When you open the pages of Wakeful Children, you peer into the mind of a depraved killer who started out small; the panic-stricken thoughts of a recovering alcoholic, just trying to get to a group meeting; the anguished, silent prayers of a man whose only wish is to get a peaceful night's sleep. You get a glimpse into the greediness of a collector of old, even ancient artifacts - just don't ask how he came upon them; the idle thoughts of a girl, playing innocently in the grounds of her grandparent's house, oblivious to what she really is; the calculating machinations of an apparently frail, beautiful woman who is not all she appears to be.
The thoughts and actions of all these beings and more, including entities too old to truly age, spirits too nebulous to name, make up eleven short, intriguing, unsettling stories by S P Oldham, every story fresh and original. Beautifully descriptive prose, sometimes shockingly brutal passages coupled with vividly imagined and clearly depicted storylines make Wakeful Children: A Collection of Horror and Supernatural Tales an intriguing, inventive debut for this author.