{"title":"Short Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003eGreat collections to keep you reading on-the-go and when you're strapped for time\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"various-of-the-flesh","title":"Various | Of The Flesh","description":"\u003cp\u003e9780008697358\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e10\/10\/24\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e288 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'Deliciously creepy'\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eNEW SCIENTIST\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eFear never dies…\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese stories from eighteen masters of the craft will curdle your blood, haunt your dreams and redefine terror.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn exploited child worker in the silver mines of Bolivia finds an ally – but at what cost? A young woman's workplace affair has terrifying repercussions when her lover's wife dies. A sailor's wife takes her communion with Nature a little too far…\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom a hungry young woman who is not what she seems, to a boy who has taken his mother's advice a touch too seriously; from disfigured girls willing to pay any price to fit in, to an immigrant who cannot escape his tormentor; from a new home with a sinister secret, to the discovery that a long-dead parent’s corpse is perfectly preserved decades later; this collection plumbs the depths of the psyche and dredges up some very modern horrors.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFeaturing stories by: Susan Barker, J K Chukwu, Bridget Collins, Mariana Enríquez, Michel Faber, Lewis Hancox, Emilia Hart, Ainslie Hogarth, Robert Lautner, Adorah Nworah, Irenosen Okojie, Lucy Rose, Lionel Shriver, James Smythe, Lavie Tidhar, Francine Toon, Evie Wyld and Louisa Young.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Borough Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45330743492771,"sku":"9780008697358","price":10.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/3_4a796d64-3523-479c-b18f-9e026c90ebf8.webp?v=1729345543"},{"product_id":"various-great-spanish-stories-10-parallel-texts","title":"Various | Great Spanish Stories - 10 Parallel Texts","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e9780241662199\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e11\/01\/24\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePB\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e208 pages\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA riveting selection of short stories in Spanish alongside their English translations\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis new dual-language edition of ten stories selected from\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Penguin Book of Spanish Short Stories\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ecelebrates some of the very best twentieth-century literature from Spain. Each story appears in Spanish alongside an expert English translation, providing unique cultural insight and literary inspiration for language learners. Ranging from a poignant tale of betrayal to a darkly humorous exchange between wedding guests, this captivating collection includes works from authors such as Leopoldo Alas (Clarín), Cristina Fernández Cubas, Medardo Fraile, Carmen Martín Gaite, Karmele Jaio, Carmen Laforet, Javier Marías, Carme Riera, Manuel Rivas, and Esther Tusquets.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45371418181795,"sku":"9780241662199","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/3_7fae7aa8-bb72-4b26-8394-88ed60350141.jpg?v=1730476744"},{"product_id":"various-greta-japanese-stories-10-parallel-texts","title":"Various | Great Japanese Stories - 10 Parallel Texts","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e9780241634479\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e11\/01\/24\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePB\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e272 pages\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA captivating selection of short stories in the original Japanese alongside their English translations\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis new dual-language edition of ten stories selected from\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ecelebrates some of the very best Japanese literature from the past hundred years. Each story appears in the original Japanese alongside an expert English translation, providing unique cultural insight and literary inspiration for language learners. Ranging from a witty send-up of modern social graces to a powerful evocation of the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, this remarkable collection includes works from beloved authors Abe Akira, Akutagawa Ryunosuke, Betsuyaku Minoru, Hoshi Shin'ichi, Kawakami Mieko, Kono Taeko, Murakami Haruki, Oba Minako, Ota Yoko and Uchida Hyakken.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45373187752099,"sku":"9780241634479","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/3_23f40faa-ed5f-41fa-9877-31455fd11dc8.jpg?v=1730548290"},{"product_id":"eliza-clark-shes-always-hungry","title":"Eliza Clark | She's Always Hungry","description":"\u003cp\u003e9780571371815\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e07\/11\/24\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e227 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVisceral, speculative body horror from the author of BOY PARTS and PENANCE – the first collection from a major voice in British fiction\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA teenager longs for perfect skin. A scientist tends to fragile alien flora. A young man takes the night into his own hands. Each of these characters has a desperate desire. Can any of them be sated?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUnsettling, revelatory, and laced with her signature dark humour, Eliza Clark’s debut short story collection plumbs the depths of that most basic human feeling: hunger.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Faber \u0026 Faber","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45381444075683,"sku":"9780571371815","price":9.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/3_8356184e-a904-4ffa-9cfd-0d58b93ed102.jpg?v=1730903205"},{"product_id":"shirley-jackson-dark-tales","title":"Shirley Jackson | Dark Tales","description":"\u003cp\u003e9780241308493\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e28\/09\/17\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e208 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStep into the unsettling world of Shirley Jackson this autumn with a collection of her finest, darkest short stories, revealing the queen of American gothic at her mesmerising best.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThere's something nasty in suburbia. In these deliciously dark tales, the daily commute turns into a nightmarish game of hide and seek, the loving wife hides homicidal thoughts and the concerned citizen might just be an infamous serial killer. In the haunting world of Shirley Jackson, nothing is as it seems and nowhere is safe, from the city streets to the country manor, and from the small-town apartment to the dark, dark woods...\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIncludes the following stories: 'The Possibility of Evil'; 'Louisa, Please Come Home'; 'Paranoia'; 'The Honeymoon of Mrs Smith'; 'The Story We Used to Tell'; 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice'; 'Jack the Ripper'; 'The Beautiful Stranger'; 'All She Said Was Yes'; 'What a Thought'; 'The Bus'; 'Family Treasures'; 'A Visit'; 'The Good Wife'; 'The Man in the Woods'; 'Home'; 'The Summer People'.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54891183538558,"sku":"9780241308493","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_6992335e-465f-45f0-9e1a-9518e306e385.jpg?v=1734525995"},{"product_id":"shirley-jackson-the-lottery-and-other-stories","title":"Shirley Jackson | The Lottery And Other Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003e9780141191430\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e01\/10\/09\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e320 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'Shirley Jackson's stories are among the most terrifying ever written' Donna Tartt\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis is the definitive collection of Shirley Jackson's short stories, including 'The Lottery' - one of the most terrifying and iconic stories of the twentieth century, and an influence on writers such as Neil Gaiman and Stephen King.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn these stories an excellent host finds himself turned out of home by his own guests; a woman spends her wedding day frantically searching for her husband-to-be; and in Shirley Jackson's best-known story, a small farming village comes together for a terrible annual ritual. The creeping unease of lives squandered and the bloody glee of lives lost is chillingly captured in these tales of wasted potential and casual cruelty by a master of the short story.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003eShirley Jackson's chilling tales have the power to unsettle and terrify unlike any other. She was born in California in 1916. When her short story \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Lottery\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003ewas first published in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e in 1948, readers were so horrified they sent her hate mail; it has since become one of the greatest American stories of all time. Her first novel, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Road Through the Wall\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, was published in the same year and was followed by five more: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eHangsaman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bird's Nest\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Sundial\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Haunting of Hill House\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003eand \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eWe Have Always Lived in the Castle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, widely seen as her masterpiece. Shirley Jackson died in her sleep at the age of 48.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e'An amazing writer ... if you haven't read any of her short stories ... you have missed out on something marvellous' Neil Gaiman\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e'Her stories are stunning, timeless - as relevant and terrifying now as when they were first published ... 'The Lottery' is so much an icon in the history of the American short story that one could argue it has moved from the canon of American twentieth-century fiction directly into the American psyche, our collective unconscious' A. M. Homes\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54891236000126,"sku":"9780141191430","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_04b4432b-429c-4d70-851d-0b93262fb3ce.jpg?v=1734528808"},{"product_id":"jane-fraser-the-south-westerlies","title":"Jane Fraser | The South Westerlies","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781784631956\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e15\/06\/19\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e224 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe South Westerlies\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eis an attempt to know place (Gower) through the creation of a collection of short stories. Place is not a cosmetic backdrop, but an affecting agent in the lives of a wide cast of fictional characters. The collection is unified by the tone of the prevalent dank south-westerly wind that blows across the peninsula, the UK’s first designated area of outstanding natural beauty. However, the author chooses to let her gaze fall on the downsides of a much vaunted tourism destination and a place that is too beautiful, perhaps, for its own good.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Fraser’s stories are compellingly told and carefully crafted. She shares a heightened, acute sense of language with Annie Proulx and the right to comparison with such a prose stylist is properly won. And just as Proulx claims the lodgepole pines and wide-skied landscape of Wyoming as her own so too does Jane Fraser take the wind-flensed land’s edge of north Gower and make it hers. She has given this reader, at least, what he so often desires, namely the tang and sharpness of savouring language seemingly newly minted.’ —Jon Gower\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Salt","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55311974859134,"sku":"9781784631956","price":9.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/3_dbd01d28-c584-4320-86fb-84876c3d1d76.webp?v=1741878451"},{"product_id":"dj-taylor-poppyland","title":"DJ Taylor | Poppyland","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781784633462\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e02\/06\/25\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e208 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ccite\u003eStewkey Blues\u003c\/cite\u003e: ‘In his solid, grounded, entertaining collection of stories, DJ Taylor draws out the mythical qualities of East Anglia’s terrain, urban or rural or somewhere marginal in between.’ —Hilary Mantel\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost of the people in\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ccite\u003ePoppyland\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eare watching their lives begin to blur at the margins. From small-hours taxi offices, out-of-season holiday estates and flyblown market stalls, they sit observing an environment that seems to be moving steadily out of kilter, struggling to find agency, making compromises with a world that threatens to undermine them, and sometimes – but only sometimes – taking a decisive step that will change their destinies.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eReviews of this Book\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘There is an irresistible modesty to Taylor’s prose that makes his touches of humour leap out even more viscerally from the page. In “Special Needs”, he describes reality TV as a “spangled approximation” of life. I underlined bursts of brilliance like these throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut something remains impenetrable about\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ccite\u003ePoppyland\u003c\/cite\u003e; its figures remain attenuated, their motivations obscured. At the end of “Drowning in Hunny”, the narrator describes a look between two people as “not quite contemptuous, or kindly, but . . . something else altogether, that hung tantalisingly in the air between them, like the scent of the cooking oil”. It goes some way to capture what I felt as a reader. Leaving\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ccite\u003ePoppyland\u003c\/cite\u003e, I was left with a curious aftertaste, of something rather sad and unknowable, but also moreish and nourishing — something remorselessly real.’ —Matthew Janney,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ccite\u003eFT\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘However varied (and variable) it may be in style, the book is a consistent source of mystery. Each story builds to \"some gathering crisis\" after which nothing can be the same again, whether that's a starched academic bursting into tears or a war games vendor rearranging his stock … Nor are the outcomes of\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ccite\u003ePoppyland\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eever explicitly stated: we see these codes shatter under the tiniest deviation – from habit, from opinion, from behaviour – but are left to imagine how the pieces are picked up.’ —Harry Cochrane,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ccite\u003eThe Tablet\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Like much of Taylor’s fiction, most of the stories are set in his native Norfolk, which is rendered with picturesque lyricism: shimmering fields of poppies, crates of apples knocked over market pavements, the late-night glare of Norwich’s Prince of Wales Road. Smells of oil, burnt sugar and kebabs linger long after the plots have faded.’ —Hassan Akram,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ccite\u003eLiterary Review\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Written by author and literary critic D.J.Taylor, the collection explores the lives of people living in Norwich and along the Norfolk coast. Titled\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ccite\u003ePoppyland\u003c\/cite\u003e, the stories are rooted in the \"character, contradictions and quiet dramas\" of communities Taylor knows intimately. The collection follows his 2022 book\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ccite\u003eStewkey Blues\u003c\/cite\u003e, which was inspired by his travels around Norfolk delivering food parcels during lockdown.’ —Robbie Bennett,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ccite\u003eNorwich Evening News\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Norfolk life looks quietly bleak in these carefully worked short stories of broken homes, precarious employment, dwindling expectations and torpor.’ —George Cochrane, \u003ccite\u003eThe Spectator\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Norwich is the geographical setting for most of the stories in this wry, wistful, astutely observed collection, but its real territory is that liminal space where hopes and dreams are dashed against the disappointing realities of the present.’ —Eithne Farry, \u003ccite\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Famed though it is for its flatness, Norfolk is a county of manifold aspects, many of which are captured in these sharp, subtle new stories by native son DJ Taylor. They all emerged from 2020’s lockdown, and together delineate the region’s geographical and social range, occasionally squinting back in time and tuning in to mythical echoes.’ —Hephzibah Anderson,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ccite\u003eObserver\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘There's urban ennui and dead-end lives in the suburbs of Norwich, loneliness in a caravan park outside Thetford; social codes traduced in a village near Shopham; and wild shotgun-toting lawlessness in the wilds of Breckland. Taylor has a gimlet eye for the telling detail and enjoys the oddity of Norfolk's eccentrics, those born and bred among its flat farmlands, and those attracted to the place like iron filings to a magnet.’ —Siobhan Murphy,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ccite\u003eThe Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The stories are subtly composed and elegantly written. The narrative voice is attractively wry, and particularly acute in its choice of telling detail. Its air of savouring diffidence, moreover, is curiously reminiscent of Anthony Powell, particularly in our sense that behaviour is being observed far more than judged. No one should be deterred by the Norfolk setting, for only in the most literal sense is this provincial fiction. After\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ccite\u003eStewkey Blues\u003c\/cite\u003e, I for one would happily read Taylor about anywhere: Swaffham and Snoring (Little or Great), to be sure, but also Timbuktu.’ —Andrew Rosenheim,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ccite\u003eSpectator\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Salt","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55961774489982,"sku":"9781784633462","price":9.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/3_3823f9bd-2a5d-471f-8cb1-455c3b6712c6.webp?v=1752752568"},{"product_id":"james-sallis-what-you-were-fighting-for","title":"James Sallis | What You Were Fighting For","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781915798503\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e07\/11\/24\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e384 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWHAT YOU WERE FIGHTING FOR is a wonderful collection of short stories that provokes the mind with its weird and intriguing tales. We catch glimpses of worlds that are similar to our own, but always different enough to make you wonder and sit at the edge of your seat. Reading this collection you often have to work out what is truly happening as Sallis weaves his imaginative portrayals of idiosyncratic characters with all the subtlety of the mind that spawned the Lew Griffin novels, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eWillnot\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eSarah Jane\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eDrive\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Exit Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56125350248830,"sku":"9781915798503","price":9.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_e6025576-c222-450a-93ad-1fcea0407f0e.jpg?v=1755787718"},{"product_id":"daphne-du-maurier-dont-look-now-and-other-stories","title":"Daphne Du Maurier | Don't Look Now And Other Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003e9780141188379\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e29\/06\/06\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e272 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJohn and Laura have come to Venice to try and escape the pain of their young daughter's death. But when they encounter two old women who claim to have second sight, they find that instead of laying their ghosts to rest they become caught up in a train of increasingly strange and violent events. The four other haunting, evocative stories in this volume also explore deep fears and longings, secrets and desires: a lonely teacher who investigates a mysterious American couple; a young woman confronting her father's past; a party of pilgrims who meet disaster in Jerusalem; a scientist who harnesses the power of the mind to chilling effect...\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56147312640382,"sku":"9780141188379","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_ffa46eac-380c-4ab4-9a14-f212eeda6a79.webp?v=1756208760"},{"product_id":"various-the-penguin-book-of-korean-short-stories","title":"Various | The Penguin Book Of Korean Short Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003e9780241448519\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e25\/04\/24\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e496 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis eclectic, moving and wonderfully enjoyable collection is the essential introduction to Korean literature. Journeying through Korea's dramatic twentieth century, from the Japanese occupation and colonial era to the devastating war between North and South and the rapid, disorienting urbanization of later decades, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Penguin Book of Korean Short Stories\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e captures a hundred years of Korea's vibrant short-story tradition.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHere are peddlers and donkeys travelling across moonlit fields; artists drinking and debating in the tea-houses of 1920s Seoul; soldiers fighting for survival; exiles from the war who can never go home again; and lonely men and women searching for connection in the dizzying modern city. The collection features stories by some of Korea's greatest writers, including Pak Wanso, O Chonghui and Cho Chongnae, as well as many brilliant contemporary voices, such as P'yon Hyeyong, Han Yujoo and Kim Aeran. Curated by Bruce Fulton, this is a volume that will surprise, unsettle and delight.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56147408224638,"sku":"9780241448519","price":12.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_de169d59-ebd7-46c0-8205-c795f57bfbeb.webp?v=1756210714"},{"product_id":"giovanna-rivero-fresh-dirt-from-the-grave","title":"Giovanna Rivero | Fresh Dirt From The Grave","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781913867515\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e06\/23\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e155 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTranslated by Isabel Adey\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShipwrecks, dive bars, possession, and science—this is where contemporary horrors and ancient terrors meet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eIn Fresh Dirt from the Grave\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e, a hillside is “an emerald saddle teeming with evil and beauty.” It is this collision of harshness and tenderness that animates Giovanna Rivero’s short stories, where no degree of darkness (buried bodies, lost children, wild paroxysms of violence) can take away from the gentleness she shows all violated creatures. A mad aunt haunts her family, two Bolivian children are left on the outskirts of a Metis reservation outside Winnipeg, a widow teaches origami in a women’s prison and murders, housefires, and poisonings abound, but so does the persistent bravery of people trying to forge ahead in the face of the world. They are offered cruelty, often, indifference at best, and yet they keep going. Rivero has reworked the boundaries of the gothic to engage with pre-Columbian ritual, folk tales, sci-fi and eroticism, and found in the wound their humanity and the possibility of hope.