Twelve stories for anyone who's ever been burned. Errant husbands, doomed newlyweds, bruised boxers, abandoned wives, damaged former-soldiers and, of course, the ghosts of the ones that got away - these are just a few of the protagonists that feature in a collection of stories and vignettes that explore the dark side of love. Ranging from the visceral to the tender, each deals with what can happen when the light of its promise gives way to the dark of its night. How it can injure, corrode and corrupt. What it does to us and what it can make us do. ***Please Note: Three stories from this collection - "Glass Jaw", "Itch/Scratch" and "Hocus Pocus" are also available separately on this site.*** The following extract is from the story "Needs":

A rebound relationship fills with complications that are going to hurt.

The closeness between her brilliant, beautiful mother and her talented, intelligent daughter re-enforces a woman's sense of her own inferiority. Add to this her lifelong horror of bats, and things go from bad to worse.

A new lighthouse keeper receives a mysterious visitor.

Hannah is on her way to the bus stop when she is accosted by a man offering her eternal life. Once she gets over the surprise, her feelings are decidedly mixed

A flash fiction - a man is ominously pursued. What is he fleeing from? What is following him? Will he manage to escape?

Who are the Boetmen? What are the Boetmen? What do they do? Take a journey into the world of eco-horror In this terrifying representation of toxic masculinity.