Digging Deeper into Wells

A guest post by David Turnbull

I'm proud to have a novella included in the upcoming Black Beacon Steampunk Sleuths anthology. It's set in the aftermath of the Victorian-era alien invasion depicted in HG Wells pioneering scifi classic, The War of the Worlds.

   I seem to have been aware of War of the Worlds for as far back as I can remember. My first exposure was watching the 1953 George Pal film version sometime back in the late 60s or early 70s. That led to my first reading of the novel in a paperback I borrowed from a school friend. The biggest revelation was that the Martian war machines had three legs, unlike the flying saucer design George Pal had come up with for the movie.
   I know for sure I reread the novel in 1978 when Jeff Wayne first released his War of the Worlds concept album. Since then I have been back to the novel a dozen or more times, as well as being an avid watcher of new film and television adaptations, and the whole gambit of War of the Worlds inspired alien invasion films and TV shows.
   Lately though I have found myself digging deeper into the life and works of HG Wells, who was born a couple of miles away from where I live in South East London. And this digging has been leading me to write and do quite a lot about him and his work.
   It started last summer when I was asked to devise a steampunk themed guided walk as part of the Vauxhall Victorian Day in South London. Vauxhall train station was the start point of the walk and that gave me the opportunity to point out the influence the South West Rail route to Waterloo from Woking had on the locations Wells has the Martian War machines destroy in the first part of the book. Wells was living in Woking at the time. The first Martian canister lands on nearby Horsell Common. The subsequent Martian progress towards London takes place at many of the towns and suburbs Wells would have passed on commuter journeys between Waterloo and Woking.
   Waterloo station and the area around it also play a pivotal role in the stories of both the narrator and his brother in the novel. I subsequently wrote a short blog about Waterloo in The War of the Worlds. https://lambethfantastical.blogspot.com/2024/09/lambeth-fantastical-september-2024.html
   Vauxhall Gardens was known as Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens in the Regency era and, amongst other things, was famed for its public and often record break hot air balloon ascents. That gave me an opportunity to talk there about how early scifi writers like Wells, Jules Verne and George Griffiths depicted hot air balloons and airships in many of their works. This later evolved into a Substack article on the subject. https://dturnbull.substack.com/p/lambeth-fantastical-episode-thirteen
   Having looked into the locations in The War of the Worlds I decided to visit some of them with a train ride to Woking to follow the HG Wells Heritage Trail. The town really celebrates their Wells associations. There's a plaque on the house he lived in, a statue of him in the town centre and nearby a towering sculpture of a three legged Martian war machine. Inside the HG Wells pub there's sculpture of the Invisible Man with his trademark bandages and dark glasses. Wells also wrote the Invisible Man while residing in Woking. My review of the Heritage trail formed the basis of another Substack.
https://dturnbull.substack.com/p/lambeth-fantastical-episode-ten
   Once I had Woking under my belt I decided to try and visit other homes that Wells lived in. I'm not sure which writer holds the record for the most plaques but I reckon Wells is in with a good chance. There are many, from his birthplace on Bromley High Street, to his three house in Sandgate on the Kent coast, and the apartments on the edge of Regents Park where he died in 1946. This has led to an online talk called "HG Wells Lived Here" which I will be giving on the Rest Less platform very shortly.

   I've now designed the routes for a series of HG Wells guided walks which I am in the process of trying out. The first of which you can find on Eventbrite.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1377748716499?aff=oddtdtcreator
   The latest Wellsian well I have found myself digging into is the graphic novel interpretations of his work. Again there are many.
   In the 1940s Classic Comics launched their Illustrated Classics Illustrated series, which included graphic novelisations of the works of writers ranging from Jules Verne to Mark Twain, and even Shakespeare. The series ran for over 20 years and featured no less than 5 HG Wells works, including War of the Worlds and The Invisible Man.
   In the 70s Marvel had a similar series (Marvel Classics). This series was much more scifi focused and HG Wells again made 5 appearances. Another series ‘Great Illustrated Classics’ by the Waldman Publishing Corporation includes 3 Wells’ titles.
   The second book in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neil is set during the War of the Worlds and also features the Invisible Man and Doctor Moreau. Scarlet Traces by Ian Edgington and the graphic artist D’Israeli recounts The War of the Worlds plot in Part 1 before visiting post invasion Edwardian society in Part 2 and steampunk style interplanetary warfare in Part 3.
Wells himself appears in the Stoker and Wells graphic novels by Stephen Peros and Barry Orkin where he teams up with Dracula author Bram Stoker to travel into the future in a stolen time machine. 
   Who knows how deep I will end up digging into this particular well and, equally, who knows what I might end up writing about or doing as a consequence.

