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Five Doses: a collection of horror, cyberpunk, fantasy, sci-fi and steampunk stories
The author of the best-selling Shadow Fabric mythos administers some lethal doses of fiction across five genres.
In the fantasy story, ALONE WITH THE BONES, a thief is freed when mysterious and gigantic bones rise from the earth. IN LOVING MEMORY, with its subtle sci-fi undertones, brings us a sad tale of childhood mischief that unknowingly ends in adulthood. The cyberpunk episode, ALPHA BETA GAMMA KILL, has been taken from the popular Chaos Halo series giving us a dystopian future where food is in short supply. With THE REBIRTH, we are shown Cassell’s unquestionable passion for supernatural horror, in which a school teacher is gifted a peculiar Easter egg. Finally, there’s the flash fiction steampunk piece, VANISHED, about the short-lived maiden voyage of an airship.
The stories in this collection have been previously published in anthologies, apart from both 'punk yarns which were inspired by cosplayers photographed by Future Chronicles Photography.
In the fantasy story, ALONE WITH THE BONES, a thief is freed when mysterious and gigantic bones rise from the earth. IN LOVING MEMORY, with its subtle sci-fi undertones, brings us a sad tale of childhood mischief that unknowingly ends in adulthood. The cyberpunk episode, ALPHA BETA GAMMA KILL, has been taken from the popular Chaos Halo series giving us a dystopian future where food is in short supply. With THE REBIRTH, we are shown Cassell’s unquestionable passion for supernatural horror, in which a school teacher is gifted a peculiar Easter egg. Finally, there’s the flash fiction steampunk piece, VANISHED, about the short-lived maiden voyage of an airship.
The stories in this collection have been previously published in anthologies, apart from both 'punk yarns which were inspired by cosplayers photographed by Future Chronicles Photography.
ebook
Published May 29, 2018
About the author
Mark Cassell
64 books60 followersMark Cassell lives on the south-east coast of England with his wife and a number of animals, including Arnie the bearded dragon. Mark's jobs have included baker, lab technician, driving instructor, actor, and was once a spotlight operator for an Elvis impersonator. Best known for supernatural horror, he has seen almost 50 stories feature in magazines and anthologies by, among others, Crystal Lake Publishing, and The Sinister Horror Company, where he proves his penchant for ignoring typical horror tropes and casting them into the void.
His best-selling debut novel THE SHADOW FABRIC is closely followed by the short story collection STITCHES AND THREADS, both of which are a fraction of an expanding mythos of modern-day cosmic horror. The novella HELL CAT OF THE HOLT further explores the highly regarded Shadow Fabric mythos with ghosts and a black cat legend.
Collaborating with Future Chronicles Photography, Mark’s dystopian cyberpunk collection CHAOS HALO and his Lovecraftian steampunk horror novelette IN THE COMPANY OF FALSE GODS sees his prose in other genres.
Website: http://www.markcassell.co.uk
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mark_Cassell
His best-selling debut novel THE SHADOW FABRIC is closely followed by the short story collection STITCHES AND THREADS, both of which are a fraction of an expanding mythos of modern-day cosmic horror. The novella HELL CAT OF THE HOLT further explores the highly regarded Shadow Fabric mythos with ghosts and a black cat legend.
Collaborating with Future Chronicles Photography, Mark’s dystopian cyberpunk collection CHAOS HALO and his Lovecraftian steampunk horror novelette IN THE COMPANY OF FALSE GODS sees his prose in other genres.
Website: http://www.markcassell.co.uk
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mark_Cassell
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 5, 2021
These 5 stories were ok, the first story had a good plot, but the other four stories, felt incomplete, like they were a section from another story, and all the stories seamed to have a vagueness to them, and I found some of the characters and settings where stereotypical. All in all this book was ok
March 23, 2020
This collection of five stories reads more like an anthology. Each tale is so varied that you’d be forgiven for thinking they were written by five different authors. And that, is a great thing.
There are many horror elements on display from dark fantasy to ghost story to Sci-Fi to supernatural terror; all tainted with an uneasy vibe that lingers throughout like a tentacled leviathan in your peripheral vision.
Of the five stories, one was great, one was really great, one was superbly fantastic, and two were – without wanting to sound too crass – extremely prick-teasey.
Let me elaborate.
