S.J.Budd

  The debut collection from Kev Harrison, author of THE BALANCE, this tome brings together tales of ghosts in the machine, folkloric creatures let loose, abandoned places and dystopian nightmares. Containing thirteen stories - three of which are previously unpublished, with three others never before available in print, take your first tentative step onto the PATHS BEST LEFT UNTRODDEN. Over the years I've read a lot of Kev Harrison's fiction and have loved every word of it. His short stories have been featured in many different magazines and anthologies and he also has some very impressive novellas under his belt.  So when I found out he was releasing a short story collection I was genuinely so excited, Paths Left Best Untrodden went straight to the top of my TBR mountain (it really is that high) and got stuck in. The collection starts off strong with Big Game. It's set in the future, but it doesn't feel like it's too far into the future that we won't be experien

  She doesn’t know where she’s been, these last few years, or how she came by the scars that mark her body. She can barely remember who she is, a lot of the time. But Sasha knows Salvation Spring, the tiny nowhere town out in the middle of the desert that calls to her in dreams and haunts her waking life. Getting there is hard. But what she’ll find there - and what the place will ask of her - will be much, much harder. Because the Spring isn’t what it seems - far from it. And neither, for that matter, is Sasha. Not by a long way. This is my third read by T.C.Parker and now I'm a huge fan! Each book is so different yet all have that gripping urgency where you want to read the book cover to cover in one sitting. In this tale, Salvation Spring, we meet Sasha who has braved great hardship fighting her way through the hot lifeless desert. Her only concern is making it back to the mines. A place she has dreamt of many times, it calls to her and she knows she needs to return to find the a

  Welcome to Wales, land of mists and megaliths, where mythical creatures and ancient spirits lurk in the strangest of places. This collection of 10 supernatural stories offers a flurry of folklore, a gathering of ghosts, and even a cosmic cave creature. Stories include... Lure:  A fisherman who nets the tail fin of a lure becomes obsessed with finding the rest, but what else lies hidden in the ancient lake? Carreg Samson:  A Neolithic burial chamber stares out to sea, remembering times long since past, but when it loses its heart of stone to a young girl the repercussions are hard to bear. Coblynau:  An old man watches the mountain which was once a slag heap of coal. He listens for the knock of the Coblynau, certain they will come for him... soon, just like they did to warn of the Aberfan disaster. Author Catherine McCarthy’s second collection invites the reader on a regional journey, evoking a sense of quiet horror from the cosmic to the Gothic. This collection contains ten tales ran

  Nim is a master swimmer floating on waves of wet hope. His penance is to swim and carry, but his heart is held onboard a grieving ship in the aquamarine prison of her eyes. She is his sentence and he is hers. Will a mysterious humanoid jellyfish reunite the star-crossed lovers? This book contains graphic sex and violence, and is not suitable for readers under the age of 18. Praise: “Punishment by Hope is a wildly poetic and surreal odyssey through sexual obsession, murder and retribution, set in a bioluminescent Dantesque world of fiery and aquatic horrors.”—Barbie Wilde, Author (The Venus Complex, Voices of the Damned) and Actress (Hellbound: Hellraiser II) “A dreamlike seascape of desperate wishes, and a nightmarish vision of love’s life and death, this is a powerful, haunting tale.”—Tim Lebbon, Author of Eden “Punishment by Hope is a vivid and erotic fantasy mystery. Hofstatter weaves a memorable spell.”—James Bennett, Author of Chasing Embers “Punishment by Hope ebbs and flows in

  A quartet of established female horror writers from both sides of the Atlantic have joined supernatural forces to bring you - Daughters of Darkness - a publication from the women-run indie press Black Angel. These stories will take you across the centuries, from Whitechapel to New Orleans, from dark humour to Gothic, weaving the weird with the macabre. Within these pages, meet the myriad monsters these female writers have conjured, letting them loose to roam and cast long shadows. Beware - this is only the beginning... Daughters of Darkness was one of those anthologies that I read all too quickly as I couldn't wait to see what the next tale would be about. In these pages we have four female writers all hugely talented but all able to stand out with their tales of darkness.I had so much reaidng this and really hope there will be a Daughters of Darkness 2!!!!! Theresa Derwin starts off the anthology with her offering of 5 dark tales and poetry - Freaks and Geeks, Whitechapel Transf

