary, revealing. A damning indictment of the Child Support Agency and Family Courts.
If the measure of a good book is it’s afterburn, Access Denied is a great book.
When you’ve nothing left to lose, what else can you give?
A quite extraordinary true story.
“Thought-provoking but brilliant read.” – Vanessa
“I couldn’t put it down!” – Lisa Roberts (CSA Rip-offs Support Group)
“A well-told, quite extraordinary true story that stays with you.” – Jane Austin
“Amazingly jaw-dropping story!” – Linda Conlon
“Captivating Story.” – Lanre Oke
Drunk In A Graveyarddecided to deliver a little pumpkin shaped audio gift to their listeners every day in the form of a narrated story.
Day 24’s story, “The Blood“, was submitted by David E. Gates who, apparently, you should follow on twitter for all your horror fiction needs year round.
You can access the podcast here via YouTube or listen to the audio here.
David E. Gates 