Something about "Strange Tales"
I got an email from the very nice Stephen Bacon, regarding my collection, Strange Tales, which was published by Rainfall Books in 2003. With his kind permission, here are some of the things he had to say about the stories:
“Just wanted to let you know I really enjoyed the collection”
'Infantophobia' gets the whole thing off to a disturbing start [with] a lot of imagery…that has stayed with me for a long time.
The tone of 'Empty Souls, Drowning' really struck a chord with me, as did the feeling of sadness in 'Together Forever'.
'Dead Skin' is one of the sickest things I have ever read (I mean that as a compliment!), and 'Up For Anything' is almost as grotesque.
I loved both 'Speckles' and 'The City in the Rain', [their] detached sense of alienation and 'otherness', [of] urban desolation and disjointedness.
[There was] a dark playfulness in both 'Dreaming of a Black Christmas' and 'The Darkest Hour', reminding me of the short fiction of Robert Bloch.
Overall, my favourite tale is 'Beach', a beautifully poetic story, full of haunting language and evocative emotion [that] in my opinion…is alone worth the price of admission.
How cool is that, eh?
If you’re at all interested, Strange Tales is still available from a few on-line booksellers and, as Mr Bacon quite rightly points out, is well worth a read.
“Just wanted to let you know I really enjoyed the collection”
'Infantophobia' gets the whole thing off to a disturbing start [with] a lot of imagery…that has stayed with me for a long time.
The tone of 'Empty Souls, Drowning' really struck a chord with me, as did the feeling of sadness in 'Together Forever'.
'Dead Skin' is one of the sickest things I have ever read (I mean that as a compliment!), and 'Up For Anything' is almost as grotesque.
I loved both 'Speckles' and 'The City in the Rain', [their] detached sense of alienation and 'otherness', [of] urban desolation and disjointedness.
[There was] a dark playfulness in both 'Dreaming of a Black Christmas' and 'The Darkest Hour', reminding me of the short fiction of Robert Bloch.
Overall, my favourite tale is 'Beach', a beautifully poetic story, full of haunting language and evocative emotion [that] in my opinion…is alone worth the price of admission.
How cool is that, eh?
If you’re at all interested, Strange Tales is still available from a few on-line booksellers and, as Mr Bacon quite rightly points out, is well worth a read.