Strange Stories of Sand and Sea is an anthology of sea tales edited by Esther Schrader, released by Fine Tooth Press. It is substantial with 310 pages with 19 stories and carries a rather hefty $19.95 list price. Production qualities are pretty good with few typos, although David Charles Flynn's name was omitted from the table of contents.

I like fanciful maritime stories, and this has just about everything. we have sailing ships, whaling ships and ship wrecks. We have tales of diving, mermaids, silkies, piracy and ghosts. Themes revolve around sadness, love, loss and revenge, and can be said to span many genres. Most of these tales are engaging enough, a reasonably pleasant diversion. It would probably work particularly well as a beach read, particularly in the off season. I can imagine a beach chair in autumn, mostly deserted with a partly cloudy November sky.

Here are the contents:

The Seal King - Beth Hudson
The Insidious - Ian Derbyshire
Sinker - Christine Morgan
The Purple Rose - Ali Al Saeed
Ourboros Sleeps - Jason Kahn
The Problem with Women - Rosalind Barden
Sea of Gold - Tala Bar
Captain Newman's Tale - Stoney Setzer
Beach Reading - Ryan Thomas
The Haunting of Sarah Beckmore - CM Clifton
A Few Abnormalities - Micael Kechula
Half-Life's a Beach - Brett Hudgins
Bottles of Lloyd - Greer Woodward
The Interview - Ron Shiflet
The Vendetta - Michael Stone
Guardian of the Gate - Ken Staley
The Island In-Between - William Mingin
The Colour of Blood - Alison Littlewood
Rip Tide - Diane Arrelle
Selling Seashells - Brian Rosenberger
Song of the Neried - Mike Driver
Tide Pool - Sarah Graziani
Green Fire - Frida Westford
Sand-Castle Knights - Trent Roman
Sea Haven - Esther Schrader
Where Two Worlds Meet - Jennifer Baumer
The Day of Water and WoeChrisitne Poulsen
Shell Song - Jonathan Oliver
Birds, Gods and the Naming of Things - Paul Abbamondi
The Lutes of Beacon Island - Alan Gordon
The Audrea Jean - Frank Menser
Beside the Seaside, Beside the Sea - Michael Keyton
Cthulhu Calling Collect - Gregory Story
Song of the Sea - Pam Skochinski
Can You Hear Me? - David Kane
Tell Me, Lover, Are You Lonely? - Richard Bray
Sea Change - Thomas Canfield
A Darkness on the Deep - Wesley Lambert
Neptune's Delight - David Charles Flynn
The Life Machine - Nick Cato
A Vacation to Die For - Rob Rosen
Beach Moths - Lorne Dixon
The Hills, the Harbor and the Deep Blue Sea - JJ Sargent

Anyway, I also get such books to see if there are unknown Cthulhu mythos tales, and whaddaya know, we have Cthulhu Calling Collect by Gregory Story. He is a new author to me. His effort has a decent premise, where a physician specilaizing in Alzheimer's gathers hundreds of his patients on a Pacific cruise ship and the caregivers notice they all keep chanting a particular unintelligble phrase. The execution, alas, was more pedestrian. He commits the mortal sin of invoking the name of Lovecraft while using HPL's fictional creations. I'm glad I read it but its presence by no means renders this an essential purchase for mythos fans.

I am a fan of more macabre weird fiction so for me the best story in the book was a very nifty little story of alien encounter by Ron Shiflet, The Interview. I also was partial to Selling Seashells by Brian Rosenberger. There should be something here for everyone who likes stories about the ocean. ( )