Shortlisted for Best Collection in the British Fantasy Awards 2023Candescent Blooms is a collection of twelve short stories which form fictionalised biographies of mostly Golden Era Hollywood actors who suffered untimely deaths. From Olive Thomas in 1920 through to Grace Kelly in 1982, these pieces utilise facts, fiction, gossip, movies and unreliable memories to examine the life of each individual character set against a Hollywood background of hope and c...

COME TOGETHER IN BODY AND SOULWhen a pregnancy occurs on Heart it is two-fold. The female carries the body and the male carries the soul. Both have to be present at birth for the soul to enter the body, otherwise the body is born useless and the soul is left to dissipate.Heart is a planet recovering from an unexplained catastrophe which occurred so long ago that the inhabitants are entirely unaware of their history. Most live in isolated settlements that ar...

Japanese school children grow giant frogs, a superhero grapples with her secret identity, onions foretell global disasters and an undercover agent is ambivalent as to which side he works for and why. Relationships form and crumble with the slightest of nudges. World catastrophe is imminent; alien invasion blase.These twenty slipstream stories from acclaimed author Andrew Hook examine identity and our fragile existence, skid skewed realities and scratch the surface of our world, reve...

Languages of Water is a rare but intimate fusion of East, West and Africa, a stunning artefact of writerly immersion and cultural exchange. This child of digital collaboration brings together writers, illustrators and translators of poetry, fiction and essays, and refuses to be contained.In a playful interrogation of French literary theorist, critic and philosopher Roland Barthes' le plaisir du texte and death of the author, Languages of Water opens with the homing story 'When the ...

An anthology of stories inspired by artists who have left us too soon. The finished anthology includes tributes to megastars and lesser-known figures, to the predictable and the less so, and I'm proud to present each and every one. In these trying times, what could be better than kicking back, putting on your favourite piece of music, and enjoying a good story or two, which may just stir a memory of days gone by?

X Marks the Spot is a slender anthology produced to celebrate the first ten years of NewCon Press. It includes original fiction from Adam Roberts, Rozanne Rabinowitz, and Paul Melhuish, a poem by Donna Scott, aand a collaborative short story written by Ian Whates, Ian Watson, Hal Duncan, Chaz Brenchley, Sarah Singleton, Andrew Hook and others which has been out of print for nearly eight years, and a sectio...

Dark in the Day - edited by Storm Constantine & Paul HoughtonIn the blink of an eye, around the corner, The Weird is everywhere. It's in the bird that turns out to be a fluttering newspaper, that white shoe left in a ploughed field, or the curdling smoke on the windscreen of a car, caused by the fast-moving reflection of clouds overhead. Normal is often weird and vice-versa. We're used to weird dreams but what about the wide-awake weird? This collection celebrates ...

The gardens and orchards of the Home Counties. Quintessential England. Cottages, sleepy lanes. But also alchemy, devil cults and village curses. Where country house murders happen for real, evil landlords slaughter their guests, and Hellfire Clubs celebrate the powers of darkness … An anthology of horror stories using the Home Counties, its myths and legends, as their basis.

The final anthology produced in celebration of NewCon Press’ 10th anniversary. Ten Tall Tales of horror, dark fantasy and dark science fiction, commissioned from some of the most twisted imaginations writing today. Each story is inter-leafed with a Twisted Limerick from that master of terror, Ramsey Campbell.Contents:Introduction – Ian WhatesTen Twisted Limericks – Ramsey CampbellThe Power Of… – Paul KaneWe Know By the Tenth Day Whether T...

Examines the impact of the Scottish legacy on North American cultures and heritageDuring the past four decades, growing interest in North Americans' cultural and ancestral ties to Scotland has produced hundreds of new Scottish clan and heritage societies. Well over 300 Scottish Highland games and gatherings annually take place across the U.S. and Canada.Transatlantic Scots is a multidisciplinary collection that studies the regional organiz...

Two heads are better than one! This collection brings together two of the brightest stars in the science fiction firmament. The combined talents of Allen Ashley and Andrew Hook have produced fourteen delicious, yet subtly seamless, stories full of wit, imagination, invention and emotion. What is the secret behind the gated community of "Xanadu Springs"? Will the online pharmaceutical "Vitmin X" really guarantee you fifteen minutes of fame? What is the best strategy to ensure victory at "Ai...

The nation's favourite annual guide to the short story, now in its tenth year.Best British Short Stories invites you to judge a book by its cover – or, more accurately, by its title. This new series aims to reprint the best short stories published in the previous calendar year by British writers, whether based in the UK or elsewhere. The editor's brief is wide ranging, covering anthologies, collections, magazines, newspapers and web sites, looking for the ...