Moon Falling Short Stories (Gothic Fantasy)

The moon has fascinated humankind since the dawn of language, reflected here in ancient myths and folklore, joined by new tales from open submissions.

With tales from myth, folklore and modern writers, Moon Falling Short Stories brings a potent mix of superstition and belief that reaches back to the gods of Babylon, Ancient Egypt and Greece. Khonsu, Innana, Artemis and Thoth are just a few of the deities who brought a mix of love, sensuality and war to the ancient perceptions of the world. In one tradition regarding the Ancient Japanese Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, the moon, he was the estranged husband of the sun goddess Amaterasu, ever to chase her across the sky. From the Cherokee there are tales of the Moon being held captive, with Coyote hurling the moon each night out of reach of rescue, and for the Celts of Ireland the Moon Goddess Rhiannon was a symbol of rest and wisdom, the Queen of the Fairies. And of course the moon brings to mind curses, howling wolves, the wolf moon and the harvest moon, while offering a guiding light at night for the weary traveller. There are so many inspirations for the modern storyteller, many of whom submitted wonderful tales to this intimate portrait of the seductive, powerful moon.

New, contemporary and notable writers featured are: Colleen Anderson, V.M. Ayala, Hannah Birss, Elou Carroll, Alex Dartnell, Lauren D. Fulter, Lora Gray, Sydney Paige Guerrero, Brandon Ketchum, Annika Barranti Klein, Amanda Cecelia Lang, A.Y. Lu, Sean MacKendrick, Tara Macpherson, R. Jean Mathieu, Soumya Sundar Mukherjee, Lee Murray, Nartana Premachandra, Corrine Pridmore, R.J. Ren, Zach Shephard, Ginger Strivelli, Kate Wilmot, Cassondra Windwalker, and Nemma Wollenfang. These appear alongside classic work by Hans Christian Andersen, Algernon Blackwood, the Brothers Grimm, H.G. Wells and more, as well as folklore, myths and indigenous tales from around the world.

The Flame Tree Gothic Fantasy, Classic Stories and Epic Tales collections bring together the entire range of myth, folklore and modern short fiction. Highlighting the roots of suspense, supernatural, science fiction and mystery stories the books in Flame Tree Collections series are beautifully presented, perfect as a gift and offer a lifetime of reading pleasure.

Ben Moore (Foreword) is a professor of astrophysics at the University of Zurich. His research is focused on understanding the origin and evolution of the Universe and how stars, planets and galaxies form. He also communicates science to the public through different media, including books, music and collaborations with artists. He writes a regular column for Das Magazin and was scientist in residence at the Rietberg Museum and the KOSMOS cultural centre in Zurich where he hosted the occasional ‘Late night science show’. Among his published works is the book Moon: Past, Present & Future.