My story ‘Is anybody there?’ was originally published in The Pygmy Giant in 2014. The publisher is no longer active, as far as I am aware. However, I self-published a small anthology of stories in 2021 titled ‘When the Lights fell over Herringbone’, and ‘Is anybody there?’ was included. This anthology is exclusively available through amazon for Kindle.

‘A swift and powerful tentacle shot from the girl’s back and skewered Samuel’s head.’

When the lights fell over Herringbone is a collection of ten short fiction pieces by Anthony D Redden (author of Dead Boat, and The Boy in the Walls), presented together for the first time.

Sometimes a story becomes more than it should have been; the characters come to life and change the direction of the plot and make it something wholly unrealised at the time of conception. Quite often, this means the stories grow beyond a brief or delve into a darkness that some readers may find unnerving or intense. For this reason, these works of fiction have found a home together in this collection.

The first story is When the lights fell over Herringbone, a western alien invasion set in the old west of America. It’s gory, it’s intense, and it was great fun to write. It is influenced by the stylings of The Outer Limits and everything H.P. Lovecraft.

The second story is War Machine, and this one is all kinds of weird. I had never written anything like this before, drawing influence from Redwall and, well, I don’t know, maybe my own nightmares; this is a surreal snippet of a post-apocalyptic world where the last earthly resources are being fought over between rats and cats – oh and they can talk.

The coldest night is a poem, a very sad and emotional poem about the loneliness of Christmas – cheery, I know, sorry.

The next story is a short Halloween tale titled Sweet Meat, my publisher at the time deemed it potentially upsetting for some audiences, but I think you can handle it. It’s pretty grim but wonderfully innocent as well.

Next is a fantastical story about a man who finds sexual pleasure in desecrating mummified remains, but oh my, does he end up biting off more than he can chew, especially when he is caught by a rather demanding underground society of sexual deviants. This one is titled MILF, obviously.

Is anybody there? is a light-hearted look at making contact with lost loved ones, and Inner Demons is a story of a man who is literally haunted by the actions of his past.

Forever is about the lengths some people will go to for love, and Feathers is a poem about feeding your soul.

The final offering for you is Escape which is one of my favourite short stories. I always see such vivid imagery in its stark and grim setting, and it always makes me feel a sadness that compels me to want to explore this world more.

I sincerely hope you enjoy reading these little snippets of escapism as much as I enjoyed writing them.
Anthony D Redden