Fox Spirit is Seven! #skulkisseven

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Fox Spirit is Seven! How did that happen?!

Did you know there’s an ebook store right here? And that you can use coupon code ‘skulkis7‘ to celebrate our 7th birthday with 25% off throughout June!! What are you waiting for?

It’s a milestone that makes you thoughtful. Shakespeare talked about the ‘seven ages’ of human life in his ‘All the world’s a stage’ speech. The first is birth which he describes as

At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.

Fox Spirit managed to avoid that unpleasantry: it was born with a song in its heart, a laugh in its mouth and a pub on  its mind — the Nun & Dragon. It was meant to be a one off, but here we are seven years later! Which in Bill’s words means:

Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school.

I suppose we can see a little bit of that: hands up skulk members who would rather be writing/drawing/plotting than creeping to our jobs and other duties? Yes, you can put your hands down now. We itch to have the luxury of time, but there are always new responsibilities. In the mean time we can remember that we are yet young and have so many ways to grow.

What will the next anniversary bring? More books? More multimedia efforts? Games? Skulk Island? World Domination?

Time alone will tell — but the skulk has ambitions, you can bet your floof on that. All kudos to our fearless leader Adele!

Tales of Desperation – Love is a Grift Launch

Graham Wynd is back with another fantastic collection.

Love is a Grift.

Cover by S.L. Johnson

How does obsession begin? For one hit man it starts with a target he just can’t kill. She leads him on a deadly spree across Europe. With every step he’s in deeper. Each crime binds them together like a vow and only death can part them. But will it be his… or hers?

Love is a Grift and the other stories in this collection offer a fresh take on a classic genre, that begins with obsession and most often ends with death.

Available now from our own estore (in mobi and epub formats – both available to download after checkout) or amazon kindle

Paperback coming soon…

In the mean time you can enjoy this incredible theme tune for the book, but Victoria Squid!

LOVE IS A GRIFT
1. GALWAY—The Salt House
2. BRUXELLES—À la Mort Subite  
3. HELSINKI—Ravintola Saari
4. DUNDEE—The Tay Bridge Bar

OTHER TALES OF DESPERATION
PSYCHO MOTORCYCLE DOLLS (1966)  
BONNIE & CLYDE 97 THE TENDER TRAP
DON’T CALL ME DARLING
SMALLBANY
TOY MONKEY
HAM ON HEELS
BONKERS IN PHOENIX 
MESQUITE 
LIFE JUST BOUNCES
MASQUERADE
INEVITABLE
BROKEN BICYCLES
THE CABAL 187 THE OVEN
BLOODY COLLAGE
THESE TOYS ARE FOR TOUGH BOYS
SOMEWHERE IN SLOVENIA
REPETITION
COPPED IT
SPIRITS IN THE NIGHT
DO ANYTHING YOU WANNA DO
I’VE TOLD EVERY LITTLE STAR
REBELLIOUS JUKEBOX
30 VERSIONS OF ‘WARM LEATHERETTE’ 

Launch Day – The PseudoPod Tapes 2 – Approach with Caution

If you are not already familiar with Escape Artists horror podcast you should check it out. The whole Escape Artists podcast family is professionally put together and brings great stories and fabulous narration right to your ears!

For the horror podcast, Alasdair Stuart is the host and this is the second volume of his outro essays, in this case covering 2013.

Alasdair is a gem of genre journalism, as anyone who reads his newsletter The Full Lid, or our own, Not the Fox News will be familiar. He is a veritable geekpedia of knowledge, mixed with a rare openness that makes his writing extremely personal.

We are delighted to welcome the tentacled horrors of PseudoPod and their host back to Fox Spirit.

Ebook is available now from our own store and will be appearing on amazon worldwide as we speak, the print edition will be available from Monday. 

 

American Monsters Part 1 – Live!

Nope, not a political statement, but we are delighted to announce the first part of American Monsters, covering south and central America, with several stories in translation, is here!

