Cold Turkey — Carole Johnstone

'Cold Turkey' is a novella, a short novel, set in Lanarkshire, Scotland, where Raym tries to give up smoking and finds his entire life falling apart. Suddenly the worst terrors from his childhood are seeking him out.

“I saw him Mr Munroe.” A sly look lit up Jimmy's blinking eyes. “He's always chasing you.”
Raym's hand froze in front of his chest, creeping back up towards his throat again. “What?”
“In a funny square van.” The kid blinked, blinked, blinked. He wooshed his hands either side of his body like he was starting a drag race, and Raym flinched again. “It's got black tails �" really, really looong ones, like party streamers!”

All Raym wants to do is give up smoking. So why is his entire life falling apart? Why are new mistakes and old terrors conspiring against him? Why is he being plagued by the very worst spectre from his childhood? And why does giving up suddenly �" horrifyingly �" feel much, much more like giving in?

TTA Press have now included Carole's short story 'Signs of the Times', which won the 2014 British Fantasy Award for best short story of the year. They hope you enjoy this little E book extra.
At the British Fantasy Convention, held in York in September 2014, Carole won the British Fantasy Award for best short story of 2013 against strong competition from Pat Cadigan and Conrad Williams among others.
Congratulations to Carole on a significant win. The award is also a feather in the cap for TTA Press, publishers of both Black Static and this novella. So Cold Turkey's e book edition has now been re-edited to include Carole's winning story without increasing the price.