Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

Once again Lucy Snyder offers up a delightfully dark, fantastic collection of fiction morsels. Garden of Eldritch Delights has a Lovecraftian slant, pitting a number of interpretations of human against nameless, Otherland invaders. However, readers don’t need to be Lovecraft fans to find much to enjoy here. Snyder takes the themes through many interpretations, from classic horror, to science fiction and historical magical fantasy. There’s a lot to enjoy. If anything, the biggest downside is the fact that the tales within this collection are interesting and engaging enough to have spawned longer stories.

Standouts include “Fraeternal”, “Blossoms Blackened Like Dead Stars”, “A Hero of Grunjord”, and “The Warlady’s Daughter”. It’s not surprising that this collection is up for a Stoker. It engages the imagination, and language, in fascinating ways. Highly recommended, particularly for readers looking for stories outside of well-loved tropes, that will hold their fascination.

Contains: Language, violence, gore, sexual talk and situations