This is not my baby, says his mother, closing her arms and turning away. "We all feel that way at first," lies the nurse, hiding her misgivings, "You'll feel differently once you get used to one another."

City of Stone is a new collection of stories from F.L.Rose, dark, funny and lyrical.

The title story, City of Stone, takes us to 70s Albania, where a French real estate agent falls in love with the last Princess of a doomed royal dynasty. But is black-haired, pale-eyed Arjuna all she seems?

Stepping from horror to humour in The Position, the new CEO of Heaven is set on staff downsizing and a firm hand with mankind. But his wife Mavis and her new friend Mary have a better idea.

And in Valkyries, a German officer in the First World War tells his friend the story of how he was airlifted to Valhalla - but the experience turned out not to be quite as advertised in the Aryan press.

If you enjoy understated horror with a dash of humour and everyday come-uppance, these stories are for you.