Macabre horror, fish-out-of-water humour...A heady gumbo of witchcraft, apocalyptic prophecies and occult rivalries

Irving was befriended by Sir Walter Scott, admired by Lord Byron and widely considered the first American writer who could hold his own with England's best

Beautifully composed of dense texture and dark pleasures

Irving is at his best...the inventor of the modern short story... The remote valleys and mountain glens, where strange contagions seem to hang in the air and ghosts and goblins dwell, seem as real to us today as they must have done centuries ago

'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' is...a classic, essential, exquisitely American tale

Much more than a collection of daft wee stories. Some of his expletive-fuelled yarns are a match for the darkest, funniest Tales of the Unexpected. Brilliant.

A major cult favourite throughout the UK.

Please do yourself a favour and secure a copy of this splendid book. And not because it is the winner of the Story Prize, but because is exceptionally good

Superb new collection… This impressive collection is both bleak and brilliant and shows a writer at the top of his game.

A sustained set of powerfully told stories... It's as if Ian McEwan had never turned nice.

He is a master of the short form…his imagination is even darker than we had thought.

A masterful collection… Haddon is a consummate storyteller and The Pier Falls reveals a writer at the peak of his imagination. Some of the stories have already been shortlisted for awards and one suspects the whole collection will justifiably follow suit.

This collection brims with incident both curious and exciting, and yet displays a cool, almost detached observance of unfolding drama that is impossible to look away from.

Haddon’s debut collection contains a suite of ambitiously scaled and event-packed tales, self-consciously eclectic both in setting and subject matter… The Pier Falls is a bracing, remorselessly lucid depiction of a sudden and expansive moment of chaos… Each of these stories grip. Like the news at its queasiest, most shocking or grimly inevitable, you frequently want to look away but are compelled to keep reading.

He can pull you into the heart of a new world with just two or three sentences, and deploys this talent with apparent ease… Haddon’s work is easy to relate to because it’s underpinned with razor-sharp clarity about what it means to be human.

Shows the breadth of his ability.

Terrific dark collection in which each story is as absorbing and powerful as the last. Not to be missed.

Echoing humanity. The title story is an exercise in style. Staccato sentences, like a ticker tape of headlines, describe the fall of a pier.

Highly anticipated collection.

The Pier Falls, published May, is a collection of nine brilliant short stories, perfect for dipping into when you have a spare moment.

Bleak but arresting stories.

Diverse in style but united in emotional power… Lyrical new collection… All showcase his virtuoso gifts as a stylist and the deep well of empathy that have made his bestselling novels so compelling... The Pier Falls showcases Haddon’s immense gifts of invention and penetrating insight.

Mark Haddon has become a master of the short story…this new collection intrigues and horrifies by turn

Gripping tale… Told with forensic precision.

Exuberant, lusty exercises in juxtaposition… Such contrasts not only power each piece but also act as a form of call and response across them… Terrifically compelling collection.

Impressive but forbiddingly lightless collection. There’s no doubt about Haddon’s skill.

Have you ever read a book that made you gasp out loud and nearly burst into tears? The title story…had that effect on me… Haddon is able to give human tragedy the due solemnity it deserves but without being po-faced. A wonderful collection.

Guaranteed to keep me riveted.

Gripping… Packs the action and themes that might power a very full novel into less than 70 pages

Scintillating first foray into the shorter form… Beautifully crafted… A challenging and idiosyncratic talent, with a memorable way with words.

[Haddon] portrays the nightmares of our own society…with astonishing deftness, mixing black humour and pathos.

The Pier Falls had me gasping in disbelief.

[It was] grim and compelling… [A] ripping, gripping yarn – narrative velcro.

I savoured all the atmospheric short stories in The Pier Falls.

An enthralling short story collection; dark, immersive stories with lots of action. The writing is tight and inspiring.

[A] searing collection of short stories that thrill and chill in equal measure.

I was also captivated by the dark A Pier Falls, a brilliantly written collection of bleak and brutal short stories.

I adored The Pier Falls… Each story is wildly entertaining and well written.

[It] proves the capacity of a short story to immerse the reader fully in a fictional world.

This short-story collection is thrilling and exquisitely written. I gave out several copies as Christmas presents.

An exquisite writer.

Mesmerisingly good stories, hugely varied, skilfully written, full of deft touches and narrative shocks... an absolute treat