Gordon B White Is Creating Haunting Weird Horror S

From Gordon B. White, finalist for the Shirley Jackson and Bram Stoker Awards, come fifteen tales of evocative prose and unparalleled imagination. From spirit-possessed postcards in the award-nominated title story to the eco-terror of “Dandelion Six” and riot-fueled nightmare of “One of the Good Ones,” the armed invasion of a deity’s corpse in “Godhead” and a drink with the damned in “Devil Take Me,” these stories are haunted by weird ghosts and contemporary horrors. “These are stunning and provocative stories, full of surprises.” —Brian Everson, author of The Glassy Burning Floor of Hell “Gordon B. White is in a genre-genus by himself, unclassifiable, breathtaking and beautiful all at once.” —Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Ghost Eaters “Absolutely one of my favorite horror authors working today; I’ll read whatever he writes.” —Keith Rosson, author of Fever House

“The effortless world building, buoyed by Dave’s confident narration, immediately immerses readers in the intense unease, carrying them to its emotional conclusion. A character-centered and thought provoking tale that is as much about embracing life as it is about death, this title will appeal to fans of Elizabeth McCracken and Neil Gaiman” —Booklist Dave Gallagher mows the lawns and digs the graves at cemeteries in his hometown on Cape Cod. He also keeps the peace between the ghosts inhabiting those cemeteries. In the world of Living in Cemeteries, wrongdoing is atoned for by a person’s descendants. Spirits decapitate relatives of serial killers and lay pox blankets over men responsible for the Trail of Tears. The only way Dave can learn of his pre-ordained death is by traveling the New England countryside, visiting haunted cemeteries, asking familial ghosts what fate has in store. A gruesome death, or a happily-ever-after with his longtime girlfriend, Jessica? Marauding Spirit-whipped bulls and deadly nightshade, a doomed roommate and a wayward crypt-sleeper each derail Dave’s path to understanding, but nothing presents more of a challenge than his silent, long dead father. The man’s refusal to speak leaves Dave wondering what evils his parents committed. How dark is the shade cast by his family tree? The only way to find out is to speak to the dead, but Dave’s not always going to like the answers he receives. “Does friendship/love or ghostly determinism rule the day? The spirits are alive on Cape Cod in Corey Farrenkopf’s Living in Cemeteries. A strange, beguiling, ghostly romp that reads as though Wes Anderson novelized Peter Jackson’s The Frighteners. I’m here for it.” —Paul Tremblay, the nationally best-selling author of The Cabin at the End of the World and A Head Full of Ghosts “How Corey Farrenkopf managed to write a novel that’s simultaneously bighearted, wise, unnerving, and a wildly hallucinatory exploration of grief and love, I have no idea. But he did it with Living in Cemeteries, and it’s fantastic.” —Keith Rosson, author of Fever House “In Living in Cemeteries, Farrenkopf takes reality, deftly shakes up its bottle, and adds one fantastical element that changes the whole formula. An enticing and ultimately compassionate debut that uses death as a means to think through the myriad possibilities of life.” —Brian Evenson, author of The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell

“Grasshands fulfills the promise of the term ‘mindbending’ in ways drugs never could. Prose and dialog that are effortlessly engaging, horror that builds in an almost absurdist fashion making the dread that much more effective when it drops. And oh, how it drops. More than the sum of its parts—and damn, those parts are impressive on their own—Grasshands is a vehicle for experiencing the human condition, the ultimate drive for horror. I'll be thinking about it for a long, long time.” –Laurel Hightower, author of Below and Crossroads “In his novel Grasshands, Kyle Winkler once again renders the deeply familiar pervasively uncomfortable. I find no place to rest in his work, where time keeps shifting, good and evil constantly switch positions like mobile surfaces on a semantic Rubik’s cube, and the nostalgia of beloved fairy tales clashes with the modern reality of bills, eviction, imperfect love, and existential uncertainty. Grasshands is both mournful and hopeful, passionate and disappointed; a gorgeous romp through the conflicted folklore of our everyday lives.” –Joe Koch, author of The Wingspan of Severed Hands and Convulsive Everything wrong with the world is wrong with books. When overworked assistant Sylvia Hix finds a strange moss smothering the library books, there’s little to worry about. But when patrons start eating it, gaining direct knowledge of the books, then losing their minds—Sylvia has deep problems. Moreover, her supervisor is a glue addict, her best friend Albert is growing into a giant, and Clara Gamelin, the Library Board Director, is shaping her to be the next ball busting head librarian. It is a job she does not want. Sylvia is haunted by the moss, because it’s somehow connected to a horrific creature from her childhood. A creature she once named Grasshands and since forgotten. Stopping Grasshands from decaying the town’s mind, the library’s books, and the slow rot of time is the only job now available to her, whether she wants it or not. A novel of biblio-horror, body horror, and melancholic friendship, Grasshands is ready for check-out. Get your library card ready. “Grasshands is an enchanting and lovely dark fantasy novel, with echoes of Bradbury, Jackson, and Gaiman–yet its own, startlingly original creation. Kyle Winkler is a distinctive and inventive young writer with an exciting future ahead of him.” –Dan Chaon, author of Sleepwalk

“Allred and White have created a true work of horror with this newest novella.”—Booklist What if the world you thought you knew was a lie older than God? As children, Jeffrey and Serena each caught a glimpse beyond the veil of the everyday: A hidden cult guarded by women with the power to change reality. A myth kept quiet by a watcher with the strength to unmake the universe. A darkness smiling behind rows of teeth without end. Although Jeffrey and Serena have only just met, their lives have centered around the mystery of the Quiet Woman. Haunted by their knowledge and driven by a desire to change the minds and souls of those who enforce the rules, they’re willing to sacrifice anything, including themselves. Soon the rituals will be complete and the Quiet Woman will come. And in Her eyes will be the stars, and in Her smile, the world.

A genderfluid witch in a small Southern town prepares for their Black Cotillion coming out party. Singing worms converge on an old woman and young boy living in a house buried deep underground. Revenge drives an angry spirit through possession after possession in the bare-knuckle boxing ring. A father and son's canoe trip to one of the world's "soft places" culminates in an ecstatic encounter with the Weird. These are just a few of the fifteen stories contained in As Summer's Mask Slips, and Other Disruptions, Gordon B. White's debut collection of horror and Weird fiction.

When Cabot Howard's ex-wife, Leana, flees the pandemic with their son Porter to the backwoods town of Rookfield, Cabot sets off after them. Once he arrives, however, he finds Leana is in hiding, her family won't hand Porter over, and the townsfolk are deadly serious about always wearing masks. The town's children dress like little plague doctors and the adults are hellbent on getting Cabot out by nightfall. Despite being alone and under attack, Cabot won't leave without his son. Nothing-not ex-in-laws, not the sheriff, not even whatever monstrosity might be lurking in the woods just behind the barn-will stop Cabot from getting them out of ... Rookfield.

The staggeringly brilliant and astonishing debut collection by powerful stylist Sunny Moraine. A heady stew of dark fantasy, dystopia, terror, and transcendence. "Sex, oddity, horror, transfiguration: Sunny Moraine's stories cut straight through to the heart of even the most complicated concepts, turning words inside out with truly offensive skill, wringing them for every last scrap of beautiful terror. They will make readers want to write and writers want to stop writing, on the grounds that any idea they might have has demonstrably been done before, and far better." - Gemma Files, Author of Experimental Film

Machen's weird tales of the creepy and fantastic finally come to Penguin Classics. With an introduction from S.T. Joshi, editor of American Supernatural Tales, The White People and Other Weird Stories is the perfect introduction to the father of weird fiction. The title story "The White People" is an exercise in the bizarre leaving the reader disoriented and on edge. From the first page, Machen turns even fundamental truths upside-down, as his character Ambrose explains, "there have been those who have sounded the very depths of sin, who all their lives have never done an 'ill deed'" setting the stage for a tale entirely without logic.