Frances Oliver's new collection of ghostly and sinister tales has its share of phantoms and vampires - but never in their traditional character or guise.

A disabled, demented centagenarian longs to escape from her care home - but in the form of a creature she has not seen since her childhood long ago ...

A nervous, sickly little boy sent to his uncle's country home to recuperate wanders into the nearby forest and meets a group of friendly welcoming children, who always play the same ancient but exciting game ...

In the shrunken, impoverished post-climate-change world, still run by despotic corporations, a secretary wonders why her glamorous boss has asked her, of all his staff, to accom- pany him for a conference on a remote private island ...