Cirrus@Austlit

'Bi-polar has ruined Detective Jenny Ashton’s life, but when she gets the chance to use the disease for good, she takes it, even though it leads her into a world that shouldn’t exist, filled with monsters of the very worst kind.

'Something lurks within the dark alleyways of Parkton, preying upon the Gutterbreed forever trapped there. A naturally evolved predator, one the town itself doesn't want – and one Ashton has already faced before.

'Byron James knows these alleys and the Darkness they contain. He’s spent a lifetime walking them. A lifetime trying to escape. His skin is marked with the passage of his trespass – but he’s never encountered anything like this.

'As Byron guides Ash deeper into insanity on the hunt for a killer, they discover far worse than Albert ‘Skinner’ Reynolds waiting for them in the dark. A growing nightmare festers in the shadows of Parkton, its madness eager for the real world.

'Only Ash can stand in its way - but is this a battle she’s ready or willing to fight?'

Source : publisher's blurb

'From the introduction by multiple award-winning author Kaaron Warren:

"Marty Young epitomizes the theory that horror writers are amongst the nicest people. He’s done enormous amounts for the Australian horror writing community and continues to do so. He represents a positive figure to me, a person who loves genre and believes in it.

All of this shines through his work. This collection is like a love story to horror, and it demonstrates his skill as an author, his great knowledge of the genre, and his abiding, deep humanity. Marty Young has a heart (and no, it doesn’t belong to that guy who went missing a year or so ago).

This might be a controversial take, but I think the best horror is a testament to the importance of relationships, of love, of caring, and of being a part of whatever community you inhabit in the best way you can. There are cautionary tales here where things go wrong, where selfish people cause damage and become monstrous. There are stories that cut open the guts and show us what really writhes within, stories that hit you at a body-horror level, making you question reality. Then there are the stories of true monsters."

Source : publication summary

'Three displaced men share secrets in the comfort of the Blue Frog Tavern, but when talk turns to Refuge's secrets, they're compelled to go on a journey together. Where are they headed? “Out through the wall, to the marshes.” Not exactly happy, one asks "What’s out there that we need to see in the middle of the night?”'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Fourteen year old Byron James wishes he'd never been dragged to Parkton.

'It's a crazy sideshow of a town in the middle of damn nowhere, and he's stranded there. To make matters worse, his two new friends - his only friends - turn out to be class rejects with an unhealthy interest in monsters. They want to discover the truth to the infamous monster house at number 809 Jacob Street.

'Joey Blue is an old bluesman who fell into his songs and couldn’t find his way out again. Now he’s a Gutterbreed, one of the slinking shifting shadows haunting the town’s alleys. When an old dead friend comes begging for help, Joey’s world is torn apart. He is forced to stare down the man he has become in order to rescue the man he once was - and there is only one place he can do that.

'The house on Jacob Street calls to them all, but what will they find when they open its door?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Kevin Sanders orders a pair of glasses that projects clip notes across the wearer's vision, only visible to them. To his alarm, he begins seeing notes that he didn't dictate, exposing ominous futures and disturbingly personal facts about those around him. When he tries to take the glasses off, he is struck by immense pain.