Please don’t be put off by amazon ‘not in stock’ marker, it’s a quirk of using Ingram and the book is available here now.

Here be Monsters!

They lurk and crawl and fly in the shadows of our mind. We know them from ancient legends and tales whispered by the campfire. They hide under the dark bridge, in the deep woods or out on the great plains, in the drizzling rain forest or out on the foggy moor, beneath the surface, under your bed. They don’t sparkle or have any interest in us except to tear us apart. They are the monsters! Forgotten, unknown, misunderstood, overused, watered down. We adore them still. We want to give them a renaissance, to reestablish their dark reputation, to give them a comeback, let the world know of their real terror.

American Monsters pt 1 is the fifth volume in a coffee table book series from Fox Spirit Books with dark fiction and art about monsters from around the world, and the first of two volumes covering the American continent.

“A wonderfully eclectic and compelling monster anthology that offers fresh, and often subversive perspectives on the weird, the dark, and the scary. The stories in American Monsters bristle with fangs and claws, introducing us to creatures that are formidable and terrifying, often ancient, and often dangerously capricious. Prowling the outskirts of society and the fringes of reality, many of these monsters live among the poor and the oppressed, and end up using their otherworldly powers to frighten, devour, or punish the oppressors. This is visceral, gripping, and satisfying horror with monsters that will get under your skin to haunt your dreams and your nightmares.”

Maria Haskins, writer and translator with speculative fiction in numerous anthologies and magazines. Blogs about science fiction and fantasy for Barnes and Noble.

Fearless Genre Warriors -FREE!

The fabulous Jenny Barber contacted a whole den full of Skulk and pulled together a collection that spans all the Fox Spirit anthologies and collections published up to 1st November 2018 and what have we gone and done? Made it free!

It is available for under £3 on Amazon (the minimum they would allow), but keep an eye on Twitter and Facebook for the adverts with the passwords in during the run up to Christmas to grab it for nothing in convenient multi format zip files. 

Then just pop to our free fiction page, pop in the relevant password and download. 

If you are heading to Sledge.lit there is a password in the brochures here too. 

Now about that book, In Jenny’s words:

‘Would you like some free short fiction? Would you like some free short fiction from a simply stunning selection of new and established authors? With bonus poems and articles and internal artwork? 

Fearless Genre Warriors covers it all – we have horror tales, fantasy tales, SF tales, crime tales, humorous tales, and tales that blend any or all of the above! So whatever your fiction thing is, we’ve got you covered!’

And here are those wonderful contents, feast your eyeballs on this lot and then maybe consider picking up one of the books they came from, or leaving a few words of review. 

Introduction
The Dragon’s Maw – Cheryl Morgan
Palakainen – K. A. Laity
The Band of Straw and Silver – Andrew Reid 
From the Womb of the Land, Our Bones Entwined – AJ Fitzwater 
The Itch of Iron, the Pull of the Moon – Carol Borden 
Tits Up in Wonderland – Chloe Yates 
Fragrance of You – Steven Savile 
Kumiho – V.C. Linde 
The Ballad of Gilrain – Sarah Cawkwell 
The Ballad of Gilrain – lyrics Sarah Cawkwell, music Adam Broadhurst 
Art is War – Alasdair Stuart
The Alternative La Belle Dame Sans Merci – Jan Siegal 
Thandiwe’s Tokoloshe – Nick Wood 
Unravel – Ren Warom 
The Cillini – Tracy Fahey 
Katabasis – K T Davies 
Train Tracks – W. P. Johnson 
Sharkadelic – Ian Whates 
Feeding the Fish – Carol Borden 
Antichristine – James Bennett 
Lucille –  Alec McQuay 
Carlos – K. A. Laity
A Very Modern Monster – Aliya Whiteley 
You Are Old, Lady Vilma – Jan Siegal 
Winter in the Vivarium – Tim Major 
Always a Dancer – Steve Lockley 
The End of the World – Margrét Helgadóttir 
The Holy Hour – C. A. Yates 
In the Mouth of the Beast – Li Huijia 
Kokuri’s Palace – Yukimi Ogawa 
A Change of Heart A Babylon Steel story – Gaie Sebold 
Indiana Jones and the Pyramid of Envy – Alasdair Stuart 

There is also some bonus stuff in the back, talking about the anthologies we put together. 