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Charco Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56153307218302,"sku":"9781913867515","price":11.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_94390b67-ddc4-4841-a7a4-679816c8aa4b.webp?v=1756297885"},{"product_id":"lucie-mcknight-hardy-dead-relatives","title":"Lucie McKnight Hardy | Dead Relatives","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781911585824\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e01\/10\/21\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e215 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIris has never left the big house in the country she shares with Mammy and the servants. When The Ladies arrive, she finds that she must appease her dead relatives. Other stories in this collection explore themes of motherhood and the fragile body, family dynamics and small town tensions, unusual traditions and metamorphosis.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDead Relatives and Other Stories is the highly anticipated, no-holds-barred short story collection from Lucie McKnight Hardy, and readers can expect more of the suspense and trepidation evident in her debut novel, Water Shall Refuse Them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot for the faint-hearted, Dead Relatives invites you behind closed doors, and will leave you wondering if it’s better that they’re kept shut and firmly locked.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dead Ink","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56189096395134,"sku":"9781911585824","price":9.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_4c04f4b0-9038-4a83-a19b-0828a7738189.jpg?v=1756910580"},{"product_id":"naomi-booth-animals-at-night","title":"Naomi Booth | Animals At Night","description":"\u003cp\u003e978191185862\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e16\/06\/22\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e190 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“The stories simmer with rebellion, rage and empathy… All of life is here in its joy and horror, both among humans and within the natural world, presented with a rare and fierce intimacy.” \u003ci\u003eProspect Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Booth’s writing is brooding and brilliant. …Read Animals at Night after dark, to set yourself up for a disturbed night’s sleep. More importantly, read it to delve into a world of unsettling liminality.”\u003ci\u003e Mslexia\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“The stories in \u003ci\u003eAnimals at Night \u003c\/i\u003eare by turns dark and life-affirming, joyful and harrowing, bleak but with a humour that made me laugh out loud. Each is beautifully written with an attention to detail that makes an art of the short form fiction format.” \u003ci\u003eThe Mechanics Institute Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA woman feeding a baby late at night listens to the animal sounds in the city around her. A grieving widow encounters an injured jellyfish on a deserted beach. A young woman can’t shake the image of dying hare she finds at the side of the road. A dairy farmer hears her herd bellow with fear at night.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnimals at Night is Naomi Booth’s first collection of short stories. Collected here are stories that illuminate the strange nocturnal meetings between humans and other animals.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eNaomi Booth is a writer and academic. Her fiction tends to explore unsettling landscapes, strange compulsions, dangerous bodies and contamination. Her short fiction has been longlisted for the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award, the Galley Beggar Press Short Story Prize, and included in Best British Short Stories 2019. Her story Sour Hall was adapted into an audio drama by Audible.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dead Ink","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56189131096446,"sku":"978191185862","price":9.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_9b217307-3657-4a8c-9ab9-34a288fd27df.webp?v=1756910956"},{"product_id":"nathan-ballingrud-north-american-lake-monsters","title":"Nathan Ballingrud | North American Lake Monsters","description":"\u003cp\u003e978183817174\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e27\/03\/25\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e208 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShirley Jackson Award Winner\u003cbr\u003eWorld Fantasy, British Fantasy and Bram Stoker Award Finalist\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb data-stringify-type=\"bold\"\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e“Nathan Ballingrud is one of my favorite short fiction writers.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e—  Jeff VanderMeer\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“Nathan Ballingrud’s brilliant fiction brims with imagination, integrity (I do not use that term lightly), and an authentic world-weary dread that bores directly into your heart.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e— Paul Tremblay\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“What Nathan Ballingrud does in \u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eNorth American Lake Monsters\u003c\/span\u003e is to reinvigorate the horror tradition.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e— John Langan\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNathan Ballingrud’s award winning debut collection is a cornerstone of contemporary horror fiction that dismantles the boundaries around genre fiction. Shattering and luminous, \u003ci data-stringify-type=\"italic\"\u003eNorth American Lake Monsters \u003c\/i\u003eexplores the darker parts of the human psyche to reveal monsters, real and imagined, external and internal. They are us and we are them. What is revealed in these stories is a working class portrait of 21st century American life that is as cruel as it is fragile and as precarious as it is tenacious.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese are love stories and monster stories. Monsters who wear the faces of parents, lovers, or ourselves. The people in these stories are driven to extremes by love and by desperation. Sometimes, they are ruined; sometimes redeemed. All are faced with the loneliest corners of themselves and strive to escape.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAllow us to introduce you to your favourite horror writer’s favourite horror writer.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dead Ink","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56206743208318,"sku":"978183817174","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_7d3bd5ad-8fa7-497f-a889-6b0a0415aab5.png?v=1757074250"},{"product_id":"nathan-ballingrud-the-atlas-of-hell","title":"Nathan Ballingrud | The Atlas Of Hell","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781068349706\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e24\/07\/25\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e304 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn his first collection, North American Lake Monsters, Nathan Ballingrud carved out a distinctly singular place in American fiction with his “piercing and merciless” (Toronto Globe and Mail) portrayals of the monsters that haunt our lives—both real and imagined:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“What Nathan Ballingrud does in North American Lake Monsters is to reinvigorate the horror tradition”\u003cbr\u003eLos Angeles Review of Books.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNow, in The Atlas of Hell, Ballingrud follows up with an even more confounding, strange, and utterly entrancing collection of stories, including one new novella. From the eerie dread descending upon a New Orleans dive bartender after a cell phone is left behind in a rollicking bar fight in ‘The Visible Filth’ to the search for the map of hell in ‘The Butcher’s Table’, Ballingrud’s beautifully crafted stories are riveting in their quietly terrifying depictions of the murky line between the known and the unknown.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch6\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h6\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dead Ink","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56206765523326,"sku":"9781068349706","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_ad000b36-16ee-43ad-b9fa-472dcd18faae.webp?v=1757074585"},{"product_id":"stephen-hines-the-late-season","title":"Stephen Hines | The Late Season","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781910691205\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e21\/09\/17\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e144 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"…a remarkably assured debut collection.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eIrish Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWith \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003ethe late season\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, Stephen Hines’ debut story collection, the lives revealed and the places they inhabit are an easy dimension to switch into. Each mysterious and intimate, these stories have a unique ambience of exotic and sparse ordinariness. The mood is a steady heartbeat even when the characters are anguished.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSome examples. In the title story, carpet salesman Mr Halliday has overstayed his welcome. Lost and looking for answers, his presence shifts the fabric of the family, his own sadness a slow drowning. 'honeymoon', where mother and child don’t return from a boat outing, the terror of a grief stricken imagination takes over. The intriguingly titled 'a 1946 DeSoto Custom Convertible on the first day of spring' is a short story but when you read it, feels so much longer. It’s an ordinary working day for Jerry: winter is melting and there is gas to pump. But his day is interrupted by truancy specialist Brian and things aren’t quite the same again. The disorientating 'this time, right here' hitches a ride with a concussed driver who pulls into The Blue Spot motel. When the protagonist asks about the blue dots everywhere, the receptionist replies:\"‘The owner thinks they’re lucky,\" then continues, \"Aren’t you the one from the accident?\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eStephen Hines could be Canada’s most overlooked writer. His words are smooth on the eyes, generous with internal thoughts, captivating visuals and perfectly natural banter. His writing and artwork has appeared in many magazines and publications around the globe, including \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eAnthenaeum, Grain, Prairie Fire, MILK, Regime\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eGaspereau Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e'Near Taft, California 1985' photograph by Jeff Brouws. He is the author of seven books, including most recently \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eApproaching Nowhere\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (WW Norton, 2006). His work can be found in major private and public collections including Whitney Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Art, Princeton University Art Museum, etc.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tangerine Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56206856618366,"sku":"9781910691205","price":9.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_c0b25efe-07eb-4058-9acc-5d8cf79014d2.jpg?v=1757075845"},{"product_id":"oba-minako-the-three-crabs","title":"Oba Minako | The Three Crabs","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781913861957\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e19\/09\/25\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChapbook\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e36 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTranslated by\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eLisa Hofmann-Kuroda\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“The dark waves were eerie, the water as deep and warm as the mouth of some vast leviathan, enveloping them with the warmth of a giant tongue. They were large, tepid waves that sucked them in and choked them. In the pale light of daybreak, they felt as beautiful as mermaids. They were just the right age to be mermaids.