Faces In Things: The patient labyrinth and other stories

by Chris Bell

This new short story collection by the author of ‘The Bumper Book of Lies’, ‘Songshifting’, ‘Liquidambar’, ‘The Concentrated Essence of Any Number of Ravens’ and ‘Saccade’ incorporates:

* Preface by Chris Bell
* 17 short stories, 4 of them first published in international anthologies
* 13 previously unpublished stories
* A story about to appear in The Five Senses of Horror.
* An eclectic playlist of recommended music to accompany the stories

What reviewers said about Chris Bell’s first story collection ‘Bumper Book of Lies’:

“Nice production and an attractive, hefty little paperback of 251 pages” ELLEN DATLOW, ‘The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror’ (10th Edition)

“Bell’s stories fully succeed in their stated intention of being ‘incantation[s] to summon an atmosphere’” PAUL DI FILIPPO, writer and critic, ‘On Books’, ‘Asimov’s Science Fiction’

“‘The Bumper Book of Lies’ is gorgeous! Quite possibly the nicest small press publication we’ve seen in years” SALLY McBRIDE, co-editor, ‘TransVersions’ (Canada)

“I was incredibly impressed... For those who enjoy original, creative writing, I highly recommend this book of stories” KELLI J. SMITH, editor, ‘Infidels & Popstars’

Face In Things: Haunted phones; unforgettable sandwiches; celebrity cults; warrior ghosts; consumer greed; unearthly landscapes; urban living; urbane dating; inspirational perfume; a captivating portrait; man overboard; buggy implants; a grieving heart; a paean to a closed-down restaurant; an unhinged man evoking a murdered woman’s past; a tantalisingly familiar jazz pianist revealing secrets of the Bronx; and the futile search for a perfect weekend.

We’re all searching for recognition, for faces in things, trying to make sense of the past in order to face the unknown future. This new collection of stories from the author of ‘The Bumper Book of Lies’, ‘Liquidambar’, ‘Songshifting’ and ‘Saccade’ draws on multiple genres and influences to create an homage to nostalgia, memory, music and longing.

252 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 2, 2017

About the author

Chris Bell

The author was born in Wales in 1960. In 1976 he was the youngest poet ever to be published in former Poetry Society chairman Norman Hidden’s magazine Workshop New Poetry (UK). In January 2006 his poem about the writer Richard Brautigan, ‘The Graves Have Turned to Powdered Wind’, won the Edit Red Writers Choice Award. His poetry has been published in Axiom (Wales); Scree (England); Sivullinen (Finland); foam:e and Snorkel (Australia).

His fiction has appeared in The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror (Tenth Annual Edition) (US), in which his short story collection The Bumper Book of Lies received an honourable mention; The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror #21; and This Is The Summer of Love (New Writers Special) (UK); Not One of Us (US); Zygote and TransVersions (Canada); Zahir (US); The Third Alternative and Postscripts (UK); The Heidelberg Review (Germany) and Takahe (New Zealand). His first novel, Liquidambar, inspired by Edward Hopper’s paintings, won the UKA Press ‘Search For A Great Read’ competition.