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Stranger Times
Tales from The Stranger Times: Volume 1
Dive into the wonderous world of The Stranger Times with this carefully curated selection of short stories from C.K. McDonnell. Drawn from the award-winning The Stranger Times podcast, they are collected in print for the first time, along with the new novella ‘The Raven’. Experience the magical underworld of Manchester (and beyond) with stories featuring lovelorn trolls, blood-thirsty books and a constipated dog who may’ve accidentally consumed a portal to another dimension. Featuring McDonnell’s trademark blend of black humour, outlandish ideas and expertly realised characters, this collection is perfect for first time readers and existing fans keen to learn more about the world he has created.
Praise for The Stranger Times
'I loved the dry and embedded humour of this book, it's the stuff of life . . . the whole thing is great fun.' SFCROSWNEST
'Wonderfully dark, extremely funny' ADAM KAY
Bestselling Author of This is Going to Hurt
'I loved this . . . great premise - great story - great characters . . . hugely enjoyable.'
JODI TAYLOR
Queen of Time and author of The Chronicles of St Mary's series
'A gag-filled romp . . . in the spirit of Terry Pratchett.' THE TIMES
'Great characters, a jet-propelled plot, and a winning premise.' GUARDIAN
'Fresh and genuinely funny.' SFX
Praise for The Stranger Times
'I loved the dry and embedded humour of this book, it's the stuff of life . . . the whole thing is great fun.' SFCROSWNEST
'Wonderfully dark, extremely funny' ADAM KAY
Bestselling Author of This is Going to Hurt
'I loved this . . . great premise - great story - great characters . . . hugely enjoyable.'
JODI TAYLOR
Queen of Time and author of The Chronicles of St Mary's series
'A gag-filled romp . . . in the spirit of Terry Pratchett.' THE TIMES
'Great characters, a jet-propelled plot, and a winning premise.' GUARDIAN
'Fresh and genuinely funny.' SFX
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 11, 2025
127 people are currently reading
179 people want to read
About the author
C.K. McDonnell
13 books632 followersA pseudonym for Caimh McDonnell.
Irishman Caimh McDonnell is a former professional stand-up comedian and TV writer who now concentrates all of his energies on writing books. Born in Limerick and raised in Dublin, he has taken the hop across the water and calls Manchester his home.
His TV writing work has seen him work on some of the biggest topical comedy shows on British TV, such as the The Sarah Millican Television Programme, Mock the Week and Have I Got News for You. His work as a children’s TV writer earned him a BAFTA nomination for the CBBC animated series ‘Pet Squad’ which he created.
Irishman Caimh McDonnell is a former professional stand-up comedian and TV writer who now concentrates all of his energies on writing books. Born in Limerick and raised in Dublin, he has taken the hop across the water and calls Manchester his home.
His TV writing work has seen him work on some of the biggest topical comedy shows on British TV, such as the The Sarah Millican Television Programme, Mock the Week and Have I Got News for You. His work as a children’s TV writer earned him a BAFTA nomination for the CBBC animated series ‘Pet Squad’ which he created.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
August 22, 2025
chuckle alert
This is a very specific warning, but please do not read this if you’ve just had an operation and laughing hurts - I ignored advice and read it anyway, but felt every giggle! Looking forward to a pain-free reread very soon
This is a very specific warning, but please do not read this if you’ve just had an operation and laughing hurts - I ignored advice and read it anyway, but felt every giggle! Looking forward to a pain-free reread very soon
August 9, 2025
Having been a fan of the podcast, it was honestly fascinating to listen to the difference Brendan's choices for the audiobook made. "Fire in the Skies" particularly had a whole different vibe (still wonderful, just very different!). Lots of fun.
Caimh's New Tina Count:
"Dance with the Devil": Tina is Stanley's honeypot for luring Dave Marks
"Do the Research": Tina is the practitioner who intervenes with Brian.
