Paul Finch (ed) - Terror Tales Of The Ocean

[dem bones]

Neil Williams

Whisper it gently - just loud enough for Santa to hear - but the word on the block is that the eagerly anticipated Terror Tales Of The Ocean is done and dusted, and may even see Gray Friar publication this side of Christmas. Have yet to see the TOC, but contributors include Adam Nevill, Robert Shearman, Stephen Laws, Lynda E. Rucker, Peter James, and Conrad Williams. Am sure you will agree that, even by his own standards, Neil Williams has excelled himself with that startling cover painting.

[David A. Riley]

Dec 2, 2015 9:25:52 GMT dem bones said:

Neil Williams

Whisper it gently - just loud enough for Santa to hear - but the word on the block is that the eagerly anticipated Terror Tales Of The Ocean is done and dusted, and may even see Gray Friar publication this side of Christmas. Have yet to see the TOC, but contributors include Adam Nevill, Robert Shearman, Stephen Laws, Lynda E. Rucker, Peter James, and Conrad Williams. Am sure you will agree that, even by his own standards, Neil Williams has excelled himself with that startling cover painting.

That's one hell of a cover!

[ohthehorror]

I had assured myself (and my wife) that I was going to stop buying more books to add to the already teetering to-read pile next to my bed, but this is going to be extremely difficult to resist.

[ripper]

A very welcome addition to Paul's excellent series. Can't wait to see the contents. I like horror/supernatural tales set at sea or by the sea, so this one will be a "must buy" for me when it is published.

[dem bones]

Terror Tales Of The Ocean (Gray Friars, Dec. 2015) is now available via Am*zon, and here's the table of contents.

Terry Grimwood - Stuka Juice
Ship of the Dead
Stephen Laws - The End of the Pier
The Swirling Sea
Steve Duffy - Lie Still, Sleep Becalmed
Meg
Lynda E. Rucker - The Seventh Wave
The Palmyra Curse
Adam Nevill - Hippocampus
Gelatinous
Conrad Williams - The Offing
Blood and Oil
Peter James - Sun Over the Yard Arm
Echoes of an Eldritch Past
Simon Strantzas - First Miranda
Sharkbait
Simon Clark & John B. Ford - The Derelict of Death
Horrific Beasts
Jan Edwards - The Decks Below
The Flying Dutchman
Paul Finch - Hell in the Cathedral
From the Hadean Deep
Adam Golaski - Hushed Will Be All Murmurs
Mer-Killers
Robert Shearman - And This Is Where We Falter

[ripper]

Some intriguing entries in that TOC, and it is always nice to see a tale by Steve Duffy, whom I rate highly. This is already out now, I think, so another to be purchased post haste.

[ohthehorror]

I'll be buying this one too, but I'm holding out for the kindle version.

[ripper]

Is there news of this one being available on Kindle as well as print?

[ohthehorror]

Well, for my part I was just assuming it would be really. Perhaps it won't be. I'll be getting it anyway, would much prefer a kindle version though.

[ripper]

As far as I am aware, none of the 'Terror Tales' series has appeared on Kindle as yet. I've kept an eye on Amazon for Kindle versions but so far there's been nothing, which has greatly surprised me.

[paulfinch]

Sorry guys ... I can only say that it's still under discussion. There are one or two issues that need to be ironed out first.

[dem bones]

Here comes the ocean and the waves, down by the sea
Here comes the ocean and the waves, crashing in ....

Terry Grimwood - Stuka Juice: Hitler's final days. As the Russians advance on Berlin, the Fuhrer summons one of his few remaining trusted officers to the bunker. Major Dietrich, too loyal for his own good, agrees to act on the madman's command that he retrieve a magical amulet from the wreck of an aircraft sunk on the sea bed. Meanwhile in the English Channel, deep sea diver Jim Stirling is acting as guinea pig in a series of scientific tests utilising Stuka Juice. Their paths cross when a British scientist turns traitor and Dietrich's men commandeer the ship. Stirling must retrieve the mystical relic to save his wife, who, he suspects, will be shot whether he co-operates or otherwise, and Stuka Juice can warp a man's mind something terrible ....

An extremely convoluted opener linking the Bermuda Triangle, bluesman Robert Johnston's alleged pact with the Devil, the plane crash that did for Glen Miller and the fall of the Reich. It works beautifully.

Stephen Laws - The End of the Pier: Brinkburn Pier, Raby-on-Sea, evening of Friday 13th July 1931. An angry young man, armed with two sacks of stinking refuse, prepares to get even with alleged comedian Ronnie Pye, he of the garish costumes, monstrous ego and piggy eye for the ladies, Ruby, the young man's intended, among them. The the self-styled "Cheeky Chappie who makes you happy" is headlining at the Tivoli Theatre and our hero has booked an expensive seat in advance. But even as he takes aim, the theatre comes under attack from below ...

Steve Duffy - Lie Still, Sleep Becalmed: (Christopher & Barbara Roden [eds.], At Ease With The Dead, Ash Tree, 2007). It's a given among the veteran fishermen of Anglesey that the cursed Llys Helig stretch spits out its drowned. The good-time young crew of the Katie Mae are soon to learn the truth of this ridiculous old wives tale when Andy Farlowe, three days missing, floats to the surface. To all intents and purposes Andy is not dead, just no longer alive. What to do with the poor bastard? And what if there are more where he came from with designs on overwhelming the boat?

Just twenty-odd days into 2016 and should the rest of the book keep the standard set by these absolute stormers we already have a strong 'years best anthology' contender.

[dem bones]

Lynda E. Rucker - The Seventh Wave: Pitched somewhere between the psychological ghost story and good, honest misery porn. Painful reminiscences of Mrs. Abigail Brennan, whose quietly psychopathic husband, Bernard, on learning of her affair with treacherous Clive from work, spells out the chilling revenge he will make it his life work to accomplish. He admits to hating their three children with a passion, and is now sworn to twisting their innocent minds until they loathe her as filth. Abigail has little option but to make a break for it - the question is, does she care enough about little Joan, Kevin and Deborah to take them with her. You might be wondering if the kids would be any safer in her care than they would their deranged Dad's?

Adam Nevill - Hippocampus: A tour of an eerily quiet, seemingly abandoned freighter adrift on the waves. Difficult to say any more about this one without giving the game away, but rest assured, all is most definitely not well.

[dem bones]

As with previous volumes, the editor's factual interludes are as truly, madly, deeply entertaining as only 'non-fiction' can be. Meg (as in Megalodon) concerns an enormous shark so misanthropic it makes Jaws look like a goldfish. Blood And Oil seeks out the inspiration for Moby Dick and encounters a particularly ghastly case of cannibalism on the high seas. Best of all, Gelatinous. "There is a school of thought that jellyfish are not only among the most dangerous creatures on earth, but that they can also be among the most monstrous ..." Very true. It is a school of thought advanced in such genre classics as Drew Lamark's The Medusa Horror and John Halkin's Slime. The tragic events surrounding the mysterious disappearance of Henri Baiselle's poor wife and kids are evidence enough that we would be wise to listen to them.

Back with the fiction, Conrad Hill's The Offing gave me the bends first time around, so rematch scheduled for next voyage.

[paulfinch]

The factual interludes are very enjoyable to research and write, D. With Ocean, I could have produced another 20 there were so many myths and legends to choose from. Glad you're having fun with it so far.