  Emily has been obsessed with the occult since her mum died, collecting every pagan curio and oddity she can find. Then on the night of her 16th birthday, her father gives her a piece of real magic; a beating human heart inside a wooden box. If the gift weren't strange enough, his instructions are even stranger; You'll need to feed it to keep it alive.  The box needs her blood, and in exchange, shows her wondrous and rousing things. Desires she never knew existed. But as Emily's father lapses into addiction, as she grows weak with blood loss she realizes all too late the box has desires of its own.  The Maker's Box is a contemporary dark fairy tale of magic, obsession and madness. The Maker's Box by David Barclay is a very dark tale about a dark heart. It is the second novella to be released by Aphotic Realm the home of dark and sinister fiction. I really enjoyed reading Nightcrawler by P.A.Sheppard and knew I was in for something really dark! On her 16th birthday

  The problem with the end of the world is that it's a gradual process. It keeps getting worse. It tests you until you break, just to see if you can put yourself back together. Caz and her father do what they must to survive the fall of humanity. Hunting when they can, and scavenging supplies from the derelict shells of a deserted city they rely on each other to make it to the end of each day. The end of each day. A time when darkness falls and the monsters responsible for the collapse of society emerge to hunt. Wow I was not prepared for this book! Aphotic Realm are launching a series of novellas and this is the first one I have read so far and it really blew me away. I cannot wait to see what else they will be publishing. Nightcrawler is a really intense read. Survival hangs in the balance each day and the odds are really stacked against Caz and her father. This is horror but it's also a frantic action packed story which creates a thrilling ride.  Considering the covid pandem

  Rage. Bea has it - more than ever, since her husband left her. Lou has it - has it in spades, since she lost her job and her flat and had to move back in with her parents. And whoever’s been murdering and mutilating the men whose bodies keep mounting up in Bea and Lou’s city - they’ve got it, too. But when Bea moves to The Gates, an exclusive new estate with a strange and troubled history, and Lou’s interest in the murders leads her right to Bea’s door, the two women find the lines between nightmare and reality, history and myth and sanity and madness blurring around them - and a primeval entity born from the chaos of creation with her own appetite for rage rising up to meet them from the ground below. She sees them. And she’s hungry.   A Press of Feathers was a joy to read. Think murder mystery complete with a determined sleuth battling not just a serial killer but also evil crows, ancient deities and rich people! Told through the tale of two women Bea and Lou who have both recently

  Something is waiting for its time to rise. Beth and Stu Davenport moved to the sleepy English village of Meadowford Bridge to give their young son, Gabriel, an idyllic childhood. But one night a hidden, ancient darkness shatters their dream and changes their lives forever. Years later, Gabriel searches for answers about his mysterious past. His life unravels as he discovers that the people he loves and trusts harbour sinister secrets of their own. As the line blurs between shadow and light; and he becomes the prize in a deadly nocturnal game, Gabriel must confront the unrelenting, malevolent force that destroyed his family all those years ago. His choice: place his trust in a master vampire, or give himself to the malignant darkness. Is there a lesser of two evils—and how do you choose? I really loved this book! I'd recently read a short story by Beverley Lee from the Diabolica Britannica anthology released last year and was eager to read more of her work. The story delves straig

  A remote island. A group of prisoners. And an evil as old as time. Robin didn’t mean to break the law. Didn’t know at first what law she’d broken. And now she’s on her way to Salt Rock — a new-model prison for a new kind of criminal, way out in the remote Northern Isles of Scotland. On Salt Rock, she'll meet other prisoners like her — men and women from all over the world, spirited away from the lives they knew for crimes they didn’t know they were committing. She'll uncover the complex web of conspiracy that connects them all, confronting some of the darkness of her own past in the process. And she'll come face to face, finally, with an evil as old as the land itself. It’s hell in those waters. I'm not sure how to start with this review, other than I loved reading this book. There is a lot  of different genres packed in along with suspense and intrigue, which took my breath away. This is horror but nothing like I have ever read before.  There's some real 1984 Orw

