A multi-course meal deserves to be consumed slowly, taking the time to appreciate each course. A short story collection is very much like such a meal. In her first collection of dark fiction, Valerie B. Williams has collaborated with one of her characters, Bartley Penfold, to construct an elegant repast that will leave the reader satiated, with a lingering sense of unease.

The sixteen stories contained herein cover subjects as varied as evil children, myths and legends, cursed objects, and wee folk-something for everyone. Please enjoy this amuse-bouche, courtesy of Mr. Penfold.

• A mysterious visitor to a Civil War hospital offers comfort to the wounded by offering a glimpse of their families, if they will only look into his camp mirror.
• Two boys foraging for wild mushrooms discover a new species of fungus at the same time it discovers them.
• A woman introduces her granddaughter to the matriarchal skill-the ability to charm a carnivorous swamp cryptid.
• A pirate ship's bounty includes a hogshead containing the body of a young woman, and rumors fly that she is a mermaid.
• A grave-robbing gnome and his family meet a rookie detective determined to solve the crime and make his name.
• In a post-apocalyptic world, a father battles his estranged daughter for command of their tribe.