THE BEAST IN THE BAG by Thomas McColl, ISBN 1-903031-00-9, A5, 24pp, £2 from Poetry Monthly Press, 39 Cavendish Road, Long Eaton, Nottingham NG10 4HY. A collection of 16 poems drawn from magazines as diverse as Purple Patch, Lateral Moves and Big Wide Words. McColl is at once poignant and pithy, with his "Warning to all EC Pedestrians" particularly acerbic.
SHOGGOTH CACCIATORE AND OTHER ELDRITCH ENTREES by Mark McLaughlin, ISBN 1-929653-11-5, A5, 80pp, $5 from Delirium Books, P.O. Box 338, North Webster, IN 46555, USA (e-mail: deliriumbooks@kconline.com; http://www.deliriumbooks.com). Ten stories by the master of bizarre fantasy which bring Lovecraft's cosmogony of ancient creatures down to earth with a bump in the real world complete with tricky personal relationships and office politics! Only in McLaughlin's sure hands can such an outrageous juxtaposition become a successful platform for witty, surreal narratives that touch universal truths.
OTHER VOICES, OTHER DOORS by Patrick O'Leary, ISBN 0-9668184-3-1, 6x9, 200pp p/b, $17:99 from Fairwood Press, 5203 Quincy Ave SE, Auburn, WA 98092, USA (e-mail: talebones@nventure.com; http://www.fairwoodpress.com). The best stories, poems and nonfiction of the last 20 years by the acclaimed author of Door Number Three and The Gift.
SHOWING LIGHT A GOOD TIME by Dan Raphael, ISBN 1-877655-36-8, 6x9, 100pp p/b, $11 from Wordcraft of Oregon, P.O. Box 3235, La Grande, OR 97850, USA (e-mail: wordcraft@oregontrail.net; http://www.oregontrail.net/~wordcraft). This eighth book in Wordcraft's Jazz Police Speculative Poetry Series features a writer with 13 books of poetry already to his name, together with appearances in over 200 magazines, and a reputation throughout the Pacific Northwest for his high-energy readings and performances.
A WORD IN YOUR EYE: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE GRAPHIC POEM by Steve Sneyd (aka DATA DUMP #47/#48), ISBN 0-905262-24-7, A5, 40pp, £3:75/$8 (USA orders in cash or stamps of 50¢ or less) from Steve Sneyd, Hilltop Press, 4 Nowell Place, Almondbury, Huddersfield HD5 8PB. Take a poem. Add pictures. Turn it into a comic strip. Always one to document emerging trends, Steve Sneyd explores what's happening in a growing cross-over that critics have done their best to ignore.