Soft Apocalypses
- $12.95 PaperbackISBN: 978-1-935738-62-6
US only, email
for international rates
Soft Apocalypses is the Recipient of a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection
Lucy A. Snyder proves once again that she is fearless in mapping every corner of the literary landscape. Not content to be confined to any single region, she guides readers through dark realms of fantasy into the churning industry of steampunk, from the dizzying heights of science fiction down to the most desolate depths of horror.
The strength of the tales that make up this quiet cataclysm—for example “Magdala Amygdala,” winner of the 2013 Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction—do not compete. Instead they overlap to create a vista of ethical armageddons at once thorny and hopeful. Snyder’s irresistible prose and stunning eye for detail bind together a collection that defies expectation but delivers deep satisfaction.
Table of Contents
Magdala Amygdala
However …. (with Gary Braunbeck)
Spare the Rod
Miz Ruthie Pays Her Respects
The Good Girl
The Cold Gallery
Abandonment Option
The Cold Blackness Between
I Fuck Your Sunshine
Carnal Harvest
Antumbra
Diamante and Strass
Tiger Girls vs. the Zombies
Repent, Jessie Shimmer!
The Leviathan of Trincomalee
What are they saying about Soft Apocalypses
“Lucy Snyder attacks the page with the raw, manic intensity of an early Sam Raimi. Snyder’s endlessly fertile, endlessly twisted imagination has never been so well-displayed.”—Seanan McGuire, John Campbell Award winner
“We hear a lot about edgy writers, and they generally come off like preschool kids who shock their classmates by repeating out-of-context cuss words. Snyder doesn’t do grade-school shocks. She doesn’t just tell you stories that get under your skin. She tells stories that start out under your skin, tunnel in deeper to chew on your nerve endings and hollow out a few organs, and only crawl back out into the sunlight after they’ve laid eggs inside your spinal cord.”—Hero Sandwich
“Lucy Snyder’s stories have a natural, folksy feel. At first they seem like the kinds of stories your aunt might tell you, or your grandmother. The characters feel quite familiar—you might recognize a neighbor, or a favorite uncle. Snyder’s impressive ear for the way real people actually talk draws you in, and sometimes you’re well into a story before you realize just how disturbing the situation she’s narrating actually is. And when the horror does come it is precisely, almost lovingly described. I’m always eager to see a Lucy Snyder story in the table of contents because I know it’s going to be one of the most original in the book.”
—Steve Rasnic Tem, author of Blood Kin (Solaris, 2014)
“‘Voice’ is one of those writing advice words that’s been so overused in recent years it’s almost lost all meaning…until you read a collection of work by Lucy Snyder, and then you know. Lucy’s work is smart, passionate, and deeply creepy, all told in her very distinctive style. Thank you, Lucy, for reminding us that ‘voice’ is still alive and kicking in the best genre fiction.” —Lisa Morton, multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Zombie Apocalypse: Washington Deceased
Garden of Eldritch Delights
While the Black Stars Burn
Halloween Season