A Steamy Interview with Karen Bayly

Steampunk Sleuths will be released on the 30th of August (but the Kindle version is available for pre-order today at just $1.99 instead of $3.99). You can also add it today to your Goodreads bookshelf. To celebrate this anthology that perfectly aligns the gears that drive the genres of steampunk and mystery, we’re interviewing the contributing authors. Don your aviator goggles, but keep your magnifying glass close at hand, because these steamy puzzles won’t solve themselves!

Hi Karen,

There’s nothing quite as captivating as a great detective story, but what specifically is it about mystery in a steampunk world that gets your gears turning?

Steampunk provides the allure of devious machines and black-hearted cads lurking under the veneer of gentile, Victorian manners. It’s an excellent background for the weird and wonderful.

Tell us about your protagonist. Is this the first puzzle your main character has solved?

Serendipity Windlass is a strong-minded and intelligent young woman who has grown up surrounded by brilliant minds. This, and the fact that she has a rather unusual bio-mechanical leg, sets her apart from other men and women her age. Her best friend, Uncle Ambrose, who is a long-time friend of her father rather than a real uncle. He is the left-of-centre doctor who created her leg, and, in this story, she travels to Whitby on an errand for him. A murder at the guesthouse where she stays and a chance meeting with a famous author leads her to consider a new path in life.

It’s time for Show and Tell! What’s the most steampunk antique, item of clothing, book, game, or household item you have?

This book and hat are the most steampunk items I own. I bought the hat online and it doesn’t fit (too small) so I have never worn it.

Where can we find you online?

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/karenbayly

Thanks for playing along!

A Steamy Interview with S. B. Watson

Steampunk Sleuths will be released on the 30th of August (but the Kindle version is available for pre-order today at just $1.99 instead of $3.99). You can also add it today to your Goodreads bookshelf. To celebrate this anthology that perfectly aligns the gears that drive the genres of steampunk and mystery, we’re interviewing the contributing authors. Don your aviator goggles, but keep your magnifying glass close at hand, because these steamy puzzles won’t solve themselves!

Hi S. B.,

There’s nothing quite as captivating as a great detective story, but what specifically is it about mystery in a steampunk world that gets your gears turning?

Steampunk is a genre that offers nearly limitless possibilities. The only real qualifier is the energy-systems in use, and the feel. Pulp adventure, historical, romance, horror, mystery, fantasy, or a blend of all these things and more can easily fit into a satisfying steampunk story. I really enjoy that wide-open flexibility.

Of course, on the non-technical side, steampunk is just flat out cool. I am the sort of guy who still, even in my adulthood, has dreams about monstrous industrial machinery and huge commercial buildings that go on and on, woven with pipes and gears and weird motors… Nightmare-fuel liminal stuff. When I was younger, these dreams used to terrify me, but now that I’m older I’ve started to enjoy them. Basically, they’re steampunk. Having the opportunity to write a story set in a world like that was a special treat.

Tell us about your protagonist. Is this the first puzzle your main character has solved?

The protagonist in “Tears of the Dragon” is a geisha living in a very alternate history Edo Japan, named Aoyama Ohatsu. Though young herself, she already has a younger geisha-in-training that looks up to her. Living in a strict feudal society, Ohatsu must balance her sense of place and self against her duties as a professional entertainer. Of course, when her house-sister goes missing, Ohatsu’s loyalties to that very caste system are the first things that are tested.

I really enjoyed writing Ohatsu. To me, she was clever, emotionally intelligent, and generous. That being said, because of her place in society, I think it’s unlikely she’ll find herself in the middle of another mystery anytime soon… But then again, who knows?

