Seeking a simpler life, 18-year-old Ellis moves in with their mother in Black Stone. Dealing with both the tragic death of their father and surviving an eating disorder, they need some space to recover.
But something feels off about Black Stone … especially that it’s surrounded by towns with the highest death rates in the country. And everyone says Ellis’s house is haunted—even Quinn, a local girl that has caught the attention of Ellis. After witnessing pulsing veins in their bedroom walls, and strange specters in the dark cellar, Ellis begins to believe what everyone has been saying.
Ellis and Quinn investigate Black Stone’s past and learn the town, and Ellis’s house particularly, is ground-zero in a long spectral war.
A war that will claim their family—and the town—if it’s allowed to continue.
Why we’re excited about this book:
Relatively new to the horror fiction scene, A.G.A. Wilmot is one writer consistently delivering the goods. The author of The Death Scene Artist, their short fiction has been featured in such publications as Underbelly Magazine, ParABnormal Magazine, Crap Orgasm, Gamut, and The Singularity among others. They are also on the editorial advisory board for Poplar Press, the speculative fiction imprint of Wolsak & Wynn. With their latest effort, Wilmot presents a teenager haunted by grief facing impossible odds to save themselves in a nightmarish supernatural war, and those they love. Ai Jiang (I Am Ai, Linghun) says: “Withered is a slow burn psychological horror that will consume its readers through its exploration of the toxicity and timelessness of grief and the way it chokes all those it touches. The time-paused town of Black Stone reveals to readers what it means to conquer death and what it means to be alive. Wilmot elegantly illuminates the power of art and its impact on identity and memory, while painting a vivid definition of a ghost town with their prose.” Andrew F. Sullivan (The Handyman Method (with Nick Cutter), The Marigold) says: “Unwinding like a bandage from an old wound, Withered explores the cost of living with ourselves and our fragile histories. Wilmot deconstructs the haunted house and finds a home worth saving.”, and Suzan Palumbo (Skin Thief) says: “Withered is a compassionate exploration of mental health, hauntings, and the way grief can pull, stretch, or erode our sense of self. Told with wit and warmth, it is a triumph of love in the face of heartache and death.”
Releasing from ECW Press 16 April 2024, Withered by A.G.A. Wilmot is available for pre-order now.
BOB PASTORELLA