There is nothing I delight in more than curling up somewhere warm and cosy with something frightening to read this time of year. The latest issue is full of spine-chillers to keep you entertained this winter.

Mike Adamson’s Lord Blackstone’s Curse, is an atmospheric tale set in the depths of a Yorkshire Dale pub, where a group of men await the arrival of a demon dog – a local curse that plagues the folk of this land. 

In Dead Stories by Alex Gillinder, aspiring film-maker, Noah, loves watching old silent movies. When an obscure one pops up at his local cinema, he jumps at the chance to see it, but as he watches, something stands out – a character – always in the background: a faceless man. Noah starts to wonder who this person might be in this creeping story exploring gender identity.

Stuart Cleland’s The Wait, is a startling story of body horror. A man, grieving for his lost love becomes obsessed with his physical appearance as he loses weight, but someone else appears in the mirror and he begins to think he can see her: Alex, but where, or rather, who is she really?

In Matthew Stott’s Darts Trophy, Left Shoe, Skull, 11 year old, Alice, loves digging things up in her garden. One day, she finds a skull, but rather than put it on display, she finds another much more macabre use for it, leading to rather terrifying results. 

In Tim Jeffreys’ The Silence of the Heart, Archie, a detective, makes a house call, but both suspect and interrogator are hiding dark secrets and what is it that walks the floor above? ‘’These things could be everywhere.’’ A deeply unsettling story of strange entities that arrive in the form of another.

Fiona Cameron’s The Pigeon Block, is an eerie tale of Rhona, a girl with a strange feeling that she is invisible – forgotten, even. A stiflingly hot day gives everything an odd hue, and then she finds an object, something she has never seen before, a wooden block that reminds her of a pigeon, but where did it come from?

In Melanie Marshall’s story, Chamber, the new neighbours of spindle house, a family, organise a community trip to the nearby long barrow on winter solstice, not even a storm deters them. The trip goes wrong, turns bloody, when their dog attacks a sheep. But there’s something else, a troubling uncertainty: did they have one child or two? And where did the other one go?

In Jennifer A Miller’s Underworld, two friends go potholing but the trip doesn’t go to plan when one falls and hurts their ankle, Joe is left alone while Sam goes to get help, when suddenly, the presence of something else is felt: but can ghosts be found underground?

These are a collection of dark and horrifying tales, covering themes of body horror, the ancient world and the influence of story and folklore on a community. Thought-provoking, horrifying and just downright creepy, these stories promise to linger and haunt well after you read them.

Wishing you all a very pleasant winter of fireside warmth, candlelight and a good haunting… 

From all the ghouls at Ghastling Towers!

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