Brilliant opening with a Kafkaesque pubescence playing with a cliched male chat up line, a physical representation of a state of consciousness, and many more wonderful sideways looks at the world.

I hung on every word and turn of phrase unsure of the journey each story was going to take and always surprised and satisfied with the end.

Magical realism, gothic fantasy, speculative fiction at its most speculative. This collection of short stories is what I love most about the form, fresh and challenging.

I was going to do my usual with a collection of short stories, dip in and out between other books, but this collection was so moreish I couldn’t stop.