Nightshades

thirteen journeys into shadow

de Tanith Lee

Synopsis - A novel and 12 short stories – Nightshade the novel – Finally he was staring up at the facade of the enchanted castle, towering above its prison wall. The shadow of it, the scents of its garden disturbed him, but he had expected nothing else. Presently all the lights sprang into life along the four tiers of steps. He could see now the chess piece marble horses snarling on the landings among the vines. A faceless man came down to the oriental gate. ‘Madame Sovaz is expecting me,’ Adam said. Arrogant, pale eyed Kristian is a wealthy aesthete, and the husband of a much younger wife. She, the prize ornament of his collection of treasures, is white skinned, black haired Sovaz, wayward and beautiful yet seemingly soulless as if vampirised by some unknown force. She is currently toying with Adam, a handsome, ingenuous American who is the latest of her youthful lovers. And as the fates of this doomed trio converge, somewhere outside the glowing casements a creature of darkness prepares to feed... Nighshades – the stories – Among this fascinating and disturbing collection, The Mermaid casts a new and chilling light on the allure of an ancient mythical creature; Meow pinpoints the ultimate peril of mankind’s fascination with the domestic feline; A Room with a Vie sucks us into the pulsing horror of bricks and mortar imbued with a life of their own. Paper Boat is eerily inspired by the strange death of the poet Shelley, The Janfia Tree by the dark and marvellous legends of tree spirits, while The Devil’s Rose stems from more carnal obsessions.