Scary Stuff

I have, without a doubt, the best, smartest, kindest and most generous readers in the blogosphere. Today I received a signed, limited edition copy of Basic Black by Terry Dowling in the mail courtesy of long time reader Zoe. I am absolutely overwhelmed.

Some of you have heard me talk of Dowling, or may know of him yourselves. He's an Australian author who is fairly famous for his serious of stories (and collections) about sandship captain Tom Rynocceros, set in a future Australia where aborigines (the Ab'O) control the interior of the continent and control most of the technology (including AI and space travel) and where cross continental travel is done is huge sandships powered by kites. The series, Rynocceros, Twighlight Beach and Blue Tyson are difficult to find in the US, but well worth the search.

Maybe less well known is Dowling's work in what I call the "spooky" genre. Basic Black: Tales of Appropriate Fear is a collection of 18 of Dowling's dark fantasy writings and contains some of the finest horror and ghost tales I've ever read, including "The Daemon Street Ghost Trap," which is by far the scariest ghost story I've ever read in my life. From the cover:

It's dark in here... Not just with the absence of light, but with things made for the dark, things that work best when the wind is in the trees and the sun has gone from the sky.

Shivers! The collection also contains "Scaring the Train" a subtle horror story that you won't ever forget.

Thanks again Zoe! Ripley and Maddie thank you for the packages of Cat Crazies you included for them as well.