A hazy shade of winter

'This book is the first collection of Simon Bestwick's tales of supernatural horror,' writes Joel Lane, in his introduction to A Hazy Shade of Winter. 'I don't think it will be the last. These stories . . . are disturbing, emotionally frank, thematically diverse, and rich in descriptive skill. Bestwick allies traditional story-structures with an uncompromising modernity of outlook.'

Like his contemporaries Terry Lamsley, Paul Finch, and Tim Lebbon, Simon Bestwick combines a respect for, and knowledge of, the classic ghost story with a voice which is concerned with the way we live now. The characters in his stories find themselves in landscapes—both physical and mental—that are immediately and recognizably modern, but which contain terrors which are universal and timeless. In Bestwick's world, an innocent walk in unfamiliar surroundings becomes a journey into a nightmare; a stranded tourist faces a bizarre challenge; a harassed employeee takes desperate revenge on her employer; and a secondhand book of ghost stories becomes the instrument of a malevolent, restless spirit. Nothing is quite what it seems; and the line which separates us from something much worse often vanishes altogether.

Simon Bestwick was born in Wolverhampton in 1974. He has worked in various jobs, from fast food operative through drama teacher to training administrator. His short fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, including Nasty Piece of Work, All Hallows, Darkness Rising, Extremes 5, and Beneath the Ground. He lives in Swinton, Lancashire, and when not writing can be found indulging his interests: walking, films, literature, rock, folk, and jazz music, good food, and the occasional pint. A Hazy Shade of Winter is his first book.

CONTENTS: Introduction by Joel Lane; A Hazy Shade of Winter; Love Knot; . . . And Dream of Avalon; Come With Me, Down This Long Road; Graven; Severance; Home from the Sea; The Crows; Malachi; Close the Door, Put Out the Light; The Wedding; The Foot of the Garden; Running Ragged; Until My Darkness Goes.

Jacket painting is by Paul Lowe.