Tim Foley - Debut Collection

PS Publishing has announced a new book by ST regular Tim Foley. It looks good! There's both a trade paperback and a signed hardcover edition. 

This collection of uncanny tales invites us into a world where a subtle frisson awaits, a world where the sense that something is chillingly wrong lurks just beneath the familiar rituals of everyday life. A classic muscle car hides a dark, secret history. The shade of a lonely bride broods in a hotel room, longing for a friend. A cynical musician confronts a closet door that, without explanation, refuses to stay shut.

For the past dozen years, Tim Foley’s stories have appeared in journals and anthologies, offering modern takes on the supernatural tale, creating a sharp sense of unease in the reader. Gathered here in his first collection, these stories offer gentle mystery and creeping dread. Seventeen Tales Nocturnal, to be read late in the evening, when the spirits are near.

ATMOSPHERIC DISTURBANCES by Helen Grant (Swan River Press 2024)

Cover art by John Coulthart

Has it really been so long?

That was my first thought in looking at the contents list of this excellent new collection. I need hardly mention that Helen Grant's stories have been appearing in Supernatural Tales for quite a while, now. Four of the thirteen tales collected her first saw light of day courtesy of my hot little editorial hands. And another, 'The Wynd', first published in Nightmare Abbey, features on my YouTube channel. Check it out here on the Helen Grant playlist. 

Needless to say 'The Wynd' is excellent, a clever variation on the mysterious church best left unvisited theme. What makes it especially good is that not only does the rather nasty protagonist get his comeuppance, but this occurs in the heart of a bustling modern city. A church lurking in wait amid soulless office blocks is a tough menace to pull off, but the author manages it with aplomb.

Looking again at the stories I was privileged to publish, I'm glad to say they stand up well alongside the other inclusions. Indeed, the first three stories in the book are all ST 'alumni', as is the title story, which rounds off the volume. 

And I think 'Atmospheric Disturbances' is arguably the best piece in the book, though not by a wide margin. This story of a solitary man on an island who loses touch with the world - perhaps as the result of some unimaginable global catastrophe - perhaps borders on science fiction. But it is also a modern take on the 'last man' theme tackled by Mary Shelley, among others. What makes it especially moving, for me, is the conclusion, which I will certainly not spoil here. 

Issue 57 - Winter 2024/5

 

Cover illo by Sam Dawson, for Steve Duffy's story 'Forever Chemicals', which offers an interesting take on the London of the early Thatcher era. Spoiler alert - it wasn't very nice. 

Here are the contents in full:

'Forever Chemicals' by Steve Duffy. 

A young man in need of a job ends up as a nightwatchman on the run-down Docklands site. Businessmen of the less honest kind dump stuff in the dock. As Christmas approaches, so does a strange and unwanted 'miracle'. 

'Wendigo' by Michael Kelly. 

Strangers on a train. A Canadian winter. A story about a legendary creature. All this and more as events unfold in a cabin in the wilderness and disturbing truths revealed.

'The Unfortified Heart' by Tim Jeffreys

An affair with a married woman is an exciting thing, what with the thrill of transgression and all that. But what if the husband finds out? An age-old premise given a new, supernatural twist in this gripping tale.

'The Wet Wife' by Reggie Chamberlain-King.

Our second nod to Algernon Blackwood, as a couple spend a holiday by the Danube. The willows are present and correct. But it's not vegetation that proves troublesome when the husband decides to take a swim.

'Episodes From the Life and Death of a Pantomime Horse' by William Curnow. 

Seasonal fun for all the family! No, not really. This tour de force looks at the career of an old-school comedy partnership whose wholesome act seems to evolve over time into a minor circle of hell. 

'The Night Visitor' by Steve Rasnic Tem.

A tale by one of the undisputed masters of the modern genre. An old man, lonely and increasingly fearful, awaits the onset of the festive season. Who would want to send him a volume of classic British ghost stories? A strange form of harassment...

THESE AND OTHER MYSTERIES by Steve Duffy (Sarob Press 2024)

 

Cover by Paul Lowe illustrating 'Screen Burn'

Steve Duffy's latest collection offers the discerning reader eight stories, five brand new and three previously published (two of which appeared in ST). As always, these are well-wrought tales in the great tradition of British supernatural fiction. But they are also modern in the best sense - offering characters and settings instantly recognisable to anyone who inhabits the UK. Drizzle, darkness, and decay are seldom absent. 

'Dead Centre of Manchester', the first story, is a prime example. Steve takes a fragment from a notorious true crime case and runs with it in a strange and gruesome direction. The overall feel might be described as Alan Bennett meets Joel Lane. In a good way, of course. There's a whiff of Vick and a taste of blood. Believable characters reacting to extraordinary circumstances are one of the author's specialities and he does a splendid job here.

Cath, newly retired, joins Facebook groups and does some litter picking to keep busy. She also joins a group that attends what used to be called paupers' funerals - send-offs for those who have no friends or family to mourn them. After one funeral a mysterious figure - somewhat Gothy in appearance - is often glimpsed by Cath but seems to elude the gaze of others. As autumn draws in, a series of deaths linked to the dead man suggest an unholy covenant of some kind is being fulfilled. A first-rate story that has the authentic M.R. Jamesian touch.

'The Harvester of Ladslove' might not have won the approval of Dr. James, though, as the key event takes place during the Great War. Wartime settings are problematic for supernatural fiction, given the horror that's already there. But when I accepted the story for the fiftieth issue of ST I was more than satisfied by the raw power of the narrative. It's bold to suggest that there might be something even worse than the carnage of the Western Front. As we should know by now, things can always get worse. 

That time of year again

 

Issue 56 ezine available on Amazon for download

 The link to the ezine is here.

Issue 56 is out now!

 

Here it is, large as life and twice as spooky! All-new fiction by a host of talents, mostly British but also including our first-ever contribution from Germany. 

Here is the table of contents.

You	Roger Luckhurst
Braunhoffer’s Coaches	Martin Ruf
Violet	Rosanne Rabinowitz
Corpsed	Matthew G. Rees
The Haunting of Ian Bland	Lisa Pritchard
Hell Is	James Everington
The Hands of Men	Sam Dawson

Click this link & it takes you to all available print-on-demand issues

(It will also take you to EPUB versions)