The ghost is under the burning wedding ferry, where the ceremony took place. The ghost is under the burning wedding ferry, where the ceremony just now took place. The ghost is hiding under the burning wedding ferry, holding its breath. The bride and groom are pyres of flame, taken up by the explosion. The water […]
Rust to Ammon: “I need to solve this lawnmower mystery.” Ammon: “I like buildings in wildlife refuges.” Rust: “Who murdered love?” Ammon: “Snack?” Rust to Ammon. “The dust of galaxies feather-deaths your precept.” Ammon: “I need a working toilet and a Sham-wow.” Rust: “All is death.” Rust to Ammon: “Chill your harsh, man.” Ammon: “PETA […]
The trains are circling again as if they’ve always existed and the town between was never more than an afterthought. Day and night, night and day, dusk and dawn, and each minute or second between, I lose track, the trains are running and running and running. The trains the trains the trains. They never really […]
The seance hadn’t gone well. The dog had ended up in the ceiling. Well, maybe. Hindquarters were all that were showed. Sagging. Man’s best friend once again led into the abyss. Somewhere in the desert beyond a coyote-wolf snickers and howls. Herman had exploded into sparks of pure night, scalding the floorboards, and nothing had […]
For those who’ve asked me on Twitter about the possibility of new Area X/Southern Reach fiction, I can report that I’m (slowly) working on a novella entitled “The Bird Watchers.” The novella is set during the last week before the event that created Area X and the viewpoint character is Old Jim. Some readers will […]
From a work in progress… Pink Rose Salt (Andes) is too delicate to be mournful, yet presented as a defiant rock, so that you must work to break off its plaintiveness and in that struggle realize you were wrong all along. Maldon Sea Salt is deceptive in its raucous and rowdy shouting–it wants to punch […]
Every once in a while, I briefly turn back to the novel I’m working on after the Southern Reach trilogy. Here’s the latest excerpt. No, the Book Murderer is not a very nice person, but then neither is the world. The Book Murderer believed in the study of history, and this was no different when […]
PodCastle has just posted the podcast reading of my novella “The Cage,” originally published in City of Saints and Madmen and reprinted in at least one year’s best. The story can also be found in The Weird. I first had the idea for “The Cage” at a bar mitzvah party. I saw a strange-looking cage […]
Hal Duncan, the juggernaut responsible for Ink and Vellum, is storybusking. Go help him out–he’s a great writer. And in solidarity with him, here’s an excerpt from a novel I’m working on, The Book Murderer. If you like what you read, go donate something to Hal.
Dean Francis Alfar is an excellent short story writer whose second collection How to Traverse Terra Incognitais now available on Amazon and elsewhere in e-book form. The book comes with blurbs from such luminaries as Hugo Award winners Ann VanderMeer and Lynne M. Thomas, among others. Not familiar with Alfar? Here’s what you need to […]