Blood RED. Paul Kane

      Short, Scary Tales Publications

      Birmingham, England

      - 2016 -

      Copyright ©2015 Paul Kane

      Introduction copyright ©2015 Alison Littlewood

      Cover art copyright ©1998 Dave McKean

      RED (previously published by Skullvines Press, 2008.

      Cover art copyright ©1994 Dave McKean.)

      Blood RED (original to this edition) copyright ©2015 Paul Kane

      RED and Blood RED title logos copyright ©2015 Dave McKean

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, scanning, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission from the publisher.

      This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

      eBook ISBN: 978-1-909640-46-7

      2016 SST Publications eBook Edition

      Published by

      Short, Scary Tales Publications

      15 North Roundhay

      Stechford

      Birmingham

      B33 9PE

      England

      www.sstpublications.co.uk

      eBook design by Paul Fry

      First Digital Edition: January 2016

      PRAISE FOR RED

      ‘RED not only tips its hat to “Little Red Riding Hood,” but “Peter And The Wolf,” and “Who’s Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf?” and every werewolf type motif in between... This time around Kane puts a twisted horror spin to it, with even a fair amount of social criticism thrown in for good measure... Kane does an incredible job of combining horror and humor into one tasty morsel.’

      (Cemetery Dance Magazine)

      ‘Kane expands on the “Little Red Riding Hood” mythos with a sharply-written novella that pits a descendent of the classic fairy tale character against the “real” creature of the same story. But make NO mistake: this isn’t for kids! You can tell Kane had a real ball twisting time updating “Riding Hood”, especially in how he has crafted this new, psycho-sexual “wolf.” For the sake of not ruining anything else, let’s just say RED is a real BLOODY good time.’

      (Horror Fiction Review)

      ‘RED is a gleefully gruesome tale that moves at an excellent pace. Its length is a joy, reminiscent of a line from another fairy tale: “Not too big, not too small, just right.” Paul Kane does a rip-roaring rendition of the Red Riding Hood story… He has the gift of summing up a situation in a sentence. RED is wonderfully written; it is easy to sink one’s teeth into it and devour it with relish.’

      (Hellnotes)

      ‘This is a good scary story for those stormy nights or bright days. It is strong enough to terrify either way and will stay in your mind for days afterwards. Stories like this don’t come along very often, as all readers know.’

      (Horror Bound Magazine)

      ‘RED is bloody brilliant – clever, classy and bound to chill you to the bone!’

      (Horror World)

      ‘Paul Kane has enriched the werewolf mythos with a seamless re-imagining of a hypnotically suggestive fairy tale, embellishing it with the harsh, alluring scent of an ages-old psychosexual predator who easily rivals that other undead villain from Eastern European folklore, the vampire. A relentless and grisly fairy tale for dark times, RED is filled with the blackest blood from the deepest parts of our bodies, and is thoroughly recommended.’

      (Mathew Riley, BookGeeks)

      ‘From RED’s shocking first chapter through wicked twists and turns to the end, the story surprises, intrigues and beguiles you. Paul Kane’s taut, muscular, yet descriptive prose conjures up disturbing images in your mind that you won’t be able to dislodge for months. Kane’s writing is frighteningly realistic… RED is a beautifully visceral, dark tale and if any novella was ripe for a film adaptation, it’s this one.’

      (Barbie Wilde, Female Cenobite in Hellbound: Hellraiser II and author of The Venus Complex)

      OTHER BOOKS BY PAUL KANE:

      NOVELS

      Arrowhead

      Broken Arrow

      Arrowland

      Hooded Man (Omnibus)

      The Gemini Factor

      Of Darkness and Light

      Lunar

      Sleeper(s)

      The Rainbow Man (as P.B. Kane)

      NOVELLAS

      Signs of Life

      The Lazarus Condition

      Dalton Quayle Rides Out

      RED

      Pain Cages

      Creakers (chapbook)

      The Curse of the Wolf (chapbook)

      The Bric-a-Brac Man

      COLLECTIONS

      Alone (In the Dark)

      Touching the Flame

      FunnyBones

      Peripheral Visions

      The Adventures of Dalton Quayle

      Shadow Writer

      The Butterfly Man and Other Stories

      The Spaces Between

      GHOSTS

      MONSTERS

      EDITOR & CO-EDITOR

      Shadow Writers Vol. 1 & 2

      Terror Tales #1-4

      Top International Horror

      Albions Alptraume: Zombies

      The British Fantasy Society: A Celebration

      Hellbound Hearts

      The Mammoth Book of Body Horror

      A Carnivàle of Horror: Dark Tales from the Fairground

      Beyond Rue Morgue

      NON-FICTION

      Contemporary North American Film Directors: A Wallflower Critical Guide (Major Contributor)

      Cinema Macabre (Contributor)

      The Hellraiser Films and Their Legacy

      Voices in the Dark

      Shadow Writer – The Non-Fiction. Vol. 1: Reviews

      Shadow Writer – The Non-Fiction. Vol. 2: Articles & Essays

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      My thanks to Paul Fry at SST for his unrelenting enthusiasm, not only for this project, but also a few others we