Bloody Parchment : The Boy Racer and Other Stories

by Nerine Dorman (Editor), Pravasan Pillay, Susan Rabe

Ajay’s need for speed in Durban’s street races brings about an unexpected outcome; a hunter stalks the streets of Observatory; a historian’s desire to uncover a secret left to him by his father reveals an ancient terror; two women haunt each other on a storm-tossed coast; an unemployed man discovers his new career takes a more sinister turn; and a crafty king finds ways to work around an ancient curse.

The South African Horrorfest Bloody Parchment team proudly presents six dark tales of mystery, horror, and fantasy, to thrill, unsettle, and fill you with a deep sense of foreboding.

We invite you to dip into this selection of the best of our 2017 short story competition, featuring Pravasan Pillay, Susan Rabe, Calvin Demmer, Elaine Dodge, Marcelle van Niekerk, and Toby Bennett.

57 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 30, 2021

About the author

Nerine Dorman is a South African author and editor of science fiction and fantasy currently living in Cape Town, with short fiction published in numerous anthologies. She is a contributor to the Locus Award-winning Afro-Centered Futurism in Our Speculative Fiction edited by Eugen Bacon (Bloomsbury, 2024). Her novel Sing down the Stars won Gold for the Sanlam Prize for Youth Literature in 2019 and The Percy Fitzpatrick Award for Children's and Youth Literature in 2021. Her YA fantasy novella, Dragon Forged, was a finalist in the Sanlam Prize for Youth Literature in 2017, and she is the curator of the South African Horrorfest Bloody Parchment event and short story competition. Her short story “On the Other Side of the Sea” (Omenana, 2017) was shortlisted for a 2018 Nommo award. Her novella The Firebird won a Nommo for “Best Novella” in 2019. In addition, she is a founding member of the SFF authors’ co-operative Skolion.