Friday 24 November 2017

Yule Do Nicely

Yule Do Nicely (2017)
Gloomy Seahorse Press

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, please put a penny in the old man’s hat. Yes, but we first require more information about the goose, the penny and the hat. We can’t be too careful these days. How fat is the goose getting and what connection does it have with the old man? Is the goose getting so fat that it is likely to explode with disastrous results for the nation? How will paying the old man a penny prevent this outcome? The situation is unclear.

We are on more certain ground when it is explained that the following fictions have been assembled in their present form in order to celebrate the festive season. They include work from the span of the past quarter century. The first twenty-four tales form a weird advent calendar from December 1st to 24th. Then it is Christmas Day and time for the stocking and the twenty-eight little strange tales inside it. Merry Xmas!

Contents:

The Hidden Sixpence * Three Friends * Down in the Park * The Chocolate Princess * Loafing Around * The Duvet Thief * My Beetroot Brow * The Moon and the Well * His Unstable Shape * The Cakes of Gehenna * Double Atlas * The Dirtiest Ararat * Zucchini Overdrive * Suttee and Sweep * The Strongest Monster * Cats' Eyes * Fringes and Bangs * Monsieur Choux * A Corking Tale * Don't Shoot the Messenger * All the Waiting * The Wrong Lamp *The Pancake Hurler * The Precious Mundanity * The Shocking Stocking

Note: 'The Shocking Stocking' is a portmanteau tale incorporating 28 little fictions.