* * *
The boat, the river, the moon moon moon. Leaping across and through the moon-water as he turns the boat for the something-thousandth time. Reaching round him like a hug, but with a knife, a knife with a shard of moon on it. Rocking with him as he rows, trapped in his rowing so he can’t fight her off. Catching his beard, rocking back, cutting through. Hissing in his ear, I’ll put a stop to this! Kissing his weathered cheek fiercely, still in her rage, unable to say it yet: Father. Leaping back, the water clawing her waist, dragging her legs. Fighting towards the shore—
* * *
The house falls silent. The wards snuff out. The water sags, the spell-hell branches lean with it, draining, dying. All the natural smells, of river and rhododendron, evaporate. Moon strings, star strings pour and dangle down. The house is slimy with magic, swampy with it within, a sodden aftermath. And then it is itself, dry, disintegrating. The wire cone stands bare on the veranda, the lighter flame inside it small, bright, loyal, among the leaf-ash and hair scraps. The door is part open, wedged by a stack of telephone books. Beyond it, nothing, no bubbling pot, no attention flickering. Stacked hoard, dead space.
* * *
You’re joking! says Mum. All these years, rowing back and forth? Her own son? And here I was thinking she only hexed me. That he was
spared, and went on and had a family. Another family, I mean. He didn’t know, did he, that he already had one. I didn’t know, when she put me here.
Tell it from the beginning, says Agnes. I’m not following any of this.
* * *
Agnes lowers herself to the veranda edge, emptied out, unstrung. Waits to know what to do next. If anything.
A mouth unsticking on a silent miaow. The rub of fur on splintery wood. A cat, young, brindled, winds itself away from the gatepost and up the path, pauses to sniff at the scuffed wet ash, lifts two black eyes to look at her.
I’ve never drowned before, it says. It’s quite good. Very little fuss.
It steps up beside her, seats itself, tidies its tail around its toes.
And there they wait for the others, who will come, from rhododendron and from river. Who are yet to meet along the moonlit road. Who will walk up the hill to the house together, hand in hand.
* “Rhododendron: a killer of the countryside” www.countrysideinfo.co.uk/rhododen.htm
CASTLE WAKING
Jane Yolen
There is a shudder through the castle foundation.
Hedge trembles, falls, felled by curse’s end.
The hawk on the ground stirs, tragedy avoided,
feathers shaking as if in a strong wind.
The flies begin to buzz, like windup toys,
though they have not been invented yet.
Palace guards click heels, stand at attention.
There’s no mention of a magic debt.
Cook’s wooden spoon suddenly descends
on the shoulders of the pot boy’s old errors.
The queen stretches prettily, the king roars a swear.
It seems as if moments, not centuries are here.
Only in the tower a stillness – unlikely as love –
enters the room. Afraid of a blunder,
it hesitates, looks around, takes a breath,
fills the space with wonder.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Jane Yolen, called “The Hans Christian Andersen of America” by Newsweek magazine, is the author of over 382 books ranging from children’s books to poetry collections, novels, cookbooks, short story collections, graphic novels, non-fiction, and even a verse memoir of her immigrant family. She lives in both America’s New England and St Andrews in Scotland. She writes a poem a day and sends them out to over a thousand subscribers. Find out more about Jane at janeyolen.com.
Christina Henry is the author of The Girl in Red, The Mermaid, Lost Boy, Alice, Red Queen, and the seven books in the urban fantasy Black Wings series. She enjoys running long distances, reading anything she can get her hands on and watching movies with samurai, zombies and/or subtitles in her spare time. She lives in Chicago with her husband and son. You can visit her on the web at christinahenry.net, facebook.com/authorChristinaHenry, twitter.com/C_Henry_Author, and goodreads.com/CHenryAuthor.
Neil Gaiman is the New York Times-bestselling author and creator of books, graphic novels, short stories, film and television for all ages, including Norse Mythology, Neverwhere, Coraline, The Graveyard Book, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, The View from the Cheap Seats, and the Sandman comic series. His fiction has received Newbery, Carnegie, Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, and Will Eisner awards. He was the writer and showrunner for the mini-series adaptation of Good Omens, based on the book he co-authored with Sir Terry Pratchett. In 2017, he became a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. Originally from England, he lives in the United States, where he is a professor at Bard College. Visit him at neilgaiman.com.
Catriona Ward was born in Washington, DC and grew up in the US, Kenya, Madagascar, Yemen, and Morocco. She read English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford and is a graduate of the Creative Writing MA at the University of East Anglia. Her debut, Rawblood (W&N, 2015) won Best Horror Novel at the 2016 British Fantasy Awards and was shortlisted for the Author’s Club Best First Novel Award. Her second novel, Little Eve (W&N), won the Shirley Jackson Award and was shortlisted for a Guardian best book of 2018. She lives in London and Devon. You can follow Catriona on Twitter @Catrionaward.
