A Scruffian Primer

Meet the Scruffians, workhouse tykes & street arabs scrobbled by the Waiftaker General, dragged to the Institute & put to the Stamp, Fixed ageless, imperishable... the perfect child labour. Meet the scruffs escaped to live free & fight back: Flashjack & Puckerscruff; Squirlet Nicely & Vermintrude Toerag; Yapper, the Scruffian what speaks Dog; Whelp, the dog Fixed as a scruff; and Rake Jake Scallion, not a scruff, but the finest friend a scruff ever had! Park yer arse, stray, and we'll learn yer the ABCs of being a scruff. We'll learn yer how us Scruffians STAMP!

Like fugitives from the musical Oliver! by way of Clive Barker, like some queer punk bastard brat born of Neil Gaiman and William Burroughs, the Scruffians should appeal to readers of dark fantasy with a wicked sense of blackest humour. Wielding whimsy in the service of satire, with a wink to Peter Pan, a nod to The Borribles, and a salute to Sweeney Todd, this is punk fiction for yer inner feral child.

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"The post- post- modern Victorian fables that comprise Hal Duncan's A Scruffian Survival Guide inhabit a unique dark fantasy world – a feral dream. The language is mad genius." — Jeffrey Ford on A Scruffian Survival Guide

"Hal Duncan's cheeky and charming Scruffian stories hide a steely shiv of inspection that digs uncompromisingly into the ribs of the establishment. This latest volume, populated as always with wonderful characters old and new, deepens that exploration and brings it bang up to date. I loved every word of it." — Neil Williamson on A Scruffian Survival Guide

"[A] wickedly entertaining collection of short fiction fantastical and queer in nature... sharp-tongued and a bit dark—I'd even say a little roguish, sometimes—these stories are delightful and provocative, and I'd certainly recommend picking them up for a read." — Tor.com on Scruffians!

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NB: The Taking of the Stamp is only available in the print edition of this book or as the standalone ebook novella available from Popcorn Books.