STEVE HAYNES

Introduction

British Fantasy is not what you think it is. Leaving aside the multiple classifications of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror, and their many sub-genres, what you see on the bookshelves of major bookstores will not be reflected in this book.

You will not find questing heroes in quasi-medieval realms here. Nor will you find children playing with magic wands, or adults riding dragons beneath the setting of twin suns. There are no burning spaceships launching submarine torpedoes or zombie hordes chewing their way through the local population. There are certainly no teenage vampires, or werewolves, responsibly refusing to mix bodily fluids and just saying no.

The creation of a novel is more of a collective act than many readers realise and sometimes what is commissioned, and ultimately published, can be influenced by how well an idea can be sold on a supermarket shelf. Writers of short fantasy stories, on the other hand, have a freedom encouraged by magazine editors and readers who are willing to take a chance on something very different.

Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror have the short form deeply woven into their DNA. Just about every classic ‘novel’ of the 19th and 20th Century began as a short story concept, collection or a magazine serial. (Yes, I know there are exceptions to this, but even the epics of people like Tolkien were first shared in episodes among a small group of people and then fed into the construction of something much bigger.) So persistent is the short form as the basic building block of these genres that there is still an active culture and market for short stories. There are still enthusiastic readers who look forward to the next delivery of a magazine promising tales from writers they have not heard of and about subjects they are unfamiliar with.

I am going to refer to Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror under the single banner of fantasy. I know this will anger many who closely guard the perceived boundaries of these genres, but I believe these divisions are illusory – that writers and readers flow across and around them, that they are marketing labels, and in short stories the walls are there to be broken down. This, in turn, gives me a freedom to gather a wide range of stories and writers under one banner (the work published or written in the latter part of 2011 and across 2012), and the contents of this collection reflect this eclectic approach.

In these pages you will find apocalyptic hangovers from unwise foreign adventures, political dystopias and a fear of the ‘other’ that leads to moral corruption. The most openly fantasy genre stories are rooted in a streetwise urban sensibility. You will find metamorphosis, psychosexual ghost stories in a very modern world, a little steampunk, folklore, phobias rising up from beneath the surface veneer of life and monsters walking amongst us. There are stories here that question that most horrible of modern phrases, ‘the greater good,’ and writers who take us beyond the boundaries of civilization. (I should warn you that there are some stories with children in and, in the tradition of our most ancient faerie tales, they are not pleasant endings.)

British fantasy writers are experimental and brave; they delve into disturbing subjects and mix one genre seamlessly with the next. Indeed, it could be said that British fantasy reflects the times we live in. I was surprised myself just how dark British fantasy is willing to go in the short form.

This collection has been gathered over a period of twelve months, from many different sources and the stories were originally written for a variety of purposes. They are purposely grouped into areas where two or more stories may complement each other. I have also tried to take the reader on a journey across the different realms that reflect the various streams of British fantasy.

These stories are written by people who are honing their craft and flexing their writing muscles. You will find writers who are familiar, who have been published in novel form, and you will find new names that will surprise you with their consummate skill.

Finally, I should point out that, in my experience, fantasy writers are light-hearted and friendly individuals; often they are enthusiastic fans who fell in love with their genres as children (just like you and me) and find immense satisfaction in reading, and watching, popular fantasy. But, like us all, they have their dark spaces, and their writing reflects the world around them as much as that within.

So, dear reader, if you’re prepared to take on something different, if you’re ready to look behind the curtain, if you feel brave enough, then enter the many worlds of British Fantasy. It’s not what you think it is.