"He's bad. I don't think he's even human." - Jesse

After a couple of years teasing Ticonderoga Publications are finally in the home straight with the delivery of Felicity Dowker's debut collection of fiction, Bread and Circuses. Slated for a July 2012 release the book contains fifteen stories from Ms Dowker's impressive catalogue that should delight and astound even the pickiest reader. While there are award winning stories a plenty, and a couple of entries that I had my fingers crossed would be included, there's also likely to be the odd tale that you haven't read. With apologises to our long suffering editor, let's get stuck into the collection, there's a fair amount to talk about.

There are two events I am highly anticipating going down in 2012, firstly the release of Ridley Scott's long awaited return to the Alien universe in Prometheus, and secondly the release of Bread and Circuses. Generally in the dark genre anticipation leads to huge disappointment and a feeling that the Universe as we know it really is a hollow and uncaring environment. So naturally I was happier than a Liberal party member consigning old growth forests to pulp mills when I read Bread and Cruses and rocked out to the contents. This of course brings its own issues. As a fan of Felicity Dowker's writing am I perhaps not critical enough of the actual tales? So to avoid any outlandish charges of pre-judging the collection we're going to take a slightly different approach to things with this review. I've called in fellow dark genre desperado Enz to give his opinion as well. But wait that's not all, to really ram things home I'm also going to include the odd quote from the collection! How cool is that, almost like a panel approach on one of those Tuesday Book club shows the ABC puts on.

"We live in the graveyard. It's the only place they won't go."

[Jet] The collection gets underway with Ms Dowker's award winning story Bread and Circuses, a journey into the post-apocalyptic zombie wilderness with a difference. While the story does focus on us and them, it reiterates Tom Savini's point of view that we are them and the zombie hordes aren't the only danger to life and limb, it also goes beyond what you might expect. Surprisingly we're talking a love story in amongst the ashes with one of the weirdest end games you could ever hope to stumble across. The story sets the tone for the entire collection and ensures we know we're not simply going to be dealing with the tropes.

[Enz] I'm always up for a good zombie story but I was slightly put off by the black and white nature of this one. Sure the writing is good, it's a rapid fire read folks, but at no stage did I feel the characters were well rounded people. Guess the criticism I'm aiming here is that there were no shades, but when push comes to shove we're talking a short story with limited space to explore the characters. For sure I was moving along into the next story on the strength of the first one, Felicity Dowker does possess a canny knack with words. Does she do haunted house tales?

"The Big Feelings weren't nibbling anymore; they were biting and clawing, tearing their way free."

[Jet] Included in the collection is Dowker's chap book Phantasy Moste Grotesk, previously only available via import. I had wanted to read this tale for quite some time, but was unable to purchase the book due to problems with the publishing site and their payment gateway. I got to say this one blew me away, I was left simply stunned at the power and imagination that went into this piece. If Dowker never writes another word, she could be well proud of this journey into the dark mind of a psycho and his dark passenger. There's a lot more going on than meets the eye, and I can almost promise that you won't come away from this story with happy thoughts about puppies or daffodils on spring afternoons. The story is powerful, conjures up pain and reaping what you sow, while throwing down the gauntlet to anyone who doesn't think Dowker can write robust down in the ditches horror. I'm going to draw a parallel to Kaaron Warren's Slights, if you loved that novel then you are going to find Phantasy Moste Grotesk an excellent companion piece.

[Enz] First up I'm going to say I've got no fracking idea what a chap book is meant to be. Whatever one is they can keep them coming at me though as Phantasy Moste Grotesk was hands down the best horror story I've read this year, and that includes any number of Yank and Brit stories. There's a whole feeling to the story that it might be all in the focal character's head, or we could be talking some supernatural nastiness. I'm all over a story that leaves things ambiguous and that doesn't finish where you think things are going. Once again I've got to point out the excellent writing style and the splashes of horror. This is the sort of fable that Ray Bradbury would have written if he sharpened up his pencil and got down and dirty in the blood splashes. Warning to anyone reading this, dive into Phantasy Moste Grotesk and you are going to become addicted to Felicity Dowker's writing, the chick rocks, I was mainlining for the rest of the collection.

"The boy's arms were inside the dragon, and shadows stalked him with intent to kill."

[Jet] Okay my intention here isn't to mention every story in the collection, that might be cool, but hey you need some surprises coming at you without us providing Cliff notes y'all. I just got to mention Red Delicious however as it's simply one of the most innovative vampire outings you could hope to plunge a stake through. Once again told from the perspective of a female protagonist, the story doesn't cut away from the vampire need for blood or delve into sparkling in the sunshine shite. We're talking predators, we're talking they walk amongst us, and if you want a decent tattoo then hit Tasmania after dark. I was grooving to a revenge story, which is a Dowker theme by the way, that dragged in traditional folklore and immersed it in a modern tale. Once again we have two female lead characters with a hint of the love that shouldn't be named, (according to such diverse sources as the Rev Fred Nile and the current Federal Labor Government), is this what you call a recurrent theme?