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Three Crabs\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eis a story of rootlessness and dissolution set in Vietnam-era America centred around a party and crucial 24 hours in the life of a housewife. It focusses on a group of Japanese diaspora friends – their rivalries, their foibles, their infidelities – but its subject overall is America and what it does to people, culture, and senses of belonging. Sensitively translated, it has subtle shades of Carver after Lish; Fitzgerald, Richard Yates, but a sensibility all its own. If it were a painting, it might be a Hopper; if it were a series, it might be Madmen, but viewed and framed by a Japanese eye.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eŌba Minako\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003ewas born in 1930 and died in 2007. She debuted as a writer in 1968 with Sanbiki no kani (Three Crabs), which won the Akutagawa Prize, a prestigious literary prize awarded to new authors. She went on to write several dozen novels, essays, literary criticism, poetry, and a play. She also translated children’s books from English into Japanese and Japanese classics into modern Japanese. Ōba received numerous literary awards and played an active role in the Japanese literary world, serving as the first member of the Akutagawa Prize selection committee, vice president of the Japan P.E.N. Club, and head of the Women Writers’ Association. She was elected to the Japan Art Academy in 1991.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLisa Hofmann-Kuroda\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eis a literary translator. Born in Tokyo, raised in Texas, her translations include Ryunosuke Akutagawa's KAPPA (New Directions, 2023), Yuko Tsushima's WILDCAT DOME (FSG, 2025), Yoko Tawada's EXOPHONY (New Directions, 2025) and Natsuo Kirino's SWALLOWS (Knopf, 2025) and her work has appeared in LitHub, The Baffler, Monkey, and Chicago Review, among other places. She lives in New York City.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Strangers Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56278140387710,"sku":"9781913861957","price":7.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_ff1966bd-8125-4724-87eb-400a5f1bc685.jpg?v=1758278982"},{"product_id":"machida-kou-the-god-of-the-word","title":"Machida Kou | The God Of The Word","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781913861995\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e19\/09\/25\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChapbook\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e32 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTranslated by Daniel Joseph\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Since you asked: I am the great god Hitokotonushi of Kazuraki, known as Kotosaka no Kami, the WordRender, he who can render anything, be it felicitous or ill-omened, with but a single word. Nice to meet you.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe God of the Word\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eis a witty and wry retelling of the Kojiki (‘Record of Ancient Matters’), completed in 712 CE, which is considered the oldest extant Japanese text. It is a myth-history documenting (read: legitimising) the divine lineage of the emperors of the Yamato court, including the Wakatakeru no Mikoto of our text (supposedly the real historical figure the rest of the 14 confabulations were arranged to legitimise). This lively and hilarious translation is guaranteed to make you smile, while also gesturing towards the serious and relevant consideration of who gets to tell the tall tales on which we build our own narratives.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDaniel Joseph\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eis a translator, editor, and anthologist of Japanese fiction. He holds an MA in Medieval Japanese Literature from Harvard University, and has published translations of works by an eclectic assortment of Japanese writers and musicians including Kou Machida (Inpatient Press), Izumi Suzuki (Verso Books), and Kazuki Tomokawa (Blank Forms Editions). Shorter translations and essays have appeared in Granta, Epiphany, and ArtReview, among others. He is senior editor at Kodansha USA in New York, and is compiling and editing the forthcoming Penguin Book of Japanese Science Fiction for Penguin Classics in the UK.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Strangers Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56278157001086,"sku":"9781913861995","price":7.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_762c0150-9a89-44fa-aa55-df1494407788.jpg?v=1758279558"},{"product_id":"takayama-haneko-udon-unknown-dog-of-nobody","title":"Takayama Haneko | Udon: Unknown Dog Of Nobody","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781913861988\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e19\/09\/25\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChapbook\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e40 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003etranslated by LK Nithya\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“The stench intensified further, far beyond a bearable pungency, and Kazue began to feel a piercing pain in her temple. The stench swirled through the air, aggressively noxious, as Kazue turned to Misa, who was dazed with fear.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this disorientating, surprising, and intriguing story, a strange, organ-like creature is discovered in a styrofoam box before being taken in to be cared for by a family over many years, with ultimately bizarre consequences.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHaneko Takayama\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eis a writer, born in 1975 in Toyama prefecture, Japan. In 2010, she won an honorable mention in the Sogen SF Short Story Prize for UDON (Unknown Dog of Nobody); in 2016, she won the Fumiko Hayashi Literary Prize for \"The Island on the Side of the Sun\"; and in 2020, she won the Akutagawa Prize for A Horse from Shuri. Her works include Where I Was, \"Come Gather ‘Round, People,\" and Lenses in the Dark.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLK Nithya\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eis a writer and literary translator from Japanese to English. She was a runner-up for the 2020 Harvill Secker Young Translators' Prize and attended the 2021 British Centre for Literary Translation Summer School. She lives in California. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Strangers Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56278168830334,"sku":"9781913861988","price":7.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_6fe4a394-80d0-4bce-9b6c-424ade2c0b3c.jpg?v=1758279762"},{"product_id":"wataya-risa-then-why-ask-me-to-come","title":"Wataya Risa | Then Why Ask Me To Come?","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781913861971\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e19\/09\/25\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChapbook\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e48 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003etranslated by Yuki Tejima\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“How times had changed. She’d even broken out the champagne flutes — plastic, but still — for our pre-meal drinks. In the afternoon light, the bubbles sparkled in a different way than they do after dark. They seemed more wholesome, more free.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis story orbits a BBQ gathering taking place during a pandemic lockdown, to which our main protagonist has been reluctantly invited, along with his wife, by his wife’s best female confidante. Unbeknownst to \u003c\/span\u003ehim\u003cspan\u003e, he is about to be confronted \u003c\/span\u003eover\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003esomething he thought would remain a secret…\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWataya Risa\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003ewas born in Tokyo in 1984. In 2001, aged 17, she made her literary debut with the Bungei-Prize-winning novel Install. Her second work, The Back I Want to Kick, won the Akutagawa Prize, making her the youngest ever Akutagawa Prize winner at 19 years old. The Back I Want to Kick has sold millions. Her other works include Isn’t it Pitiful, which won the Ōe Kenzaburō Prize, and Leave it Raw Nothing But Raw, which won the Shimase Prize for Romantic Fiction.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYuki Tejima\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eis a translator from Los Angeles who is currently based in Tokyo. Her translations from Japanese into English include Mizuki Tsujimura’s novels Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon(Doubleday, 2025) and How to Hold Someone in Your Heart (Doubleday, 2025), Someone to Watch Over You (Pushkin Press, 2025) by Kumi Kimura, When the Museum is Closed by Emi Yagi (Harvill Secker, 2025) and the sequel to Tetsuko Kuroyanagi’s best-selling memoir Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window 2 (Kodansha, 2025).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Strangers Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56278178595198,"sku":"9781913861971","price":7.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_16a31990-848a-4ecc-bd02-b017ceba43d2.jpg?v=1758280085"},{"product_id":"takiguchi-yusho-kamachi-pictures-of-her","title":"Takiguchi Yusho | Kamachi \u0026 Pictures Of Her","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781913861964\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e19\/09\/25\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChapbook\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e40 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTranslated by\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eJesse Kirkwood\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Though we’ve never actually gone and stood in front of her little stage, we like to sit here at the window like this, peeking over and listening in.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwo stories that consider the slipperiness of memory, partnerships, loss, and the stories men and women tell each other. The first features a female storyteller who continues to narrate tales as a form of blessing for her and her husband, who she has since lost. The second is the story of an older man remembering his lost wife – focusing on the old photographs he has of her, which he keeps looking through.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTakiguchi Yusho\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003ewas born in Tokyo in 1982 and raised in neighbouring Saitama. He writes stories about individual and collective memory, marked by a roaming, omniscient narrative voice and multiple temporalities. In 2011, he was awarded the Shincho Prize for New Writers for his novella Gakki. In 2015, he won the Noma Literary New Face Prize for Ai to Jinsei and was awarded the 154th Akutagawa Ryunosuke Award for Shindeinaimono in 2016. In 2022, he won the 39th Oda Sakunosuke Award for for his novel Suiheisen, and the next year he was awarded 73rd Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award for Art Encouragement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJesse Kirkwood\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eis a literary translator from the UK working from Japanese and French into English. The recipient of the 2020 Harvill Secker Young Translators’ Prize for his rendering of Yūshō Takiguchi’s short story ‘Nocturne’, his translations include Tokyo Express (Penguin, 2022) by Seichō Matsumoto, A Perfect Day to Be Alone (MacLehose, 2024) by Nanae Aoyama, and Sympathy Tower Tokyo (Viking, 2025) by Rie Qudan. Jesse grew up in a remote corner of England’s Lake District, studied in Oxford and London, and now lives in Japan.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Strangers Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56278191145342,"sku":"9781913861964","price":7.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_2b04517b-dc6c-4add-9cb6-eff64a72d5d6.jpg?v=1758280395"},{"product_id":"joel-lane-where-furnaces-burn","title":"Joel Lane | Where Furnaces Burn","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781914391095\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e12\/10\/23\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e278 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003e‘A poet of misfits, outsiders and the forsaken, his empathy for their suffering ever poignant.’\u003cbr\u003e– Adam Nevill, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Ritual\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003e‘Joel Lane understood and expertly exploited the connection between exterior and interior landscapes like no other.’