Fiction
351073
The Curious
Spectre at
the Feast
Phobophilia
Bred in the
Bone
Dionysus
© Blood Design 2012
A Glimpse of
the Numinous
Hold That
Moment
Past Away
Glimpse of
the Numinous
Once Upon A Name
The Curse of Beauty
Strife After Death
& Gull Power
Heartwood
Winner of the British Fantasy Society award for Best Anthology 2006
Reviews for 'Elastic Book of Numbers'
In "351073," a poignant memoir by Jeff Gardiner, a clergyman reflects on his
daughter's unusual life. The circumstances of her naming at birth engender in her a
fascination with numerology and number games, culminating in a religious philosophy
at once alien and similar to the narrator's Christianity. The father's voice is somewhat
distant and sentimental, as if the narrative is the text of one of his own sermons. Even
so, he learns powerful lessons about love from beyond the bounds of his faith, and
readers may feel moved to tears.
Reviewed in 'Tangent' by Brit Marschalk
Mysterious numbers also occur in the two most spiritual pieces in this volume: in Jeff
Gardiner's '351073', a girl named Eloise after the serial number on her hospital tag
when her grief-stricken father brought her home from hospital, grows up to become a
guru of a numerological cult, to the clergyman father's slight dismay. This story is
profound, sensitive, moving, and convincing.
Reviewed in 'Future Fire' By Djibril
"New Wave of Speculative Fiction" edited by Sean Wright (a collection of new
short stories) is brimming with quality writing, speculation about what might be,
a mix of horror, fantasy and sci-fi, as well as some new twists on classic
themes. "New Wave of Speculative Fiction" has a strong contemporary line up.
Many of the authors are known for their vision and imagination, and for the
quality of their prose. The stories Sean Wright has chosen for this book reflect
the current demand for exciting writers prepared to break barriers and see this
and other worlds with a fresh eye. The book has an international flavour with
new and award-winning writers from USA, Australia, South Africa, Canada, and
the UK. It includes stories from Allen Ashley, Che Ballard, Gary Moeser, Lisa
DuMond, Sian Orthello, Jeff Gardiner and Sean Wright.
Jeff Gardiner's "The Curious" escorts us on a poetic journey of other worldly
exploits.
Review for 'When Graveyards Yawn' in 'Vault of Evil'
Spectre at the Feast by Jeff Gardiner: Charlotte just wants them all to sit
down for a family meal around the table. It's not a lot to ask; she doesn't
want anything grand. She just feels that her role is to hold the family
together. And everyone knows the bonding quality of a family meal. But
husband Nathan has to work late, daughter Heather always visits a friend,
and son Jake spends less and less time at home. And Charlotte seems to
be haunted by a grim figure in the house. You will not anticipate the chilling
twists that this story takes ...
My favourite story, based on that rarest of things, the quite genuine chills
that it provoked - and I felt more than one, while I read it - would be Jeff
Gardiner's The Spectre at the Feast.
http://vaultofevil.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=deathdisco&action=displa
y&thread=2113
'Phobophilia', (click here to buy)
by Jeff Gardiner, tells the tale of two social misfits pushed together
as roommates when starting at university. Phobophilia - the
psychological love of fear. From the wonderful opening line, the tale
becomes a little heavy-going as lots of back-and-forth dialogue tries
to be both vague and enlightening about Toby's obsession with fear,
read death, itself. It's when the unnamed narrator separates from his
roommate I felt the tale become more interesting, possibly because
the back and forth is replaced by much introspection and I felt I was
getting inside the narrator's character more. The ending is both
depressing and upbeat at the same time-a neat trick-with midlife
crises battling the narrator's determination to conquer the fears that
led to Toby's demise.
Stephen Pirie
Review of 'Subtle Edens' in Future Fire
Welcome to Twisted Tongue Magazine issue twelve. Packed with
thousands of words-larger than a standard novel-over 95,000 words
for your enjoyment. Our thanks to all of our wonderful contributors:
Karen Cole Peralta, Aliya Whiteley, Harry Hughes, Bill Schweizer,
Jeff Gardiner, John Morgan,Gary Hewitt, Paul Johnson, Janey
Brewer, Brian Wright, Jessica Lynne Gardner, Robert Knox, Aaron A
Polson, Theodore Carter, S H Hughes, K S Nixon, Tina Koenig,
Jade Eckert, Ginny Swart, C M Clifton, Oonah V Joslin, Jonathan
Pinnock, David Towsey, Tonya L Lambert, John Morgan, Alexander
Salas, Jim Steel,Glen Batchelor, Ben Eubanks, Mel Fawcett, Jeff
Carter, Lynette Mejia, Rebecca, Colin Campbell, Brian Rosenberger,
Dr Charles Frederickson, Greg Schwartz, Ramona Thompson,
Jonathan Hayes, Peter Egypt, Sherie Davis, P S Gifford, Lynn Tait,
Len Hecht, Luigi Monteferrante, R Jay Slais, Caroline Barnard-Smith
and C J Carter Stephenson. Enjoy your twisted read…
Dark Desires Edition : August 2009
Cover art by Steve Upham
A short issue with fiction by Dean Drinkel, Shaun Hamilton, Jeff
Gardiner, David Gatward, Mark Howard Jones, John Miller, Dominic
Lyne and Pedro Escudero Zumel.
http://www.screamingdreams.com/2009issues.html
PDF Format : 56 pages : 1.02mb
or read the Flip Book version online at Issuu
