Clash Books
I have a confession for you, I don't buy many books by modern authors. My reading material is mostly provided by authors long departed from this world - Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, Walter de la Mare, etc - and beyond a few favourites - Mark Valentine (and the wider circle orbiting Tartarus Press), Alan Moore, Michael Andrew Hurley - I read very few but I am aware of others ... well, some ... one or two.
A name I have been aware of for a while now but mostly in his guise as an editor of anthologies such as the 'Mythago Wood' collection, 'Heartwood', that's been staring indignantly at me from my shelf for about 18 months now, is Dan Coxon, but I have to admit that what caught my eye more than his name was that fabulous artwork because as you all know one should always judge a book by it's cover and I judged this one to be right up my street.
It'll come as no surprise that inside the cover is a collection of folk horror tales, albeit ones infused with a touch of the DNA of "strange story" maestros like Robert Aickman, Joel Lane and some of the folks mentioned earlier. In these stories old gods are conjured, entire lives are erased, sacrifices are made and harsh truths are learned.
Not all the stories work as well as you'd hope, which is ever the case with collections / anthologies, but they all offer a frisson of the weird and made for an enthralling read.
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