Horror Double Feature

Our delightful horror twinset The Judgement Call by Simon Bestwick, a tale to absorb in the run up to Christmas, and Along the Long Road by Penny Jones, are available now for your Halloween delight. No tricks, just dark treats from the British Horror scene.

Penny Jones takes us on a journey of peer pressure and madness on dark country lanes, while Simon Bestwick sees sins answered for. 

Available now on Amazon.

Cover by Neil Williams

 

American Monsters Pt 1 : TOC

TABLE OF CONTENTS – AMERICAN MONSTERS PART ONE
 
Pacific Monsters is presently on the short list for the British Fantasy Society award for Best Anthology. This book has made it to several award shortlists, including the awards Australian Shadows, Sir Julius Vogel, and Aurealis. The lovely people at Sheffield Fantasy and Science Fiction Social also awarded the book Best Anthology and Margrét Helgadóttir was awarded Starburst Magazine’s Brave New Words Award for her editor work on the book. It’s been a good year for monsters.
 
We are pleased to announce that American Monsters volume one is due out this December. American Monsters volume one is the fifth book in our grand world tour exploring monsters tales continent by continent, told by local authors. Margrét is once more the editor. We have split up America in two volumes. In this collection we explore the old myths and monsters in South and Central America, with short stories, graphic stories and art from Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Equador, Uruguay and Guatamala. This book will have five translated stories, something we are very proud of.
 
Our gorgeous cover series by Daniele Serra will continue for this fifth volume. The cover will be released later.
 
Stories from North America (including Mexico and Caribbean) will be out next year before the series end in 2020 with Eurasian monster tales.
 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
  1. Liliana Colanzi: «The Wave»
  2. Santiago Santos: «A Carpet Sewn With Skeletons»
  3. Sabrina Vourvoulias: «Time’s Up, Cerotes»
  4. Ramiro Sanchiz: «The Pearl»
  5. Paula Andrade: «Almamula»
  6. Cesar Alcázar and Eduardo Monteiro (art): «Cerro Bravo» (graphic story)
  7. Christopher Kastensmidt: «A Parlous Battle»
  8. Mariela Pappas: «The Eyes of a Wolf»
  9. Solange Rodriguez Pappe: «The Entangler»
  10. Daniel Salvo: «Jaar, Jaar, Jaar»
  11. Flavia Rizental: «My Name is Iara»
  12. Gustavo Bondoni: «Vulnerable Populations»
  13. Fabio Fernandes: «The Emptiness in the Heart of All Things»
  14. Paula Andrade: «La Perla del Plata» (graphic story)
  15. Teresa Mira de Echeverria: «Lakuma»
 
The book will have illustrations by Paula Andrade, Lynda Bruce, and Kieran Walsh.
 
***
 
The Fox Spirit Books of Monsters is a coffee table book series from Fox Spirit Books, edited by Margrét Helgadóttir. The series has dark fiction from around the world, written by local authors, short stories and graphic stories based on local folklore, legends and myths. Illustrated by local artists.
 
The series has 7 books published between 2014 and 2020, starting with Europe (2014), continuing with Africa (2015), Asia (2016) and Pacific region in 2017. Volume five (2018) and six (2019) will cover South, Central and North America before the series end with Eurasia (including Russia, Eastern Europe and the Balkan) in the end of 2020.

Petra MacDonald available now!

Leave out a saucer of milk, hang a horse shoe over the door, sprinkle a little iron round your doors and windows. The Queen of the Fae is coming. 

We are delighted to announce the release of the latest novella by Shona Kinsella ‘Petra MacDonald and the Queen of the Fae’ with cover art by Tabatha Stirling.