It’s time for Show and Tell! What’s the most steampunk antique, item of clothing, book, game, or household item you have?

That would probably be this weird clamp-magnifying-glass thing I was gifted years ago. It serves no real functional purpose, just looks cool on my shelf. I’ve only ever used it rarely… but, now that I mention it, I have an idea…

Where can we find you online?

You can find me online at SBWatson.com, on X at SBWatsonMystery, Facebook as S. B. Watson, Instagram at sbwatsonmysteries, and on Goodreads as Theodore Berkawitz Meshak Sibelius the Fourth… Just kidding. On Goodreads I’m—you guessed it—S.B. Watson.

Thanks for playing along!

Thanks for having me!

Submissions Window: The Black Beacon Book of Horror 2

The Black Beacon Book of Horror 2

Submissions Window: November 1st to December 31st, 2025

Payment: $30 USD for original stories and $10 USD for reprints

Length: 3000 to 9000 words

Halloween 2026 will be spookier than ever with the second volume of The Black Beacon Books of Horror... but we need your help!

Send us your scary stories this November and December. If you're not sure what we want, simply grab a copy of the first volume.

Follow the guidelines to have your story considered. Full details on the submissions page.

 

Cover Reveal: The Black Beacon Book of Horror 2

When Greg Chapman posted his latest cover art, we just knew we had to snap it up for The Black Beacon Book of Horror 2. Check it out! Samhain Screams (co-edited by Greg Chapman and featuring his cover art) is going to make Halloween 2025 the spookiest ever, and the diabolical plan is to give you the creeps one year later with the second volume of The Black Beacon Books of Horror.

We'll be taking submissions in November and December. More details coming soon!

 

Halloween Hall of Fame

Black Beacon Books is horrified to announce our table of contents for Samhain Screams, the anthology that will make Halloween 2025 the spookiest ever! Edited by Greg Chapman and Cameron Trost, and featuring cover art by the former, you'll be screaming all night long this samhain! Tell your neighbours not to bother calling the police...

Without further ado, here's our Halloween Hall of Fame! 

The stories are in no particular order at this stage.

Toomie’s Ghost Story - Epiphany Ferrell

Candy Train - Em Starr

Vengeance of Halloween - Kevin M. Folliard

Halloween Under the Sea - Nick Manzolillo

Clyde - Tom Rimer

Hauntology - Matthew R. Davis

Indian Corn - Jacy Morris

The Last Pumpkin - Mia Dalia

The Knock - DJ Tyrer

That Time of Year - Daniel Fox

Where the World is Thin - Arthur Goodhill

We Played the Odds at Whitley - Darren Todd

Whispers - Martin Livings

Sweet Tooth - Brian Moreland

Living Creatures - Elle Jones

The October Shadows - Hannah Baxter

The Revellers of the Rift - Marty Young

The Hollows - C.E. O’Conaing

The Day You Die - S.B. Watson

The Black Van - Tom Coombe

Alternate-History Japan and a Glossary

A Guest by by S. B. Watson

When the idea for Tears of the Dragon came to me, I’ll admit, I balked at writing it. I had a core concept—a few characters, a few situations, a few mystery-puzzle mechanisms—but the “set dressing” in my mind was heavily rooted in historic Japan.

And that posed a problem.

I’ve written before about my enjoyment of historical fiction. One thing I didn’t touch on, however, is the sheer weight of work it can involve. In this case, while I had a passing familiarity with the “feel” of historic Japan, I was realistic enough to admit that writing the story in my mind would require a formidable amount of research, study, and outlining.

So, I put it off. As Black Beacon’s deadlines loomed closer, however, every time I was reminded of their submission call, that little idea in my mind was rekindled, and grew. Eventually, the idea-bonfire was simply too well stoked to ignore, and I buckled down to research.

Edo Period Japan was a remarkable place, existing as a fascinating placeholder between the Ancient and the Modern, bridging the gap between two vastly different eras while somehow never exclusively embodying either extreme.

