Cirrus@Austlit

'Midnight Masquerade, a collection of Greg Chapman’s acclaimed and original fiction:

'Clown-for-hire, Harvey has the worst day of his life

'A childhood display of malice is resurrected thirty years later

'A priest finds true faith means devotion to blood and pain

'Revenge shows Emma what lies beneath her mask of fear

'A Halloween expert unleashes her own personal hell

'In these stories, you’ll discover how the masks we all wear hide our innermost fears, and how our choices can expose true horrors. Also included are Chapman’s acclaimed novellas, The Last Night of October and Vaudeville, and the short stories, Octoberville and Left on October Lane.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Hard Places collects the very best of Kirstyn McDermott's short fiction written over the past twenty years along with a previously unpublished novella. From unsettling obsessions and brutal body horror to unexpected monsters and ghosts drifting through suburbia, these stories run the gamut of horror and the contemporary gothic. By turns harrowing, provocative and poignant, this collection will haunt you long after the last page is turned.'  (Publication summary)

'Multi-award winning creators Ellen Datlow and Kaaron Warren teamed up on Facebook a few years ago when Ellen posted photos of antique tools and Kaaron wrote microfiction pieces to accompany them, without either of them knowing what the tools were for.

'This chapbook collects and preserves their playful interaction for readers to enjoy.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Welcome to The Heart is a Mirror for Sinners and Other Stories.

'Slatter’s work has been described by the legendary Ramsey Campbell as “enviably original, and told in prose as stylish as it’s precise. Not just disturbing but often touching, her work enriches and revives the tale of terror.”

'From the fierce changeling children of ‘Finnegan’s Field’ to shades of old gods in ‘Egyptian Revival’, from the Lovecraftian echoes of ‘Lavinia’s Wood’ to a new kind of Victorian sleuth in ‘Ripper’, and from the re-imagined fairy tale of ‘The Little Mermaid, in Passing’ to the tender terror of ‘Neither Time nor Tears’, the stories in this collection spring from dragons’ teeth scattered on the field of story.

'The Heart is a Mirror for Sinners and Other Stories collects twelve reprints and two new unpublished tales, with an Introduction by Kim Newman.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Collected together for the first time ever, these sixteen provocative and intensely chilling tales by multi-award-winning-author Alan Baxter venture into the depths of the darkest and most shadowy places where unspeakable horrors are the predators and we the willing prey.

'Prepare for an always terrifying, frequently heartbreaking journey in multiple stages, each piece echoing Baxter's unique voice that effortlessly blends horror, fantasy and the weird, cementing his place as a modern master of the dark fantastique, and resulting in an unforgettable volume of fiction.'  (Publication summary)