Mr Oakley has moved back to the small English village where his family once had roots. Binscombe is a place of cricket and corner shops and after-work pints in the Duke of Argyll. But peel away the wallpaper of the ordinary and you will find cracks in the fabric of what we think of as reality: • The man who spent a lifetime waiting for a bus • The suburban kitchen with a gateway to another world • The whispering voices that torment a nightclub owner • The ancient danger that lurks under an electricity substation For a reasonable man like Mr Oakley it could all be too much. But luckily he has the enigmatic figure of Mr Disvan as his guide to the borderland between the everyday and the uncanny. Part-wizard, part-tribal elder, Mr Disvan is Mr Oakley's much-needed lifeline to sanity-and at the same time might just be the scariest of all Binscombe's many secrets. Collected here for the first time, these twenty-six classic tales by John Whitbourn are some of the most anthologized in modern weird fiction. So draw your chair close to the fireside, pour yourself a pint or a cuppa or a scotch, and settle back to have your blood chilled and your imagination thrilled as only a master storyteller can.

Binscombe Tales: Volume One

Literature & Fiction

Whitbourn, John

Genre Fiction

Spark Furnace

Mr Oakley has moved back to the small English village where his family once had roots. Binscombe is a place of cricket and corner shops and after-work pints in the Duke of Argyll. But peel away the wallpaper of the ordinary and you will find cracks in the fabric of what we think of as reality:   The man who spent a lifetime waiting for a bus The suburban kitchen with a gateway to another world The whispering voices that torment a nightclub owner  The ancient danger that lurks under an electricity substation  For a reasonable man like Mr Oakley it could all be too much. But luckily he has the enigmatic figure of Mr Disvan as his guide to the borderland between the everyday and the uncanny. Part-wizard, part-tribal elder, Mr Disvan is Mr Oakley's much-needed lifeline to sanity-and at the same time might just be the scariest of all Binscombe's many secrets. Collected here for the first time, these twenty-six classic tales by John Whitbourn are some of the most anthologized in modern weird fiction. So draw your chair close to the fireside, pour yourself a pint or a cuppa or a scotch, and settle back to have your blood chilled and your imagination thrilled as only a master storyteller can.

Binscombe Tales: Volume Two

There is a real place called Binscombe, located in the south-east of England; but these tales are not about that Binscombe. Instead they concern another Binscombe, linked to the first by subtle but invisible bridges of 'what if?'. This other Binscombe is a place rich in history, where strangers are welcome, but not always safe. A place where watching a video is not as harmless a pursuit as it might seem, where waiting for the bus may take much longer than expected, and where you may count the rooms in your house and not always come up with the same number. It is, in short, a place that takes its history very seriously-and with good reason, as the unwary are apt to find out to their cost.  No one takes Binscombe and its history more seriously than Mr Disvan, whose encyclopaedic knowledge of the village and its past seems to have been acquired through more than simply reading history books. We see Mr Disvan and Binscombe life through the eyes of Mr Oakley, a newcomer whose family has long had roots there, and who thus proves the truth of a local saying: 'They always come back'. This local connection gives Mr Oakley an opportunity to experience some of the stranger side of life in Binscombe, with Mr Disvan as his guide. But it also shows him that, once you come back, it isn't always possible to leave again.  John Whitbourn's Binscombe Tales are defining classics of the English new weird, and were originally published in various anthologies and collections between 1987 and 1998. This three-volume edition from Spark Furnace Books is the definitive set of all twenty-six tales in the saga.

Binscombe Tales: Volume Three

Midwinter’s Eve of the year 1000. The Day of Judgement is at hand. Your quest has reached its climax. This is the moment you have devoted your life to preparing for.Before you lie the ruins of Spyte, the city of magicians which no mortal has entered in over two centuries. The ultimate mysteries of creation were unlocked here. Secrets that could break reality apart and forge a new universe – for good or evil.And in the darkening sky above: five baleful stars, the celestial forms of the True Magi. They mean to reincarnate themselves and rule over a world enslaved.Only you, armed with the Sword of Life, can stop them.* * *Blood Sword can be played either solo or in a team of up to four people, providing the most exciting challenge yet in fantasy adventures, combining the best of role-playing, novels and tabletop games.What reviewers are saying:"A beautifully wrought and utterly fantastic epic quest...""A blast from start from finish.""Easily one of the best gamebooks out there."

The Walls of Spyte (Blood Sword)

Humor & Entertainment

JOHNSON, OLIVER

Morris, Dave.

Puzzles & Games

You're writing a novel... Unlock your full potential and finish like a pro When Roz Morris first published Nail Your Novel in 2009, it was popular with writers of all stripes. This workbook enlarges that 10-step process for drafting, fixing and finishing, guiding you to: * tame your inner critic * devise compelling characters and surprising plots * find resonance * hit your essential genre/non-genre notes * find your best method for drafting and polishing * craft a standout title * write a slick synopsis and sales pitch * organise and complete your research tasks And much more. Use on its own or alongside the original book for extra depth.

Nail Your Novel: Draft, Fix & Finish With Confidence. A companion workbook

Self-Help

Morris, Roz

Creativity

"A wholly original approach to the big question of our times, this book educates, entertains, and also achieves the seemingly impossible feat of making you empathise with Theresa May. It reminded me of Yes Minister: it made me laugh, but then it made me think." - Tim Harford, author of The Undercover Economist and presenter of BBC Radio's More or Less.
* * *
You're the British Prime Minister and Brexit is under way. You have just two years to negotiate the unpicking of an alliance that's been built up over four decades. And that's not the only minefield you’re going to have to cross. Your cabinet is unruly, your party is splitting itself apart, and the country remains bitterly divided over the whole issue.
Can you hang on and bring Britain safely into harbour? Forge new trade deals around the globe? Juggle popular support at home with the goodwill of your former EU allies? Stop the economy from spiralling down the plug hole? And all the while keeping an eye on those Parliamentary colleagues whose knives are ever-ready to plunge into your back?
This is an interactive gamebook in which you call all the shots. What could possibly go wrong?
* * *
What publishers have to say about Can You Brexit?...
"A remarkable feat and a fresh, unique approach."
"Brilliant."
"Witty."
"A terrific concept.
"Genius... The Yes Minister comparison is spot-on."
"The scathing satire of The Thick of It combined with the Machiavellian scheming of House of Cards."

Can You Brexit?: Without Breaking Britain

Thomson, Jamie

As featured on BBC Radio Devon, BBC Lincolnshire, BBC Wiltshire, BBC Berkshire, BBC Oxford and BBC Bristol In life there’s the fast lane, and then there’s the scenic route. Take your time getting there and you might meet people whose stories are as gripping as those of any famous name. In Not Quite Lost, Roz Morris celebrates the hidden dramas in the apparently ordinary. Her childhood home, with a giant star-gazing telescope on the horizon and a garden path that disappears under next door's house. A tour guide in Glastonbury who is having a real-life romance with a character from Arthurian legend. A unit on a suburban business park where people are preparing to deep-freeze each other when they die. But even low-key travel has its hazards, and Roz nearly runs down several gentlemen from Porlock when her brakes give up on her. She takes her marriage vows in a language she doesn't speak, has a Strictly-style adventure when she stumbles into a job as a flashmob dancer, and hears an unexpected message in an experiment in ESP. Wry, romantic, amused and wonder-struck, Not Quite Lost is an ode to the quiet places you never realised might tell you a tale.

Not Quite Lost: Travels Without A Sense of Direction

Humor

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Books by Spark Furnace