TWO brothers from Dursley who left school with no qualifications between them have just published their first horror novel.

John and David Smith were both born in Cwmbran and moved to Gloucestershire at an early age when their dad found work at RA Listers.

They both still live in the area, but the new novel is something of a change for both of them.

John, 56, says: “I work shifts as a manual machine operator, and David, who’s 52, is a customer service assistant at a local convenience store.”

He adds: “We both left school without any qualifications, and with no hope of achieving anything in life, but my girlfriend, now my wife, knew I’d always wanted to write and she persuaded me to send a short story to a publisher.

"The story, The Evil Within, ended up being published in a collection, and that was worth more to me than the £2.50 I actually received in payment.”

The new book is entitled The Village That Fell into Hell, is the brothers’ first collaboration.

John explains: “At first, we set up in David’s bedroom, with him typing on the computer, while I came up with the words.

"It was torture, and eventually we tried plotting the story together. David would put it on the computer, then I’d read through and retype it on my computer.

"It took a long time and a lot of checking, especially as we could only get together for one afternoon a week, but there was very little friction when it came to the plot.

“We both came up with the storyline as, from an early age, we’ve shared a fascination for the spirit world, reincarnation and the like.

“We’ve already begun writing a sequel, and I’m also concentrating on a new collection of short stories.”

The brothers would have loved their mum to enjoy seeing them both as published authors.

"Sadly, she passed away seven months before we managed to get an acceptance from Olympia Publishers," said John.

"But then fate dealt us an unexpected surprise in the way of the release date, which was July 26, our mum’s birthday."