Pareidolia

My short story “Joss Papers for Porcelain Ghosts” will be published by Black Shuck Books in Pariedolia, an anthology edited by James Everington and Dan Howarth.

Have you ever seen figures in the clouds, heard voices in the sound of a detuned TV, recognised faces made by the shadows in the corner of a room? Pareidolia is the phenomenon where the mind perceives shapes, or hears voices, where none apparently exist. But what if what you were seeing was really there? What if the voice you heard really was speaking to you, calling you?

When I first heard about it, I loved the concept. It sparks so many ideas as well as reminding me of all the things I saw faces in as a child: beige floral carpets, the wood effect dashboard in my dad’s old Rover,  but most of all, my mother’s collection of oversized Chinese ceramics.  And that’s all I’ll say on the matter… for now.

The TOC has also been released:

1. Into the Wood ~ Sarah Read

2. Joss Papers for Porcelain Ghosts ~ Eliza Chan

3. What Can You Do About a Man Like That? ~ Tim Major

4. The Lonely ~ Rich Hawkins

5. A Shadow Flits ~ Carly Holmes

6. The Butchery Tree ~ G.V. Anderson

7. The Lens of Dying ~ Charlotte Bond

8. How to Stay Afloat When Drowning ~ Daniel Braum

9. Geode ~ Rosanne Rabinowitz

10. House of Faces ~ Andrew David Barker

It is being officially launched at Edge-Lit in July but sadly I won’t be there this year. Please pick up your copy at the event, or you can always preorder now.