Jen Williams is a fantasy author from London. A fan of dragons and pirates from a very young age, these days she writes character-driven epic fantasy with an eye on feminist themes and snappy dialogue. The Copper Cat trilogy was repeatedly nominated for the British Fantasy Award, and The Ninth Rain, the first volume of the Winnowing Flame trilogy, won Best Novel in 2018. When not frowning over notebooks she’s also a bookseller and a copywriter, and she co-founded the monthly social group Super Relaxed Fantasy Club. Jen loves animation of all kinds, as well as overly complicated video games, and she lives in her favourite bit of London with her partner and their small ridiculous cat. Jen currently hangs out on Twitter under the handle @sennydreadful.
M.R. Carey is a BAFTA-nominated screenwriter, novelist and comic book writer. Born in Liverpool, he worked as a teacher for fifteen years before resigning to write full-time. He wrote the movie adaptation for his novel The Girl With All the Gifts. Produced in the UK by Warner Bros., the movie opened the Locarno festival in 2016 and subsequently went on international release. M.R. has worked extensively in the field of comic books, completing long and critically acclaimed runs on Lucifer, Ultimate Fantastic Four, and X-Men. His comic book series The Unwritten has featured repeatedly in the New York Times’ graphic novel bestseller list. He is currently writing a series for Dynamite Entertainment featuring the sci-fi icon Barbarella. He is also the writer of the Felix Castor novels, and (along with his wife Linda and their daughter Louise) of two fantasy novels, The City of Silk and Steel and The House of War and Witness, published in the UK by Victor Gollancz and in America by Chizine Press. His most recent novel, released in both the UK and USA in November 2018, is Someone Like Me, a psychological thriller with a supernatural edge. Follow Mike on Twitter @michaelcarey191.
James Brogden is a writer of horror and dark fantasy. A part-time Australian who grew up in Tasmania and the Cumbrian Borders, he has since escaped to suburbia and now lives with his wife and two daughters in the Midlands, where he teaches English. When not writing or teaching he can usually be found up a hill, poking around stone circles and burial mounds. He also owns more Lego than is strictly necessary. His short stories have appeared in various anthologies and periodicals ranging from The Big Issue to the BFS Award-winning Alchemy Press. Hekla’s Children, The Hollow Tree and The Plague Stones were published by Titan Books, with his new novel Bone Harvest in May 2020. Blogging occurs infrequently at jamesbrogden.blogspot.co.uk, and tweeting at @skippybe.
Maura McHugh lives is Galway, Ireland and has written three collec
tions: Twisted Fairy Tales and Twisted Myths – published in the USA – and The Boughs Withered (When I Told Them My Dreams) from NewCon Press, UK. She’s written comic books for Dark Horse, IDW, and 2000 AD, and is also a playwright, screenwriter, and critic. Her monograph on David Lynch’s film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me was nominated for a British Fantasy Award for Best Non-Fiction. Her website is splinister.com and she tweets as @splinister.
Karen Joy Fowler is the author of six novels, including Sarah Canary, which won the Commonwealth medal for best first novel by a Californian and The Jane Austen Book Club, a New York Times bestseller. Also three short story collections, two of which won the World Fantasy Award in their respective years. Her most recent novel, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, was published by Putnam in May 2013. She currently lives in Santa Cruz and is at work on a historical novel. Find out more about Karen at karenjoyfowler.com.
Christopher Golden is the New York Times-bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of such novels as Ararat, The Pandora Room, Snowblind, and The Ocean Dark. With Mike Mignola, he is the co-creator of two cult favorite comic book series, Baltimore and Joe Golem: Occult Detective. As an editor, he has worked on the short story anthologies Seize the Night, Dark Cities, and The New Dead, among others, and he has also written and co-written comic books, video games, screenplays, and a network television pilot. In 2015 he founded the popular Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival. He was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. His work has been nominated for the British Fantasy Award, the Eisner Award, and multiple Shirley Jackson Awards. Please visit him at christophergolden.com.
Charlie Jane Anders’ latest novel is The City in the Middle of the Night. She’s also the author of All the Birds in the Sky, which won the Nebula, Crawford and Locus awards, and Choir Boy, which won a Lambda Literary Award. Plus a novella called Rock Manning Goes For Broke and a short story collection called Six Months, Three Days, Five Others. Her short fiction has appeared in Tor.com, Boston Review, Tin House, Conjunctions, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Wired Magazine, Slate, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Lightspeed, ZYZZYVA, Catamaran Literary Review, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and tons of anthologies. Her story “Six Months, Three Days” won a Hugo Award, and her story “Don’t Press Charges And I Won’t Sue” won a Theodore Sturgeon Award. Charlie Jane also organizes the monthly Writers With Drinks reading series, and co-hosts the podcast Our Opinions Are Correct with Annalee Newitz. Follow Charlie Jane on Twitter @charliejane.
