Lord Fox and other spine chilling tales

Nye (best known for such pungent and tumultuous adult books as Falstaff, Faust and Merlin) here turns his gift for rich language and intense imagery to a set of rather X-certificate folk tales from around the world. The title tale is a version of the Bluebeard myth, featuring a room full of butchered brides and a severed hand with which the serial killer is eventually confronted. This is a story which has been recently retold by both Angela Carter and Susan Price, and Nye emulates these writers in the ardour with which he depicts these and similar atrocities: a voracious wooden baby that swallows almost a whole village before being disembowelled by a giggling old crone; a trio of beautiful young witches who steal and stockpile eyeballs; a sentient knife that prowls the air, restlessly seeking blood. The collection also contains milder magic more tenderly told, including lovely versions of Thomas the Rhymer and Orpheus and Eurydice, and a real heart-breaker from China to open the collection. This is a feast of yarns for all ages, with Williams' fiery pastels providing a sumptuous glow to read them by.