Caimh's New Tina Count:
"Dance with the Devil": Tina is Stanley's honeypot for luring Dave Marks
"Do the Research": Tina is the practitioner who intervenes with Brian.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 26, 2025
3,25-3,5 (rounded up)
December 21, 2025
Overall thoughts: One of those collections that struggles a bit just by the simple fact of presenting similar stories one after another - I'd recommend doing one here and there rather than swallowing them all in one go.
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The Raven: fun interweaving of a few different Poe stories, similar to Mike Flanagan’s House of Usher. Bit long and repetitive and I didn’t quite catch how/why/when he killed Lenore but still a pretty good time.
Do the Research: lol what a lad. reminds me of a kinder, funnier Amygdalatropolis and certainly offers a brighter ending.
Love and Death in the Time of Planned Engineering Works: again, a little long but great to see the cute quirky queer rep. shows off McDonnell’s strengths as a writer of conversations.
The Other Side: Fun in the usual ways but a little frustrating in terms of pacing imo; though of course the actual work would have been hard to make interesting, going straight from long hire to resulting action was a bit disorienting.
The Owl and the Pussycat: Kinda fun but really a bit long considering how simple it is.
A Dog’s Life: Fine.
Paint by Numbers: Cute choice of topic and resolution.
Fire in the Skies: Fine.
Dance with the Devil: Kinda long for a weak payoff, but the last line was a good laugh.
Before Your Very Eyes: Fine fine.
The Lady Rises: Funny timing with Frankenstein’s release. Pretty good!
A Good Book: I’m sure seeing Xander was cool before book five came out, but reading it after leaves this story feeling very samey.
Yes, Prime Minister: Fun, if again a little samey.
The Blitz Spirits: Pretty good.
Twas the Night Before Christmas: Very nice one to finish off the collection, and again good timing. I like the way McDonnell breaks the fourth wall in the setup.
--
The Raven: fun interweaving of a few different Poe stories, similar to Mike Flanagan’s House of Usher. Bit long and repetitive and I didn’t quite catch how/why/when he killed Lenore but still a pretty good time.
Do the Research: lol what a lad. reminds me of a kinder, funnier Amygdalatropolis and certainly offers a brighter ending.
Love and Death in the Time of Planned Engineering Works: again, a little long but great to see the cute quirky queer rep. shows off McDonnell’s strengths as a writer of conversations.
The Other Side: Fun in the usual ways but a little frustrating in terms of pacing imo; though of course the actual work would have been hard to make interesting, going straight from long hire to resulting action was a bit disorienting.
The Owl and the Pussycat: Kinda fun but really a bit long considering how simple it is.
A Dog’s Life: Fine.
Paint by Numbers: Cute choice of topic and resolution.
Fire in the Skies: Fine.
Dance with the Devil: Kinda long for a weak payoff, but the last line was a good laugh.
Before Your Very Eyes: Fine fine.
The Lady Rises: Funny timing with Frankenstein’s release. Pretty good!
A Good Book: I’m sure seeing Xander was cool before book five came out, but reading it after leaves this story feeling very samey.
Yes, Prime Minister: Fun, if again a little samey.
The Blitz Spirits: Pretty good.
Twas the Night Before Christmas: Very nice one to finish off the collection, and again good timing. I like the way McDonnell breaks the fourth wall in the setup.
November 22, 2025
When reading this review, keep in mind that I don't much like short stories. Nevertheless, I do occasionally read short story collections when they're on a subject I like, hoping to find some gems. This book had two stories that I really liked.
The first is the novella-length story "The Raven", which is a sort of origin story for Edgar Allen Poe's famous poem. Eddie is a failed poet who finds himself accosted by a raven called Frank, and by the raven's loquatious friend Gordon. Soon things escalate into an all-out war between Eddie and all winged creatures. The birds are quite clever, and Eddie's sanity begins to crack. It's hilarious.
The second standout story is "Love and Death in the Time of Planned Engineering Works". It features a heartbroken teenage girl and a troll, who also happens to be a teenage girl. They come upon one another at night on a bridge, and get to talking. It's sweet.