[Enz] I think this is the only vampire story I have ever read that was set in Tasmania. Wonderful writing, the tale went in directions I wasn't expecting, always a good thing folks, and certainly underlines the superior nature of the collection. I'm getting fracking sick and tired of vampires, with the exception of True Blood, but with Red Delicious, was that a multi-level pun in the title? - my interest in the undead might have just been re-ignited. For sure I'm going to check out Dead Red Heart, a collection of Downunder vamper tales, on the strength of this story. Sign me up to the Van Helsing book club if they feature Dowker vampire tales each month.

"The loneliness of the hour suited Dahlia's sense of melodrama, and she enjoyed the sly night wind's sharp black teeth against her bare skin"

[Jet] While Bread and Circuses is primarily an excellent collection of horror stories, Felicity Dowker is regarded as a Post-Feminist Speculative Fiction writer. And that's one heavy title to be carrying around. I've got no idea what the flock "Post-Feminist" actually means, for sure Dowker is writing from the feminine and doesn't pull any polite society punches when it comes to describing just what that means, but you aren't sitting down to a heavy serving of Germaine Greer here. First and foremost Dowker is a Writer, and like Stephen King she would seem to have an innate belief in the story being everything. What I did want to highlight however is that Bread and Circuses does delve into the more fantasy oriented woods with tales like Nepenthe and Berries and Incense, though even when dialling up fantasy Dowker does mix it blood red. From memory there's no Sci-Fi going down, though I guess a bit of steam punk is thrown into the mix with the excellently perverse To Wish On A Clockwork Heart. So if the dark genre neck of the street isn't your normal hanging place, you can always wander down to better lit corners in this collection.

[Enz] So anyone that knows me is going to know what I'm going to say here. I don't like fantasy and Science Fiction is best left to the crew who hang out in the library during recess. However I did dig the stories that were featured from other areas of Speculative Fiction as the Author can't help herself, she deals in from the tarot pack with horror themes each time. Also going to add I'm pleased we hit To Wish On A Clockwork Heart, I dug that one the most, fully recommended tale of the macabre folks.

"More tiles and metal, but this room also had a smiling doctor and a chair that looked like a torture device in the centre of the room"

[Jet] So I feel like we have barely scratch the surface of this excellent collection but am going to wind it up here before we go Encyclopaedia Britannica on our long suffering readers. Felicity Dowker with Bread and Circuses delivers the final statement on her early career, and that's a statement I would hugely recommend you listen to. There's power in the words contained in the collection, but be aware they bite, this isn't a collection for the faint hearted. If you enjoy dark genre journeys of the most macabre kind, then you are in the right place, this collection comes with a huge recommendation. If you are a horror fan then you simply must add Bread and Circuses to your bookshelf, else you are simply dabbling in the genre. Felicity Dowker delivers the definitive word on what horror can achieve in the hands of a skilled Writer. Get the frack out of this review right now, and go buy the book!

[Enz] I'm real pleased I got the chance to read Bread and Circuses and to make a statement on what I thought worked, and in a couple of cases didn't, within the collection. When I finished the book I had this insatiable hunger to hunt down more Felicity Dowker tales as one collection is simply not enough folks, you will want to read more. I know ScaryMInds has been beating the Dowker drum almost from the beginning of its latest incarnation and I can now see why. I'm mainly a film guy, but with Bread and Circuses I'm almost convinced to hang up the remote control and go grab the latest batch of Downunder horror releases. For people who stick to Stephen King and the mainstream, you are missing out friends and neighbours, Writers like Felicity Dowker show more talent than a butt load of those big thick airport thrillers. Bread and Circuses is perhaps our last best option to drag teenage chicks kicking and screaming from the likes of Twilight and demonstrate to them what good writing is all about. I'm going out on a limb here, and recommending this collection to the secondary education people, throw some literature in front of young people that they might actually enjoy reading for once. Everyone else should just read the collection, you heard it here first. Now do they issue restraining orders if you bug Authors about their next release?

[Jet] Bread and Circuses is scheduled for publication July 2012 Downunder by Ticonderoga Publications. You can find out more via the official Ticonderoga site. Hope the wait for the release date isn't too problematic, hit some of the other Ticonderoga titles in the interim. My thanks to Enzino for involvement in this review, been a blast Bro.