\u003cbr\u003e– Paul Tremblay, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Pallbearers Club\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003e‘This essential collection has been out of print and impossible to find for years, but thanks to Influx Press’s ongoing reissue campaign, a new generation of fans of the Weird get to enjoy these wonderful and unforgettable stories.’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003e‘\u003cem\u003eWhere Furnaces Burn\u003c\/em\u003e is indeed full of darkly inventive strangeness well worth digging into. But this represents only half of the arcane engine that powers Lane’s masterwork. The rest is Lane’s brilliant melding of character and landscape.’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eWINNER OF THE 2013 WORLD FANTASY AWARD\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eEpisodes from the casebook of a police officer in the West Midlands:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eA young woman needs help in finding the buried pieces of her lover... so he can return to waking life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003ePale-faced thieves gather by a disused railway to watch a puppet theatre of love and violence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eWhy do local youths keep starting fires in the ash woods around a disused mine in the Black Country?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eA series of inexplicable deaths uncover a secret cult of machine worship.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eWhen a migrant worker disappears, the key suspect is a boy driven mad by memories that are not his own.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eAmong the derelict factories and warehouses at the heart of the city, an archaic god seeks out his willing victims.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eBlurring the occult detective story with urban noir fiction, \u003cem\u003eWhere Furnaces Burn\u003c\/em\u003e offers a glimpse of the myths and terrors buried within the industrial landscape. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eFirst published in 2012, Joel Lane’s World Fantasy Award-winning collection is a true modern classic of weird fiction that cemented his place as one of the most important and distinctive British writers of the weird.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eWITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY R.M. FRANCIS\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Influx Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56281120178558,"sku":"9781914391095","price":9.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_1f7db80f-6c34-4bf3-8de8-a39a53156516.webp?v=1758366978"},{"product_id":"iphgenia-baal-man-hating-psycho","title":"Iphgenia Baal | Man Hating Psycho","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781910312797\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e22\/04\/21\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e256 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003e‘Utterly absorbing and standout tales... Baal’s witty and unconventional prose will hook you in right from the start.’\u003cbr\u003e– \u003cem\u003eCosmopolitan\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003e‘An extraordinary voice, and if you want to understand what happens next in modern writing, you’d do well to listen to it. A revelation.’\u003cbr\u003e– Alan Moore\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eMan Hating Psycho\u003c\/em\u003e is the caustic new collection of stories from visionary writer Iphgenia Baal. Interrogating the disconnect between our public identities and real-life selves, Baal exposes the inherent duplicity of online communication.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eText messages relaying deep personal crisis are nothing more than an annoyance, WhatsApp takedowns of wide-eyed left-wingers unfold at breakneck speed, friendships that seem set in stone disintegrate at the first hint of sex, the language of love degraded as life becomes more and more transactional.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eWith black and disquieting humour, thirteen playful texts disparage the highly-profitable superstitions that are the scaffolding of our current social order.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eMan Hating Psycho\u003c\/em\u003e lays bare the trappings of modern life, whilst putting the short story form through a literary mincer.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Influx Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56281211830654,"sku":"9781910312797","price":9.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_4195fff8-860c-4096-b867-69ed8cc483e0.webp?v=1758367653"},{"product_id":"various-birds-strangers-and-psychos-new-stories-inspired-by-alfred-hitchcock","title":"Various | Birds, Strangers And Psychos: New Stories Inspired By Alfred Hitchcock","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781835012222\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e25\/09\/25\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e384 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEdited by Maxim Jakubowski\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Sunday Times\u003c\/em\u003e Thriller of the Month\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBirds, Strangers and Psychos\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eis a thrilling anthology that brings together the biggest names in mystery and crime fiction to pay homage to Alfred Hitchcock, the legendary filmmaker whose name is synonymous with suspense. Acclaimed editor Maxim Jakubowski curates 24 original short stories, each inspired by the mood, tension, and style that defined Hitchcock’s groundbreaking work. This anthology invites both emerging and established voices to reimagine the chilling atmospheres, twisted plots, and unforgettable characters of Hitchcock’s films, from\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003ePsycho\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eand\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eVertigo\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eto\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eNorth by Northwest\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eand\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Birds\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEach author takes on the challenge of evoking the quintessentially ‘Hitchcockian’ elements that have captivated audiences for decades: ordinary lives interrupted by peril, psychological duels, and unexpected encounters that spiral into nightmares. The volume showcases an extraordinary blend of talent, including Lee Child, Denise Mina, Sophie Hannah, Vaseem Khan, MW Craven, Jeff Noon and S. A. Cosby and many more!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJust as Hitchcock adapted stories from literary giants like Daphne du Maurier, Patricia Highsmith, and Roald Dahl,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eBirds, Strangers and Psychos\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eunites today’s literary stars to craft new suspenseful tales that are destined to thrill, haunt, and unsettle. This volume is not just a collection of stories – it’s an invitation to rediscover the artistry of suspense.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Exit Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56300668944766,"sku":"9781835012222","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_2a58a012-9340-40b7-8a53-3c83a68c0bab.jpg?v=1758722770"},{"product_id":"david-philip-mullins-greetings-from-below","title":"David Philip Mullins | Greetings From Below","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781844719150\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e15\/05\/12\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e204 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eGreetings from Below\u003c\/em\u003e, a collection of linked short stories, chronicles the life of Nick Danze, a young copy editor who suffers from several “fixations” he believes are associated with some kind of sexual addiction. By day, Nick works for a weekly trade magazine called Footwear Today, while at night he frequents the various striptease bars, massage parlors, and swing clubs of Las Vegas and San Francisco, the two cities in which he lives throughout the book. Most of the stories are set in Las Vegas, where Nick was raised and where his widowed mother still resides, her emotional constitution slowly unraveling as she mourns Nick’s recently deceased father and struggles with addictions of her own: to shopping, gambling, and pure cane sugar. The stories set in San Francisco deal mainly with Nick’s longtime relationship with his girlfriend, Annie, whom he loves but with whom he isn’t in love. Ultimately, through a series of episodes that spans more than twenty-five years, Nick’s life is changed forever when he is forced to confront not just his own predicaments, but his mother’s as well.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePraise for this Book\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Every few years a writer comes along to tell us new stories about a place we thought we knew. David Philip Mullins is that writer. Las Vegas is his world. Gone are the glitter and the glamour. Revealed are the jarring effects of a massive city in a barren desert landscape. These wonderfully connected stories examine the universal themes of family, loss, sex, and the yearning to communicate. Carefully written in beautiful prose, Greetings from Below is a moving and stunning debut from a natural writer.’ —Chris Offutt, author of Kentucky Straight\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘In\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eGreetings from Below\u003c\/em\u003e, David Philip Mullins deftly explores life in the dark shadows of Las Vegas. Love and loss dramatically propel his hero from tender adolescence to gritty manhood. A remarkable debut.’ —Jennifer Vanderbes, author of Easter Island\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Whether he’s writing about teenage boys and a fort in the desert composed of stolen highway foliage, or the desultory boredom of a Christmas Eve swingers’ party, or a grieving mother losing herself in shopping-mall binges, or a fight in a strip club and a cache of stolen casino chips, David Philip Mullins flat-out nails what it is to be young and lost in the West. There are echoes of Raymond Carver here, with wide-open spaces and scrambled lives, and Denis Johnson, too, touches of lyrical and hysterical squalor. But the voice is a new one, distinct, generous, and knowing. Read this book and you’ll agree, David Philip Mullins is a writer to watch.’ —Charles Bock, author of Beautiful Children\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Salt","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56306226266494,"sku":"9781844719150","price":9.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_13048b77-1c6c-4460-be67-afdc696cfbbd.webp?v=1758808551"},{"product_id":"ray-russell-haunted-castles-the-complete-gothic-stories","title":"Ray Russell | Haunted Castles The Complete Gothic Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003e9780143129318\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e06\/10\/16\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e272 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHaunted Castles is the definitive, complete collection of Ray Russell's masterful Gothic horror stories, including the famously terrifying novella trio of \"Sardonicus,\" \"Sanguinarius,\" and \"Sagittarius.\" The characters that sprawl through Haunted Castles are frightful to the core: the heartless monster holding two lovers in limbo; the beautiful dame journeying down a damned road toward depravity (with the help of an evil gypsy); the man who must wear his fatal crimes on his face in the form of an awful smile. Engrossing, grotesque, and completely entrancing, Russell's Gothic tales are the best kind of dreadful.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"peng","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56367244247422,"sku":"9780143129318","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_8f8da1ef-510f-4ada-9ff3-4138884257a2.webp?v=1759839188"},{"product_id":"aoko-matsuda-the-woman-dies","title":"Aoko Matsuda | The Woman Dies","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781787705876\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e09\/10\/25\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e200 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTranslated by Polly Barton\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp id=\"feminist_tales_from_japan_that_blend_humour_surrealism_and_sharp_societal_critique_by_the_acclaimed_author_of_where_the_wild_ladies_are\"\u003eFeminist tales from Japan that blend humour, surrealism, and sharp societal critique, by the acclaimed author of \u003cem\u003eWhere the Wild Ladies Are\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePiercing, inventive, and drily humorous, the fifty-two stories included in this collection shine an unforgiving spotlight on the various forms of discrimination still deeply rooted in Japanese society, with a particular focus on persistent and pervasive sexism.