Welsh writer Rhys Hughes regards this as his favorite book, and with good reason. It clamors with a cast of pirates, floppy-wristed Welsh bards, explorers and inventors, imps, squonks, moving public houses, and more, in this quirky and surreal collection of classic horror and fantasy.

These beautiful and heartfelt stories range widely in their themes, stretching from horror and almost classic ghost stories to lyrical flights of fantasy, gritty and painful realism and dark twisted imaginings - from subtle slipstream writing with only the faintest sense of the otherworldly to haunting and vivid space fiction and even light-hearted homages to the colourful and gleeful world of the pulps. Always unexpected, these stories remain completely bound together by their own universal aesthetic and a style filled with sadness and gentleness. And filled also by a sense of wonder, both...

These beautiful and heartfelt stories range widely in their themes, stretching from horror and almost classic ghost stories to lyrical flights of fantasy, gritty and painful realism and dark twisted imaginings - from subtle slipstream writing with only the faintest sense of the otherworldly to haunting and vivid space fiction and even light-hearted homages to the colourful and gleeful world of the pulps. Always unexpected, these stories remain completely bound together by their own universal aesthetic and a style filled with sadness and gentleness. And filled also by a sense of wonder, both...

"If every tale told in a tavern is a tall story, then what happens when the entire universe becomes a tavern? It means that every story ever told is tall and therefore untrue, and this includes the true tales. They are all lies. But a lie is a concept only possible because it can be contrasted with truth: without its opposite concept it makes no sense at all. This implies one of two unlikely things, (a) the universe is not really a tavern, (b) there are other universes beyond this one where true stories exist. If you ever learn which is the correct answer to this riddle please let me know."...

"If every tale told in a tavern is a tall story, then what happens when the entire universe becomes a tavern? It means that every story ever told is tall and therefore untrue, and this includes the true tales. They are all lies. But a lie is a concept only possible because it can be contrasted with truth: without its opposite concept it makes no sense at all. This implies one of two unlikely things, (a) the universe is not really a tavern, (b) there are other universes beyond this one where true stories exist. If you ever learn which is the correct answer to this riddle please let me know."...

Trains occupy a special place in the human psyche. The twin threads of the rails forge ahead from place to place, the ultimate symbol of travel and connection and all the hopes, fantasies, fears, reasons, romance and excitement that come with that. The links between points, the bridges and tunnels, are always so much more profound than borders or walls. And yet you travel these links through a world that is isolated from normal life and unique to itself. The railways are so mundane and taken for granted, passing through the backs of your cities and towns, yet they are worlds that cannot be...