Dark Stars

Finalist for the World Fantasy Award . Includes "Challawa" by Usman T. Malik, finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novelette

Dark Stars, edited by John F.D. Taff, is a tribute to horror's longstanding short fiction legacy, featuring 12 terrifying original stories from today's most noteworthy authors.

Within these pages you'll find tales of dead men walking, an insidious secret summer fling, an island harboring unspeakable power, and a dark hallway that beckons. You'll encounter terrible monsters-both human and supernatural-and be forever changed. The stories in Dark Stars run the gamut from traditional to modern, from dark fantasy to neo-noir, from explorations of beloved horror tropes to the unknown-possibly unknowable-threats.

It's all in here because it's all out there, now, in horror.

Dark Stars features all-new stories from the following award-winning authors and up-and-coming voices: Chesya Burke, Ramsey Campbell, Gemma Files, Stephen Graham Jones, Alma Katsu, Caroline Kepnes, John Langan, Livia Llewellyn, Josh Malerman, Usman T. Malik, Priya Sharma, and John F.D. Taff. Created as an homage to the 1980 classic horror anthology Dark Forces, edited by Kirby McCauley, Dark Stars features an afterword from original contributor Ramsey Campbell-a poignant finale to this bone-chilling collection.

Foreword by Josh Malerman
Introduction by John F.D. Taff
The Attentionist by Caroline Kepnes
A Life in Nightmares by Ramsey Campbell
Papa Eye by Priya Sharma
Volcano by Livia Llewellyn
All the Things He Called Memories by Stephen Graham Jones
Trinity River's Blues by Chesya Burke
The Familiar's Assistant by Alma Katsu
Swim in the Blood of a Curious Dream by John F.D. Taff
The Sanguintalist by Gemma Files
Mrs. Addison's Nest by Josh Malerman
Story Title TK by Usman T. Malik
Enough for Hunger and Enough for Hate by John Langan
Afterword TK by Ramsey Campbell
Story Notes & Author Bios
Acknowledgements