Set between the Sengoku Period—characterized by warring samurai and political upheaval—and the Meiji Restoration—when the values of isolationist Japan began to mix with the rest of the “modern” world—the Edo Period existed in a state of relatively stable feudal rule under a succession of warlord-kings, known as Shōgun. In the Edo Period, one can watch as ancient traditions develop and bloom into modernity. Words can be traced through philological evolutions, beginning at one meaning and morphing into another. Fashion, culture, professions, trades, class-systems, and art all underwent drastic metamorphoses over the two-and-a-half centuries the period spanned.

During this time, as mentioned above, the country existed beneath a feudal rule, producing strict societal hierarchies and systems. Local economies were often tightly interdependent, with their profitability funneled up to their territorial warlords—called daimyō —and from there up to the shōgunate.

Although the warring chaos of the Sengoku Period had passed, samurai still endured, often taking up administrative positions within their daimyō’s estate or providing high-level guard services, or marshalling a daimyō’s local warbands in the service of the nation. Peasantry was stratified into classes, each serving their expected duties beneath their liege daimyō—often agricultural, or trade-working, in nature.

Pleasure quarters became a legal entity during this period, with geisha and oiran—cultural performers and high-level courtesans—producing the expressionist spear-head (along with poets and philosophers) that drove fashion and art in the country for nearly two-and-a-half centuries.

To me, this melting-pot of histories and ideas felt like an ideal setting to introduce something wholly foreign, wholly un-historical, and narratively powerful—a new industrial technology, in the form of steam.

I expect we’re all passingly familiar with the Steampunk Aesthetic—clockwork machinery, Rupe-Goldbergian automatons, crazy scientists, charismatic lone-wolf adventurers, daring skyships, and a return to the pulp-romance of exploration… Well, I decided to approach it from an entirely different angle. One much more intrinsically characteristic of Japan itself, of its people, its administrative systems, its history, and its geography. Especially the geography…

If you want to find out how I approached this, then be sure to pick up a copy of “Steampunk Sleuths” when it comes out, this August, and read Tears of the Dragon. I’d love to take you on a trip back in imaginary-time to an alternate version of a very real place!

Now, before I go, a word on words.

Tears of the Dragon uses many Japanese words and phrases. When I was writing it, I was faced with a dilemma—do I accentuate on the foreignness of the words, and try to define them asbthey’re used, in text? Or do I veer the other way, and anglicize as much as possible?

Well, you probably know me well enough by now to suspect, correctly, that I veered hard the other other way, and anglicized and defined as little as possible in text, relying on context to lend the meanings to a discerning reader. While this makes for a stronger story, it of course robs the reader of many interesting definitions they would otherwise be given.

Hence, I present a brief glossary for Tears of the Dragon, defining many (but not all) of the words used therein, and giving some brief cultural and historical context.

#

A Tears of the Dragon Glossary

Administrative

Shōgun – The military ruler of early feudal Japan.

Daimyō – Feudal lords beneath the shōgun, ruling han.

Daimyō-gyōretsu – A daimyō’s formal procession, often to or from the royal castle of the Shōgun at Edo, observing sankin-kōtai.

Han – The territorial estate-domains of the daimyō.

Karō – A high-ranking samurai within a han, reporting directly to the ruling daimyō.

Kiri-sute gomen – The feudal tradition giving samurai the “right to strike” anyone of a lower class whom they believed had compromised their honor.

Sankin-kōtai – A policy during the Edo Period aimed at curtailing the political power of feudal lords beneath the Shōgun, which required daimyō to alternate spending time between their fiefs and the royal castle at Edo.

Kenin – Literally “house person,” a kenin was a high-ranking servant of a wealthy family or business.

Culture and Entertainment

Hanamachi – “Flower Towns” during the early Edo Period were segregated geisha quarters, containing geisha houses and teahouses, as well as theatres and other gathering places. Later, these pleasure quarters grew to include the professional establishments of yūjo as well, and were called yūkaku. In Tears of the Dragon, I infuse the yūkaku with the hanamachi, including geisha houses as well as the elegant brothels Japan’s historic red-light-districts were famous for.

Ochaya – Teahouses where geisha entertained, often directly associated with an Okiya.

Okiya – Communal domiciles of geisha and maiko. Each Okiya had distinct naming conventions and symbols associated with them, allowing for a geisha’s house to be easily identified.