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe normalization of violence against women on screen and in the media is confronted in the title story, while others invest inanimate objects with their own perspectives, take as their subject the aesthetics of technology, or use clever wordplay to riff off the absurdity of life. Strong feminist viewpoints are presented with groundbreaking sharpness and a detached wit that only enhances their impact, perfectly striking the balance between gravity and levity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMore than a simple thrill ride,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Woman Dies\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eis a vast, multifaceted theme park of ideas, and a unique space that invites readers to enter with a mix of awe and wonder\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Europa Editions","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56367671214462,"sku":null,"price":14.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_f5b13ace-65fe-41e9-b5ea-742ed3e905c0.jpg?v=1760007163"},{"product_id":"gianni-washington-flowers-from-the-void","title":"Gianni Washington | Flowers From The Void","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781800816312\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e02\/10\/25\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e256 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGrotesquely gothic short stories to keep you awake all night\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"full-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAddictively strange and disturbing,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eFlowers From the Void\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eis a collection of delectably uncanny tales. A reaper readies herself for her next gruesome assignment and a bereaved African witch prepares for a showdown with a rigidly traditional white Salem coven while an outcast teenage boy is lured into a pact with a schoolfriend that will cost him far more than he ever imagined.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHauntingly macabre and piercingly insightful about loss and loneliness, these gothic short stories lead us into a labyrinth of other possible worlds, each one darker than the last and yet all fearfully close to our own. Living dolls serve as imperfect replacements for the deceased, a girl without a shadow finds her soulmate and spurned lovers' bodies begin falling to pieces. In this scintillating debut collection Gianni Washington explores the limit of intimacy and empathy with the vivid intensity of your worst nightmare.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Serpent's Tail","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56529725817214,"sku":"9781800816312","price":8.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_e5ac6218-a198-437b-9933-6bd88dec33ee.jpg?v=1762528209"},{"product_id":"anna-burns-mostly-hero","title":"Anna Burns | Mostly Hero","description":"\u003cp\u003e9780571399734\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e12\/03\/26\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e112 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFROM THE BOOKER PRIZE WINNER AND BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF \u003ci\u003eMILKMAN\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStill eighty-two, still with fifty-seven bullets in her, still dying, and with a blood-trail resembling a post-structuralist anti-principle of a traditional abstracted countercomposition, she was softly cursing and willing herself not to die.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFollow Hero the superhero as he saves the world from villains and falls in love with a femme fatale named Femme Fatale.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWritten by Anna Burns before she completed her dazzling Booker-winning novel\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMilkman\u003c\/i\u003e, ‘Mostly Hero’ is a hilarious, witty, hell-raising romp through a world of superheroes.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Faber \u0026 Faber","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57078852878718,"sku":"9780571399734","price":9.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_88947285-82b9-41d0-952a-32ea2de9aa29.jpg?v=1773318078"},{"product_id":"leonardo-sciascia-the-day-of-the-owl","title":"Leonardo Sciascia | The Day Of The Owl","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781803514420\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e09\/04\/26\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e126 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"book-page__info-author\"\u003eTranslated by\u003cspan\u003e Archibald Colquhoun \u0026amp; Arthur Oliver\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"book-page__info-excerpt\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the piazza, a man lies dead. No one will say if they witnessed his killing. This presents a challenge to the investigating officer, a man who earnestly believes in the values of a democratic and modern society. Indeed, his enquiries are soon blocked off by a wall of silence and vested interests; he must work against the community to save it and expose the truth.The narrative moves on two levels: that of the investigator, who reveals a chain of savage crimes; and that of the bystanders and watchers, of those complicit with secret power, whose gossipy, furtive conversations have only one end – to stop the truth coming out.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis novel about the Mafia is also a mesmerizing demonstration of how that organization sustains itself. It is both a beautifully, tautly written story and a brave act of denunciation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Granta","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57222996558206,"sku":"9781803514420","price":9.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_703c6c89-3e4b-422b-a67e-f92af6a9b2af.jpg?v=1775657612"},{"product_id":"gwendoline-riley-first-love","title":"Gwendoline Riley | First Love","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781803513560\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e09\/04\/26\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e176 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A singular, devastating journey into the ungovernable reaches of the heart’ \u003ci\u003eObserver\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILEYS WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2017\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNeve is a writer in her mid-30s married to an older man, Edwyn. For now they are in a place of relative peace, but their past battles have left scars. As Neve recalls the decisions that led her to this marriage, she tells of other loves and other debts, from her bullying father and her self-involved mother to a musician who played her and a series of lonely flights from place to place.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDrawing the reader into the battleground of her relationship, Neve spins a story of helplessness and hostility, an ongoing conflict in which both husband and wife have played a part. But is this, nonetheless, also a story of love?\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Granta","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57223095878014,"sku":"9781803513560","price":9.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_f4c5d859-2895-4fac-bd13-9b8cd781b69f.jpg?v=1775657991"},{"product_id":"romesh-gunesekera-reef","title":"Romesh Gunesekera | Reef","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781803513584\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e09\/04\/26\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e192 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A work of strange, slow-motion, underwater intensity. Put your ear to the page and you can almost hear the ocean whisper’ \u003ci\u003eIndependent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA single lighted match banishes Triton from his father’s home to the employ of Mister Salgado, a marine biologist obsessed by swamps, sea movements and a Sri Lankan island’s disappearing reef. Stranded in London years later, Triton plumbs the depths of his childhood memories – a period of brewing political, ethical and religious turmoil – and brings us to understand how he has navigated this brave new world, which once lost will haunt him forever.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Granta","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57223217774974,"sku":"9781803513584","price":9.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_a049b844-4899-4f84-984b-5ffc1cec0927.jpg?v=1775658339"},{"product_id":"yasushi-inoue-bullfight","title":"Yasushi Inoue | Bullfight","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781805332022\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e09\/04\/26\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e128 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTranslated by Michael Emmerich\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Perfection is the only word to describe this subtle tale’ \u003ci\u003eIrish Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eWinner of the Akutagawa Prize\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eTsugami, the editor-in-chief of a newspaper in war-scarred Osaka, agrees to sponsor a bullfight. For months this great gamble consumes him, makes him as wary and combative as if he was in a ring himself. And, as he becomes ever more distant, his lover Sakiko is unsure if she would like to see him succeed or be destroyed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs much a story of post-war Japan as it is about the country’s special brand of bullfighting, this novella is a masterly exploration of hope, ambition and despair. Yasushi Inoue’s novella won him the prestigious Akutagawa Prize and established him as one of Japan’s most acclaimed authors. From the planning of a bullfight, through Tsugami’s struggle, his focus and his solitude – he crafts something intensely memorable, a profound and compelling existential tale.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePart of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57223444038014,"sku":"9781805332022","price":9.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_23319f63-d9bf-40ae-b657-805e46feb47e.webp?v=1775659024"},{"product_id":"yasushi-inoue-life-of-a-counterfeiter","title":"Yasushi Inoue | Life Of A Counterfeiter","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781805332077\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e09\/04\/26\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e144 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTranslated by Michael Emmerich\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Masterfully understated prose’ \u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A Japanese literary master’ \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e, starred review\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA master forger lives in obscurity and disappointment, oppressed by the shadow of the artist whose work he copies. A young man embarks on an investigation into his family’s past, prompted by a newspaper clipping and a vague memory of a beautiful young woman. And another young narrator is consumed with curiosity about his grandfather’s mistress – and why she cherishes an old pair of gloves, given to her by a visiting Englishman.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUnglamorous, unadorned lives such as this form the focus of Yasushi Inoue’s tenderly observed, elegantly distilled short stories – two of which are appearing in English for the first time. With a haunting emotional intensity, they offer glimpses of love lost and lives wasted. Asking how we place value, what counts as real, and where the struggle for acceptance will lead us, each story is a perfectly balanced exploration of regret.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese three luminous, compassionate tales showcase the mastery and exquisite talent of one of Japan’s most beloved writers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePart of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57223510819198,"sku":"9781805332077","price":9.