In this book, Twisted Tails III, we are dredging up fear and wallowing in it as if it were something to be played with, cuddled and fingers lovingly run through its fur like a cherished pet. What we’re doing here is tinkering with terror of the primal kind. You know what I mean, the sort of fright that lies coiled and ready to spring from the dark corners of the mind with no warning. It awaits all, lurking in the deeper shadows of consciousness. No one is immune and, frequently, there is no cure, you just sink into its roiling depths and are no more. If you do manage to escape, life will no longer be what it was before and you will find yourself glancing nervously over your shoulder whenever you hear something strange in the darkness or see a shadow move in the night…or day. Enjoy….

TWISTED TAILS IV: Fantastic Flights of Fantasy is overflowing with some of the strangest fantasies you’re likely to find on-or off this planet. So, watch yourself...there be dragons here. And vampires. And sorcerers bearing all sorts of mischief. Beasts, goblins and ghouls aplenty. And things that poke with sharpened sticks at the unprepared mind. They crouch in the recesses, ready to spring at the slightest provocation or opportunity. The sort of things that hide in deep shadows and lurk in the darkness of night...or cavort in the full light of day, trundle, creep, crawl and dance their way across the stage of your imagination. Some of the works presented here are fearsome, level five heart-stoppers and others are downright funny. All are twisted. Twisted in the manner that only our convoluted cogitators...our warped, wonderful word-workers can provide.

The end of a day disastrous. The end of a cataclysmic century. The end of a fateful era. The falling apart of a fragile relationship. The fall of a fractured empire. The demise of a deal demonic. Plans gone awry. Your final fight for that last breath. "Aaaaaaaagh...." Okay, how poetic can a last gasp be?

As we launch into this sixth book of the TWISTED TAILS anthology series, I am reminded of Michael Crichton’s debut novel, THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN. Why? Because his first and quite likely his best published novel gave us a look at the possible and horrendous result of the introduction into our happy little home of an unknown biological entity from out there somewhere. Before we go on, some clarification is needed here. Although he is best-known for revived dinosaurs, ANDROMEDA STRAIN was his first published book under his own name ([JOHN] MICHAEL CRICHTON). Published in 1969, Crichton was still in medical school and was in his early twenties. Amazing.