IN SOMNIO edited by Alex Woodroe
Twenty-five Women from the worlds of Horror Fiction and Illustration coalesce into an unholy union and drag the blackened heart of Classic Gothic Horror into modern daylight. In the process, they have sculpted an altogether sleeker, more feral beast.
In the hands of Mary Shelley, Daphne Du Maurier and Shirley Jackson, Gothic Horror explored the bleak shadows of our homes; the darkest corners of the human mind; madness, personal transformation, the occult. IN SOMNIO recasts the legacy of the original Gothmothers in a chilling contemporary light.
Within the walls of an arcane modern art gallery; upon the shores of a hostile but compelling sea; into the blackest burrows of the animal kingdom; tableside at the world’s last restaurant on the eve of the apocalypse; from the deep deep South to a Lovecraftian Steampunk theatre, a cornucopia of disturbing vignettes await you.
Fans of twisted takes on the classics such as Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters; Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House/Bly Manor; moody, secretive novels like Night Film and A House at the Bottom of the Lake; and traditional Gothic Horror and ghost stories will all find something to chill their bones in IN SOMNIO.
This collection features eighteen vibrant, unique stories ranging from deeply intimate one-room settings to sprawling fantasy worlds; from the depths of darkness to comedy and adventure. Each story brings a new perspective to our inherent love of Gothic Horror and what those vital elements of terror still have to say today.
On sale November 2021. Edited by Alex Woodroe.
Table of Contents:
J.A. Bryson - Senescence
Mary Rijotte - The Blight of Black Creek
Aster S. Monroe - Trespass
S.E. Zeller - Wild Thing
Julie Hutchings - The Beach
Helen Whistberry - Needs Must
Taylor Jordan Pitts - What We Sow
A.P. Howell - Always an After
Elou Carroll - Ghost Light
Hailey Piper - Pretend it Doesn’t Get Worse
Barbara A. Barnett - Self Storage
Harklin Ashe - Nude in Repose #37
Lauren Bolger - Junk Soul
Rachel Unger - We Named You After Her
Jessica Lévai - Silver Hands Against the Devil
M. Lopes da Silva - A House Without Ghosts
Victoria Nations - The Reaching Sea
Briana Una McGuckin - After the Apples
Lin Darrow - The Burning of Langston Flare’s Haunted Masquerade and Seafood Restaurant Experience (For Love)
Illustrated by:
Sally Cantirino - cover artist
Daniella Batsheva
Marisa Bruno
Echo Echo
Claire L. Smith
Tammsle