In this new collection, Simon Strantzas presents eleven tales, long and short, that display the wide array of motifs he utilizes. “In the Event of Death” tells of what a man finds when he explores his dead mother’s house. “Circle of Blood” is one of several stories that distinctively fuse a hard-boiled crime scenario with the weird. “Antripuu” relates what four hikers find in a remote forest. “Clay Pigeons” is an expansive novella set in Port Said, drawing upon the tradition of film noir in its suggestion of horrors amidst the parched desert of Egypt.