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Doctor Who Short Trips: A Universe of
Terrors
'There are
some corners of the universe which have bred the most terrible thing...'
Join the Doctor
on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe, from an alien world tyrannized
by a god-like machine, to the British retreat from Afghanistan in 1842.
Discover the secrets of the TARDIS's original owner, and of three faceless
creatures stranded in 21st century Hollywood.
And finally, if
you can, face the terrors that lurk in your own heart, and in your dreams...
Fourteen brand
new adventures for reading after dark!
This collection
features fourteen exclusive short stories from veterans of the Doctor Who
universe including Marc Platt, Lance Parkin, Robert Shearman, Jonathan
Morris and Trevor Baxendale and from several authors new to it, including
acclaimed fantasy novelist Juliet E McKenna.
A Universe of
Terrors is compiled and edited by John Binns who in the early Nineties
edited the regular Doctor Who fiction collection Silver Carrier, in
which many of today's Doctor Who novelists and television
script-writers sharpened their teeth.
'We all have
a universe of our own terrors to face'
Doctor Who: Ghost Light, by Marc Platt
For 40 years,
the battered doors of a police telephone box have been our gateway to other
times, and other worlds: worlds that have been at turns disturbing,
frightening, horrific and surreal. Through several generations, a large part
of the series’ appeal has been its ability to shock and scare us, defying
the best efforts of well-meaning parents and censors.
In contrast to
its rivals in the genre, Doctor Who has portrayed a universe peopled
not with human-like cultures working their way towards peace, but with
unspeakable demons and monsters, killer robots, and creatures that lurk in
the dark. Where more conventional sci-fi series have used other worlds to
explore the science of space travel or the human condition, Doctor Who
followed the tradition of the B-movies of the Fifties and of the Quatermass
television serials, in which the existence of space/time travel and alien
life was not an intellectual curiosity but an excuse to frighten children
and adults out of their wits.
A Universe of
Terrors brings Doctor Who fiction back to those roots, and
explores the darkest corners of the Doctor's universe. It is a journey that
takes in not just alien and physical terrors, but also those of our own
world, and of our own personal nightmares. It also depicts a progression in
the Doctor’s own lives, from the moment he and his grand-daughter Susan
first stepped aboard a stolen TARDIS, to an uncertain future in which the
boundaries between good and evil become irrevocably blurred.
The Stories
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The Exiles
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Lance
Parkin |
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Mire and Clay
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Gareth
Wigmore |
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Ash
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Trevor
Baxendale |
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Face-Painter
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Tara
Samms |
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Losing Track of
Time
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Juliet
E McKenna |
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The Discourse of
Flies
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Jeremy
Daw |
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The Fear
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Alex
Leithes |
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Maurtiz
|
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Jonathan
Morris |
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The Comet's Tail
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John
Binns |
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Soul Mates
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David
Bailey |
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Long Term
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Andrew
Campbell |
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The Death of Me
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Robert
Shearman |
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Whiskey and Water
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Marc
Platt |
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Gazing Void
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Huw
Wilkins |
The book also features
original poetry by William Keith. |
