Delicate Toxins

Now available from the rather wonderful Side Real Press in Newcastle - a book of stories inspired by one of the most enigmatic and - some would say - bonkers German writers. Delicate Toxins is...

'an anthology of all new tales taking the life, work and cultural milieu of Hanns Heinz Ewers as their inspiration.'

Having nabbed a copy, I can testify to the sheer loveliness of the volume and the quality of the actual stories. If you want to know how wacky a dude Ewers was, check this out. The list of contributing authors is interesting from an ST perspective, because it's almost a roll-call of contributors old and new. There are also some new authors (new to me, that is), making this a fascinating and very well-balanced anthology. And if you're guessing by this point that I haven't read it yet, you're right - but a review will be in ST20. Anyway, those contents...

'A Pallid Devil Bearing Cypress' - Richard Gavin
'Salmacis' - Stephen J. Clark
'Crossing The Sea Of Night' - Mark Howard Jones
'Mathilde' - Ray Russell
'Dogs' - rj krijnen-kemp
'Tlaloc' - Angela Caperton
'Magicians And Moonlight' - Katherine Haynes
'Lotte Of The Black Piglet' - Colin Insole
'The Unrest At Aachen' - Mark Valentine
'The Naked Goddess' - Daniel Mills
'Singing Blood' - Reggie Oliver
'The Devil In The Box' - Orrin Grey
'The Rites of Pentecost' - Peter Bell
'Endor' - Michael Chislett
'Masks' - Mark Samuels
'White Roses, Bloody Silk' - Thana Niveau
'The Filature' - Adam S. Cantwell
'Holzwege' - D. P. Watt

The book also contains an introduction by Side Real founder John Hirschhorn-Smith, putting Ewers in perspective and - quite rightly - arguing that he is one of the neglected 'greats' of weird fiction. All in all, this is a collector's item as well as a veritable phalanx of authorial talent. Lucky you're already on the internet, so you can go right ahead and order a copy.