Dark Divinations: Copper and Cordite

The Inspiration Behind “Copper and Cordite.”

By Ash Hartwell

Hi, I’m Ash Hartwell and I wrote Copper and Cordite.

Being English I often find inspiration in the country’s long, rich and varied history, and Copper and Cordite is no exception. In 1854, during the Battle of Balaclava, the Light Brigade charged headlong into the Russian guns. Although a military catastrophe, their action and bravery became immortalized in the poem by Tennyson, The Charge of the Light Brigade. My grandmother used to own a house built as officer’s accommodation during the Napoleonic wars and as with all houses of this age, it had its ghosts or rather, the whole street had its ghosts. Many people have reported seeing officers, dressed in full uniform, riding down the street, some even say they can hear the horses’ hooves.

To write Copper and Cordite, I took both events and merged them into one story. If a mother could foresee her son charging into a valley of death, would she not try and stop him? At whatever cost?

I hope you enjoy my story and the many others included in this anthology. And, while you’re about it, why not check out Tennyson’s classic poem as well.

Ash Hartwell has had over fifty short stories published in a range of anthologies from Stitched Smile publications to The Sinister Horror Co. JEA published a collection of his stories Zombies, Vamps and Fiends in 2015 and his first novel Tip of the Iceberg was awarded Best Horror Novel 2017 by Critters.org and made the reading list for both the HWA and BFS awards for the same year. Ash lives in the English countryside with his wife, kids and too many animals.