Writers are spellbinders, wizards, witches, working their magic with words, entrancing and enchanting us. Not for nothing does the word 'spell' mean a sequence of letters and a form of words used as a magical charm or incantation. In these tales, the sorcery has been restricted so that its glamour has to work in the space of fifty, five hundred or a thousand words: and work it does, as you will see. From disturbing darkness to light-hearted laughter,...