Book of Shadows

For those who hunger for small bites of horror sweetened with black humor, this collection of Grim Tales and Gothic Fancies offers a satisfying repast: morbidly playful riffs on the faerie tales of the Brothers Grimm; darkly exquisite Gothic fables in both prose and verse; and hell-raising evocations of beings both demonic and diabolic. A rich feast of horrors leavened with wit, Book of Shadows offers a delicious glimpse into the decadent heart and mordant mind of Manuel Arenas.

In "The Sanguinary Saga of Morbidezza Vespertilio, Vampiress," Arenas inverts "Sleeping Beauty" with more than a touch of Gothicism in the style of Hammer horror. With "Rosaire, Master of Wolves," he shows us the dark genesis and bloody destiny of a born werewolf. A lighter touch is used in "Gothilocks," a playfully sardonic update on "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." The dread demon of Christmas makes an appearance in "Greetings from Krampus," and in "Nativity in Black: An Anti-Christmas Story," we are presented with a dark celebration featuring all creatures great and infernal in a pageant-quite literally-from Hell.

This volume is sumptuously illustrated by Dan Sauer, whose surreal images heighten the effect of the dark fantasies contained herein.