Screams from the Dark Edited by Ellen Datlow

Ellen Datlow’s anthology of monsters and the monstrous is now out in paperback.

It’s available for the next 2 days at 25% off on pre-orders from Barnes & Noble.

Contributors include: Ian Rogers, Fran Wilde, Gemma Files, Daryl Gregory, Brian Hodge, Joyce Carol Oates, Indrapramit Das, Siobhan Carroll, Richard Kadrey, Norman Partridge, Garry Kilworth, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Chikodili Emelumadu, Glen Hirshberg, A. C. Wise, Stephen Graham Jones, Kaaron Warren, Livia Llewellyn, Carole Johnstone, Margo Lanagan, Joe R. Lansdale, Brian Evenson, Nathan Ballingrud, Cassandra Khaw, Laird Barron, Kristi DeMeester, Jeffrey Ford, and John Langan.

I’m delighted to be included in the collection with “The Ghost of a Flea”, my short story about William Blake.

Tor Nightfire Halloween Horror Sweepstake

Giveaway only open to residents of US and CA (excluding Quebec). Closes 9th October 2022.

I am VERY proud to be in both “Screams From the Dark” and “Dark Stars”.

Enter here.

The Ghost of a Flea

I have made the Flea my business since that first night with John Varley.

I searched out Robert Hooke’s Micrographia: Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies Made by Magnifying Glasses with Observations and Enquiries. Micrographia. Small drawings.

Hooke’s work is an exquisite endeavour but his rendering of the flea is larger than any other creature therein. So much so that the page folds out as if Hooke is trying to communicate something. Why else would he elevate the flea so?

Hooke made his study in 1665. One hundred and fifty-three years ago. He writes with obscene interest  of the flea’s curiously polish’d suit of sable Armour, neatly jointed, and beset with multitudes of sharp pinns, shap’d almost like Porcupine’s Quills, or bright conical Steel-bodkins; the head is on either side beautify’d with a quick and round black eye, behind each of which also appears a small cavity, in which he seems to move to and fro a certain thin film beset with many small transparent hairs, which probably may be his ears; in the forepart of his head, between the two fore-leggs, he has two small long jointed feelers, or rather smellers…

            That we could be terrorised by something so minute is both woeful and laughable. Unlike Hooke I see nothing to admire in this parasite. I’ve seen the Flea’s ghost and he doesn’t look like Hooke’s drawing. No, not at all.

The Ghost of a Flea by Priya Sharma

The flea from Hooke’s Micrographia

This story has been in my head for years, ever since I attended a series of talks called “Dreams and Nightmares” at Liverpool University as part of their Continuing Education Classes. William Blake’s “The Ghost of a Flea” stayed with me and I have finally exorcised it via a story for Ellen Datlow’s anthology Screams from the Dark: 29 Tales of Monsters and the Monstrous.

Screams From The Dark

I love a good monster story, so am thrilled to be in Ellen Datlow’s new anthology with a story called “The Ghost of a Flea”.

Contributers list: Ian Rogers, Fran Wilde, Gemma Files, Daryl Gregory, Priya Sharma, Brian Hodge, Joyce Carol Oates, Indrapramit Das, Siobhan Carroll, Richard Kadrey, Norman Partridge, Garry Kilworth, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Chikodili Emelumadu, Glen Hirshberg, A. C. Wise, Stephen Graham Jones, Kaaron Warren, Livia Llewellyn, Carole Johnstone, Margo Lanagan, Joe R. Lansdale, Brian Evenson, Nathan Ballingrud, Cassandra Khaw, Laird Barron, Kristi DeMeester, Jeffrey Ford, and John Langan.

Find out more here.

Breaking the Glass Slipper

Thanks to Charlotte Bond, Lucy Hounsom (who writes as Times Bestseller author Lucy Holland), and Megan Leigh, the team at Breaking the Glass Slipper for having me on their show. We talked about families in horror fiction and my new story (“The Ghost of a Flea”) which appears in Screams from the Dark: 29 Tales of Monsters and the Monstrous, edited by Ellen Datlow, out from Tor Nightfire on June 7th.

Coming soon….

Screams From The Dark

Screams From the Dark: Tales of Monsters and the Monstrous, a thrilling anthology featuring all-original tales of monsters from bestselling and award-winning authors and edited by Ellen Datlow, will be published by Nightfire in June 2022!

From werewolves and vampires, to demons and aliens, the monster is one of the most recognizable figures in horror. But what makes something, or someone, monstrous?

Nightfire

I am thrilled to be included alongside a dizzying list of writers in this all anthology of new stories. The list so far includes Indrapramit Das, Ian Rogers, Gerry Kilworth, Joe R. Lansdale, Glen Hirshberg, Stephen Graham Jones, Carole Johnstone, Laird Barron, Nathan Ballingrud, John Langan, Siobhan Carroll, A.C. Wise, Daryl Gregory, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Brian Evenson, Margo Lanagan, Richard Kadrey, Fran Wilde, Brian Hodge, Joyce Carol Oates, Jeffrey Ford, Kaaron Warren, Cassandra Khaw, and Kristi DeMeester.

You can find more information here.