Monstrous Affections

A young bride and her future mother-in-law risk everything to escape it. A repentant father summons help from a pot of tar to ensure it. A starving woman learns from howling winds and a whispering host, just how fulfilling it can finally be. Can it be love?

"Bleak, stark and creepy, Stoker-winner Nickle's first collection will delight the literary horror reader. A jarring cover illustration by Erik Mohr prepares the reader for 13 terrifying tales of rural settings, complex and reticent characters and unexpected twists that question the fundamentals of reality. All are delivered with a certain grace, creating a sparse yet poetic tour of the horrors that exist just out of sight. Standout stories include 'Janie and the Wind,' where a battered, abandoned woman does what she needs to survive; 'Other People's Kids,' a disturbing examination of the razor-thin moment dividing childhood from maturity and the hand holding that razor; and 'The Pit Heads,' a phenomenal story about the cold remnants of a Canadian mining town and the true cost of beauty. This ambitious collection firmly establishes Nickle as a writer to watch." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Introduction by award-winning editor, author, and journalist Michael Rowe

A young bride and her future mother-in-law risk everything to escape it. A repentant father summons help from a pot of tar to ensure it. A starving woman learns from howling winds and a whispering host, just how fulfilling it can finally be.

Can it be love?

Table of Contents

The Geniality of Monsters ] Introduction by Michael Rowe

The Sloan Men

Janie and the Wind

Night of the Tar Baby

Other People's Kids

The Mayor Will Make A Brief Statement and then Take Questions

The Pit-Heads

Slide Trombone

The Inevitability of Earth

Swamp Witch and the Tea-Drinking Man

The Delilah Party

Fly in your Eye

Polyphemus' Cave

The Webley