Joseph Rubas's collection, Shades: Dark Tales of Supernatural Horror is now available to order

Joseph Rubas's collection, Shades: Dark Tales of Supernatural Horror is now available to order in paperback.

Joseph Rubas began writing in 2002 after reading Stephen King’s The Stand. His earliest efforts reflected his deep love of that novel; he tried again and again to write a rip-off, but finally gave up around 2006 and resigned himself to writing original fiction. His first short story was published in May 2010 on the now defunct Horror Bound Online website. His second story was published in September 2010 in a Pushcart Prize nominated literary magazine for new and beginning writers called The Storyteller. Since then, his work has appeared in a number of magazines and anthologies. His first collection, the now out of print Pocketful of Fear, was released by a small publisher in 2012. His second collection, After Midnight, appeared in 2014. His short fiction has appeared in: Nameless Digest; The Horror Zine; Eschatology Journal; Thuglit; Manor House; All Due Respect, and others. He has self-published three longer works: The Rocking Dead: Seasons 1-3 (a parody of the AMC series The Walking Dead); The Rocking Dead: Season 4; The Shapeshifter; and Dracula 1912, the latter a novel.

In addition to writing, he has also edited two anthologies: A Thorn of Death (2012) and The 3rd Spectral Book of Horror Stories (2016).
He currently resides in Albany, New York.

This Collection includes:

Passing the Buck
Midnight
Aokigahara
Snowbound
Deja Vu
The Ghostly Hitchhiker
Just a Mask
Meeting Ray Bradbury
5051 Bartley Square
The Witching Hour
Potter's Field
The Warlock
Confessional
The Thing in the Woods
The Lake House
Chomo
The Traveling Show of 2016
Evildoer
A Perfect Life
Fury
Paint
Night of the Dog

trade paperback:
amazon.co.uk £9.99
amazon.com $12.99

"His work is fresh and original, and rich with dark delights."

That's part of the praise heaped on Joseph Rubas's collection, Shades: Dark Tales of Supernatural Horror
by Jeani Rector, award-winning editor of The Horror Zine, who stated:

“Joseph Rubas really delivers the scares in this collection of unexpected twists and exciting plot-lines. His work is fresh and original, and rich with dark delights. Don’t miss this book of frights; and keep your lights on at night when you read it.”

Shades will be available from this Saturday as a trade paperback, to be followed later by an ebook.

The book contains twenty-two tales of supernatural terror:

Passing the Buck
Midnight
Aokigahara
Snowbound
Deja Vu
The Ghostly Hitchhiker
Just a Mask
Meeting Ray Bradbury
5051 Bartley Square
The Witching Hour
Potter's Field
The Warlock
Confessional
The Thing in the Woods
The Lake House
Chomo
The Traveling Show of 2016
Evildoer
A Perfect Life
Fury
Paint
Night of the Dog

David Williamson - The Chameleon Man and Other Terrors - original book covers

These are some of the books that David Williamson's stories in The Chameleon Man and Other Terrors were originally published.

The Too Good Samaritan, The Not So Good Samaritan,

 and No Room at the Flat

And the Dead Shall Speak

The Sandman

The Chameleon Man

Ashes to Ashes

Rest in Pieces

The Boy

The Scryer

Blind Date

Ten Weeks

Adrian Cole's Tough Guys now available as paperback and ebook

Adrian Cole's Tough Guys is now available as both a trade paperback and an ebook on amazon.

Trade Paperback:
Amazon.co.uk £8.99
Amazon.com $11.99

Ebook:
Amazon.co.uk £2.99
Amazon.com $4.30

Tough Guys by Adrian Cole now available on Amazon

Cover artwork: Jim Pitts

Paperback copies of Adrian Cole's collection Tough Guys are now available from Amazon. An ebook version will be available shortly.

Adrian’s latest collection, Tough Guys, contains three previously unpublished novellas and a short. Based on the title theme, these four works are completely different in subject matter and tone. There is, of course, A Nick Nightmare story herein, ‘Wait for the Ricochet’, in which the gumshoe is entrusted to convey a message about “The Malleus Tenebrarum”, a book that names the properties and powers of dark and light, to the Mechanic, one Oil-Gun Eddy... His adversary is the sinister Lucien de Sangreville, plus assorted non-human denizens of the murky lower levels, and his sidekick the sword-wielding business-woman Ariadne Carnadine. In contrast, in ‘If You Don’t Eat Your Meat’ the reader enters a post-apocalyptic world where the very unsavoury Ryan relates his story of rival families and cannibalism. It is gruesome and unflinching horror. In ‘A Smell of Burning’ a hospital patient finds he is having out-of-the-body experiences. On his astral journeys he visits a man recalling his abused childhood and this leads to a shocking revelation... Finally, ‘Not If You Want to Live’ explores the fate of Razorjack, who is a Redeemer, a dead man used by a shady organisation to bring back others from death. An intriguing and engrossing story of love between Razorjack (aka Jack Krane) and mobster’s moll Rebecca Fellini, with science fictional and satanic elements.

