An extraordinary collection of short stories from the award-winning author of Sarah Canary. Including "Praxis", the story about a theater where the real and unreal collide; "The Poplar Street Study", Fowler's darkly comic account of an alien invasion; and "The Gates of Ghosts", in which a child journeys to a strange and deadly world, this anthology of 13 tales also features a new foreword by the author.

The lake was full of artificial things - The Poplar Street study - Face value - The dragon's head - The war of the roses - Contention - Recalling Cinderella - Other planes - The gate of ghosts - The bog people -Wild boys: variations on a theme - The view from Venus - Praxis