So, Winter Children and Other Chilling Tales is my first “proper” horror collection. Eleven reprints together for the first time AND a brand new story, “The Red Forest”.
And it now comes in two versions (three if you could e-book).:
The hardcover by the lovely PS Publishing was a limited edition of 200 copies (with an amazing cover by Pedro Marques) and an Introduction by Conrad Williams. PS have sold out of these copies (although there might be a few around with specialist booksellers).
But that’s okay!
Because Brain Jar Press have done a paperback and ebook version! Which can be ordered here.
Traversing the borderlands between terror and lush, fantastic beauty, Winter Children and Other Chilling Tales, Angela Slatter’s eighth collection of short fiction, gathers twelve tales of horror, the uncanny, and dark lament.
Here, you will find Lovecraftian terrors, Aussie vampires, fell magic, ancient wisdom, wayward children, and twisted moments of desire gone horribly wrong. From the otherworldly threats of “The Song of Sighs” and “Only the Dead and Moonstruck”, to the sand-blasted Australian outback of “Sun Falls”, to the shadowy secrets of the past in the “The Red Forest”, these tales are dark gems that will haunt you long after your first reading.
Originally collected in a limited edition, this publication brings the first-rate chills and nightmarish turns of Slatter’s imagination to a broader readership for the first time. Shortlisted for the Aurealis Award upon its original release, now’s your chance to find out why Stephen Jones has dubbed Angela Slatter ‘a powerful and eloquent voice in horror fiction.’
Winter Children and Other Chilling Tales was listed on the 2017 Locus Recommended Reading List and was a finalist for the 2016 Aurealis Award for Best Collection.
ToC:
- Only the Dead and the Moonstruck
- Cuckoo
- The Burning Circus
- Home and Hearth
- Winter Children
- Pale Tree House
- The Red Forest
- The Song of Sighs
- The Dead Ones Don’t Hurt You
- Sun Falls
- The Way of All Flesh
- The October Widow
Nice things people have said:
‘Angela Slatter is a powerful and eloquent voice in horror fiction. Every story in this collection is a dark and polished gem.’ ~ Stephen Jones
‘Angela Slatter is one of the treasures of current horror fiction. Her work is darkly magical, lyrical and beautiful, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.’ ~ Alison Littlewood, author of A Cold Season, The Unquiet House, A Cold Silence, The Path of Needles
‘Marvellous stuff! Angela Slatter confronts the darker side of humanity in these bracing meditations on the nature of belief, betrayal and wonder. WINTER CHILDREN AND OTHER CHILLING TALES is a riveting read, and a fine addition to the canon of one of the genre’s fastest rising stars. ‘ ~ Helen Marshall, author of Hair Side, Flesh Side and Gifts for the One Who Comes After
‘Angela Slatter’s stories are 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.’ ~ Ramsey Campbell, author of The Doll Who Ate His Mother, The Hungry Moon, and Told by the Dead
‘Angela Slatter is an international treasure. She blends horror, fantasy and fairy tale to create something entirely fresh, but which feels too like the nightmares half-forgotten when you were a child. ‘ ~ Robert Shearman, author of Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical, Remember Why You Fear Me, and They Do the Same Things Different There
‘Angela Slatter’s wonderful collection is filled with tales of gruelling horror and shiver-inducing dread, often swathed in shades of the darkest humour. You won’t want it to end.’ ~ Tim Lebbon, author of The Silence and The Hunt
Acknowledgement: The final editing of Winter Children and Other Chillings Tales was made easier with the kind assistance of the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre (during my Established Writer-in-Residence gig there) and the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund (which helped with funding).