For those who hunger for small bites of horror sweetened with black humor, this collection of Grim Tales and Gothic Fancies offers a satisfying repast: morbidly playful riffs on the faerie tales of the Brothers Grimm; darkly exquisite Gothic fables in both prose and verse; and hell-raising evocations of beings both demonic and diabolic. A rich feast of horrors leavened with wit, Book of Shadows offers a delicious glimpse into the decadent heart and mordant mind of Manuel Arenas.In 'The Sanguinary Saga of Morbidezza Vespertilio, Vampiress,' Arenas inverts 'Sleeping Beauty' with more than a touch of Gothicism in the style of Hammer horror. With 'Rosaire, Master of Wolves,' he shows us the dark genesis and bloody destiny of a born werewolf. A lighter touch is used in 'Gothilocks,' a playfully sardonic update on 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears.' The dread demon of Christmas makes an appearance in 'Greetings from Krampus,' and in 'Nativity in Black: An Anti-Christmas Story,' we are presented with a dark celebration featuring all creatures great and infernal in a pageant-quite literally-from Hell.This volume is sumptuously illustrated by Dan Sauer, whose surreal images heighten the effect of the dark fantasies contained herein.