Cover illo by Sam Dawson, for Steve Duffy's story 'Forever Chemicals', which offers an interesting take on the London of the early Thatcher era. Spoiler alert - it wasn't very nice.
Here are the contents in full:
'Forever Chemicals' by Steve Duffy.
A young man in need of a job ends up as a nightwatchman on the run-down Docklands site. Businessmen of the less honest kind dump stuff in the dock. As Christmas approaches, so does a strange and unwanted 'miracle'.
'Wendigo' by Michael Kelly.
Strangers on a train. A Canadian winter. A story about a legendary creature. All this and more as events unfold in a cabin in the wilderness and disturbing truths revealed.
'The Unfortified Heart' by Tim Jeffreys
An affair with a married woman is an exciting thing, what with the thrill of transgression and all that. But what if the husband finds out? An age-old premise given a new, supernatural twist in this gripping tale.
'The Wet Wife' by Reggie Chamberlain-King.
Our second nod to Algernon Blackwood, as a couple spend a holiday by the Danube. The willows are present and correct. But it's not vegetation that proves troublesome when the husband decides to take a swim.
'Episodes From the Life and Death of a Pantomime Horse' by William Curnow.
Seasonal fun for all the family! No, not really. This tour de force looks at the career of an old-school comedy partnership whose wholesome act seems to evolve over time into a minor circle of hell.
'The Night Visitor' by Steve Rasnic Tem.
A tale by one of the undisputed masters of the modern genre. An old man, lonely and increasingly fearful, awaits the onset of the festive season. Who would want to send him a volume of classic British ghost stories? A strange form of harassment...
