One More Chapter lands Walter's arachnid horror

One More Chapter has landed Scuttle, an arachnid horror novel from B P Walter. 

Commissioning editor Jennie Rothwell acquired world English language rights in an exclusive submission from Joanna Swainson at Hardman & Swainson. Walter’s debut horror novel will be published in "spooky season" 2024 as a lead title for the publisher. 

"With his ability to evoke dark, sinister atmospheres and with some of his works already having a horror vibe, it makes perfect sense for Barnaby to turn to pure horror," said Swainson. "With Scuttle he has written a book that will make your skin crawl." 

The synopsis for Scuttle reads: "When an overnight camping trip in the woods on Halloween night goes wrong, and a girl ends up dead with what looks like animal wounds, the local neighbourhood is shocked. How did it happen? And more importantly what was it that killed her? With an animalistic killer on the loose, nobody is safe. But one person knows the truth, and his disturbing secret has eight legs and a taste for human flesh."

Rothwell commented: “I’ve always been a huge horror fan and I don’t feel that there are enough new authors launching into the genre. Barnaby’s writing has always had a real edge of darkness to it so when he told me he wanted to write something even more sinister, I knew it would be special. Scuttle is unlike anything I’ve read before and as someone who has a fear of spiders, this truly terrified me (in the best way).” 

Walter added: “I’m so thrilled to be journeying into a new area of storytelling and continuing my publishing with the brilliant team at HarperCollins and One More Chapter. I’ve been a big fan of horror fiction since I was a teenager and some of my past psychological thrillers have occasionally knocked on the doors of the genre, so being able to step further into this dark arena is a dream come true.”