Paul Kane’s latest, Scary Tales, will soon be available. I read it and liked it so much I wrote the Introduction.
Beware: the writing style is deceptive, conversational: you’re just having a drink with an old friend … who suddenly pulls a gun on you and tells you to get in the van, there’s no time to explain, you just need to trust him. So you do, then he doesn’t stay on the blacktop, does he? Nooooo, he pulls off onto a dirt road that winds through a dark forest and pulls up outside, you guessed it, a fairy tale castle. Next he tells you you’re going to crash a fairy tale wedding so get your sword and shield, get your magic dust, and watch out for the unicorns because they’re temperamental little mongrels. Right: you’re going in.
All of which is a long way of saying Paul Kane’s scary tales will take you (along with your worst wishes and darkest wants) down shadowy paths. Oh, you’ll find the happily-ever-afters are true, although not entirely happy ? so perhaps they are all the truer for that. Three things to keep in mind: be careful what you wish for because you just might get it; listen to your fear because it might just keep you alive; and salvation – when it comes, if it comes – might just originate from a most unexpected place, so keep your eyes peeled.
Five stories, all modern re-tellings of well-loved (and feared!) fairy tales from the UK’s master of scary tales, Paul Kane (Sherlock Holmes and the Servants of Hell, Before, Hellbound Hearts, Monsters, The Hellraiser films and their legacy)! With cover artwork by the legendary Les Edwards!