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Terror Tales
Terror Tales of the Ocean
The rolling blue ocean. Timeless, vast, ancient, mysterious. Where eerie voices call through the lightless deeps, monstrous shapes skim beneath the waves, and legends tell of sunken cities, fiendish fogs, ships steered only by dead men, and forgotten isles where abominations lurk . . .
The multi-limbed horror in the Ross Sea
The hideous curse of Palmyra Atoll
The murderous duo of the Flying Dutchman
The devil fish of the South Pacific
The alien creatures in the English Channel
The giant predator of the Mariana Trench
Chilling tales by Peter James, Paul Finch, Adam Nevill, Stephen Laws, Lynda E. Rucker, Conrad Williams, Robert Shearman, and many other award-winning masters and mistresses of the macabre.
The multi-limbed horror in the Ross Sea
The hideous curse of Palmyra Atoll
The murderous duo of the Flying Dutchman
The devil fish of the South Pacific
The alien creatures in the English Channel
The giant predator of the Mariana Trench
Chilling tales by Peter James, Paul Finch, Adam Nevill, Stephen Laws, Lynda E. Rucker, Conrad Williams, Robert Shearman, and many other award-winning masters and mistresses of the macabre.
252 pages, Paperback
First published December 16, 2015
1 person is currently reading
106 people want to read
About the author
Paul Finch
206 books472 followersPaul Finch is a former cop and journalist, now full-time writer. Having originally written for the television series THE BILL plus children's animation and DOCTOR WHO audio dramas, he went on to write horror, but is now best known for his crime / thriller fiction.
He won the British Fantasy Award twice and the International Horror Guild Award, but since then has written two parallel series of hard-hitting crime novels, the Heck and the Lucy Clayburn novels, of which three titles have become best-sellers.
Paul lives in Wigan, Lancashire, UK with his wife and children.
He won the British Fantasy Award twice and the International Horror Guild Award, but since then has written two parallel series of hard-hitting crime novels, the Heck and the Lucy Clayburn novels, of which three titles have become best-sellers.
Paul lives in Wigan, Lancashire, UK with his wife and children.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 27, 2022
I love horror stories which are set on or near the sea. I likewise love the Terror Tales series of anthologies which are edited by Paul Finch. So, it should come as no surprise I really loved Terror Tales of the Ocean published in 2015 by Gray Friar Press. This anthology contains thirteen tales of nautical horror from ghost ships, to sea creatures, to all manner of aquatic hauntings and aberrations. Interspersed between each of these works of fiction are brief essays on various related legends, anomalies, and strange-but-true-occurrences said to have transpired around the sea.
This anthology was a fun, extraordinary read from start to finish. I thought each of its offerings was really high quality, entertaining tales, but I did still have a few which were my favorites - ones which I consider to be brilliant. Those tales were: Lie Still, Sleep Becalmed by Steve Duffy, First Miranda by Simon Strantzas, The Derelict of Death by Simon Clark and John B. Ford, Hell in the Cathedral by Paul Finch, and And This Is Where We Falter by Richard Shearman. Suffice to say, I’ll be first in line if there’s ever a Terror Tales of the Ocean Volume 2.
THE STORIES (Listed by Order of Appearance):
“Stuka Juice” by Terry Grimwood (2015) - Near the end of WWII, Hitler tasks one of his loyal soldiers to retrieve an artifact that’s been lost at sea. He believes it possesses mystical powers which will help the Nazis win the war. The use of experimental gas pumped through the breathing tubs of underwater suits thrusts a captive husband and wife duo of British officers headlong into the endeavor.
“The End of the Pier” by Stephen Laws (2015) - During 1931, a man goes to a comedy show in a theater at the end of a busy pier to exact revenge against a comedian who had been inappropriate with his girl earlier. Before he gets the chance, however, a vast tentacled creature rises from the sea below to burst through the pier and begin devouring the people within the theater.
