Forget everything you know about the big bad wolf. It’s not that simple any more. Here are werewolves, skin walkers, demons and unknown dangers. Nothing can be relied upon, not species not shape, not gender. In this second Fox Pocket collection of short flash fiction we explore what happens when nothing is what it seems. You’ll need more than a red hood this time. The idea of this collection immediately appeals. It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of weres and shapeshifters. Hell, I‘ll even go so far as admit I was a devotee of Manimal back in the day (oh yeah, I went there). The promise of an entire book full of shape-shifting tales is just too good to pass up. Fifteen stories from fifteen different authors, each promising insight into the animal within. Here are some of the standouts – Carlos by K.A. Laity – Poor old Carlos. Everyone deserves the chance to indulge in the thing that they love, but the life of a shape-shifting rodent isn’t always a happy one. This rather beautiful little story ends on a pitch perfect bittersweet note. Eigi Einhammr by Rahne Sinclair – Harald has been caught poaching the King’s…

I like to include the odd anthology in my reading schedule from time to time. I find short story collections a perfect way to fill the gap if I have a spare five/ten minutes with nothing to do. Moribund Tales is a short anthology from author Erik Hofstatter. It collects together ten tales that mix urban legends with gothic horror. Internal Abduction – Things kick off with a retelling of one of my favourite urban legends. We’ve all had a night on the tiles and then woken up with a memory like Swiss cheese. The question is do you really want to fill in those gaps? Last Straw of Humanity – What does it mean to be merciful? George’s brother thinks he knows but will he have the strength to grant that mercy? Chaperone – A man wakes up with no memories. As flashes of his past life start to return, he begins to realise where he is and more importantly who his mysterious guide may be. A moment of horrific realisation captured in short fiction Tears of Repentance – Grigor meets Ingra and they fall in love. What follows explores the breakup of their marriage and Gregor learning the…

Corvis Correll is a lethal revenant, sworn to serve the Umbra Syndicate in destroying the Moratalis Church. After six long years in cold war, his death looks like a better possibility. When a mission goes horribly wrong, Corvis finds himself stranded in the middle of the Outlands desert, thousands of miles from home and at the complete mercy of cannibalistic tribes. His only companion is a mysterious woman left for dead amid the wreckage.  She might not remember who she is or how she got there, but one thing’s for certain: she remembers how to kill. For the Moratalis Church, religious doctrine is everything. Their faith controls everything they do. They have no medicines, only relying on the power of prayer to heal wounds and diseases. To the members of the Church, technology is a total anathema. Meanwhile the people of the Umbra Syndicate have thrown off the constrictive yoke of the old religion. Fleeing the all-powerful Church the Syndicate have embraced technology and are using it to eke out an existence under their own terms. The growth of these two opposing ideologies has led to an inevitable war, both factions utterly convinced that they are in the right. On…

When a Senator’s daughter is kidnapped by a mysterious with ties to the supernatural, it’s clearly a job for SEAL Team 666. As Triple Six investigate, they discover links to the Zeta Cartel, a newly discovered temple beneath Mexico City, and a group known as followers of the Flayed One. But international politics. cross-border narco-terrorism, and an insidious force operating inside the team soon threaten to derail the mission. Forced to partner with several militant ex-patriots and a former Zeta hitman-turned-skinwalker, SEAL Team 666 is the world’s only hope to stop the return of the Age of Blood. Normally I tend to actively avoid starting a book when I know that it has predecessors that I’ve not yet read. I don’t like the idea that I’ve missed out on important character developments or plot points that may have an impact on what I’m reading. That said, there are always exceptions to every rule and in this particular instance I found myself powerless to resist the draw of this book. What a stonking premise, bonkers in the extreme – a group of hard-as-nails Navy SEALs tasked with taking on supernatural threats. The characters are all larger than life. Each of the…

WEWELSBURG CASTLE, 1940. The German war machine has woken an ancient threat – the alien Vril and their Ubermensch have returned. Ultimate Victory in the war for Europe is now within the Nazis’ grasp. ENGLAND, 1941 Foreign Office trouble shooter Guy Pentecross has stumbled into a conspiracy beyond his imagining – a secret war being waged in the shadows against a terrible enemy. The battle for Europe has just become the war for humanity.   I don’t read a massive amount of alternate history, but I have to admit that something about the premise of this novel immediately appealed to me. Secret Nazi schemes involving advanced alien races and the quest for the Nietzschean superman. A plot like that sounds as though it could certainly hold the promise of something entertaining. Rising against the Nazi/Vril threat are the men and women of Station Z, the British department who exist shrouded in the utmost secrecy. They are tasked with stopping Axis plans by any means necessary, even if that involves working with “the most evil man who ever lived”. There are also a handful of chapters that cover the action from the perspective of the Axis soldiers. These provide a nice…

