'A Bloody Mary, a Tomato Juice, and a Tin of Yellow Paint'

Last Stop Wellsbourne by Tom Johnstone continues to intrigue with interlinked stories about a place that doesn't exist - sort of. Except that it's a lot like Brighton. In this story a paranormal investigator called Myra Valiente looks into the strange happenings at a relatively posh, new-built estate called Redlands Close. It sounds fairly ghastly, thought of course it is intended to be exclusive and desirable.

It’s not exactly a gated community, though there are two walled residents’ car parks right next to it, each with an electronic gate controlled by a punch-code key-pad. Between them is a tiny play park enclosed by a red, bowtopped fence. I struggle to imagine children playing in it. Its only occupant is a life-size wooden statue of what looks like Gandalf, judging by the beard and pointed hat. Redlands Close itself is a pleasant enough place, even if the seven box-like houses are laid out behind their manicured, postage-stamp lawns with a mathematical precision that could lead one to describe the architect as anally retentive. Either that or pushed for space. 

A teenage girl called Serena is at the centre of the phenomenon. Serena's father left her mother, Mary Munt, and Serena started acting up. The girl who was Daddy's Little Princess became a woman around the same time, and the arrival of her periods produced the bizarre events referred to in the title. The folklore of menstruation, the way in which various cultures treat it as a literal curse, is touched upon. The denouement is truly horrific, a strikingly original idea that involves a psychic manifestation of a very physical kind.

So, another winner from this themed collection of very modern horror. Next up, the title story.