  A woman, returning to her roots. A town, built on sacred land. A secret, cloaked in tradition and lore. Welcome to White Pines. Don't get too comfortable. When Megan is brutally dumped by her husband she decides to pack her van and drive up to Scotland, the home of her ancestors where she moves into her late Gran's seaside cottage. But dreams of an idyllic rural life are shattered when she meets the locals. Her heartbreak and broken marriage will soon be the least of her problems... I really loved this book and devoured it in two days, I probably could have read it in one day if it weren't for having to homeschool my kids during lockdown ;)   I don't want to say too much about the plot so as not to spoil it but it moves in unexpected ways which kept me as the reader guessing. I loved how there were so many different literary elements, it had crime, mystery, adventure, heartbreak, folklore and of course horror.  There's a lot of horror, a lot of moments that made m

Juniper is the first book in Ross Jeffery’s novella trilogy: a post-apocalyptic horror about an insane American town seemingly at the edge of reality. As Juniper suffers from scorching drought and medieval famine, the townsfolk are forced to rely on the ‘new cattle’ for food: monstrous interbred cats kept by the oppressed Janet Lehey. But there’s a problem: Janet’s prized ginger tom, Bucky, has gone missing, flown the coop. As Janet and her deranged ex-con husband Klein intensify their search for the hulking mongrel, Betty Davis, an old woman clinging to survival on the outskirts of Juniper, discovers something large and ginger and lying half-dead by the side of the road. She decides to take it home… Juniper is surreal, dark, funny, and at times: excruciatingly grotesque. Buckle up for a wild ride through the dust-ridden roads of a tiny, half-forgotten American town. Wow this is a novella that really packs a punch. If I'm being honest apocalyptic stories aren't re

  "This collection of ghost stories is fresh, varied, and entertaining. Perfect company for long a winter's night." - Owen King, co-author with Stephen King of the New York Times #1 Bestseller Sleeping Beauties Twenty-six brand-new tales of ghosts, spirits, and the afterlife to chill even the most hardened reader to their very marrow. Grandmasters and newcomers alike serve well to petrify with stories to keep you lying awake in the dead of night - long after the last of the light has died - listening for that telltale scratching at the door, a soft whisper of disembodied voices, and the icy caress of long-dead fingers upon your ankle… The Horror Zine’s Book of Ghost Stories is delighted to present to you original, never before seen, spine-tingling tales from Bentley LIttle, Joe R. Lansdale, Elizabeth Massie, Graham Masterton with Dawn G. Harris, Tim Waggoner, and the very best up and coming writers in the genre. Includes a foreword by Lisa Morton.. The Horror Zine and Hel

  Of Witches…  the newest collection by dark fiction author, Steve Stred, brings together eight stories all revolving around one of history’s great curiosities – the witch. Steve Stred will once again take you into the deepest, darkest places. Accompanied by fifteen stunning photographs/illustrations, as well as an amazing foreword from Miranda Crites, this collection is sure to quench your crone thirst. Within this collection you’ll find tales about; -A watery reunion -A story shared in a bar -Letters left after a family member dies -A chance encounter while camping -Three sisters who live on the outskirts of town -The events that follow the loss of a loved one -Strange occurrences at a property -A teenager starting to work at the family business Of Witches…  is sure to become both a Halloween classic as well as a collection classic. I've been a fan of Steve Stred's work for many years, starting with Left Hand Path:13 More Tales of  Black Magick, a collection of dark tales whi

  Amongst the slums of Limehouse stands a new hospital, a monument to Victorian philanthropy. Marian, destitute and about to be orphaned as her father succumbs to the ravages of syphilis, is taken there by Dr. Janssen. This eminent physician offers her work and a roof over her head. Employed as a seamstress, she stitches shrouds for the dead and hoods for the hangman. Marian is taken to the ward of St. Carcifex. This shadowy ward receives the recently deceased, particularly those who have hung from the gallows. Her task in this gloomy place is to watch over them, make sure the dead stay dead. On Marian’s first night, she is charged with the care of two murderers, who, despite their hanging, do not appear to have the expected deathly pallor. On the second night, these guests are joined by innocent, hard-working men, victims of an unfortunate dock accident. Marian is enraged that such should be forced to share the ward. As her own mind falls victim to the ravages of the disease which kil