Kamon – Japanese crests, historically associated with royal or very influential families, or powerful enterprises. Okiya during the Edo Period commonly used kamon—the present-day symbols of the remaining geisha houses can be traced back to Edo roots.

Geisha – A senior female entertainer, skilled in traditional dance, music, poetry, and cunning conversation. Contrary to some beliefs, geisha did not customarily engage in sexual activities with patrons—these services were provided by the varying classes of yūjo and oiran.

Maiko – Understudy geisha, usually younger girls, studying beneath a designated senior.

Yūjo – The collective term for the common class of prostitutes. In contrast to Oiran, high-level courtesans.

Oiran – The collective term for the highest rank of courtesans. The highest rank within the oiran were the tayū, expected to be masters of various cultural skills, similar to geisha.

Okasan – The “house-mother” of an Okiya.

Oneesan – Japanese honorific for an older, more senior woman-figure.

Geimyo or Geimei – A professional name taken by maiko and geisha utilizing poetical suffixes and prefixes, distinctive to their okiya, to produce names with common imagery.

Myōseki – Professional names taken by oiran. Unlike geisha, oiran passed their myōseki down generationally to their understudies, allowing for some names to hold long historical reputations and significances within their brothel. Myōseki were often taken from works of poetic literature, and sometimes myth and fairytale. The Tale of Genji, a 12 th century erotic classic, was so popular for name inspiration—and so frequently used—that some courtesans are recorded as having taken the titles of chapters, section headings, and even male-character names for their myōseki.

Kamuro – Young oiran-in-training, attending the senior courtesans as they studied to eventually be promoted into full-fledged courtesans themselves.

Daily Life

Izakaya – Drinking establishment, in the Edo period analogous to a tavern.

Uchikake – Highly formal over-kimono, often worn by elite oiran.

Furisode Kimono – A long-sleeved, heavily ornamented kimono often worn by young, unmarried women. Maiko frequently wore furisode, while geisha wore contrasting kosode kimonos, with shorter sleeves and more muted colors, emblematic of mature women who no longer need high-fashion to attract.

Tansu – Traditional mobile storage cabinets, similar to portable chests.

Shoji – Doors or room dividers made of thin-paper sheets secured to lattice frames. Allowed in much light, but also sound, from adjoining rooms.

Kanzashi – Traditional formal hair styles for women. During the Edo Period, kanzashi became very intricate, requiring skilled use of tools and devices to prepare as well as hold in place. For this reason, takamakura were often used.

Takamakura – A high, narrow “pillow,” often fashioned from wood with little or no padding, that supported the head and neck during sleep without allowing pressure to be applied to the hair, thus preserving a kanzashi hairstyle for many days.

Kate-bukuro – A provision bag, worn by samurai, constructed of woven netting and suspended to the waist or belt. Closely related to the kubi bukuro, literally “neck bag,” used by samurai to carry the severed heads of their enemies slain during lawful combat.

Kaiken – A short dagger, often carried by women in the sleeve-pouches of their kimonos. Used for self-defense, or seppuku—ritual suicide.

Saya – A wooden scabbard, often lacquered and highly ornamental, used to sheath katana, wakizashi, tanto, and kaiken, all various bladed instruments.

Poetry

Tanka – An early form of traditional Japanese poetry, found along with other forms in the Man'yōshū, one of the most influential poetry anthologies of Japan, dating to the eighth century. During the Edo Period, tanka were considered short poems, as compared to longer choka. Tanka poems are historically one of the most numerous, and expanded upon, forms in Japanese literature.

Utamakura – “Poem Pillows,” one of a widely recognized group of words with communally understood poetic symbology and imagery, used to suggest a belying concept. Geographical place names were often used as utamakura. For example, Fukakusa, a small city located in Fushimi Ward near the present city of Nara, was once known for the presence of imperial graves, and so was often used to evoke images of death and used in poetic lamentations.

Hitodama – Referred to in Japanese poetry, hitodama were believed to be the physical manifestation of the human soul, revealing themselves in a spectral bioluminescence. In Tears of the Dragon, I re-apply this concept and definition to mean something else… To find out what, you’ll just have to read the story!