Screaming Dreams

Bull Running for Girls by Allyson Bird

Adventure meets horror. Within this collection there are females who cause trouble, some who help you out of it and some who just can’t leave it alone.

Table of Contents

* In the Hall of the Mountain King
* Shadow upon Shadow
* Hunter’s Moon
* The Bone Grinder
* The Conical Witch
* In the Wake of the Dead
* Bull Running
* The Caul Bearer
* The Sly Boy Bar and Eatery
* The Celestial Dragon
* The Critic
* Wings of Night
* The Silk Road
* Medium Strange
* In a Pig’s Ear
* A Poison Tree
* Blood in Madness Ran
* Dissolution
* Deathside
* Silence is Golden
* Pompeii

Introduction by Gary McMahon

A selection of adventure/horror stories set in many locations, from the excitement and danger of bull running in Pamplona, to small town life in Madison County, U.S. Stories set amidst the bustle of Hong Kong, on The Silk Road in China and under a Hunter’s moon in Bordeaux. Then there are those which are much closer to home.

Read Sample Story
The Caul Bearer

PDF Format : BullRunningForGirls.pdf : 348kb
or read the Flip Book version online at Issuu

(click for larger view)

Cover art by Vincent Chong

ISBN : 978-1-906652-01-2
Paperback : 216x138mm : 272pp

Published August 2008

£9.99 (+ postage)

About the Author

Allyson Bird lives on the edge of the South Yorkshire moors in England, with her husband and young daughter. Occasionally she is drawn to strange places and people and they are occasionally drawn to her. Her favourite playground, as a child and adult, has been the village graveyard. Once she wondered what would happen if she took one of the green stones from a grave. She has been looking over her shoulder ever since but has never given it back.

Author's Homepage : www.birdsnest.me.uk

"Allyson Bird's stories are richly informed by folklore and literature, and use a range of weird fiction narratives to explore female perspectives in terms of the unknown and the supernatural. Bull Running For Girls is reminiscent of both the Gothic fantasies of Tanith Lee and the empathic ghost stories of Mary Elizabeth Counselman. The strangest of Bird's stories, The Caul Bearer, also recalls the stark emotional landscape of Robert E. Howard's classic Sea Curse.

For Bird, the supernatural is an aspect of life, not something from outside it. Her ghosts and demons are as likely to have a stake in our world as in their own withered hearts. This book brings you witches, revenants, mummies, spirit mediums and ritual murderers. Above all, it brings you face to face with real human issues that few of us, however we pass through the night, can safely avoid." — Joel Lane

About Shadow upon Shadow : When Alice Harwood committed adultery, she expected to pay for it one day but the form and the manner of that payment touched the essence of evil. "A dark tale indeed!" — Ramsey Campbell

On, In the Wake of the Dead : Set in 19th Century Sligo, where magic and ritual have terrible consequences for the occupants of Elsinore House. "A potent brew of historical facts and gruesome imaginings" — Simon Clark

"Kid, I like all your stories. Your book is a killer and a class act for a first collection. Allyson Bird is a rare bird indeed. An original voice in a world of plain vanilla. She rides some dark waves with grace and heart full of light and shadow. If there is any justice, she’s on her way to real recognition." — Joe R. Lansdale

"Ally Bird's writing is as clean and crisp as a scalpel blade. Her stories have a firm sense of place and verisimilitude; it's as if we can see the locations she writes about through the eyes of a resident. It is also both refreshing and essential to see a female author embrace the dark side with such empathy and unflinching bravery." — Gary McMahon

"The stories are filled with great description, genuine characters, believable dialogue and intricate plots. If Allyson had chosen to call herself a writer of adult fiction rather than a horror writer, her name would now be known across the land. But well done to her for sticking to her principles. People need to realise there is horror in just about everything they read - from Cornwell to Murakami - and if they're struggling to do so, then starting with Allyson's book wouldn't be a bad idea." — Shaun Hamilton

About the Artist

Vincent Chong has produced book covers for the likes of Joe Hill, Ray Bradbury and Ramsey Cambell, plus magazine illustrations for InterZone, The 3rd Alternative, Hub and many more. He is also the winner of the 2007 and 2008 British Fantasy Society Awards for Best Artist.

Artist's Homepage : www.vincentchong-art.co.uk