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_d2d80d5a-b8ba-494b-ba20-292604340569.webp?v=1775659357"},{"product_id":"nao-cola-yamazaki-dont-laugh-at-other-peoples-sex-lives","title":"Nao-Cola Yamazaki | Don't Laugh At Other People's Sex Lives","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781917092357\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e09\/04\/26\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e80 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTranslated by Polly Barton\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArt student Isogai first models for one of his tutors, the much older Yuri, then begins a passionate affair with her. As he gets to know her better, he struggles to understand his own emotions and his place in the world, just as he yearns to be closer to her and for her to share more of herself with him.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDon’t Laugh at Other People’s Sex Lives\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ewas a smash-hit in Japan, winning the prestigious Bungei Prize, and selling over 250,000 copies. A touching portrait of late adolescence, with Isogai captured with exasperation, humour and tenderness, it is also, and above all else, an exploration of the exhilarating and destabilising experience of a love that defies prediction or explanation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TextRun SCXW203950664 BCX8\" lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW203950664 BCX8\"\u003e‘\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TextRun SCXW203950664 BCX8\" lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"none\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW203950664 BCX8\"\u003eSlyly transgressive, singularly weird – a happy\/sad confection of innocence to unsettling experience, and big feelings that go\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW203950664 BCX8\"\u003ealmost totally\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW203950664 BCX8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eunsaid. Reminded me of Francoise Sagan’s\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TextRun SCXW203950664 BCX8\" lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"none\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW203950664 BCX8\"\u003eBonjour Tristesse\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TextRun SCXW203950664 BCX8\" lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"none\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW203950664 BCX8\"\u003emixed with Bae Suah’s\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TextRun SCXW203950664 BCX8\" lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"none\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW203950664 BCX8\"\u003eNowhere to Be Found\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TextRun SCXW203950664 BCX8\" lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"none\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW203950664 BCX8\"\u003e.’\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eSharlene Teo\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"EOP SCXW203950664 BCX8\" data-ccp-props='{\"134233117\":false,\"134233118\":false,\"335559738\":0,\"335559739\":0}'\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A strange and beguiling love affair, one rich in all the distances and intimacies that pull new lovers together. I loved it. I haven’t devoured something like that in a long time.’ Naomi Wood\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Daunt","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57223635960190,"sku":"9781917092357","price":9.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_092fee51-ef2c-402e-95d4-eb9196eb7929.webp?v=1775659952"},{"product_id":"morgan-talty-night-of-the-living-rez","title":"Morgan Talty | Night Of The Living Rez","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781916751187\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e07\/08\/25\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e285 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWinner of the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWinner of the PEN\/Robert W. Bingham Prize\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWinner of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Sue Kaufman Prize\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize 2026\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA boy unearths a jar that holds an old curse, which sets into motion his family’s unravelling; a man, while trying to swindle some pot from a dealer, discovers a friend passed out in the woods, his hair frozen into the snow; and two friends, inspired by Antiques Roadshow, attempt to rob the tribal museum for valuable root clubs. Night of the Living Rez is an unforgettable portrayal of Indigenous community, whose arrival heralded a stand-out talent in contemporary fiction.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"And Other Stories","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57383270285694,"sku":"9781916751187","price":14.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_fe1cb8f3-ac5f-4252-a498-743f96d97814.webp?v=1778246143"},{"product_id":"various-american-supernatural-tales","title":"Various | American Supernatural Tales","description":"\u003cp\u003e9780143105046\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e24\/04\/08\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e432 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAs Stephen King will attest , the popularity of the occult in American literature has only grown since the days of Edgar Allan Poe. American Supernatural Tales celebrates the richness of this tradition with chilling contributions from some of the nation’s brightest literary lights, including Poe himself, H. P. Lovecraft, Shirley Jackson, Ray Bradbury, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and—of course— Stephen King. By turns phantasmagoric, spectral, and demonic, this is a frighteningly good addition to Penguin Classics.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57424842391934,"sku":"9780143105046","price":9.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_ff9c3a65-0867-4b0b-b76a-524de1dabe72.webp?v=1778933345"},{"product_id":"ruth-ozeki-the-typing-lady-signed-copy","title":"Ruth Ozeki | The Typing Lady - Signed Copy","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781837261598\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e28\/05\/26\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e336 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSigned Copy\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe first short story collection from the Booker Prize finalist and winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction about the lives we almost lived, the people we can’t quite forget and the stories that shape us long after the last page is turned.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eExploring childhood ambition, youthful desire, midlife reinvention and the unsparing clarity of old age, Ozeki brings us eleven richly imagined stories of characters standing at life’s thresholds.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA college student falls for her professor and learns to transmute longing into language. A disquieted husband watches as the ghost of his wife’s ambition roams the woods outside their home. A long-deceased Beat poet hijacks the mind of a young publishing assistant and rails against the state of modern literature. A curious grandmother creates a fake online dating profile to spy on her granddaughter’s romantic life – and sets in motion a deception she can’t control.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSpanning eras and geographies, \u003cem\u003eThe Typing Lady\u003c\/em\u003e is an electrifying meditation on the stories we tell ourselves, the stories we abandon and the stories we become. Threaded with the tactile ephemera of writing – typewriters, letters, manuscripts and disappearing ink – the book reveals how we record ourselves in language, and how language, over time, records us in return.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Canongate Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57476634182014,"sku":"9781837261598","price":17.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_05742b2c-5e10-489b-b431-5191e94abc4d.webp?v=1779965001"},{"product_id":"ben-pester-sail-away-land","title":"Ben Pester | Sail Away Land","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781803514291\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e04\/06\/26\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e208 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSail Away Land is the space where we\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003emight\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ego when we’re no longer alive (sometimes only temporarily). In this uncommon and disarming collection, the characters go ‘there’ with or without knowing it. Maybe they have been living there all along without noticing – just like they hadn’t really noticed that everyone is carrying a shiny black suitcase.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese stories are about\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003enormal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ethings – losing the people we’re closest to, forgiving them, finding love and managing to hold onto it – but also about going to parties through a door in the back of a colleague’s head, housebreaking in search of a sister’s ghost, and asking the strangers in the kitchen to resurrect you at midnight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLike brilliant and strange anxiety dreams in prose, the stories in\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eSail Away Land\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eare full of temporal weirdness, life and non-being, psychological acuity, imagination and wit, all while being effortlessly, seductively readable and incredibly moving.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Granta","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57495421747582,"sku":"9781803514291","price":14.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_902d058c-b3bb-4d9d-80ab-54588cf78b65.webp?v=1780315107"},{"product_id":"james-sallis-worlds-edge","title":"James Sallis | World's Edge","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781835013113\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e02\/07\/26\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e208 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJames Sallis’ \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eWorld’s Edge\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e presents five masterful novellas—Dayenu, Carriers, Settlers, Allotments, and Reconstruction—exploring fractured societies, human resilience, and the fragile intersections of morality and survival. Sallis’s prose, as sharp as it is evocative, captures the nuances of his dystopian and near-future settings, resonating with themes of dislocation and identity. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWidely regarded as a pivotal voice in contemporary US fiction, Sallis’s work aligns with literary giants such as Cormac McCarthy and Denis Johnson, weaving the poetic bleakness of the former with the incisive character studies of the latter. These stories draw readers into a world both intimate and unyielding, where existential questions lurk beneath stark, elegant narratives.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Exit Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57635023880574,"sku":"9781835013113","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_11ad650e-056b-438a-b126-c585cb0b9f66.jpg?v=1782996820"},{"product_id":"elizabeth-walter-let-a-sleeping-witch-lie","title":"Elizabeth Walter | Let A Sleeping Witch Lie","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781781727799\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e01\/10\/24\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e256 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEdited by Nick Freeman\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-heading\"\u003eBooks Council of Wales Book of the Month October 2024\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"\u003e“A fascinating and compelling blend of crime fiction, gothic terror and horror, with twists in the tale that whip round and catch you at the last moment. Sublime!” – Katherine Stansfield\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e‘Old ways die hard on the Welsh border…’\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"\u003eIn these haunting tales, nothing is as it seems. A tormented voice calls from the barred windows of an empty room. A dusty museum exhibit possesses sinister powers. A glass of blackberry wine links the living with the sins of the dead.