The other stories range from meh to almost good. The writing is good and there are often funny moments, as you'd expect from C. K. McDonnell, so none of the stories are a chore to read. But they generally have just one idea, and not enough pages to really develop it -- the reason I dislike short stories.
The first is the novella-length story "The Raven", which is a sort of origin story for Edgar Allen Poe's famous poem. Eddie is a failed poet who finds himself accosted by a raven called Frank, and by the raven's loquatious friend Gordon. Soon things escalate into an all-out war between Eddie and all winged creatures. The birds are quite clever, and Eddie's sanity begins to crack. It's hilarious.
The second standout story is "Love and Death in the Time of Planned Engineering Works". It features a heartbroken teenage girl and a troll, who also happens to be a teenage girl. They come upon one another at night on a bridge, and get to talking. It's sweet.
The other stories range from meh to almost good. The writing is good and there are often funny moments, as you'd expect from C. K. McDonnell, so none of the stories are a chore to read. But they generally have just one idea, and not enough pages to really develop it -- the reason I dislike short stories.
August 28, 2025
As someone who’s read every Bunny McGarry and Stranger Times book, Tales from Stranger Times was an instant pick for me. I was excited to jump back into that weird, magical world—and this collection definitely brought the imagination.
Each story had its own quirky vibe, and the creativity was top-notch. I did expect a bit more of Caimh McDonnell’s usual humor, though. Some stories were surprisingly dark and macabre, which added a different flavor to the mix—not bad, just unexpected.
The story with the troll was hands-down my favorite. It had that perfect blend of folklore and fun that I love about the Stranger Times universe.
What really got me buzzing was the foreword, where McDonnell mentions he has enough ideas to write 50 more books in this series. That’s music to my ears—I’m already eagerly waiting for the next one!
If you’re a fan of the series, this is a great little detour into its stranger corners. Just go in knowing it’s a bit moodier than usual, but still packed with the kind of storytelling that keeps us coming back.
Each story had its own quirky vibe, and the creativity was top-notch. I did expect a bit more of Caimh McDonnell’s usual humor, though. Some stories were surprisingly dark and macabre, which added a different flavor to the mix—not bad, just unexpected.
The story with the troll was hands-down my favorite. It had that perfect blend of folklore and fun that I love about the Stranger Times universe.
What really got me buzzing was the foreword, where McDonnell mentions he has enough ideas to write 50 more books in this series. That’s music to my ears—I’m already eagerly waiting for the next one!
If you’re a fan of the series, this is a great little detour into its stranger corners. Just go in knowing it’s a bit moodier than usual, but still packed with the kind of storytelling that keeps us coming back.
September 22, 2025
OK - if you have read the other short story book and listened to the podcasts you might think twice about this (and give it 3 stars say). If not then it's very worthwhile and 4 stars.
In the audio book you get around 10 hours listening and 15 stories. However the majority are either in the other short story book or the podcasts or both. I think 4 are actually new. One of those is quite long and is reasonably entertaining. 2 of the others I really liked and the other one was ok. Of the older ones generally I probably preferred the podcast version though one on here (Before Your Very Eyes) is much better than the podcast version - the narrator really nails it.
A decent set of stories though bear in mind the majority are not directly linked to the Stranger Times books themselves (a couple are loosely linked).
In the audio book you get around 10 hours listening and 15 stories. However the majority are either in the other short story book or the podcasts or both. I think 4 are actually new. One of those is quite long and is reasonably entertaining. 2 of the others I really liked and the other one was ok. Of the older ones generally I probably preferred the podcast version though one on here (Before Your Very Eyes) is much better than the podcast version - the narrator really nails it.
A decent set of stories though bear in mind the majority are not directly linked to the Stranger Times books themselves (a couple are loosely linked).
September 19, 2025
Not sure these are Tales from The Stranger Times, more like weird and strange stories, mostly Manchester based.
