#BlogTour-‘The Outcast Hours’ by Various Authors

It is my privilege to be bringing you my #blogtour post for ‘The Outcast Hours’

Edited by Mahvash Murad and Jared Shurin and published by Rebellion Publishing , this anthology contains a cross section of fiction that straddles the time between day and night and is perfect for reading start to end, or dipping into stories wherever takes your fancy.

‘The Outcast Hours’ is a diverse new anthology from the acclaimed editors of ‘The Djinn Falls In Love and Other Stories’
We live our lives in the daylight. Our stories take place under the sun: bright, clear, unafraid.
This is not a book of those stories.
These are the stories of people who live at night; under neon and starlight, and never the light of day.
These are the stories of poets and police; writers and waiters; gamers and goddesses; tourists and traders; the hidden and the forbidden; the lonely and the lovers.
These are their lives. These are their stories. And this is their time:
The Outcast Hours.

I LOVE a good anthology and this is not just good , it is great. It covers the fields I love most to read-sci fi, fantasy and horror-and it’s concept is intriguing.

They are literal outcasts from daylight and people who haunt-literally-the hours of dusk throught the witching hour and beyond.

Shadows during day , they are free to emerge at night and symbolically represent the darkening of the soul-at night, without the glare of sunlight humans and inhumans alike can throw off the pretence of civility and wear their true faces.

Antologies, like compilation albums, usually hit a dud note somehwere, but this book is pitch perfect-the combination of authors all interlinked by micro stories from China Mieville, introduce you to authors you may not have heard of before, or those you know of are writing in different fields than you would expect.

The stories range from witchcraft, relationships , body horror and sci fi and each takes you to a place of thoughtfulness and contemplation with the palate cleanser of the micro story before moving on to the next one.

I could not pick my favourite, but the twist on the #MeToo story, ‘It was a different time’ by Will Hill is a standout for this reader as is ‘This Place Of Thorns’ by Marina Warner, is who one of my most admired deconstructors of myth and fable, as well as brilliant fiction writer.

Thanks to Tracy Fenton and Rebellion Publishing for my gifted copy of ‘The Outcast Hours’ which I was so grateful to receive, and have read twice already!