Urban Tales

n these glimpses of suburban life, Pete Court's gentle yet sharp observations of the human condition manage to be both sardonic and compassionate. In language that sings with inventiveness and a joyfully grim humour, each tale is woven through with touches of the magical, little sparkling surprises that add a thread of mystic wonder throughout the whole. At the end of it all I was left contemplating just how well I was living, loving and being a Light in the Darkness. - D.M.Cornish, author, Monster Blood Tattoo series Court's prose is a world of its own. In these stories he gets into the minds of some desperate and 'unbelievable' characters. While the stories are gruesome, they make a case for our common humanity. Above all, they have verve and incredible energy. - Phillip Edmonds, author of Tilting at Windmills and Leaving Home with Henry Court's precise evocative writing gives us troubling stories, inviting the reader into challenging worlds of grotesquerie and distortion. In scenes reminiscent of Kafka, all three novellas are a search for elusive threads of meaning, with the Dark as a linking motif. . . . Intriguing and compelling reading. - Valerie Volk, author of Even Grimmer Tales and Bystanders P.H. Court's Sub Urban Tales navigate that mysterious territory where time, place and eternity meet. At once intriguing, sometimes gruesome, often hilarious and always relatable, these cunningly interwoven tales remind us of the extraordinary in the ordinary, the grace reflected in all surfaces though dimmed by the Dark of human conceit. - James Cooper, Head of Creative Writing, Tabor College P. H. Court is co-host of the popular Breakfast with Kit and Pete on Adelaide's 1079 Life and is creative writer for the radio station. He is an adjunct lecturer at Tabor College and a PhD candidate in Creative Writing at University of Adelaide. He has published numerous award winning short stories and satires.

Presents a photographic exploration of the world of urban feral cats and documents the efforts to neuter a colony living in the alley behind the author's home.

Urban Tales are about us, at least some of us. They are about us being funny and about us loving, lusting, and sexing. Only us could have "Dozens" players in our Christmas story. Only us know how to tip over on the down-low. These stories are streetwise, but yet will make you think and won't shortchange you. These are long and short stories. They are gritty and heart touching. Characters speak in elegant voices and raw urban tongues. The raw truth can make you uncomfortable, and maybe make you cry. But the truth will never bore you. After you've read this book, feel free to check out the big books: Maura and Her Two Husbands, Minister Q, Ebenezer Jenkins' Christmas in Chicago, and much more to come.

Urban Legends is a remarkably complete collection of the modern myths that make the rounds in offices, college dorms, and every other place where people tell the stories that spring from our deepest fears and fascinations. Every culture has its folktales including ours. Except, instead of involving gods and goddesses or princes and princesses, ours involve "some guy my sister's best friend knows" or "someone who woke up in a motel room." They happened, supposedly, to real people, usually recently, in a particular place. And they touch the most sensitive nerves of our psyches with ironic twists, gross-out shocks, and moral lessons learned the hard way. From the classic tale "The Mexican Pet" in which the "dog" turns out to be no Chihuahua to the more unappetizing story of condoms as fast-food burger garnish, from surgically skilled kidney thieves to sexual experiments that end in the emergency room, Urban Legends relates more 300 of the most enticing, macabre, and unforgettable tales. Expertly told, they are arranged in such chapters as "Crazy Little Thang Called Sex," "Oh, Scare Me," "Campus Capers," "Corporate Convolutions," and "So Much For Comfort Food." Fascinating, chilling, and occasionally repulsive, Urban Legends has all your favorites and hundreds more.

The book that launched America's urban legend obsession! The Vanishing Hitchhiker was Professor Brunvand's first popular book on urban legends, and it remains a classic. The culmination of twenty years of collection and research, this book is a must-have for urban legend lovers.

A fascinating, creepy, frightening, disgusting, and hilarious collection of some of the world's most popular and enduring tall tales. With themes that run the gamut from funny to sick, risqué to informative, and frightening to disgusting, Urban Legends features fantastic yarns that are remarkable for their uncanny ability to travel the world by word of mouth. We've all heard the one about the alligators that roam New York City's sewers, or how "Mikey" of Life Cereal fame died from eating Pop Rocks mixed with Coke. And what about the flustered parents who left their baby on the car roof, or the scuba diver who was found in the middle of a forest after a fire? These classic tall tales are featured here in all of their creepy glory along with hundreds of others, and they're guaranteed to amuse, enlighten, and intrigue, but be careful: they may stick in your mind forever.

Recounts several popular urban legends, from Bigfoot to Bloody Mary.