Dead Souls: An Anthology of Darkness and Mayhem (edited by Mark S. Deniz and published by Morrigan Books) was officially launched at Fantasy Con in Nottingham, England on 19 September 2009.
To quote the website:
Before God created light, there was darkness. Even after He illuminated the world, there were shadows — shadows that allowed the darkness to fester and infect the unwary. The tales found within Dead Souls explore the recesses of the soul; those people and creatures that could not escape the shadows. From the inherent cruelness of humanity to malevolent forces, Dead Souls explores the depths of humanity as a lesson to the ignorant, the naive and the unsuspecting. God created light, but it is a temporary grace that will ultimately fail us, for the darkness is stronger and our souls … are truly dead.
My story in the collection, “Sandcrawlers”, is one of my more darkly affecting tales, I believe. It deals with a real unsolved Australian crime — one that galvanised the country in the 1960s — but told with a large dose of fiction (especially as it is “solved” within the confines of the story). As such it is part of the Mike Crowe canon, stories featuring a sometime PI cum criminal handyman who is also the main character of a novel, as yet unpublished, titled Scavengers.
The book has just received its first review — a positive one — with “Sandcrawlers” being singled out as “one of the top stories of this anthology”. The reviewer says of it:
Robert Hood manages to inflict in his character an almost palpable terror and creates two terrifying events, a shocking horror of human nature and a psychological one, which proves in some places to be even more powerful. What I liked also about this story is that the author offers the reader some twists and turns that make the story even more interesting. (Dark Wolf’s Fantasy Reviews)
The anthology has an impressive contents list, featuring authors such as Ramsey Campbell, Paul Finch, Kaaron Warren, T.A. Moore, and many others. Check out the full list here and order a copy while you’re at it.
Oh fine, make me import another book and affect our balance of trade 🙁 Ooohhh Kaaron Warren as well … this book will be mine (love the cover btw).
Actually, Jeff, the book may be available within Australia. The publisher does have an antipodean connection, though they’re in fact located in Switzerland! You could email and ask.
Amanda Pillar is the Aus distributor (and sometimes editor) for Morrigan, and we tend to stock their books at Dymocks Southland. Should have this hopefully just prior to Xmas.