Look Out For… Ecstatic Inferno by Autumn Christian

“Reality in Ecstatic Inferno is malleable, with the ghost of Philip K. Dick never far away.”

WARNING: THIS BOOK IS A PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCE.

From the moment you start to turn the pages, it will soak into your central nervous system, subtly and subversively reprogramming you at the DNA level. Each of these ten stories is engineered to disrupt a different psychic threshold. Pierce the layers between dimensions. Unleashing visions, demons and demiurges of the deepest collective unconscious, both beautiful and terrible.

From deeply haunted Southern gothic strangeness to interplanetary quests of illuminating doom and profound cosmic transformation, Ecstatic Inferno is a heroic dose of hallucinatory modern speculative fiction, uncut and unforgettable.

So taste the brain of Autumn Christian, where every line of idea-drenched, intoxicating prose bleeds with razored wit and revelations so sharp they poke holes in the night. Side effects may include: flashbacks, unshakeable awe and terror, the sense that your reality will never be the same.

ENJOY YOUR TRIP!

Why We’re Excited About This Book:

If you’re the kind of reader who likes nicely delineated genres, Autumn Christian is probably your worst nightmare–a writer of dark, vaguely philosophical, lyrical, futuristic and gruesome short stories. Christian is one of those writers classified as ‘horror’ simply because they don’t fit anywhere else… But given how well she writes, who really cares?

Ecstatic Inferno is a collection of Christian’s short stories, four of which were previously published as A Gentle Hell and six original to this collection. Reality in these tales is malleable, with the ghost of Philip K. Dick never far away. ‘Your Demiurge Is Dead’ opens with the body parts of the New Testament God being washed up on a Mexican beach in bin-liners. In ‘They Promised Dreamless Death’ a company offers the ultimate rest-cure: having your consciousness turned off whilst your body still goes about its daily routines. Even when Christian tackles a more conventional genre monster (such as in ‘The Dog That Bit Her’) it’s filtered through her darkly surreal and poetic style.

Wonderfully assured and original, Ecstatic Inferno is one to check out.

Ecstatic Inferno is out now from Fungasm Press.

Look Out For… Meet Me In The Middle Of The Air by Eric Schaller

“These stories weave together the surreal atmosphere of a dream with the rarified clarity of the upper atmosphere.”

Dark Miracles. Black Comedies. In an astonishing debut collection of short stories, Eric Schaller invites you to unlock the gates of horn, to ascend the bridge of sighs, and to meet him in the middle of the air. There you’ll encounter Edgar Allan Poe cavorting with Marilyn Monroe; intimate insects and blood red roses; apes and automata; and urban witches, parasites, and zombies. Explore the secret nightlife of the Oscar Wildes. Join the Sparrow Mumbler onstage. March in the menagerie of madness and mayhem. Just don’t look down because all that’s holding you aloft is…air.

Why We’re Excited About This Book:

Eric Schaller is a writer and illustrator from in New Hampshire; Meet Me In The Middle Of The Air is his début collection from Undertow Publications.

By turns haunting, horrific and transgressive, the stories within are influenced not just Poe, Jackson, Ligotti and the like, but by the author’s own background as a scientist. This informs several stories, such as ‘The Assistant To Doctor Jacob’ and ‘Turing Test’, which features strange automata hidden in a museum. Elsewhere, ‘The Parasite’ tells of a bizarre creature that crawls into people’s mouths whilst they sleep (attracted by their drunken snores) and ‘To Assume The Writer’s Crown: Notes On The Craft’ plays clever, Nabokovian games with the reader.

No matter what the subject, Schaller’s prose is assured and thrilling, weaving together the surreal atmosphere of a dream with the rarified clarity of the upper atmosphere. Meet Me In The Middle Of The Air once again showcases Undertow’s commitment to the art of the short story.

Meet Me In The Middle Of The Air is out now from Undertow Publications.

It is also available as part of Undertow Publications 2016 subscription offer.

JAMES EVERINGTON