I really did enjoy these ‘Tales’ as they had the hallmarks of a CK McDonnell story and were filled with his sense of humo(u)r. For me they were not exactly Tales from The Stranger Times as much as they were weird and wonderful short stories with a touch of magic, mysticism, and mayhem, with a lot of bad people, animals, and things, and a massive dose of humo(u)r, mostly served dry. Manchester reigns supreme in these stories (well parts of it are mentioned in passing in almost every tale). Would these Tales make the cut in The Strange Times? Maybe!
I really did enjoy these ‘Tales’ as they had the hallmarks of a CK McDonnell story and were filled with his sense of humo(u)r. For me they were not exactly Tales from The Stranger Times as much as they were weird and wonderful short stories with a touch of magic, mysticism, and mayhem, with a lot of bad people, animals, and things, and a massive dose of humo(u)r, mostly served dry. Manchester reigns supreme in these stories (well parts of it are mentioned in passing in almost every tale). Would these Tales make the cut in The Strange Times? Maybe!
September 17, 2025
Normally short stories aren't my favorite books to buy, the stories can be uneven. But I've reached the third story in this book and it's fantastic. This is great urban fantasy. Two young women, a bridge, a bit of troll history, cell phones, an old book, Facebook, WhatsApp, a broken heart, a cheating ex. It's got me smiling because the humor is modern, a tad dark, with wry plays on current events and issues and female outrage.
It's a great short story: Love and Death in the Time of Planned Engineering Works.
It's a great short story: Love and Death in the Time of Planned Engineering Works.
October 17, 2025
A really well rounded collection of stories. I’m not the biggest fan of short stories myself but I felt it necessary to continue my exploration of the Stranger Times universe. Despite my dislike for short stories this was a fun read, Caimh has covered so much in such a short book. I’ve enjoyed seeing bits and bobs which have been taken form these stories and fleshed out fully in the main series, this universe just keeps growing!
Now I’ll be waiting till Christmas to start read the fifth instalment, it would be rude not to.
Now I’ll be waiting till Christmas to start read the fifth instalment, it would be rude not to.
September 23, 2025
Great short reads!
Great collection of short stories from the Stranger Times-iverse.
Several have been seen before from The Stranger Times podcasts and ends of the books. All are well worth the read (and/or re-read).
Humor, demons, and humanity (good and bad and in-between.
Great collection of short stories from the Stranger Times-iverse.
Several have been seen before from The Stranger Times podcasts and ends of the books. All are well worth the read (and/or re-read).
Humor, demons, and humanity (good and bad and in-between.
November 2, 2025
Awesome. Heard a lot of them on the podcast but always good to hear again read by the phenomenal Brendan McDonald. The nuances & accents that he brings to the stories is amazing. Caimh creates an amazing world that's so realistic you can really visualise & imagine the places & events taking place!
August 27, 2025
For fans of Stranger Times series.Only Grip is short short stories otherwise would have got 4⭐s
Read
September 5, 2025Flew through this in a matter of days. Not a weak story amongst them. Perfectly crafted, enjoyable and darkly funny tales.
September 14, 2025
What a brilliant set of stories and to set it off with The Raven was a great idea. Always love how Caimh’s twisted mind works some amazing stories a must read for anyone who loves his stories
September 22, 2025
This series is just impeccable. So clever, so funny, but still very emotional. Highly recommend for urban fantasy readers looking for something smart and new.
September 26, 2025
Must read if you enjoy the series.
October 5, 2025
2.5 stars
This was fine but I miss the main characters.
This was fine but I miss the main characters.
October 10, 2025
This is short-stories that were up for the X-Files and failed out. Same lack of resolution to each story. I need to know!!! Enjoyed it though.
November 16, 2025
Humor, supernatural storytelling, with social commentary sprinkled in so carefully, you'd miss it if you weren't paying attention.
Absolute Stanger Times cannon. Absolutely loved it.
Absolute Stanger Times cannon. Absolutely loved it.
August 26, 2025
Beware - not the next in the series.
It’s a series of short stories that I guess could be in the ST, not the next in the exploits of the ST gang. Disappointing and have given up.
It’s a series of short stories that I guess could be in the ST, not the next in the exploits of the ST gang. Disappointing and have given up.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews