Communion by Steve Stred is the second book of an ongoing trilogy – book one was Ritual (which we reviewed here) and the second book starts pretty much where book one finished. This proposed trilogy of books by Stred is dark, brooding and graphic as hell, with Stred giving us a slice after slice of
It is early evening when a dishevelled and terrified twelve year old girl bangs on the door of a middle aged Irish priest. Her father has disappeared and we immediately find ourselves sharing the narrator’s intense anxiety. Conor O’ Callaghan’s first novel, Nothing on Earth, is a Gothic tale set in a barren half built
In the Introduction to Europa28, writer Laura Bates states that ‘women see things differently […] it comes as a shock, because our default setting is to see things through men’s eyes without ever realising we are doing so.’ I am more than inclined to agree. It’s along this premise that we find Europa28, an anthology
Christopher Beck gives birth to three different variations of horror within this short collection of his work, with many different tropes of the horror genre – first we have a tale steeped in an eeriness that as a reader we are unsure of the intentions of our protagonist, the second we see life in all
Well if you’ve found your way to this review you’re either a fan of Planet of the Apes, Folio Society or a consumer of fiction – well if that’s the case you are in for a mighty fine time. If you’re a space travelling lost soul and discovered this (a message in a bottle if
The motif of the Bird flies all the way through Anna Vaught’s novel, Saving Lucia. It encapsulates in its image a plethora of contradictory notions: freedom and constraint, strength and vulnerability, companionship and loneliness, elation and desolation. The birds that flit in and out of this novel offer both solace and sorrow to the characters
Dear Laura is one of the finest novella’s that I have read, the stylistic qualities on show are sublime, the prose is taut as if at any moment it’ll snap and whip the reader – maiming them at any given moment. The uniqueness of the story is another masterstroke with Amor dropping us right into
Last Meal In Osaka & Other Stories by Gary Buller is a journey through various interpretations of horror, first we have Swashbuckle Cove which is your more childhood based horror where we are unsure if the things that are transpiring to our protagonists are real or if it is a coping mechanism for grief and
Rym Kechacha worked as a professional ballet dancer with the Northern Ballet before becoming a teacher. She has an MA in Creative and Life Writing from Goldsmith’s University and Dark River is her debut novel. Dark River entwines two parallel stories, both centring on a mother fighting to protect her family from the impact of
Crowded House & Other Stories is a small collection of short stories by S.J. Budd and published by Demain Publishing as part of their Short Sharp Shocks! series and boy is it good! This is the first time I’ve read S.J. Budd and I can tell you it most certainly wont be the last. Budd