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"\u003eBetween 1965 and 1975, Elizabeth Walter published five collections of supernatural stories. But whilst the names of her contemporaries such as Robert Aickman are now widely recognised, Walter is relatively unknown to modern readers. Mixing folklore, history, and ancient traditions, these gothic stories draw on Walter’s Welsh heritage and the rich inspiration of South Wales and the border country.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"\u003eIncluding the mysterious ritual of ‘The Sin-Eater’, the folk horror of ‘Dead Woman’ and the poignant ‘Come and Get Me’,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eLet a Sleeping Witch Lie\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eis the perfect way to rediscover Elizabeth Walter’s chillingly remarkable talent.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Seren Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57654395961726,"sku":"9781781727799","price":12.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_94b78429-2b54-4bb3-a386-6786752de570.jpg?v=1783423517"},{"product_id":"china-mieville-three-moments-of-an-explosion","title":"China Mieville | Three Moments Of An Explosion","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781447235002\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e02\/06\/16\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e448 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn these twenty-eight short stories, glistening icebergs float above urban horizons; a burning stag runs wild through the city; the ruins of industry emerge unsteadily from the sea; and the abandoned generations in a decayed space-elevator look not up at the stars but down at the Earth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRanging from portraits of childhood to chilling ghost stories, from dystopian visions to poignant evocations of uncanny love, \u003cem\u003eThree Moments of an Explosion\u003c\/em\u003e is a breath-taking collection that poses searching questions of what it is to be human in an unquiet world. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Picador","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57655355015550,"sku":"9781447235002","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_601fad97-3f79-4211-9b05-5a5b3fecfc47.jpg?v=1783427700"},{"product_id":"samanta-schweblin-good-and-evil-and-other-stories","title":"Samanta Schweblin | Good And Evil And Other Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781035050185\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e04\/06\/26\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e192 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTranslated by Megan McDowell\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Global Bestseller from the International Booker Prize-shortlisted Author of \u003ci\u003eFever Dream\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA young mother steps into the water, determined to end her life. What will bring her back?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFor a single moment, a baby is left unattended in a room of everyday dangers.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn a high-rise apartment block, in a city far from home, a ghost appears.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhen a lonely woman acts on a kind impulse the consequences will be dark, bold and revelatory.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Picador","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57655507583358,"sku":"9781035050185","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_e59dbe98-ee39-4491-a615-c71971aa7092.webp?v=1783428282"},{"product_id":"guy-ware-a-day-like-any-other","title":"Guy Ware | A Day Like Any Other","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781784633769\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e08\/06\/26\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e176 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA woman with a successful career in child protection is floored by her husband’s sudden death; a retired civil servant smothers his wife, but can’t go through with their pact; a teacher fleeing a disastrous school trip finds himself – literally – in a dark wood.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePascal famously said we shall die alone. But there are always others left behind to grieve, to cheer, to feel guilt, relief or laughter, because we are human, whether we like it or not. In these stories, a dozen characters find at least a dozen ways to live by facing death – their own or that of those they love – in familiar worlds shot through with a strange absurdity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA man with cancer is employed to smoke by a character from a novel who may never have existed; an historian finds a love he hopes will last beyond the grave, even if it isn’t his; a former judge dispenses justice in a prison camp; a randomly-selected Prime Minister confronts the biggest life-or-death decision she – or anyone – will ever have to take.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ccite\u003eA Day Like Any Other\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eexplores death – natural, assisted, promised and unexpected – with compassion, wit, a steady gaze and a desire to confront the challenge we mostly prefer to avoid: why live at all? It is the perfect collection for anyone who’s going to die one day.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Salt","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57830193430910,"sku":"9781784633769","price":9.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_d2e12c8a-676b-4982-a94e-a4249d7b0bce.jpg?v=1786451307"},{"product_id":"various-best-british-short","title":"Various | Best British Short Stories 2026","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781784633783\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e08\/10\/26\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e272 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe nation’s essential annual guide to the short story returns for its sixteenth year, once again selecting the very best new fiction from Britain’s finest contemporary writers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRanging across genre, theme and style, \u003ccite\u003eBest British Short Stories 2026\u003c\/cite\u003e presents a dazzling array of talent – from established names to emerging voices – as published in literary magazines, anthologies, collections, and online publications during the previous calendar year. Among this year’s selection is a genuine literary discovery: a story by Graham Greene, ‘Reading at Night’, unpublished until its appearance in The Strand and reprinted here alongside the very best of today’s writers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhether you’re a seasoned reader of the form or a curious newcomer, this acclaimed anthology delivers wit, imagination, drama and craft in concentrated, unforgettable doses. With its finger firmly on the pulse of modern British storytelling, the series continues to celebrate the energy and diversity of the short story.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEdited by Nicholas Royle, \u003ccite\u003eBest British Short Stories\u003c\/cite\u003e has become an indispensable resource for readers, students and writers alike – an annual landmark in the UK literary calendar.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFeaturing: E. Abdeni-Holman, Jenn Ashworth, Lee Ashworth, David Bevan, Graham Greene, Vicky Grut, Livi Michael, Graham Mort, Annemarie Neary, Yoel Noorali, Richard Phoenix, Ray Robinson, David Rudkin, Sara Sherwood, Karen Stevens, Lucy Thynne, Charlotte Tierney, Tom Vowler, Will Wiles and Kieran Wyatt\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Salt","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58171199127934,"sku":"9781784633783","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_1e633220-3850-4dd1-9132-9cf129773c38.webp?v=1791377054"},{"product_id":"various-american-midnight-weird-tales-of-the-dark","title":"Various | American Midnight - Weird Tales Of The Dark","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781805331186\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e08\/10\/26\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e224 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Fireside stories where guilt, distress and unforeseen illness strike a deliciously gothic note’ \u003cem\u003eSunday Express\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA masquerade ball cut short by a mysterious plague; a chilling nocturnal ritual in the woods; a black bobcat howling into the night: the ten stories in this collection are some of the most strange and uncanny in all American literature.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSelected by acclaimed novelist Laird Hunt, these weird tales by writers from Edgar Allan Poe to Shirley Jackson, Nathaniel Hawthorne to Zora Neale Hurston, offer a terrifying glimpse into the dark heart of the land of the free.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContains:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The Masque of the Red Death’, Edgar Allan Poe\u003cbr\u003e‘Young Goodman Brown’, Nathaniel Hawthorne\u003cbr\u003e‘The Eyes’, Edith Wharton\u003cbr\u003e‘The Mask’, Robert Chambers\u003cbr\u003e‘Home’, Shirley Jackson\u003cbr\u003e‘A Ghost Story’, Mark Twain\u003cbr\u003e‘Spunk’, Zora Neale Hurston\u003cbr\u003e‘The Yellow Wallpaper’, Charlotte Perkins Gilman\u003cbr\u003e‘An Itinerant House’, Emma Frances Dawson\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58176912130430,"sku":"9781805331186","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_bb967913-e4f9-43e0-aa75-591112309f04.jpg?v=1791467319"},{"product_id":"isaac-babel-of-sunshine-and-bedbugs-essential-stories","title":"Isaac Babel | Of Sunshine And Bedbugs: Essential Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781805332831\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e08\/10\/26\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e256 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTranslated by Boris Dralyuk\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA selection of Isaac Babel’s most vital and beautiful stories, in acclaimed translations by Boris Dralyuk\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIsaac Babel honed one of the most distinctive styles in all Russian literature. Brashly conversational one moment, dreamily lyrical the next, his stories exult in the richness of everyday speech and sensual pleasure only to be shaken by brutal jolts of violence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese stories take us from the underworld of Babel’s native Odessa, city of gangsters and low-lives, of drunken brawls and bleeding sunsets, to the terror and absurdity of life as a soldier in the Polish-Soviet War. Selected and translated by the prize-winning Boris Dralyuk, this collection captures the irreverence, passion and coarse beauty of Babel’s singular voice.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58176969834878,"sku":"9781805332831","price":10.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_ae4a5fcb-7525-42c2-9745-3c343ed26645.webp?v=1791468641"},{"product_id":"various-nordic-nightmares","title":"Various | Nordic Nightmares","description":"\u003cp\u003e9781837868575\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e15\/10\/26\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePB\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e336 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEdited by Magret Helgadottir\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFeaturing stories by John Ajvide Lindqvist, Marko Hautala, Steinar Bragi, Hildur Knútsdóttir, Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen, Martin Schjönning, Rakel Helmsdal, Johanna Sinisalo, Markus Sköld, Boel Bermann, Jon Ewo, Aleksander Brun, Madeleine Bäck, Nanna Árnadottir, Pivinnguaq Mørch, Mikkel Harris Carlsen, AR Frederiksen, Sólrún Michelsen, Gertrud-Marie Kreutzmann, and Tor Åge Bringsværd.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Profile","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58222138261886,"sku":"9781837868575","price":11.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/files\/2_108653e3-5b4a-4237-9e05-adb5a6e586e2.webp?v=1792069614"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0983\/7608\/collections\/2_e6025576-c222-450a-93ad-1fcea0407f0e.jpg?v=1755787766","url":"https:\/\/www.leftfordeadshop.co.uk\/collections\/short-sories.oembed?page=3","provider":"Left For Dead","version":"1.0","type":"link"}