Petra MacDonald is a bisexual, pagan artist who lives and works on a small Scottish island. While in a trance, she paints a young girl who has been abducted by the Queen of the Fae and it falls to Petra to save her. 
 
She must travel Faery, collect three items for the Queen, escape the sex spell of the Selkie prince and steal the loyalty of her fae guard. 
 
Can she bring the child home before it’s too late?

Opening paragraphs

‘It was dusk when Petra came out of her trance, her arm sore from wielding the brush. Her hands were covered in paint and she could feel speckles drying on her face. She looked at the canvas and frowned. She had painted a young girl, facing away from the viewer, shoulders slumped and head down. That was unusual; Petra rarely painted people during trance work, except those she knew.
Even more notable was the menacing feeling of the painting. Shadows crowded around the child, claw-like shapes reaching towards her. As Petra studied the canvas she noticed the glint of eyes, peering towards the girl who hunched away from them.’

Is it a bird? Is is a plane? No, it’s a werewolf, in space!

The final instalment of Starfang is available from an amazon near you!
We are delighted to bring you the final chapter of Singaporean author Joyce Chng’s Werewolf Space Opera. And if that is a term you never expected to hear, you have been missing out. 

Starfang: Will of the Clan The sudden appearance of the enigmatic jukka adds another layer of intrigue and peril to Captain Francesca Ming Yue’s already shaky game with the shishini. The threat of galactic war with a mysterious force looms. Will the clans gather? Francesca have to keep her wits about her, unite all the clans and fight. In this stunning conclusion of the trilogy, the fate of the wolf clans, shishini and jukkda will be decided in a final battle. Will the will of the clans prevail?

‘Not simply the great idea of werewolves in space but great writing, fantastic world-building and interesting characters mixed with political intrigue.’ – Matt Cavanagh, runalongtheshelves.net

Review of Children of Artifice

Tej Turner has been kind enough to provide an early review of Children of Artifice by Danie Ware. So for those of you wanting to know a little more, here it is in full.

***

Children of Artifice is one of those novels where, from the very beginning, it is hard to know what to expect (and I mean that in a good way!).

Set within an enigmatic second world, where humans live within a secular city-state nestled within a gigantic crater, knowing nothing of what exists beyond the impassable ridge which surrounds them except for that they were placed there by a mythic race of mysterious beings known as the ‘Builders’ long ago, one could at first suspect that it is going to be a YA thriller of intrigue and discovery. The age it is set in appears to be historic, and yet the rich amalgam of technology and alchemy which sets the scene cannot be pinned to any particular age, and there is also magic. It has elements of fantasy and science fiction, but they have been blended together seamlessly and do not jar.

The author has described it as an ‘urban fairy tale’, which is very fitting. It does have that feel of old and new. It is quite gritty at times, and yet full of beautiful moments.

I do not want to say too much about the plot, because it is a novel which surprises you at every turn and right up until the very end, it is impossible to predict what is going to happen because there are always several paths it could take. So I will speak instead of its other features.

One of its focal themes is family – both the ones people are born with and ones they create for themselves – and the relationships between the characters are filled with nuances which are tender, tragic, uplifting and everything in between. Society – how it controls those within it, and the many ways (positive and negative) which people rebel – is another central theme, and there are some interesting parallels which can be drawn with our present day. It has a wonderfully crafted, vivid setting, and complex, believable characters that come alive from the pages and leave a lasting impression.

I am particularly pleased with this novel’s diverse voices. Both same-sex and heteronormative romances take place during the story but none are presented as bring particularly shocking and the characters are never given labels, and yet it still examines issues of identity, prejudice, and sexual fluidity which are relatable to a modern day reader. It is refreshing to read a novel written in such a way.

Children of Artifice has a fantastic story, one I would recommend to readers of any genre and age. It conjures beautiful imagery and puts you in a state of living dream, taking you on an emotional journey which stays with you. I am looking forward to the sequel.