Outsiders: 22 All-New Stories From the Edge

Some of today's leading masters of speculative fiction, dark fantasy, and horror contribute a collection of original tales of the macabre in an anthology that features works by Neil Gaiman, Poppy Z. Brite, Yvonne Navarro, Tanith Lee, John Shirley, Brian Hodge, and Kathe Koja, among others. Original.

From Publishers Weekly

Presented as "stories from the edge" about misfits and outcasts, Holder and Kirkpatrick's all-original anthology of moody horror instead shows how close to the edge everyone is. Neil Gaiman, Poppy Z. Brite, Elizabeth Massie and other award-winning writers cover a gamut of approaches, from traditional shocker and physical slasher through psychological terror to urban New Weird dark fantasy. While most selections respect the "outsider" theme, many exhibit a longing for community, taking an "alternate mainstream," not an antimainstream, attitude. A notable exception is Joe R. Lansdale's unsettling tale of the University of Texas clock-tower shootings, "The Shadows, Kith and Kin." Often clever in their descriptions of the networks that outsiders form, these stories tend to give insights into subcultures rather than individuals. The overall feeling is the horror of belonging more than of being excluded, as in Elizabeth Engstrom's haunting portrait of a future proletarian being taught the virtues of making his reality his dream, "Honing Sebastian." Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Nancy Holder is a Los Angeles Times bestselling author and a charter member and Trustee of the Horror Writers Association. A Bram Stoker Award-winner, she has written more than 63 books. Nancy Kilpatrick is the award-winning author of 18 novels and more than 200 short stories, and she's edited eight anthologies. Her most recent book is The Goth Bible.

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