The New Flesh: Tales of Shapeshifters and Strange Transformations

by Mark Morris (Editor)

‘It had taken, at most, three seconds for the elevator to pass downwards from the sixteenth to the twelfth … Mr Meldrum had ceased to be, and something hideously different took his place.’ A man convinced that he has developed a phantom beak edges towards a terrible metamorphosis. Interlopers dismissing the superstitions of hare-women in the countryside pay for their scepticism with blood. The cruel jokes of a girl at the village festival of the Green Man lead her to a crueller transfiguring in the woods. Tracing the quintessential horror concept of the strange transformation from the Victorian era through to the modern day, horror writer, expert and enthusiast Mark Morris presents a thrilling selection of metamorphic tales. Including stories of bestial shapeshifters such as the tiger-men, fox spirits and werewolves of world folklore, this collection also presents some of the weirder shifts of the horror genre, where a flatworm masquerades as a boy, a girl becomes one with a bridge, and a babe-in-arms and her beekeeper father come to reflect the creatures of the hives.

Genres: Horror

317 pages, Paperback

Published March 19, 2026

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Reviews

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

The New Flesh: Tales of Shapeshifters and Strange Transformations:

•Transformation - Mary Shelley (1831)
•A Pastoral Horror - Arthur Conan Doyle (1890)
•Mr Meldrum's Mania - John Metcalfe (1931)
•The Black Hare - Flavia Richardson (1933)
•The Beautiful People - Charles Beaumont (1952)
•Furry Night - Joan Aiken (1958)
•Royal Jelly - Roald Dahl (1960)
•Temple of the Fox - James Wade (1965)
•David's Worm - Brian Lumley (1971)
•Strange Roots - David Case (1971)
•Arbor Day - Mary Danby (1984)
•The Jaguar Hunter - Lucius Shepard (1985)
•The Girl on the Suicide Bridge - Johnny Mains (2014)

[Chris Greensmith · Rating 3 out of 5]

"But still, the suicides stopped. In Scarborough, the suicides stopped."

[Steven West · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great, eclectic ensemble here, capped by Johnny Mains' melancholic, empathetic Scarborough-set 'The Girl on the Suicide Bridge'.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been a fan of the British Library Tales of the Weird series for a while, there's such a variety of themes that it's a great way to delve into weird fiction. You can tell the folks who put these books together are really passionate about the genre.

As with most of the volumes I've read, the theme here was of particular interest to me (usually how I select which volumes in this serirs to read). What was a nice change up this time is that this volume contains some more contemporary stories alongside the usual selection of tales from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Not only was this a nice surprise, but it also served to illustrate, within the overall theme of transformations, how the weird fiction genre has evolved over time.

[p. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5☆

I liked how much variety was in here, and they were a banger after a banger. Just an overall very neat and well curated collection.

Favourite entries: "Transformation" by Mary Shelley, "A Pastoral Horror" by Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Black Hare" by Flavia Richardson, "Furry Night" by Joan Aiken, "Temple of the Fox" by James Wade, "Strange Roots" by David Case (I choose to believe the character there is Bulgarian), "Arbor Day" by Mary Danby

[Michael John Paul McManus · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, another great anthology of weird tales. The New Flesh: Tales of Shapeshifters and Strange Transformations edited by Mark Morris is brilliant. I'd never read any of the short stories before and enjoyed everyone. Well done to Mark Morris and British Library of the Weird for producing another great book. 10/10