We'll have stocks of our own at Parallel Universe shortly. We'll also be launching this book at Fantasycon in September, when Adrian Cole will be present.

Amazon.co.uk £8.99
Amazon.com $11.99

Proof copy of Tough Guys by Adrian Cole

The proof copy for Adrian Cole's Tough Guys arrived today - and it looks great. Jim Pitts' wraparound cover artwork looks really good. The book also boasts an in-depth introduction by David A. Sutton.
The book is set to be launch at FantasyCon at Scarborough in September.

Into the Dark by Andrew Jennings

A new novel, Into the Dark by Andrew Jennings will be published shortly by Parallel Universe Publications.
Into the Dark is a crime noir horror story about a serial killer and an e

Kitchen Sink Gothic - 10 months down the line

It's now ten months since the most ambitious project from Parallel Universe, Kitchen Sink Gothic, was published. The anthology contained the following stories:
1964 by Franklin Marsh
Derek Edge and the Sun-Spots by Andrew Darlington
Daddy Giggles by Stephen Bacon
Black Sheep by Gary Fry
Jamal Comes Home by Benedict J. Jones
Waiting by Kate Farrell
Lilly Finds a Place to Stay by Charles Black
The Mutant's Cry by David A. Sutton
The Sanitation Solution by Walter Gascoigne
Up and Out of Here by Mark Patrick Lynch
Late Shift by Adrian Cole
The Great Estate by Shaun Avery
Nine Tenths by Jay Eales
Envelopes by Craig Herbertson
Tunnel Vision by Tim Major
Life is Prescious M. J. Wesolowski
Canvey Island Baby by David Turnbull

Order Direct  from us

trade paperback: 
amazon.co.uk   £8.99
amazon.com  $11.99

ebook:
amazon.co.uk  £2.99
amazon.com  $3.05

We are still considering a second volume of stories. In the meantime...

Here are some of the reviews Kitchen Sink Gothic has received so far:

Stuart Conover gave Kitchen Sink Gothic a great review on the Hellnotes website.

"In Kitchen Sink Gothic, David and Linden Riley have put together a dark and gritty horror- and humor-filled anthology which was an absolute blast to read. In its pages there are 17 stories with a Gothic tint to them which focus primarily on the working class. It is a twisted mix of tales that if you were to read the descriptions one by one wouldn’t seem to fit together and yet the Riley’s have proven they know exactly which story works with the next.
While not every story is a gem, there isn’t a single failure in this book that makes me feel any of my time was wasted. As long as you’re in the mood for the strange and insane, that is.
An interesting line up with some names you’ll probably recognize if you read a lot of horror and speculative fiction as well as some that you won’t. The table of contents includes:
“Daddy Giggles” by Stephen Bacon, “1964” by Franklin Marsh, “Derek and the Sun-Spots” by Andrew Darlington, “Black Sheep” by Gary Fry, “Jamal Comes Home” by Benedict J. Jones, “Waiting” by Kate Farrell, “Lilly Finds a Place to Stay” by Charles Black, “The Mutant’s Cry” by David A. Sutton, “The Sanitation Solution” by Walter Gascoigne, “Up and Out of Here” by Mark Patrick Lynch, “Late Shift” by Adrian Cole, “The Great Estate” by Shaun Avery, “Nine Tenths” by Jay Eales, “Envelopes” by Craig Herbertson, “Tunnel Vision” by Tim Major, “Life is Precious” by M. J. Wesolowski, and closes out with “Canvey Island Baby” by David Turnbull.
The more interesting reads for me included “Lilly Finds a New Place to Stay” which revolves around Lilly….finding a new place to stay. Only, things aren’t ever quite that simple now are they? Next up is “The Sanitation Solution” where one man’s bitter war with his ex makes for quite the disgusting read. Finally, in “Envelopes” we’re given a different look into the world of the occult."

Top Customer Reviews on Amazon.co.uk

4.0 out of 5 starsElbow deep in the kitchen sink!

By yralban on 22 Sept. 2015

Format: Kindle Edition

A worthwhile collection, if a little patchy in parts. But some gems; particularly "Derek Edge and the Sunspots" and Kate Farrell's "Waiting" - understated with a bitter twist in the tale.

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5.0 out of 5 starsVery good quality

By N Martin on 1 Oct. 2015

Format: Kindle Edition

Really enjoyed this collection - the writing is of a high standard and some very unsettling stories. Definitely worth a read!

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5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

By sandra k chung on 26 Oct. 2015

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

Thank you

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Top Customer Reviews on Amazon.com

5.0 out of 5 starsThe Edge of Weird...and it's Amazing!

By Cristina Isabel on January 24, 2016

Format: Paperback

There are 17 amazingly written stories that sometimes left me on the edge as I was reading. Some were weirder than others and some had those what-did-I-just- read moments. Each of them were unique in their own way and I loved every one of them. For me, the top 3 that I read over were, Lilly Finds a Place to Stay by Charles Black, Canvey Island Baby by David Turnbull and The Sanitation Solution by Walter Gascoigne.

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4.0 out of 5 starsWeird and Wonderful

By MissScarlett on January 20, 2016

Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase

As always, I liked some of these stories a lot more than others, but there were none I didn't like at all. Some were rather mystifying to me, such as "Derek Edge and the Sunspots" "Up and Out of Here" and "Nine Tenths". "The Sanitation Solution" was ok but frankly didn't so it for me. My favorite of the lot was "Jamal Comes Home" with it's echoes of the Monkey's Paw at the conclusion. Also excellent were, in no particular order, "Black Sheep" "Lilly Finds A Place to Stay" (permanently) "Waiting" and "Envelopes" If you like horror and/or speculative short fiction, you can't go wrong here.

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5.0 out of 5 starsit is that good.

By Michael Hanson on October 17, 2015

Format: Paperback

I just read the anthology "Kitchen Sink Gothic" and yes, I was blown away. As a title interpretation, I can respectfully call this Working Class Gothic, as it is a strange and Gothic journey into the lives of the ordinary folk of our world, and not the social elite that populate much of literature's history. And it is here that Kitchen Sink Gothic's charms lie. As a grab-bag of different tales, some surprise with their deviousness, and others shock with their arrogance, but all of them, each and every story in this clever and tasty collection, is sure to entertain. Heck, I think I'll pick it up and read it a second time now. Yes, it is that good.

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5.0 out of 5 starsBlue Collar Noir

Parallel Universe books can now be ordered direct

Ordering Direct

You can order any of our paperbacks direct from us.  Please use this link.

Classic Weird 2

Updated and probably final cover for Classic Weird 2, which will include:


An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street        

by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

The Judgement Books  

by E. F. Benson

Oke of Okehurst          

by Vernon Lee

When I Was Dead    

by Vincent O’Sullivan

The Eyes  

by Edith Wharton

A Story Told by the Sea       

by W. C. Morrow

The Unbroken Chain    

by Irvin S. Cobb

From the Dead  

by Edith Nesbit

Witch In-Grain          

by Robert Murray Gilchrist

The Downs   

 by Amyas Northcote

The Uninhabited House     

 by J. H. Riddell

Kitchen Sink Gothic - acceptances and rejections

Today we emailed all the rejections and acceptances for Kitchen Sink Gothic. As soon as our contracts for the accepted stories have been returned to us we'll be posting details of the full TOC.

Kitchen Sink Gothic will be available both as a trade paperback and an ebook.

We believe this will be an important anthology, with a great line up and a varied, intriguing and fascinating list of stories. 

Parallel Universe Publications has a Facebook Page

We now have a dedicated Facebook page for Parallel Universe publications. Check it out on www.facebook.com/paralleluniversepublications.

We are already starting to receive submissions for our Kitchen Sink Gothic anthology. Details about submissions are here.

Kitchen Sink Gothic

In 1995 we set up Parallel Universe Publications to publish a fantasy/sf magazine, Beyond, which lasted for three issues. In 2012 re revived it to publish a hard cover collection of short stories by Craig Herbertson, The Heaven Makers and Other Gruesome Tales. This year we are going to bring out at least a further two books, possibly three. One will be a novel, the others will be single author collections. I am now thinking about doing an anthology, scheduled for 2015, tentatively titled Kitchen Sink Gothic, likely a mixture of reprints and new stories. 

Any suggestions or ideas for the anthology would be welcome.

The Heaven Maker & Other Gruesome Tales by Craig Herbertson

Some updates on Craig's book.

The book has a foreword by Janis Mackay and an introduction by Craig. The full list of contents is:

Timeless Love (originally published in Big Vault Advent Calendar 2011)
Synchronicity (originally published in Filthy Creations #2)
The Glowing Goblins (originally published in Auguries #16)
New Teacher (originally published in The Seventh Black Book of Horror)
The Janus Door
The Heaven Maker (originally published in The 29th Pan Book of Horror Stories)
The Waiting Game (originally published in Back from the Dead: The Legacy of the Pan Book of Horror Stories)
The Art of Confiscation
Gertrude
Not Waving
Spanish Suite (originally published in The Sixth Black Book of Horror)
The Anninglay Sundial
Soup (originally published in The Fourth Black Book of Horror)
A Game of Billiards (originally published in Tales from the Smoking Room)
The Navigator (originally published in Big Vault Advent Calendar 2011)
The Tasting
Steel Works
Liebniz's Last Puzzle (originally published in The Fifth Black Book of Horror)
Big Cup, Wee Cup
Gifts (originally published in Big Vault Advent Calendar 2011)

Copies will become available shortly through rileybooks.co.uk

Queries about buying copiers of the book should be sent either to rileybooks@ntlworld.com or to Riley Books, 130 Union Road, Oswaldtwistle, Accrington, Lancashire, BB5 3DR, UK. 

The Heaven Maker & Other Gruesome Tales by Craig Herbertson

This is the cover of the dust jacket for the first book published by Parallel Universe Publications, Craig Herbertson's collection of short stories, The Heaven Maker & Other Gruesome Tales. This hard bound volume will be launched on the 15th November in Edinburgh. 254 pages long, the book is priced £20, and includes Craig's first published story from the inconic Pan Books of Horror.