To some of us the 1980's feel as though they were just last week.  It was a strange and exciting to be a teenager in the UK.  It was a grim period of time, with strikes, riots, terrible jumpers and some terrible music.  However, it was also an exciting time for horror fans as it saw the birth of home video.  Those of you of a certain age will still remember the day you got your first VHS or Betamax video player, suddenly the world of film and TV was ripped open.  We were no longer restricted to watching films at the cinema or waiting and waiting for them to appear on terrestrial television, and remember there was a time where we only had three TV channels.  The home video market, for a time meant that we could watch basically whatever we wanted to, there was no such thing as film ratings for video cassettes.  It was a glorious time to be a kid until the Video Nasties legislation came in and cut off our supply.  


Dead Leaves by Andrew David Barker is a one man love letter to that period, set in 1983 in the Midlands of England it tells the story of three friends and their quest to get their hands on an illegal copy of The Evil Dead.  A quest that will no matter what the outcome will have their lives changed in one way or another.  

In August, 1999, scientist Richard Draven heads into the Congo Basin of Africa in search of an elusive species of monkey that reportedly has special regenerative powers. Draven gets the chance to see the healing properties first hand when he witnesses members of a tribe healing before his eyes. He, with the help of a guide, capture a monkey and Draven takes it back to the U.S. to perform his experiments. He wants to be the first to develop a regenerative serum for humans.


Fast forward six years and Draven’s research has been adapted by the government and human trials have begun on U.S. soldiers. The intent was to create better, faster and stronger soldiers, but things go horribly wrong. The soldiers who have undergone the serum injections are becoming more and more aggressive and as time passes, the modified soldiers begin banding together. Small armies of enhanced soldiers take up positions all over the world. Led by their leader, Joshua, the first solder to undergo the injections, the group begins trying to rid itself of humanity that Joshua says is greedy and dishonest. His perfect world is one filled with enhanced humans and he knows if anyone can make that dream a reality, it’s him and his soldiers. There seems to be no stopping the Project Apex soldiers. Their plan of world extermination quickly takes shape and the world starts falling apart.

Wild Things, is the first anthology from Black Shuck Books, edited by BSB's owner, Steve Shaw - who also provides the intro (and I think this is also Steve's first gig as editor, though I'm sure he'll correct me otherwise). The theme of the anthology is shapeshifters, various and varied stories of humans changing into some kind of animal, and as it's a slim volume - only thirteen stories housed within a lovely cover and solid book design - I'm going to give a rundown of each one.

In life as well as fiction there are no absolutes, there is no black and white, yes or no, and when it comes to war there isn’t even any real  heroes or villains, all you have,  are the differing viewpoints of those fighting the war, with each side adamant that they are righteous and the good guys.  It all comes down to whose viewpoint is correct.  War like life is just a shade of grey.  

It’s one of the many themes that Simon Bestwick’s excellent return to novel writing explores.  Hell’s Ditch is a brutal and unrelenting post-apocalyptic dystopian adventure novel that manages to entertain and enlighten in equal measures.  

The United Kingdom is in ruins, in the aftermath of a nuclear war the country is in devastated.  Those who survived face a hard life, food is scarce, shelter is at best barren and dirty, and their every move is being scrutinized and policed by a fascist military power and their shock Troops The Reapers.  Fighting the good fight is an underground resistance movement, but they are ragged, battle-weary and deeply undermanned and under equipped.  

However when a fabled warrior “returns from the dead” their hopes at victory are raised  is the tide turning for the resistance or will Helen Damnation ( you have got to love that name) lead them to her namesake or will she lead them to redemption?