Cover art - "Terror Tales of the Ocean" edited by Paul Finch

Terror Tales is one of my favorite series of short story collections, these anthologies edited by Paul Finch and published by Gray Friar Press are a wonderful combination of chilling new tales, grim legends and terrifying folklore. Soon, the 9^th volume of this series is set to be released and although I am not in the possession of the full table of contents there is still the cover artwork to work with. This time Paul Finch is venturing to the bodies of water with “Terror Tales of the Ocean” in search of frightening stories and legends and Neil Williams’ cover captures the atmosphere of the collection very well. The unknown and danger lurking beneath the surface, situations that can become unpleasant are hinted in a full display of teeth and blood. Of course, there is more to the theme than the cover suggests, but it works for me and I feel that it sets the mood nicely.

The rolling blue ocean. Timeless, vast, ancient, mysterious. Where eerie voices call through the lightless deeps, monstrous shapes skim beneath the waves, and legends tell of sunken cities, fiendish fogs, ships steered only by dead men, and forgotten isles where abominations lurk…

The multi-limbed horror in the Ross Sea

The hideous curse of Palmyra Atoll

The murderous duo of the Messina Strait

The doomed crew of the Flying Dutchman

The devil fish of the South Pacific

The alien creatures in the English Channel

The giant predator of the Mariana Trench

And many more chilling tales by Peter James, Adam Nevill, Stephen Laws, Lynda E. Rucker, Conrad Williams, Robert Shearman and other award-winning masters and mistresses of the macabre.