Cover artwork by Vincent Chong

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

Published August 2008

ORDER INFORMATION : Please note that orders for this book title are currently being taken directly by the author. Go to the following page for further details : http://www.birdsnest.me.uk/bibliography.htm

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.

Table of contents :

Extract from The Caul Bearer :

When the tide was out you could walk all the way across Stoupe Beck Sands to Ravenscar; she’d done that often enough, but not today. Many a wreck lay off the Ravenscar headland, hundreds of years of them, sailors and fishermen had been washed up on that shore, and their bodies harvested by the scavengers of the deep. Men in their pale mottled skin with slivers of flesh hanging from them. They were so rotten you could peel out the spine of the fishermen as easily as with fish.

Bull Running for Girls was launched at the 2008 FantasyCon event.

Download extract : BullRunningForGirls.pdf : 340kb
or read the Flip Book version online at Issuu

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.

Visit her beautiful site (designed by Vincent Chong) at : www.birdsnest.me.uk

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