It’s that MadNad person again. This time she is casting her beady eye over Sarah Pinborough’s latest. Beauty is a beautifully illustrated retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story which takes all the elements of the classic fairytale that we love (the handsome prince, the ancient curse, the sleeping girl and, of course, the haunting castle) and puts a modern spin on the characters, their motives and their desires. It’s fun, contemporary, sexy, and perfect for fans of ONCE UPON A TIME, GRIMM, SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN and more I had been eagerly awaiting the final part in Sarah Pinborough’s fairy tale trilogy. I thoroughly enjoyed Poison and Charm, so I was confidant I would enjoy Beauty. I was wrong. I loved it! Probably my favourite of all three, Beauty wraps up, or more accurately, closes the story loop as chronologically the events here happen prior to Poison. The Huntsman is one of the central characters in this piece which cleverly ties it to the other two parts. Other characters from other stories are interwoven, but this character particularly seems significant in all three parts. An ever-present Prince, and a red-cloaked maiden complete the lead ensemble. Beauty is loosely based on…

Something a bit different today from The Eloquent Page. A bit of non-fiction with its own unique sci-fi slant. Neil loves Sue. He also loves Doctor Who. But can he bring his two great loves together? And does he have the right? In January 2011, Neil Perryman set out on an insane quest to make his wife Sue watch every episode of the classic series of Doctor Who from the very beginning. Even the ones that didn’t exist any more. And so, over the next two and half years, Sue gamely watched them all: William Hartnell (the Miserable Git); Patrick Troughton (the Scruffy Drunk); Jon Pertwee (the Pompous Tory); Tom Baker (the Mad One); Peter Davison (the Fit One); Colin Baker (the Court Jester); Sylvester McCoy (the Crafty Sod) and Paul McGann (the One-Night Stand). The result was a wildly successful and hilariously revealing blog called Adventures with the Wife in Space. But the adventure continues. From awkward years at school, terrified of giant insects, Daleks and rugby players, to even more awkward years as an adult, terrified of unexpected parenthood and being called a Whovian, here Neil tells the all too true story of life as a Doctor Who fan. Funny, honest and surprisingly brave, he…

I LOVE THE SMELL OF PARALLEL DIMENSIONS IN THE MORNING Baxter Zevcenko’s life is pretty sweet. As the 16-year-old kingpin of the Spider, his smut-peddling schoolyard syndicate, he’s making a name for himself as an up-and-coming entrepreneur. Profits are on the rise, the other gangs are staying out of his business, and he’s going out with Esme, the girl of his dreams. But when Esme gets kidnapped, and all the clues point towards strange forces at work, things start to get seriously weird. The only man drunk enough to help is a bearded, booze-soaked, supernatural bounty hunter that goes by the name of Jackson ‘Jackie’ Ronin. Plunged into the increasingly bizarre landscape of Cape Town’s supernatural underworld, Baxter and Ronin team up to save Esme. On a journey that takes them through the realms of impossibility, they must face every conceivable nightmare to get her back, including the odd brush with the Apocalypse. Some of my favourite experiences when it comes to reading are when I start a new book and the author is a totally unknown quantity. No expectations, no history, just me and a brand new story that holds the promise of roads not yet travelled. I like…

In the run up to the convention we’re attending this week my better half @MadNad has indulged her latest passion… some fella called Joe Hill.  Imogene is young, beautiful, kisses like a movie star, and knows everything about every film ever made. She’s also dead, the legendary ghost of the Rosebud Theater. Arthur Roth is a lonely kid with a head full of big ideas and a gift for getting his ass kicked. It’s hard to make friends when you’re the only inflatable boy in town. Francis is unhappy, picked on; he doesn’t have a life, a hope, a chance. Francis was human once, but that’s behind him now. John Finney is in trouble. The kidnapper locked him in a basement, a place stained with the blood of half a dozen other murdered children. With him, in his subterranean cell, is an antique phone, long since disconnected . . . but it rings at night, anyway, with calls from the dead. . . I shall be attending the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton, where I will be one of a few lucky souls to share a room with Joe Hill and Peter Crowther in a unique opportunity to discuss  the…