Shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, John W. Campbell Award, British Fantasy Awards and the Brave New Words Award. A gripping and strange story of shedding skins, love and moving on from the award-winning author of The Beauty. Includes an exclusive short story set in the world of The Loosening Skin. Rose Allington is a bodyguard for celebrities, and she suffers from a rare disease. Her moults come quickly, changing everything about her life, who she is, who she loves, who she trusts. In a world where people shed their skin, it’s a fact of life that we move on and cast off the attachments of our old life. But those memories of love can be touched – and bought – if you know...

From the author of The Loosening Skin and The Beauty, Aliya Whiteley, Skein Island is a powerful and disturbing look at the roles we play, and how they form and divide us. This new edition features a brand new novelette set in the same world as Skein Island. Skein Island, a private refuge twelve miles off the coast of Devon, lies in turbulent waters. Few receive the invitation to stay for one week, free of charge. If you are chosen, you must pay for your stay with a story from your past; a Declaration for the Island's vast library. What happens to your Declaration after you leave the island is none of your concern. From the monsters of Ancient Greece to the atrocities of World...

Somewhere away from the cities and towns, a group of men and boys gather around the fire each night to listen to their stories in the Valley of the Rocks. For when the women are all gone the rest of your life is all there is for everyone. The men are waiting to pass into the night. The story shall be told to preserve the past. History has gone back to its aural roots and the power of words is strong. Meet Nate, the storyteller, and the new secrets he brings back from the darkness. William rules the group with youth and strength, but how long can that last? And what about Uncle Ted, who spends so much time out in the woods? Hear the tales, watch a myth be formed. For what can man...

Что день грядущий нам готовит? Как отличить звон колокольчиков от первых звуков колокола, что «звонит по тебе»? Как отличить полет фантазии от предсказания? Антиутопия – жанр, получивший в последнее время невероятную популярность. И, вероятно, не в последнюю очередь благодаря тому, что самые мрачные предсказания фантастов имеют обыкновение исполняться. Иногда – почти буквально, как у Оруэлла в зловещем «1984», иногда – частично, как у Замятина, Брэдбери и Хаксли. Случайность? Совпадение? Но ведь когда-то людей Слова считали пророками, которым иногда, яркими вспышками, открывается будущее. Так может, стоит внимательнее вглядеться в грядущий день, нарисованный воображением современных...

An electrifying anthology of new horror stories by award-winning masters of the genre. Twenty-one brand-new stories of the ominous and terrifying from some of the horror genre’s most talented writers. In ‘The Dead Thing’ Paul Tremblay draws us into the world of a neglected teenage girl and her younger brother and the evil that lurks at the heart of their family. In Gemma Files’ ‘Bulb’ a woman calls in to a podcast to tell the terrifying story of why she has escaped off-grid. And Rio Youers’ ‘The Typewriter’ tells in diary form of the havoc wreaked by a malevolent machine. Infinitely varied and beautifully told, New Fears 2 is an unmissable collection of horror fiction.

"Stark, poetic, forthright and live with the numinous. One of the most original and haunting stories I have read in recent years." - Nina Allan From Aliya Whiteley, author of the critically-acclaimed The Beauty, comes a genre-defying story of fate, free-will and the choices we make in life. In the aftermath of the Great War, Shirley Fearn dreams of challenging the conventions of rural England, where life is as predictable as the changing of the seasons. The scarred veteran Mr. Tiller, left disfigured by an impossible accident on the battlefields of France, brings with him a message: part prophecy, part warning. Will it prevent her mastering her own destiny? As the village prepares...