RICHARD E. ROCK

The Blurb:

Step into a world where the veil between the wild and the human heart is thin, and the price of neglect is paid in blood and madness. This searing collection of short stories delves into the transgressive and the sensual, weaving new myths for contemporary times that are as vengeful as they are amoral.

From the quiet despair of mental health struggles to the raw power of menopause and the complex tapestry of motherhood, these narratives lash out with brutal honesty. Each tale is a haunting echo of childhood fables and chilling ghost stories, reminding us of our primal need to connect with nature, and the terrible, irreversible cost when we turn our backs. Prepare to be unsettled, provoked, and utterly captivated by a collection that dares to explore the darkest corners of the human psyche.

The Review:

A confession: I tend to blow hot and cold when it comes to short story collections. I’ve always favoured long form novels that grab me and suck me right in; involving me, intriguing me and compelling me to return to them night after night.

But a short story collection means starting afresh every time you pick it up; waiting to be grabbed anew every time. I know for many people that’s great. They love a short story collection. I’m just not one of those people.

Until now.

Back in July author Julie Ann Rees was the guest speaker at our writing group, there to tell us about her new short story collection, Sea Glass. The moment she mentioned that it was a folk horror and dark fairy tale collection my ears pricked up, because I have a folk horror novel coming out next year.

In her talk, Julie talked enthusiastically and knowledgably about the inspirations and motivations behind this collection, and it soon became clear that she’s forgotten more on this subject than I’ll ever know!

In short, I was sold on it, so I bought one (signed, of course), and boy am I glad I did, for Sea Glass is absolutely fantastic. A seriously good book. Gruesome, yes. Disturbing, certainly. But that’s why it’s called horror.

Every one of these tales is beautifully composed with compelling characters and haunting themes, and each tale is followed by an author’s note that gives an insight into its origin. For some of these stories Julie has looked at a folk legend from somewhere else in the world and asked what would happen if it was relocated to Wales, such as the Baba Yaga from Russia.

For yes, these stories are for the most part set in my home country of Wales, and some of them in specific locations I know very well indeed. Of course, Wales has a rich folk history all of its own, but plucking legends from elsewhere and applying them to the Land of Song adds extra interest to the proceedings.

Personal favourites include The Grundylow, in which a young woman rescues a dying cryptid from the pond at the bottom of her garden; Why Don’t You Turn Around And Look At Me? in which a terrifying ghostly legend is entwined with the historical atrocities of the notorious ship wreckers of Worm’s Head; My Baby He Ate Me which is as grisly as it sounds and packs a hefty emotional wallop; and The Alderwood, which delivers a neat twist on the aforementioned Baba Yaga fairy tale.

So despite any misgivings I might have had about this being a short story collection, I ended up devouring Sea Glass as a baby might devour its own mother (see above).

The Author:

Julie Ann Rees holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Swansea University and an MA from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. A single mother to an artfully talented adult daughter, Julie balances her academic and creative passions with a love for fairy tale, folklore and horror blended with nature. When she’s not immersed in books or crafting stories, she enjoys long walks in the wild and spending time with her horse, Chi, and her fluffy grey cat, Griffin. Julie lives near the Gower peninsula in South Wales and works full-time as a university library assistant.

SEA GLASS by Julie Ann Rees is published by Black Bee Books and is available now.