The opening Alone With the Bones follows a dude who starts the story in jail. He’s a thief and is surely deserving of his place behind the bars. Suddenly some supernatural earthquake-type event unfolds outside his cell, destroying the building and allowing the fresh air of freedom to massage his cheeks.
Massive bone-like structures pierce the earth, decimating buildings and killing almost everyone in the village. Our crim eventually finds out who or what these bones belong to, and his thieving tendencies rise to the fore once again. Perhaps he should have kept his grubby little fingers to himself, or maybe not?
I’m not sure when this story is supposed to be set but I got a real middle ages vibe from it. This was the story I found ‘great’.
In Loving Memory follows, where our protagonist tells the story of his best friend being killed when they were kids. It was obviously a very tragic time and one that he’s never forgotten. Now an adult with a decent job and a happy marriage, things go downhill when his dead friend visits him at work.
This ‘really great’ story gave a new angle to the ghost story. Having your dead best friend visiting you when you’re an adult and he’s still a kid, but a kid with answers and knowledge of some sort of higher power, was really creepy. Things turn weird and horrifying when alive-adult friend follows the instructions of dead-kid friend and visits the place where he was killed.
This story really put a downer on things, awesomely!
Now the first of the teasing tales. Alpha Beta Gamma Kill is set in a dystopian future where people are bred in labs while a militant force hunts them down for kicks. At least I think so. This story was too short, but I mean that in a ‘please give me more’ whiney voice, instead of a critical observation. Had this been the first chapter of a Sci-Fi novel I’d have been hooked.
But I needn’t have worried about all that, because The Rebirth was truly excellent. This had all the elements of otherworldly forces and the great unknown, but presented them in such a way that this could all actually happen. Frighteningly realistic, although fantastical, if that makes sense?
A young teacher is preparing to judge her class’s Easter Egg competition the following morning, when she hears a knock at her door. There’s no one there, but there is this mysterious wooden egg left outside. Awww, how thoughtful of someone to leave it for her. Or not.
She takes the egg into school where it decides to ‘hatch’. But it doesn’t hatch a timber chick or a wooden egg white, oh no. Slick vines covered in slime, muck, and gore sprout forth and attempt to capture the kids. The egg spawns a disgusting forest of sorts, and takes the teacher and one of the kids captive.
This was so well described that I’m not doing it justice here. You really need to read this yourself to appreciate the horror and full-on weirdness of the piece. Things eventually get tied up (after a fashion) but you’re still left wondering ‘whaaaaat?’, such is the bizarreness of the story.
Things close with Vanished. This is the shortest story, a brief flash fiction piece that, again, I wanted more of. I felt this one was too short and the ambiguous ending did leave me a little unsatisfied, but hey, that’s what collections do.
This was a great book that I flew through in only a couple of sittings. I read The Shadow Fabric a few years ago and would recommend that and this in a heartbeat. This is a great introduction to Mark Cassell that will leave you craving for more, like a horror junkie who’s on their last vial of scare-juice.
There are many horror elements on display from dark fantasy to ghost story to Sci-Fi to supernatural terror; all tainted with an uneasy vibe that lingers throughout like a tentacled leviathan in your peripheral vision.
Of the five stories, one was great, one was really great, one was superbly fantastic, and two were – without wanting to sound too crass – extremely prick-teasey.
Let me elaborate.
The opening Alone With the Bones follows a dude who starts the story in jail. He’s a thief and is surely deserving of his place behind the bars. Suddenly some supernatural earthquake-type event unfolds outside his cell, destroying the building and allowing the fresh air of freedom to massage his cheeks.
Massive bone-like structures pierce the earth, decimating buildings and killing almost everyone in the village. Our crim eventually finds out who or what these bones belong to, and his thieving tendencies rise to the fore once again. Perhaps he should have kept his grubby little fingers to himself, or maybe not?
I’m not sure when this story is supposed to be set but I got a real middle ages vibe from it. This was the story I found ‘great’.
In Loving Memory follows, where our protagonist tells the story of his best friend being killed when they were kids. It was obviously a very tragic time and one that he’s never forgotten. Now an adult with a decent job and a happy marriage, things go downhill when his dead friend visits him at work.