“Lie Still, Sleep Becalmed” by Steve Duffy (2007) - Three friends boating off the Welsh coast notice something moving toward them underwater by use of a fish-finder. They then see the body of a man floating on the water which they pull aboard with a large hook. To their surprise, he opens his eyes. He’s badly disoriented and can’t seem to remember what happened to him or even how to do basic tasks. They soon come to realize something is very wrong with him. This is a great, creepy tale!
“The Seventh Wave” by Lynda E. Rucker (2015) - A woman tells the sad story of her life, its connection to the sea, and the tragedy that came from it.
“Hippocampus” by Adam Nevill (2015) - You, the reader, move through a cargo ship that’s drifting derelict on the ocean where a massacre which has recently taken place. The eviscerated carnage of its crew members remains splayed throughout and clues abound which hint at the beasts responsible for it all.
“The Offing” by Conrad Williams (2015) - A thirteen year old girl struggles to deal with her alcoholic mother while on vacation to a seaside town which is slowly dying off due to receding water levels. To make matters worse, her father who was with them seems to have disappeared.
“Sun Over the Yard Arm” by Peter James (2014) - A retired husband and wife embark on a long intercontinental boat journey with stops at several global destinations, but when they end up needing to return home to England quickly for the birth of their grandchildren, they take a less safe route back. This puts them deep at sea with no communication to the outside world for awhile. Things take a very dark turn when they encounter a bad storm that plunges them into a precarious situation. There’s nothing supernatural in this story, but it is very intense and has a twist at the ending.
“First Miranda” by Simon Strantzas (2015) - A man drives his wife out to a secluded, oceanside cabin where she and her sisters grew up in attempts to repair damage done to their marriage by his cheating. She’s reluctant to forgive him, but he hopes the idyllic location from her past will help soothe her anger towards him. This is a very well-told tale with an intriguing finale.
“The Derelict of Death” by Simon Clark and John B. Ford (1998) - The crew of the Jenny Rose notices what appears to be a giant, leering face on the horizon and a dark ship which floats out from it. Once they get close enough, they see it’s a derelict named Death. After a group of them board it, screams are heard and they do not return. There’s a lot more strange things in store for the Jenny Rose as the tale continues. This is one of the strangest and best sea stories I’ve ever read. It’s fantastic!
“The Decks Below” by Jan Edwards (2015) - A naval officer named Georgianna Forsythe investigates the recovery of a sunken, experimental submarine vessel which has been torn asunder by some powerful undersea entity. Georgianna has been altered by rival god-like beings Nyarlathotep and Nodens and now specializes in supernatural encounters. Her powers are put to the test during this investigation. Georgianna (Georgi for short) is an interesting character of whom I’d be interested in reading more stories.
“Hell In the Cathedral” by Paul Finch (2000) – This is an intense tale about a couple who take a day trip out at sea along with another couple, only to find themselves in a life-or-death struggle against an immensely powerful sea creature in its native environment. This is an excellent, edge-of-your-seat thriller!
“Hushed Will Be All Murmurs” by Adam Golaski (2015) - This one is difficult to describe. It’s a moody, surreal glimpse at two men in a boat in a world saturated by unnaturally thick fog. While I can’t quite say for sure what it’s all about, I did enjoy it.
“And This Is Where We Falter” by Richard Shearman (2015) - After an uprooted tree exposes a very old, black casket, the priest in charge of the seaside graveyard where it was found discovers a tale scrawled inside it from one of his ancestors. The tale tells of a ship’s journey long ago after it took on a mysterious, foreign passenger. This passenger brought a curse upon the ship and its crew, causing them to throw themselves overboard one-by-one to their deaths. Each time this happens another black casket appears in the distance to follow them. This is a superb story told on multiple levels. Highly recommended!
This anthology was a fun, extraordinary read from start to finish. I thought each of its offerings was really high quality, entertaining tales, but I did still have a few which were my favorites - ones which I consider to be brilliant. Those tales were: Lie Still, Sleep Becalmed by Steve Duffy, First Miranda by Simon Strantzas, The Derelict of Death by Simon Clark and John B. Ford, Hell in the Cathedral by Paul Finch, and And This Is Where We Falter by Richard Shearman. Suffice to say, I’ll be first in line if there’s ever a Terror Tales of the Ocean Volume 2.
THE STORIES (Listed by Order of Appearance):
“Stuka Juice” by Terry Grimwood (2015) - Near the end of WWII, Hitler tasks one of his loyal soldiers to retrieve an artifact that’s been lost at sea. He believes it possesses mystical powers which will help the Nazis win the war. The use of experimental gas pumped through the breathing tubs of underwater suits thrusts a captive husband and wife duo of British officers headlong into the endeavor.
“The End of the Pier” by Stephen Laws (2015) - During 1931, a man goes to a comedy show in a theater at the end of a busy pier to exact revenge against a comedian who had been inappropriate with his girl earlier. Before he gets the chance, however, a vast tentacled creature rises from the sea below to burst through the pier and begin devouring the people within the theater.
“Lie Still, Sleep Becalmed” by Steve Duffy (2007) - Three friends boating off the Welsh coast notice something moving toward them underwater by use of a fish-finder. They then see the body of a man floating on the water which they pull aboard with a large hook. To their surprise, he opens his eyes. He’s badly disoriented and can’t seem to remember what happened to him or even how to do basic tasks. They soon come to realize something is very wrong with him. This is a great, creepy tale!
“The Seventh Wave” by Lynda E. Rucker (2015) - A woman tells the sad story of her life, its connection to the sea, and the tragedy that came from it.
“Hippocampus” by Adam Nevill (2015) - You, the reader, move through a cargo ship that’s drifting derelict on the ocean where a massacre which has recently taken place. The eviscerated carnage of its crew members remains splayed throughout and clues abound which hint at the beasts responsible for it all.
“The Offing” by Conrad Williams (2015) - A thirteen year old girl struggles to deal with her alcoholic mother while on vacation to a seaside town which is slowly dying off due to receding water levels. To make matters worse, her father who was with them seems to have disappeared.
“Sun Over the Yard Arm” by Peter James (2014) - A retired husband and wife embark on a long intercontinental boat journey with stops at several global destinations, but when they end up needing to return home to England quickly for the birth of their grandchildren, they take a less safe route back. This puts them deep at sea with no communication to the outside world for awhile. Things take a very dark turn when they encounter a bad storm that plunges them into a precarious situation. There’s nothing supernatural in this story, but it is very intense and has a twist at the ending.
“First Miranda” by Simon Strantzas (2015) - A man drives his wife out to a secluded, oceanside cabin where she and her sisters grew up in attempts to repair damage done to their marriage by his cheating. She’s reluctant to forgive him, but he hopes the idyllic location from her past will help soothe her anger towards him. This is a very well-told tale with an intriguing finale.
“The Derelict of Death” by Simon Clark and John B. Ford (1998) - The crew of the Jenny Rose notices what appears to be a giant, leering face on the horizon and a dark ship which floats out from it. Once they get close enough, they see it’s a derelict named Death. After a group of them board it, screams are heard and they do not return. There’s a lot more strange things in store for the Jenny Rose as the tale continues. This is one of the strangest and best sea stories I’ve ever read. It’s fantastic!
“The Decks Below” by Jan Edwards (2015) - A naval officer named Georgianna Forsythe investigates the recovery of a sunken, experimental submarine vessel which has been torn asunder by some powerful undersea entity. Georgianna has been altered by rival god-like beings Nyarlathotep and Nodens and now specializes in supernatural encounters. Her powers are put to the test during this investigation. Georgianna (Georgi for short) is an interesting character of whom I’d be interested in reading more stories.
“Hell In the Cathedral” by Paul Finch (2000) – This is an intense tale about a couple who take a day trip out at sea along with another couple, only to find themselves in a life-or-death struggle against an immensely powerful sea creature in its native environment. This is an excellent, edge-of-your-seat thriller!
