Penfold's Menu of Magic and Malice

<p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>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.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>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.</span></p><ul><li><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>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.</span></li><li><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Two boys foraging for wild mushrooms discover a new species of fungus at the same time it discovers them.</span></li><li><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>A woman introduces her granddaughter to the matriarchal skill-the ability to charm a carnivorous swamp cryptid.</span></li><li><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>A pirate ship's bounty includes a hogshead containing the body of a young woman and rumors fly that she is a mermaid.</span></li><li><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>A grave-robbing gnome and his family meet a rookie detective determined to solve the crime and make his name.</span></li><li><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>In a post-apocalyptic world a father battles his estranged daughter for command of their tribe.</span></li></ul><p></p>