Mixing with Freaks - Darren Craske illustrates new short story collection

Harper Collins is to release Freaks next month under it Friday Project imprint - a unique collection of short stories dedicatd to dedicated "To all who, if only for a moment, felt that they didn’t belong", featuring comic book style illustrations by Cornelius Quaint Chronicles artist Darren Craske.

Darren, who lives in Hampshire, began his career writing and illustrating comic books before his published work with book one of the The Equivoque Principle (Cornelius Quaint Chronicles). The second book in the series, The Eleventh Plague followed soon after, with The Lazarus Curse, the conclusion to the series to be published in paperback September 2012.

(The Lazarus Curse Kindle edition was released last month).

Written by Caroline Smailes and Nik Perring, the bizarre, darkly humorous stories of Freaks explore the more disturbing consequences of ordinary, flawed human beings obtaining superpowers, tapping into the current growth in popularity of short stories and fascination with imperfect super heroes, as seen in recent film Chronicles and Channels 4’s cult series Misfits.

Meet The Photocopier, a woman who can reproduce herself at will and attempts to teach her daughter to do the same. The man who can break his way into his lovers dream and the woman in My Little Pony pants who likes to be ridden like a Pony. Over 50 freaks and misfits feature in this unforgettable book.

With a cover by leading movie poster designer Sam Bennett, Freaks will appeal to contemporary fiction, short story and graphic novel fans alike.

Born in Newcastle, in 2005 a chance remark on a daytime chat show caused Caroline Smailes to reconsider her life. She enrolled on an MA in Creative Writing and began writing. She lives in the North West of England with her husband and three children.

Nik Perring lives in Cheshire where he writes, mostly, short stories, many collected in the book Not So Perfect (Roast Books, 2010), read at events, printed on fliers and used, with one of Dave Eggers’, as essential material on a creative writing course in the US. If Nik could choose a super power he would rather like the ability to type a little faster.

Either that, or be able to talk to cats. He likes cats.

• Freaks by Caroline Smailes & Nik Perring, illustrated by Darren Craske Paperback Published 12 April 2012, £6.99. The Friday Project ISBN 978-0-00-744289-8