Arterial Bloom

Lush. Brutal.Beautiful. Visceral.Crystal Lake Publishing proudly presents this Bram Stoker Award-nominated Horror short story anthology, an artful juxtaposition of the magnificence and macabre that exist within mankind. Each tale in this collection is resplendent with beauty, teeth, and heart.Edited by the Bram Stoker Award-winning writer Mercedes M. Yardley, Arterial Bloom is a literary experience featuring 16 horror suspense stories from some of the most compelling dark authors writing today.With a foreword by HWA Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient Linda D. Addison, you are invited to step inside and let the grim flowers wind themselves comfortably around your bones.The line-up includes:The Stone Door by Jimmy BernardDog (Does Not) Eat Dog by Grant LongstaffKudzu Stories by Linda J. MarshallDead Letters by Christopher BarzakThe Darker Side of Grief by Naching T. KassaWelcome to My Autumn by Daniel CrowStill Life by Kelli OwenThree Masks by Armand RosamiliaDoodlebug by John BodenHappy Pills by Todd KeislingWhat Remained of Her by Jennifer LoringBlue Was Her Favorite Color by Dino ParentiIn the Loop by Ken LiuThe Making of Mary by Steven PirieMouths Filled with Sea Water by Jonathan CosgroveRotten by Carina BissettProudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.Interview with the editor:Mercedes, this is your debut as an anthology editor. Can you tell us how you went about choosing the Dark Fiction stories included in Arterial Bloom?MMY: Yes, absolutely! Crystal Lake Publishing put out a call for short horror stories. My job was to ensure authors heard about the call. I basically beat down doors trying to spread the word, making sure that people realized it was an open, inclusive anthology and I was interested in stories of all types. Several hundred stories rolled in. It was a massive undertaking, but by reading open submissions instead of invitation-only stories, I was able to come across several authors who were new to me. This collection is full of award-winning, well-known authors as well as fresh voices. It’s a beautiful mix and I’m very proud of it.This was an unthemed horror anthology, which means that you weren’t particularly looking for any specific themes. But did you find that a certain theme emerged?MMY: Oh, yes. The Arterial Bloom anthology is all about monsters. Some monsters are literal. Some are human. But every story shows the juxtaposition of the ugliness and the beauty of humanity and the way we deal with things. It’s an emotional anthology. We deal with horror, grief, trauma, love, and healing. It’s gut-wrenching. It’s visceral and quite lovely, in a way.How did you come up with the title?MMY: The anthology itself is gutting and gorgeous. I was trying to find a title that played with that hardness and softness. My friends from The Geeky Writers and I went into our chat and brainstormed titles. Different words, different phrases. We just put them together in combinations until we came up with Arterial Bloom. It was the perfect title. It has that primitive, animal feel as well as being artistic. In my mind’s eye, I could see arterial spray, which is graphic and horrifying, painting exquisite flowers on a white wall. It’s like when a cat bites you and then licks the wound. The pain is still there, but the gentleness soothes. This anthology has teeth, but it’s also extraordinarily lovely.

Matt Hayward, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of What Do Monsters Fear? and A Penny For Your Thoughts ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ "The stories in Arterial Bloom work in tandem, enticing the reader into rapturous melancholia. The end result is both comforting and unsettling, my favorite way to feel."

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ "Yardley's debut anthology floored me. An incredible cocktail of poetic darkness, fueled by some of the best names working today. A must-have for any horror fan."

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