An old woman and a young boy who live in a subterranean house face strange singing worms.
A Black Cotillion coming out party for a genderfluid witch in the South.
A spirit gets revenge with possession after possession in a bare-knuckle boxing match.
A father and his son have an encounter with the Weird while canoeing to one of the “soft places” in the world.
These stories, and more … As Summer’s Mask Slips
Why we’re excited about this book:
Gordon B. White is relatively new to the horror scene, though his work has been making an impact throughout the community. A Clarion West graduate, White has published fiction in Borderlands 6, Daily Science Fiction, and Pseudopod, as well as fiction reviews and interviews in such publications as Nightmare and Hellnotes. These fifteen strange tales, collected together here for the first time, are the perfect gateway into White’s horror fiction. Kij Johnson (The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe) says: “Gordon B. White’s stories are weird and wise and always surprising. An impressive first collection.”
Why Gordon’s excited about this book:
“I’m excited about As Summer’s Mask Slips and Other Disruptions for a couple of reasons.
First, I’ve been lucky enough to be in a number of wonderful publications and share tables of contents with many of my heroes, but given just how much there is out there, I’m really happy to have a succinct collection where readers can get a feel for what I’ve been doing over the past seven or so years.
Along that line, I’m also pleased to finally share a broad sampling of what I do. There is, of course, a common DNA in most of these stories, but having the variations on the themes collected here will hopefully entertain readers and show them my many sides.
Mostly, however, my love of stories comes from my dad—a true-born storyteller with the gift of gab—and I hope this collection does him proud. I’m not as off the cuff loquacious as he was, but the love of a good tale told well is what drives my writing. I didn’t start seriously pursuing publication until after he passed away in 2011, and even though he isn’t here to see this, his fingerprints are all over this book. A few of these stories, too, come out of the struggle of coming to terms with—and, ultimately, making peace with—his passing. I hope I’ve arranged them here in a way that they take the reader on their own little journey.”
Forthcoming from Trepidatio Publishing 31 January 2020, As Summer’s Mask Slips and Other Disruptions by Gordon B White is available for pre-order now.
BOB PASTORELLA