Words like ‘Gothic’, ‘Ghost’, ‘Supernatural’ and ‘Horror’ are sometimes used to describe these tales but not all fit easily into these categories. They are sometimes also loosely be described as ‘dark stories’. Some of the 22 stories, like DOOM WAY and DEFILEMENT are indeed unremittingly dark (the latter as much for attitudes displayed as for what takes place in the story). In others, like SAFETY FIRST and FERTILE GROUND, light filters down more strongly...

Benybooksare short collections of prose. They are intended for quick but thought-provoking reading on, for example, train journeys. This is the second volume in the series.They are published only in electronic form and, while they are in publication, will be freely available from KOBO. They will consist of one main piece, supported by two or three others. None of the content of BENYBOOKS will be available in any other form.For Tom East’s more traditional, f...

ASK FATHER comprises three works of speculative fiction (SF) and a non-fiction piece entitled Speculative Fiction: The Ten Ideas.Ask Father is a speculation on how an over-ordered society might become locked and stagnant.Nandy is fiction, based on the finding of the remains of the finding of Neanderthal bones in France, and the history of those bones.S...

The lead story in this collection is CHECKPOINT. What if WW2 had ended slightly differently, with a peace settlement between America and Germany? What if ‘The Wall’ had been built across Paris, instead of across Berlin?Ben Dubritt, and his Parisian friend, Denis Lebrun, try to make their escape through the Checkpoint of the title. They find an unexpected ally in the shape of Sergeant Joe McCarthy, a member of the occupying forces.The story is told from the point of view of ...

Judas is hardly mentioned in the Bible. There are even two versions of his death. Essentially, he is a cipher for all things bad rather than a person.But what if his real role was altogether more significant? What if he was nothing less than the writer of the earliest gospel? And what if fragments of the manuscript were found in what is now Iraq, on the eve of the Western invasion in 2003?There are two distinct narrative vo...

Could WWI have been stopped? It not only resulted in millions of deaths, but had a malign influence on history. It was the direct cause of the even bloodier WW2, whose effects are still being felt today. This is an account of an endeavour to stop the war, so altering the whole of human history for the better.'The Great War,' later known as World War One, was the phenomenon that set the Twentieth Century on its course as 'The Century of Wars.' It was the direct caus...

This book comprises three polemical pieces. Polemics, by their nature, take a particular point of view and express it firmly. I haven’t shied away from slightly savage humour and obviously can’t guarantee the accuracy of every detail.For example, although of us all live with the dreadful effects (on those of who actually use the service) us of the Railway Act of 1993, I obviously have no factual knowledge of our former Prime Minist...

Could this be the place to find answers to some of the questions you haven’t troubled yourself with? What lies BEHIND THE CURTAIN? AND THE BOYS CAME, TOO? Why? Is there really an ISLAND OUT OF TIME? Most of all, why should the answer be an egg sandwich?