HOME IS WHERE THE HAUNT IS: Tobi Coventry and Róisín Lanigan
Schedule
Mon Mar 16 2026 at 06:30 pm to 08:00 pm
UTC+00:00Location
Blackwell's Bookshop | Manchester, EN
About this Event
We are thrilled to welcome Tobi Coventry and Róisín Lanigan to Blackwell's on the 16th of March to discuss their brilliant books He's The Devil and I Want To Go Home But I'm Already There. The authors will be in conversation with Jodie Matthews (author of Meet Me At The Surface).
Doors: 6.30pm, starts: 6.45pm
Tickets are £4. Admission is free when purchasing a copy the book.
About HE'S THE DEVIL:
Simon has always been a good boy. He's invariably employee of the month at the seasonal small plates restaurant where he works, he neurotically tidies his home, he keeps on top of repairs on behalf of his twenty-something, permanently-abroad landlord and tries to do right by everyone. But when his best and only friend, Josh, moves out of their shared flat, Simon is lonelier than ever - until in moves a new flatmate, the strange (and strangely sexy) Massimo.
But Massimo's brought something with him. Odd sounds emerge from Massimo's room, smells of earth and meat drift through the corridor and Simon's nights fill with disturbing and tantalising dreams. Massimo is awakening something in Simon, something wild and exciting and horrifying that could be the end of him - or maybe a new beginning. But whatever's in Massimo, whatever's in the flat, isn't finished. It wants more …
He's the Devil is a wickedly funny, chillingly suspenseful modern day horror story, painfully relatable to anyone who has ever had to share their living space with someone they'd honestly just rather not share it with…
About I WANT TO GO HOME BUT I'M ALREADY THERE:
Áine should be feeling happy with her life. She's just moved in with Elliot. Their new flat is in an affluent neighbourhood, surrounded by bakeries, yoga studios and organic vegetable shops. They even have a garden. And yet, from the moment they move in, Áine can't shake the sense that there's something not quite right about the place...
It's not just the humourless estate agent and nameless landlord: it's the chill that seeps through the draughty windows; the damp spreading from the cellar door; the way the organic fruit and veg never lasts as long as it should. And most of all, it's the upstairs neighbours, whose very presence makes peaceful coexistence very difficult indeed.
The longer Áine spends inside the flat - pretending to work from home; dissecting messages from the friends whose lives seem to have moved on without her - the less it feels like home. And as Áine fixates on the cracks in the ceiling, it becomes harder to ignore the cracks in her relationship with Elliott...
Brilliantly observed and darkly funny, I Want to Go Home But I'm Already There is a ghost story set in the rental crisis. A wonderfully clear-eyed portrait of loneliness, loss and belonging, it examines what it means to feel at home.
About the authors:
Tobi Coventry is a renowned book-to-film scout and the founder and Director of Dialogue Scouting. In 2022, he produced a short horror film, Blood Rites, an adaption of a Daisy Johnson short story. He’s the Devil is his first novel.
Róisín Lanigan is an editor and writer based in London and Belfast. Her work has appeared in theNew York Times,Financial Times,The GuardianandThe Fence, amongst other publications. She was longlisted for the Curtis Brown First Novel Prize in 2019, and won the Blue Pencil Agency First Novel Award in 2020.I Want to Go Home But I'm Already Thereis her first novel.
If you cannot make the event but would like a dedicated copy of the book, please email [email protected] or call us on 0161 274 3331.
Our event format is usually a 45 minute discussion between the author and interviewer, followed by a chance for audience members to ask questions. There will be the opportunity to get your book signed/dedicated after the event. Events are a brilliant opportunity to discover new books, meet authors and likeminded readers and learn something new.
Support your local bookshop and help us keep the Manchester literary scene vibrant and exciting. You can follow us on Eventbrite and social media (@BlackwellsMCR) to keep up to date on upcoming events.
Where is it happening?
Blackwell's Bookshop, 146 Oxford Road, Manchester, United KingdomEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
GBP 4.00 to GBP 16.99
