Free E-Book Promotion 1st - 5th February 2023: A Handful of Zombies: Tales of the Restless Dead

From the 1st till the 5th February the kindle version of A Handful of Zombies: Tales of the Restless Dead will be free to download. The paperback will remain available for £5.00.

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All four stories in this collection cover a wide range of tropes within the zombie genre. 

Dead Ronnie and I is a tale of high adventure by plane and sea, with an abortive escape by our protagonist to the as yet untainted Isles of Scotland. This was originally published in Sanitarium Magazine No 44 in 2016.

His Pale Blue Eyes is probably the most traditional take of zombie stories today, featuring a young girl’s determined search for her parents during a zombie apocalypse. It’s a story, though, about conditioning and how what someone is taught can radically affect their behaviour. Is the horror in this the shambling undead or the girl herself? See what you think. This first appeared in Bite-Sized Horror edited by Johnny Mains for Obverse Books in 2011.

By contrast Right For You Now, originally published in Weirdbook Zombie Annual No 3 in 2021, harks back to the original concept of the zombie in Voodoo-haunted Haiti, though this tale is set in present-day Britain. It’s a combination of a crime story, revenge, and a man’s obsessive fascination with age-old practices.

Our final tale, Romero’s Children, is more in the way of a science fiction story. The zombies here are certainly the most different. For a start off they are not dead but have been granted near immortality by a drug that swept the world with its promise to stop aging. Alas for those caught up in the frenzied demand to use it, though, its side effects were such that they would have been better off dead. This story appeared in 2010 in The Seventh Black Book of Horror edited by the late Charles Black and was subsequently picked up by American editor Paula Guran for her 2012 anthology Extreme Zombies.

 

Tais Teng - one of the most original contributors to Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy

There is a fascinating interview with Tais Teng, one of the most original contributors to Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy, on DMR's Independent Author Spotlight.

His stories have appeared in three of the five volumes of Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy so far:

Volume 2 - Highjacking the Lord of Light

Volume 3 - Seal Snatchers of Jorsalem

Volume 5 - Free Diving for Leviathan Eggs

 

Volume 1 of Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy

Over two years after it was published, Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy Volume 1 is still getting 5-star reviews. The latest is from India.

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New detailed 5-star review of Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy Volume 5 on Amazon

There's a new detailed 5-star review of Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy Volume 5 on Amazon.

To read it in full click on this link.  

Advert for A Handful of Zombies: Tales of the Restless Dead

 

amazon.co.uk

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All four stories in this collection cover a wide range of tropes within the zombie genre. 

Dead Ronnie and I is a tale of high adventure by plane and sea, with an abortive escape by our protagonist to the as yet untainted Isles of Scotland. This was originally published in Sanitarium Magazine No 44 in 2016.

His Pale Blue Eyes is probably the most traditional take of zombie stories today, featuring a young girl’s determined search for her parents during a zombie apocalypse. It’s a story, though, about conditioning and how what someone is taught can radically affect their behaviour. Is the horror in this the shambling undead or the girl herself? See what you think. This first appeared in Bite-Sized Horror edited by Johnny Mains for Obverse Books in 2011.

By contrast Right For You Now, originally published in Weirdbook Zombie Annual No 3 in 2021, harks back to the original concept of the zombie in Voodoo-haunted Haiti, though this tale is set in present-day Britain. It’s a combination of a crime story, revenge, and a man’s obsessive fascination with age-old practices.

Our final tale, Romero’s Children, is more in the way of a science fiction story. The zombies here are certainly the most different. For a start off they are not dead but have been granted near immortality by a drug that swept the world with its promise to stop aging. Alas for those caught up in the frenzied demand to use it, though, its side effects were such that they would have been better off dead. This story appeared in 2010 in The Seventh Black Book of Horror edited by the late Charles Black and was subsequently picked up by American editor Paula Guran for her 2012 anthology Extreme Zombies.

For the New Year a great new review of Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy Volume 5

A great new review of Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy Volume 5 has been posted on amazon.com by Richard Fisher.

"This year winds down with another remarkable collection. Riley opens the anthology with an introduction that has me adding numerous titles to my already unwieldy TBR pile. Many of the authors have appeared in previous installments of this series, but a handful are new. Take a gander at this stellar line up..."

"Eleven stories. Several I enjoyed more than others, but there wasn't a clinker in the bunch"

amazon.co.uk

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Happy New Year from Parallel Universe Publications

 

Merry Christmas from Parallel Universe Publications

 

Possible front cover for Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy Volume 6

Jim Pitts has been busy in the past week working on colouring a previous black and white illustration for the front cover of the next swords and sorcery anthology in May 2023. Below is a copy of the original illustration together with the coloured version and a copy of what the cover will almost certainly look like.

 

Volume 6 will be open for submissions on the 1st April for the full month.

Three new Parallel Universe Publications titles in just over a month

In just over a month Parallel Universe Publications has brought out three books in paperback and kindle.

The first of these is Childe Rolande, an epic fantasy by well-known author Samantha Lee.

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Originally published by Futura Books in 1989, our new version includes an Afterword/Introduction by the author and a brand-new cover by talented Scottish artist Paul Mudie, who will be familiar to many for the iconic covers he created for the Black Books of Horror. There is also the added bonus of interior chapter headings by award-winning artist Jim Pitts.

Childe Rolande has been optioned by Forlan Films for a proposed TV series and is currently in pre-production development. 

The second book is yet another volume in our popular anthology series Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy. 

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The contents are: 

The Rotted Land by Charles Gramlich

Skulls for Silver by Harry Elliott

For the Light by Gustavo Bondoni

People of the Lake by Lorenzo D. Lopez

Free Diving for Leviathan Eggs by Tais Teng

The Black Well by Darin Hlavaz

Degg and the Undead by Susan Murrie Macdonald

The Mistress of the Marsh by David Dubrow

Silver and Gold by Earl W. Parrish

Bridge of Sorrows by Dev Agarwal

Prisoners of Devil Dog City by Adrian Cole

Of the eleven writers included this time, five hail from the United States, four from the United Kingdom, one from The Netherlands and one from Argentina. 

All the interior art and the front and back covers are by Jim Pitts. 

The third is what may be the start of a series of low-priced chapbooks, A Handful of Zombies: Tales of the Restless Dead. This includes four previously published short stories by David A. Riley with illustrations by Jim Pitts.

amazon.co.uk

amazon.com

All four stories in this collection cover a wide range of tropes within the zombie genre. 

Dead Ronnie and I is a tale of high adventure by plane and sea, with an abortive escape by our protagonist to the as yet untainted Isles of Scotland. This was originally published in Sanitarium Magazine No 44 in 2016.

His Pale Blue Eyes is probably the most traditional take of zombie stories today, featuring a young girl’s determined search for her parents during a zombie apocalypse. It’s a story, though, about conditioning and how what someone is taught can radically affect their behaviour. Is the horror in this the shambling undead or the girl herself? See what you think. This first appeared in Bite-Sized Horror edited by Johnny Mains for Obverse Books in 2011.

By contrast Right For You Now, originally published in Weirdbook Zombie Annual No 3 in 2021, harks back to the original concept of the zombie in Voodoo-haunted Haiti, though this tale is set in present-day Britain. It’s a combination of a crime story, revenge, and a man’s obsessive fascination with age-old practices.

Our final tale, Romero’s Children, is more in the way of a science fiction story. The zombies here are certainly the most different. For a start off they are not dead but have been granted near immortality by a drug that swept the world with its promise to stop aging. Alas for those caught up in the frenzied demand to use it, though, its side effects were such that they would have been better off dead. This story appeared in 2010 in The Seventh Black Book of Horror edited by the late Charles Black and was subsequently picked up by American editor Paula Guran for her 2012 anthology Extreme Zombies.