“Hushed Will Be All Murmurs” by Adam Golaski (2015) - This one is difficult to describe. It’s a moody, surreal glimpse at two men in a boat in a world saturated by unnaturally thick fog. While I can’t quite say for sure what it’s all about, I did enjoy it.
“And This Is Where We Falter” by Richard Shearman (2015) - After an uprooted tree exposes a very old, black casket, the priest in charge of the seaside graveyard where it was found discovers a tale scrawled inside it from one of his ancestors. The tale tells of a ship’s journey long ago after it took on a mysterious, foreign passenger. This passenger brought a curse upon the ship and its crew, causing them to throw themselves overboard one-by-one to their deaths. Each time this happens another black casket appears in the distance to follow them. This is a superb story told on multiple levels. Highly recommended!
January 18, 2022
I’ve had my eye on these Terror Tales books for a few months now. I’d seen them before here and there but only once I became addicted to Paul Finch’s horror fiction did they become a permanent fixture on my radar. This is the first one I’ve read cover to cover. The quality was a bit below what I’d hope from an anthology. Maybe the other Terror Tales are more my cup of tea, though. The tales are broken up by encyclopedic entries on ocean-related horror phenomenon and while I can’t say they’ve made me any less a skeptic they do help enhance the mood and there were even quite a few legends I’d never heard of.
Stories I’ll definitely want to read again:
Lie Still, Sleep Becalmed by Steve Duffy
Hell in the Cathedral by Paul Finch
The Derelict of Death by Simon Clark and John B. Ford (apparently this is a sequel to a Hodgson tale; or at least set in the same universe)
Stories I’m glad to have read once:
Stuka Juice by Terry Grimwood
The End of the Pier by Stephen Laws
Sun Over the Yard Arm by Peter James (more of an Alfred Hitchcock thriller)
And This Is Where We Falter by Robert Shearman (this really belongs in the next category but with a little work it could be fantastic)
Stories thy are just kind of there:
The Offing by Conrad Williams
First Miranda by Simon Strantzas
Stories I disliked:
The Seventh Wave by Lynda E. Rucker (I may revise my opinion on this one)
Hippocampus by Adam Nevill
The Decks Below by Jan Edwards (to be fair, this one I disliked because I was lost; read like a sequel to a story I never read; also it was firmly in the fantasy side of horror-fantasy)
Hushed Will Be All Murmurs by Adam Golaski
Stories I’ll definitely want to read again:
Lie Still, Sleep Becalmed by Steve Duffy
Hell in the Cathedral by Paul Finch
The Derelict of Death by Simon Clark and John B. Ford (apparently this is a sequel to a Hodgson tale; or at least set in the same universe)
Stories I’m glad to have read once:
Stuka Juice by Terry Grimwood
The End of the Pier by Stephen Laws
Sun Over the Yard Arm by Peter James (more of an Alfred Hitchcock thriller)
And This Is Where We Falter by Robert Shearman (this really belongs in the next category but with a little work it could be fantastic)
Stories thy are just kind of there:
The Offing by Conrad Williams
First Miranda by Simon Strantzas
Stories I disliked:
The Seventh Wave by Lynda E. Rucker (I may revise my opinion on this one)
Hippocampus by Adam Nevill
The Decks Below by Jan Edwards (to be fair, this one I disliked because I was lost; read like a sequel to a story I never read; also it was firmly in the fantasy side of horror-fantasy)
Hushed Will Be All Murmurs by Adam Golaski
July 23, 2022
Quite a few good stories in this collection.
December 24, 2023
Good set of short stories very well written and some great little pieces between stories about legends of the sea
May 12, 2016
A really brilliant collection of short stories set in the ocean, mixed with short pieces from fact or mythology. Really good, with, in my opinion, only one or two 'dud' stories, which probably weren't duds, but instead stories that just didn't really grab me.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews