Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Table of contents - "Terror Tales of London" edited by Paul Finch

There is no shortage of terror tales in the United Kingdom and once again the facts and fiction are blend together under Paul Finch’s guidance for a new anthology of such stories published by Gray Friar Press. After the mountains of Lake District, the green fields of the Cotswolds and the flatland of East Anglia were explored and brought forth eerie entities, demented clowns, drowned brides, flesh-eating fiends, demon dancers, vengeful spirits, vile apparitions, faceless evils and killer hounds among other horrors, it is time for London to reveal its chilling tales. Like the first three anthologies in the series of “Terror Tales” edited by Paul Finch and released by Gray Friar Press “Terror Tales of London” mixes alleged true horror tales with terrifying fiction, all focused on a particular region or district, in this case the urban district of London. I love this series of anthologies, not only for the quality of the fiction published in the collections, but also for concentrating on a certain region of the United Kingdom and using it as inspiration for the stories published while featuring some true incidents and local legends at the same time. I would not mind to see more such anthologies in the “Terror Tales” series, with more regions and legends explored across the United Kingdom and why not beyond its borders too.

The city of London - whose gold-paved streets are lost in choking fog and echo to the trundling of plague-carts, whose twisting back alleys ring to cries of "Murder!", whose awful tower is stained with the blood of princes and paupers alike.

The night stalker of Hammersmith
The brutal butchery of Holborn
The depraved spirit of Sydenham
The fallen angel of Dalston
The murder den of Notting Hill
The haunted sewer of Bermondsey
The red-eyed ghoul of Highgate

And many more chilling tales from Adam Nevill, Mark Morris, Christopher Fowler, Nina Allan, Nicholas Royle, and other award-winning masters and mistresses of the macabre.

“The Tiger” by Nina Allan
London After Midnight
“The Soldier” by Roger Johnson
Queen Rat
“Train, Night” by Nicholas Royle
The Horror at Berkeley Square
“The Angels of London” by Adam Nevill
Boudicca’s Bane
“Capital Growth” by Gary Fry
The Black Dog of Newgate
“The Thames” by Rosalie Parker
The Other Murderers
“The Red Door” by Mark Morris
The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
“Undesirable Residence” by Barbara Roden
Nosferatu in Highgate
“The Horror Writer” by Jonathan Oliver
Butchery in Bleeding-Heart Yard
“Perry in Seraglio” by Christopher Fowler
The Monster of Hammersmith
“Someone to Watch Over You” by Marie O’Regan
The Black Death Returns
“The Outcast Dead” by David J. Howe
What Stirs Below?
“The Bloody Tower” by Anna Taborska

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