Michael Marshall Smith is a novelist and screenwriter. Under this name he has published ninety short stories, and five novels – Only Forward, Spares, One of Us and The Servants – winning the Philip K. Dick, International Horror Guild, and August Derleth awards, along with the Prix Bob Morane in France. He has won the British Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction four times, more than any other author. In 2017 he published Hannah Green and her Unfeasibly Mundane Existence. Writing as Michael Marshall he has written seven internationally-bestselling thrillers including The Straw Men series, Intruders – recently a BBC America series starring John Simm and Mira Sorvino – and Killer Move. His most recent novel under this name is We Are Here. Now additionally writing as Michael Rutger, in 2018 he published the adventure thriller The Anomaly. A sequel, The Possession, came out in 2019. He is currently about to start co-writing and exec producing The Straw Men for television. He is also Creative Consultant to The Blank Corporation, Neil Gaiman’s production company. He lives in Santa Cruz, California, with his wife, son, and two cats. Find out more about Michael at michaelmarshallsmith.com, his eBooks at ememess.com, and follow him on Twitter @ememess and Instagram @ememess.
Adam Stemple (adamstemple.com) is an author, musician, web designer, and professional card player. He has written nine novels, including Pay the Piper (with Jane Yolen), winner of the 2006 Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book. Of his debut solo novel, Singer of Souls, Anne McCaffrey said, “One of the best first novels I have ever read.”
Angela Slatter is the author of the Verity Fassbinder supernatural crime series (Vigil, Corpselight and Restoration) as well as nine short story collections, including The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings and A Feast of Sorrows: Stories. She has an MA and a PhD in Creative Writing. She’s won a World Fantasy Award, a British Fantasy Award, a Ditmar Award, an Australian Shadows Award and six Aurealis Awards; her debut novel was nominated for the Dublin Literary Award. Her work has been translated into French, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, Russian, and Bulgarian. Her novelette “Finnegan’s Field” has been optioned for film. Angela’s website is angelaslatter.com.
Lilith Saintcrow lives in Vancouver, Washington, with two children, two dogs, two cats, and a library for wayward texts. You can visit Lilith at lilithsaintcrow.com.
Christopher Fowler is the multi award-winning author of nearly fifty novels and story collections, including the Bryant & May mysteries. His novels include Roofworld, Spanky, Psychoville, Calabash and two volumes of memoirs, Paperboy (winner of the inaugural Green Carnation Prize) and Film Freak. In 2015 he won the CWA Dagger in the Library for his body of work. His most recent works include The Book of Forgotten Authors and The Lonely Hour. Find out more about Christopher at christopherfowler.co.uk.
Alison Littlewood’s latest novel is Mistletoe, a winter ghost story. It follows The Crow Garden, a tale of obsession set amidst Victorian asylums and séance rooms. Her other books include A Cold Season, Path of Needles, The Unquiet House and The Hidden People. Alison’s short stories have been picked for several Year’s Best anthologies and she has won the Shirley Jackson Award for Short Fiction. Alison lives in Yorkshire, England, in a house of creaking doors and crooked walls, with her partner Fergus, two hugely enthusiastic Dalmatians, and a growing collection of fountain pens. Visit her at alisonlittlewood.co.uk.
Tim Lebbon is a New York Times-bestselling writer from South Wales. He’s had over forty novels published to date, as well as hundreds of novellas and short stories. His latest novel is The Edge, final book in the Relics trilogy. Other recent releases include The Silence, The Family Man, The Rage War trilogy, and Blood of the Four with Christopher Golden. He has won four British Fantasy Awards, a Bram Stoker Award, and a Scribe Award, and has been a finalist for World Fantasy, International Horror Guild, and Shirley Jackson awards. His work has appeared in many Year’s Best anthologies, as well as Century’s Best Horror. The movie of The Silence, starring Stanley Tucci and Kiernan Shipka, debuted on Netflix in April 2019, and Pay the Ghost, starring Nicolas Cage, was released Hallowe’en 2015. Several other projects are in development for TV and the big screen, including the original screenplays Playtime (with Stephen Volk) and My Hunted House. Find out more about Tim at his website timlebbon.net.
Margo Lanagan has published two dark fantasy novels (Tender Morsels and The Brides of Rollrock Island) and seven short story collections, most recently Singing My Sister Down and Other Stories, Phantom Limbs and Stray Bats from Small Beer Press. She has collaborated with Scott Westerfeld and Deborah Biancotti on the New York Times-bestselling YA superheroes trilogy, Zeroes. Her work has won four World Fantasy, nine Aurealis, and five Ditmar awards, and has been shortlisted in the British Science Fiction Association and the British Fantasy Awards, and the Nebula, Hugo, Bram Stoker, Theodore Sturgeon, Shirley Jackson, International Horror Guild, and Seiun awards, and twice made the James Tiptree Jr Honor List. Her books and stories have been translated into nineteen languages. Margo lives in Sydney, Australia. You can follow Margo on Twitter @margolanagan.
ABOUT THE EDITORS
Marie O’Regan is a three-time British Fantasy Award-nominated author and editor, based in Derbyshire. Her first collection, Mirror Mere, was published in 2006 by Rainfall Books; her second, In Times of Want, came out in September 2016 from Hersham Horror Books. Her third, The Last Ghost and Other Stories, was published by Luna Press in 2019. Her short fiction has appeared in a number of genre magazines and anthologies in the UK, US, Canad
a, Italy, and Germany, including Best British Horror 2014, Great British Horror: Dark Satanic Mills (2017), and The Mammoth Book of Halloween Stories. Her novella, Bury Them Deep, was published by Hersham Horror Books in September 2017. She was shortlisted for the British Fantasy Award for Best Short Story in 2006, and Best Anthology in 2010 (Hellbound Hearts) and 2012 (Mammoth Book of Ghost Stories by Women). Her genre journalism has appeared in magazines like The Dark Side, Rue Morgue and Fortean Times, and her interview book with prominent figures from the horror genre, Voices in the Dark, was released in 2011. An essay on “The Changeling” was published in PS Publishing’s Cinema Macabre, edited by Mark Morris. She is co-editor of the bestselling Hellbound Hearts, Mammoth Book of Body Horror, A Carnivàle of Horror – Dark Tales from the Fairground, Exit Wounds and Wonderland, plus the editor of bestselling The Mammoth Book of Ghost Stories by Women and Phantoms. She is Co-Chair of the UK Chapter of the Horror Writers’ Association, and is currently organising StokerCon UK, which will take place in Scarborough in April 2020, the first time the Horror Writers Association’s prestigious convention has been held outside the US. Marie is represented by Jamie Cowen of The Ampersand Agency.
Paul Kane is the award-winning, bestselling author and editor of over ninety books – including the Arrowhead trilogy (gathered together in the sellout Hooded Man omnibus, revolving around a post-apocalyptic version of Robin Hood), The Butterfly Man and Other Stories, Hellbound Hearts, The Mammoth Book of Body Horror and Pain Cages (an Amazon #1 bestseller). His non-fiction books include The Hellraiser Films and Their Legacy and Voices in the Dark, and his genre journalism has appeared in the likes of SFX, Rue Morgue and DeathRay. He has been a Guest at Alt.Fiction five times, was a Guest at the first SFX Weekender, at Thought Bubble in 2011, Derbyshire Literary Festival and Off the Shelf in 2012, Monster Mash and Event Horizon in 2013, Edge-Lit in 2014 and 2018, HorrorCon, HorrorFest and Grimm Up North in 2015, The Dublin Ghost Story Festival and Sledge-Lit in 2016, IMATS Olympia and Celluloid Screams in 2017, plus Black Library Live and the UK Ghost Story Festival in 2019, as well as being a panellist at FantasyCon and the World Fantasy Convention, and a fiction judge at the Sci-Fi London festival. A former British Fantasy Society Special Publications Editor, he is currently serving as Co-Chair for the UK chapter of the Horror Writers’ Association. His work has been optioned and adapted for the big and small screen, including for US network primetime television, and his audio work includes the full-cast drama adaptation of The Hellbound Heart for Bafflegab, starring Tom Meeten (The Ghoul), Neve McIntosh (Doctor Who), and Alice Lowe (Prevenge), and the Robin of Sherwood adventure The Red Lord for Spiteful Puppet/ITV narrated by Ian Ogilvy (Return of the Saint). Paul’s latest novels are Lunar (set to be turned into a feature film), the YA story The Rainbow Man (as P.B. Kane), the sequels to RED – Blood RED and Deep RED – the award-winning hit Sherlock Holmes & the Servants of Hell, Before (an Amazon Top 5 dark fantasy bestseller), and Arcana. He lives in Derbyshire, UK, with his wife Marie O’Regan and his family. Find out more at his site shadow-writer.co.uk which has featured Guest Writers such as Stephen King, Charlaine Harris, Robert Kirkman, Dean Koontz and Guillermo del Toro.
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