Dead Water and Other Weird Tales

Dead Water and Other Weird Tales

By David A Sutton

Cover and artwork by Jim Pitts. Introduction by David A Riley.

From weirdness on the Welsh coast: Whatever it was, the object was too large for a bird, too slim for a boat, too streamlined for flotsam... She pressed her face closer to the glass, fascinated and terrified at the same time. In the net... bilious white, flesh that might have been partly consumed by some predator. (“The Fisherman”)

A visit to Lovecraft’s Innsmouth: My eyes could not block out the sight of the shapes, flopping, wading, barking as they inexorably massed in my direction... the texture of their skins bore the suggestion of the final stages of gangrenous flesh. (“Innsmouth Gold”)

In the depths of winter in Arthurian times: The sound of battle clamoured through my brain. The field of Arderydd, soaked in blood; Liddel Water running with blood; Gwenddolau’s fortress hard by... splattered with blood... Perhaps it was not Myrddin’s great age that sapped him of his powers. Perhaps it was the Romans and their priests... The new faith has made us all weak. (“Midwinter”)

On board Venturer, about to land on Mars: The texture of Mars, the texture of its red facade, the sub-liminal texture of its history and mythology and the baggage of the many fictions. Mars was larger than itself... The three of them had sat in the rec. area and watched as Earth’s dark soul was lit up again. (“Landfall on Elysium Planitia”)

And more... eighteen stories of horror, fantasy and science fiction from award-winning editor and writer David A. Sutton:

• Introduction by David Riley
• The Fisherman
• Midwinter
• Zulu’s War
• The Transmigration
• Under the Glamour
• Corruption
• The Fetch
• Mind-Forged Manacles
• Pot de Téte
• Return to the Runes
• Gifts
• A Night at the Hippo
• Innsmouth Gold
• Night Soil Man
• Dead Water
• The Pre-Raphaelite Picture
• Waking
• Landfall on Elysium Planitia
• Afterword