David Case - The Cell - A superb study of lycanthropy with a twist at the end, albeit one you will probably guess. This still does not detract from the impact of the story.

Bryan Lewis - A Question of Fear - A man boasts of defying fear before he is challenged to spend the night in a house as a bet. The outcome is fantastical and contains the kind of ludicrous horror we love these collections for.

Harry Turner - Hell's Bells - A dead mans viewpoint of what Hell will be like. Expectant of flames and torture what he gets is a well planned personal routine that is in keeping with his most hated things in life.

Bryan Lewis - The Lift - A bullying businessman gets his comeuppance in gristly fashion in this nicely paced ghostly affair. Again it is far from eye-opening produce but it is sweetly taken in and enjoyed.

Gerald Atkins - The Midnight Lover - What begins the 2 page tale as a love story turns in to a warped idea of necrophilia. It is a compact effort and over in a flash maybe a little more elaboration was the key ingredient I felt was missing.

Barry Martin - Case of Insanity - An asylum inmate recounts the murder of his wife and how a most basic mix up led to his untimely conviction. I found this one almost Dahl-ian in effect and due to that sensation thoroughly enjoyed it.

Robert Duncan - The Market-Gardeners - Two men enter the abode of a married couple in search of booty. Instead they commit a foul act of rape and leave one with and end sensation of 'did that really happen'. The main sense of terror emitted here is by the hand of chance and in the mundane garden of life black flowers can erupt at any time.

James Wade - Snow In The City - An old flower seller accepts an offer from a young stranger and falls foul to a evil deed cmomitted in true Ripper-esque fashion. The end is easily foreseen but the tale has weight nonetheless.

Stephen Grendon - Mrs Manifold - Mrs Manifold employs a new clerk, a man whom discovers that the big vast lady he works for has a dark and sinister secret. The yarn untwines and an episode of ghostly revenge comes to the fore - ooh creepy.

Barbara Benzinger - Dear Jeffy - A young girl writes a series of letters regarding her mistreatment by her cruel plotting step-mum. The tale has a real sinister edge but has a certain predictability that blunts the potential blade of fear.

Simon Jay - Spider Woman - An old hag browbeats her husband and then dies.  Witchcraft is mentioned and when the man begins to frolic with another lady a spider he has found in a jar seems to be something more horrid than first deemed.  Revenge and reincarnation copulate to create a fantastic, outlandish jaunt which is one for those who love all that is unexplainable and downright bizarre.

Charles Birkin - Au Clair De Lune - A mistress killing man is dealt with in a poem that in parts is appears amateurish and crudely arranged but in others hits some quite horrible artistry where the horror is conveyed - a nice change from the usual fare.  I love the use of fungi here and the devilish sinisterism.

Christine Trollope - Oysters - One gets taken down a lusting route with a misogynist who needs teaching a quite harsh lesson.  His latest chosen lady tells him a tale of a child left alone with a corpse which in turn...well, have a read and let the filth be thy pleasure.

Nigel Kneale - Minuke - A routine tale of a family finding themselves in the midst of some serious Poltergeist activity. Think Amityville and nothing more and you'll get the gist.

Barry Martin - The Easiest Thing in the World - A quite gratuitous warped manipulation of the 'There was an old woman who swallowed a fly' tale. Descriptively obscene and very much going for the cheap stomach-turning approach - and in some respects delightfully succeeding.

Dulcie Gray - The Babysitter - 2 rebellious and outcasted young women team up and rob families they deem out of their class. One of the criminal couple has dreams of eternal comradeship and when she doesn't get her way an truly awful tantrumised act gets the attention of the other for sure.

David A. Riley - The Lurkers In The Abyss - A unsettling tale that keeps one thoroughly captivated and on the brink of breathless exhaustion with its tale of Dystopian fear where a walk home from a library is far from safe and where constant threat of thuggery is the theme.  The finale has Lovecraftian touches and adds a quite disturbing slant.
 
Martin Waddell - Fried Man - A whimsical piece of writing with gore and fun kept at high levels and making for a short spell of off kilter pleasure.  A crime that goes awry leads to a chip shop misdemeanour that will have many health and safety officers coughing and spluttering with abhorrence (just like the rest of us).
 
Gerald Atkins - The Scientist - A self loathing account that deals with a scientist who has deep-rooted regrets about his latest creation and the devastation it may bring.  Two pages is long enough for a tale that ends with a predictable reveal that is of its time.