This ‘really great’ story gave a new angle to the ghost story. Having your dead best friend visiting you when you’re an adult and he’s still a kid, but a kid with answers and knowledge of some sort of higher power, was really creepy. Things turn weird and horrifying when alive-adult friend follows the instructions of dead-kid friend and visits the place where he was killed.
This story really put a downer on things, awesomely!
Now the first of the teasing tales. Alpha Beta Gamma Kill is set in a dystopian future where people are bred in labs while a militant force hunts them down for kicks. At least I think so. This story was too short, but I mean that in a ‘please give me more’ whiney voice, instead of a critical observation. Had this been the first chapter of a Sci-Fi novel I’d have been hooked.
But I needn’t have worried about all that, because The Rebirth was truly excellent. This had all the elements of otherworldly forces and the great unknown, but presented them in such a way that this could all actually happen. Frighteningly realistic, although fantastical, if that makes sense?
A young teacher is preparing to judge her class’s Easter Egg competition the following morning, when she hears a knock at her door. There’s no one there, but there is this mysterious wooden egg left outside. Awww, how thoughtful of someone to leave it for her. Or not.
She takes the egg into school where it decides to ‘hatch’. But it doesn’t hatch a timber chick or a wooden egg white, oh no. Slick vines covered in slime, muck, and gore sprout forth and attempt to capture the kids. The egg spawns a disgusting forest of sorts, and takes the teacher and one of the kids captive.
This was so well described that I’m not doing it justice here. You really need to read this yourself to appreciate the horror and full-on weirdness of the piece. Things eventually get tied up (after a fashion) but you’re still left wondering ‘whaaaaat?’, such is the bizarreness of the story.
Things close with Vanished. This is the shortest story, a brief flash fiction piece that, again, I wanted more of. I felt this one was too short and the ambiguous ending did leave me a little unsatisfied, but hey, that’s what collections do.
This was a great book that I flew through in only a couple of sittings. I read The Shadow Fabric a few years ago and would recommend that and this in a heartbeat. This is a great introduction to Mark Cassell that will leave you craving for more, like a horror junkie who’s on their last vial of scare-juice.
December 30, 2020
~Entertaining and Original~
Five Doses is a quick, fun read that you won’t be able to put down. A collection of five stories from diverse genres (horror, cyberpunk, fantasy, sci-fi and steampunk), this author knows how to spin an entertaining tale. I’ve been a fan of Cassell’s work ever since I read The Shadow Fabric (also highly recommended!) Even if you don’t normally read some of these genres, you might be surprised at how quickly they draw you in. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but the first story had such a cool premise that I’ve never seen done before and will never forget. Well done. Grab it.
Five Doses is a quick, fun read that you won’t be able to put down. A collection of five stories from diverse genres (horror, cyberpunk, fantasy, sci-fi and steampunk), this author knows how to spin an entertaining tale. I’ve been a fan of Cassell’s work ever since I read The Shadow Fabric (also highly recommended!) Even if you don’t normally read some of these genres, you might be surprised at how quickly they draw you in. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but the first story had such a cool premise that I’ve never seen done before and will never forget. Well done. Grab it.
March 13, 2020
A dip into the world of Mark Cassell's stories never disappoints, especially if you want some dark horror, sometimes edging on the surreal - In Loving Memory certainly provides that. I hope for more tales based in the sci-fi world created in Alpha Beta Gamma Kill, which left me intrigued, and Vanished also left me wanting more.
This free showcase of Mark Cassell's writing style provides a taste of what Mark Cassell can offer, but be aware he can go a lot darker too, especially if you dare to read The Shadow Fabric.
This free showcase of Mark Cassell's writing style provides a taste of what Mark Cassell can offer, but be aware he can go a lot darker too, especially if you dare to read The Shadow Fabric.
November 24, 2018
It's Got Everything
Five great stories, all different and all excellent, well told with great details, reading Mark's work is like watching a play unfold, always leaves me wanting more.
Five great stories, all different and all excellent, well told with great details, reading Mark's work is like watching a play unfold, always leaves me wanting more.
June 7, 2018
Five Doses
A little bit for everyone in one book with five different genres of tales to consume. I did love it!
A little bit for everyone in one book with five different genres of tales to consume. I did love it!
October 29, 2025
Reads more like pieces of bad dreams than solid stories. A bit hard to understand, but a new experience nonetheless since I rarely came across steampunk themed stories.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews