Pages

Friday, September 17, 2021

Fearing the Other in 'Other Terrors'

I'm very happy to finally share the exquisite cover for Other Terrors, my forthcoming HWA anthology, co-edited with the talented Rena Mason. The cover artwork was done by Venezuelan graphic designer Pablo Gerardo Camacho, who also did the cover for Marlon James' Black Leopard, Red Wolf. The anthology will be published on July 19, 2022 by Mariner Books (an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). 

Even better, after many months of reading and re-reading member submissions and editorial deliberations, we recently revealed the contributors and TOC. Personally, I’m most proud of the fact that although we were slated to select five member submissions, Rena and I worked hard to open up space for ten, doubling the presence of HWA members in our TOC. There are 22 short stories, 2 poems, written by 15 female contributors, 9 male—each bringing a unique perspective to the universal theme of “otherness” from the diversity of their backgrounds and experiences. From the publisher’s website:

An anthology of original new horror stories edited by Bram Stoker Award winners Vince Liaguno and Rena Mason that showcases authors from underrepresented backgrounds telling terrifying tales of what it means to be, or merely to seem, “other.”

Offering original new stories from some of the biggest names in horror as well as some of the hottest up-and-coming talents, Other Terrors will provide the ultimate reading experience for horror fans who want to celebrate fear of “the other.” Be they of a different culture, a different background, a different sexual preference, a different belief system, or a different skin color, some people simply aren’t part of the dominant community—and are perceived as scary. Humans are almost instinctively inclined to fear what’s different, as foolish as that may be, and there are a multitude of individuals who have spent far too long on the outside looking in. And the thing about the outside is . . . it’s much larger than you think.

In Other Terrors, horror writers from a multitude of underrepresented backgrounds will be putting a new, terrifying spin on what it means to be “the other.” People, places, and things once considered normal will suddenly appear different, striking a deeper, much more primal, chord of fear. Are our eyes playing tricks on us, or is there something truly sinister lurking under the surface of what we thought we knew? And who among us who is really of the other, after all?

We are happy to announce that the following HWA members will be included in Other Terrors:

• Holly Walrath with “The Asylum”

• Denise Dumars with “Scrape”

• Annie Neugebauer with “Churn the Unturning Tide”

• Nathan Carson with “Help, I’m a Cop”

• M.E. Bronstein with “The Voice of Nightingales” 

• Shanna Heath with “Miss Infection USA”

• Michael H. Hanson with “Night Shopper”

• Jonathan Lees with “It Comes in Waves”

• Maxwell Ian Gold with “Black Screams, Yellow Stars”

and

• Hailey Piper with “The Turning”

These exceptional stories from our HWA members will join previously announced esteemed contributors:

• Tananarive Due with “Incident at Bear Creek Lodge”

• S.A. Cosby with “What Blood Hath Wrought”

• Alma Katsu with “Waste Not”

• Stephen Graham Jones with “Tiddlywinks”

• Jennifer McMahon with “Idiot Girls”

• Michael Thomas Ford with “Where the Lovelight Gleams”

and

• Ann Dávila Cardinal with “Invasive Species”

Rounding out this outstanding TOC, the following talented authors will also be joining the Other Terrors lineup:

• Usman Malik with “Mud Flappers”

• Gabino Iglesias with “There’s Always Something in the Woods”

• Eugen Bacon with “The Devil Don’t Come with Horns”

• Larissa Glasser with “Kalkriese”

• Tracy A. Cross with “All Not Ready”

• Linda D. Addison with her poem “Illusions of the De-Evolved”

and

• Christina Sng with her poem “Other Fears”

Heartfelt congratulations to all those whose stories made the TOC, and our sincerest thanks to the HWA membership for making our decisions so difficult. The quality of the pool of submissions was impressive! We deeply appreciate your patience as we worked through the long process of bringing this anthology together. Special thanks to Jaime Levine at HMH, whose been a pleasure to work with, HWA's agent Alec Shane, and Lisa Morton, who both recommended me for the gig and had the insight to pair me with a superb co-editor.

Pre-orders are up now. Following the lead of one of our contributors, Jonathan Lees, here are several online retailers from whom you can pre-order Other Terrors:

No comments: