*** This is a collection of factual, and no-so-factual, tales of Scottish witches, ghosts, superstitions and folklore, and ranges from the seventeenth century through to the twentieth. For the most part, the stories are about witches and the various confessions, trials and punishments dished out to them by a society that believed ordinary folk could…
Category: Supernatural
‘The Hellbound Heart’ by Clive Barker
The Hellbound Heart Clive Barker’s superlative novella tells a gruesome tale of greed, love and desire, as the hedonistic Frank determines to explore the intricacies of a strange and magical box. Given that the book prompted a great movie series (Hellraiser et al) which Barker also directed, I’m puzzled that it’s taken me this long…
‘Beyond’ by Graham McNamee
Beyond Seventeen-year-old best friends Jane and Lexi aren’t typical teenagers. Known by their classmates as the Creep Sisters, they have a special ‘freakishness’ in common, but it’s Jane who has the upper hand on the truly weird – her shadow sometimes moves on its own, dragging her towards dangerous situations. Setting out to discover what…
‘The Monster Collection’ by Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Robert Louis Stevenson
The Monster Collection (Audiobook) Audio presentation of three classic Gothic tales, including Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I read these books as a teenager, though the only one I actually remember reading is Dracula. Given the plethora of film and TV…
‘ ‘Salem’s Lot’ by Stephen King
’Salem’s Lot When writer Ben Mears returns to the town of ‘Salem’s Lot, he hopes to rid himself of a bad experience from his childhood by writing a book about the old Marsten house. But these days things aren’t quite what they seem in the Lot, and Mears learns that the old house has been…
‘Worship Me’ by Craig Stewart
Worship Me In a quiet country church, a Sunday service becomes a living hell for a group of unsuspecting parishioners. When an ancient entity takes over the congregation claiming it as its own, the horrified churchgoers are shown the power of the Behemoth in all its ghastly detail. With the threat of losing everything –…
‘Blue Skin’ by Steven Jenkins
Blue Skin A mysterious disease is encroaching on the human race, creating new vampiric hybrids. With a ban on reproduction, anyone giving birth to the new blue-skinned babies must hand over their offspring to the Government – or face dire consequences. For Freya, keeping her brother hidden is the only real option. Billed as ‘A…
‘Sleep Savannah Sleep’ by Alistair Cross
Sleep Savannah Sleep Recently-widowed Jason Crandall moves his family to the sleepy town of Shadow Springs, hoping it’ll give them all a better life. However, starting a new business as a massage therapist gets off to a bad start when Jason is confronted with man-eater and local socialite Savannah Sturgess, prompting her hulk of a…
‘Northman’ by JD Hughes
Northman Twelve hundred years in the past, Vikings raid an Anglo-Saxon village, beginning a sinister series of events. When archaeologists Kate and Doctor Weatherall uncover an ancient but puzzling burial site, strange things start to happen. By the time she meets film director Michael, Kate is already the target of an outlandish and terrifying force.…
‘Killing a Vampire’ by Jacky Dahlhaus
Killing a Vampire In the final installment of the Suckers Trilogy, Kate’s past comes back to haunt her. After a TV appearance, her partner disappears, and while she initially puts it down to a problem in her relationship, as time passes, a more sinister reason sets alarm bells ringing. When the first of a series…