Broken Eye Books is publishing the serial novel Hairsbreadth by Craig Laurance Gidney, a contemporary fairy tale in the tradition of Victor LaValle's The Changeling and Helen Oyeyemi's Boy, Snow, Bird.

Seventeen-year-old Zelda has always been isolated, born with deep dark skin and fast-growing hair that seems to have a mind of its own, and moving from place to place with her grandmother. But when the two of them move to the remote eastern shore town of Shimmer, her power grows in strange new ways—she can hear and see the dead, which proves useful to her grandmother’s folk medicine business. Zelda thinks she has a gift at first. But she soon discovers that there is a dark side to her powers.
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Hairsbreadth is a dark retelling of the fairy tale "Rapunzel," steeped in African-American folklore, and a coming-of-age tale full of Black Girl Magic.
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The story begins today over at Eyedolon.

It's one of those very special days in any publisher's life when they can breathe life into a new book. Allow me to introduce our latest release, Nowhereville: Weird Is Other People, freshly pressed into life today. We do hope you'll enjoy the read. Reviewers certainly have been:

"Taken together, these stories create an uncanny, unpredictable hall of mirrors. These wonderfully strange takes on modern living are sure to resonate with fans of speculative fiction." (STARRED review from Publishers Weekly, and a PW Book of the Week)

"Readers will be enchanted by this collection and eagerly anticipate what the next entry will bring. The stories here are disconcerting, ambiguous, and sometimes confusing—but always intriguing and genre-bending, digging into the ways we connect to those around us." (Booklist)

"What's more, they complement one another in a way that's rare even for collections by single authors, much less an anthology delivering 19 disparate voices. Indeed, the effect of this collection is not so much that of a set of loosely comparable episodes but of a kaleidoscope: variegated and multifaceted yet all of a piece. Remarkably powerful urban tales, each one brilliantly in harmony with the others." (STARRED review from Kirkus)

AND it was just included in USA Today's "5 Books Not to Miss" list.

You can find Nowhereville online at Amazon | B&N | Kobo and right here at Broken Eye Books (which also exclusively offers the hardcover edition).

And of course, you can support your favorite indie bookstore (and us at the same time)--or ask them to order it for you if they don't already carry it.

Broken Eye Books is an independent press, here to bring you the odd, strange, and offbeat side of speculative fiction. Our stories tend to blend genres, highlighting the weird and blurring its boundaries with horror, sci-fi, and fantasy.

More information can be found at www.brokeneyebooks.com. 

New speculative fiction anthology, Nowhereville: Weird Is Other People, explores the weird fictions, from the horrific to the ecstatic, that are inherent in city life and in the ways we love and hate and express, in the ways we interact and cope and deal with one another. Releases December 17, 2019, from Broken Eye Books. (Available now for pre-order.)

These are stories of the city, of people interacting with the complexities that are other people. These 19 short stories explore a landscape that is not quite fantasy and not quite science fiction, tales blurring the lines between genres. These are the strange stories of the strange decisions we make and the strange ways the city affects us.

And there's an amazing cast of authors:

Nuzo Onoh | Maura McHugh | P. Djèlí Clark | Evan J. Peterson | S.P. Miskowski | Craig Laurance Gidney | Lynda E. Rucker | Tariro Ndoro | D.A. Xiaolin Spires | Mike Allen | Jeffrey Thomas | Erica L. Satifka | Kathe Koja | Leah Bobet | Ramsey Campbell | Wole Talabi | Stephen Graham Jones | R.B. Lemberg | Cody Goodfellow

gather together enough people and strange things happen. that’s just fact. it’s inevitable really. just try keeping them apart. impossible. they just keep clamoring and fiddling and getting into everything and strangeing up the place. can’t say why. you just learn to accept it. even to thrill at it. the ups, the downs, the everchanging nature of it all. it’s unpredictable. it’s exhausting. and it’s fascinating.

Broken Eye Books is an independent press, here to bring you the odd, strange, and offbeat side of speculative fiction. Our stories tend to blend genres, highlighting the weird and blurring its boundaries with horror, sci-fi, and fantasy.

More information can be found at www.brokeneyebooks.com. Inquiries for review copies or for more information should be directed to scott@brokeneyebooks.com.

Catfish Lullaby releases today! 

Small town secrets lead to trouble for everyone as Caleb must confront the demons of his past in this Southern Gothic queer cosmic horror.

This is a split story following Caleb and Cere, part as children, part as adults, as they deal with homegrown bigotry, sorcerous generational evil, and the everpresent, bog-monster specter of Catfish John. All while embracing the love of found family.

Written by AC Wise and cover by Sishir Bommakanti with Scott Gable on design. Early reviews have been amazing! Hope you love it!

Lewis is a Town of Secrets
The Royce family has been a plague on the small, Southern town of Lewis for generations. Caleb has heard rumors about the family his whole life, just like he's heard the rumors about a monstrous creature known as Catfish John living in the swamp. 

When the Royce house burns down, Caleb's father—Lewis's sheriff—takes in the sole survivor, a young girl named Cere. Caleb quickly learns the truth about Archie Royce and the terrible fate he had planned for his daughter. After a woman is brutally murdered, Cere begins to suspect that not all of her family perished in the fire, and she and Caleb set out to stop her father's dark vision from coming to pass. 

Years later, Caleb is the sheriff of Lewis, and the monsters of his childhood return. Now Caleb must fight to protect those he loves from Archie Royce's legacy, and his best hope may be a legend he's almost managed to convince himself never existed—Catfish John.

Reviews
"Wise’s visceral language conveys an experience of eerie magic that simultaneously lures and repels, placed in close juxtaposition to the mundane monstrousness of prejudice, cancer, and loneliness. This story can be appreciated simply for its ghost story shivers and rich imagery, but its full power comes with the author’s choice to center the misunderstood and marginalized as beloved family to one another, even when the outside world sees them as monstrous." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

"Catfish Lullaby seamlessly combines Southern folklore with cosmic horror. There's an elegiac undertone to this lullaby that's as deep and mysterious as the bayou where it takes place." (Craig Laurance Gidney, author of A Spectral Hue)

“In her excellent novella, AC Wise revisits a Louisiana family at key moments during the later decades of the recent past—moments connected to what seems to be a local legend, one concerning the conflict between a pair of fantastical figures. Not only do her protagonists discover that what they took for fantasy is fact, they learn that it is more complicated than they could have expected. The result is a compelling narrative that begs to be read in one sitting.” (John Langan, author of Sefira and Other Betrayals)

"Folk tales give birth to new mythologies in AC Wise's delightfully enthralling Southern Gothic novella Catfish Lullaby. Flooded with dark sorcery and white-knuckle suspense, Catfish Lullaby demonstrates the many ways saviors and devils can occupy the same body, whether it arises from the depths of the swamp or the dark of the grave." (Mike Allen, World Fantasy Award–nominated author of Unseaming and Aftermath of an Industrial Accident​)

"Over the last few years, A.C. Wise has been consistently creating some of the very best speculative short fiction out there, and now with her glorious novella Catfish Lullaby, she takes her craft to a whole new level. With a potent atmosphere, a formidable antagonist, and well-drawn, unforgettable characters, this book has definitely got it all. An absolute must-read for 2019." (Gwendolyn Kiste, author of The Rust Maidens and Pretty Marys All in a Row)

From the Author
"Even though Catfish Lullaby has its share of monsters, darkness, and characters fighting to save the world," A.C. says, "at its heart, it's a story about family. Caleb lost several people in his life early on, and he's terrified of losing the rest of the people he loves. As an adult, the very concept of family frightens him, even as he craves that closeness and connection. For Cere, her journey is about overcoming the family she was born into and protecting the family she chooses.

"In-between family and fighting monsters, Catfish Lullaby is also a novella about the power of stories—how legends are born, how they are passed down through the generations, and how they can shape a person's worldview for good or for ill."

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Broken Eye Books is an independent press, here to bring you the odd, strange, and offbeat side of speculative fiction. Our stories tend to blend genres, highlighting the weird and blurring its boundaries with horror, sci-fi, and fantasy.
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Support weird. Support indie.

The Great Faerie Strike has been released on the world!

A hilarious romp through a steampunk Victorian London while, just next door in the Otherworld, Marxism is coming to Faerie.

This title launches our new imprint Stink Eye: story by Spencer Ellsworth; cover by Mike Uziel and Jeremy Zerfoss. 

Revolution in Faerie
Ridley Enterprises has brought industry to the Otherworld, churning out magical goods for profit. But when they fire Charles the gnome, well, they’ve gone too far. And against a gnome's respectable nature, he takes to the streets, fighting for workers’ rights.

The Otherworld's first investigative reporter, Jane, is looking for a story. And she finds it, witnessing a murder and getting sucked into a conspiracy within werewolf high society.

Jane and Charles team up to unite the workers and bring the Ridleys to justice. But a budding romance complicates everything. Can they bring change to Faerie or will dark powers consume both worlds?

Reviews
"A rollicking adventure told with Pratchettesque wit and compassion. This is an Otherworld as real and as strange as our own, with characters you can't help but root for and an economic system you can't help but recognize. This book is a delight." (Kate Heartfield, author of Alice Payne Arrives)

"Wacky, satirical, and downright hilarious. With sharp writing and a rollicking pace, Ellsworth will throw you down the rabbit hole and into the Otherworld." (Sean Grigsby, author of Smoke Eaters & Daughters of Forgotten Light)

"Charming, rakish, and a rollicking good time." (Tina Connolly, Nebula-nominated author of Ironskin & Seriously Wicked)

"Spencer Ellsworth's The Great Faerie Strike is Dickensian fantasy that punches the soot off tradition with a cunning female lead and a dastardly fun world. Must read for those who love fantasy but need a revolutionary fix." (Jason Ridler, author of Hex-Rated and Harvest of Blood and Iron)

"Ellsworth’s feypunk Victorian fantasy is A Midsummer Night’s Dream meets Underworld with a dash of Dickens, featuring a heroine who is Lois Lane as imagined by a slightly drunk Jane Austen. While full of humor and fun fantasy adventure, it doesn’t shy away from also exploring the darker side of capitalism or the struggle between finding your place in the world versus making your place in the world versus making the world the place you want it to be. A fitting tale for our times." (Randy Henderson, author of Finn Fancy Necromancy)

From the Author
"The Great Faerie Strike," says Spencer, "is just the weirdest, most fun idea I've ever had for a novel. A Marxist gnome union leader! A plucky vampire reporter! It's my Eugene Debs/Nelly Bly in the Otherworld fanfic ship. It was also easily the hardest project I ever wrote. Between 2006 and 2014 I pecked and pecked, rewrote and deleted, and then earlier this year, deleted most of it and started over. I'm so pleased that my weird little book has a place at Broken Eye Books."

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Broken Eye Books is an independent press, here to bring you the odd, strange, and offbeat side of speculative fiction. Our stories tend to blend genres, highlighting the weird and blurring its boundaries with horror, sci-fi, and fantasy.
​
Support weird. Support indie.

​Broken Eye Books is publishing the serial novel Carnivàle by WC Dunlap, a surreal and post-apocalyptic political horror show.
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In the midst of a post-apocalyptic dust bowl sits the Village of Junk. Villagers roam like zombies through the routine of life without living, persisting on pure biological instinct. They shit, they eat, they fuck, they die. But each year, the Carnivàle rolls into town, bringing false hope and broken promises.

For some, it is a respite from the doldrums of poverty, an evening of rancorous hedonism—when hunger, sickness, and depression are lulled by carnal indulgence. But for the Virgin and the Whore, it is an opportunity to take the helm of the most sinister show on earth. They’ve prepared all year to submit themselves to the trials of the Carnivàle, ready to risk their souls for the opportunity to rule. But one does not simply lose at the Carnivàle. This year’s Carnivàle will be the ultimate test of the human spirit, all of them.

“This story was inspired by the insanity of participating in an electoral system with fervent fanaticism,” says WC, “compromising our values and placing faith in candidates whom we viciously defend when ultimately the decision is not ours at all. And then the candidates rarely deliver what they promised. It’s the stuff of a surreal dystopia, so I attempted to write one.”

The story begins in September 2019 over at Eyedolon.

​WC Dunlap draws her inspiration from the complexities of a Black Baptist, middle-class upbringing by Southern parents and all that entails for a brown-skin girl growing up in America. Equally enthralled by the divine and the demonic with a professional background in data & tech, she seeks to bend genres with a unique lens on fantasy, fear, and the future.

Her writing career spans film, journalism, and cultural critique. You can find her most recent work under “Wendi Dunlap” at PodCastle, in the Lovecraft-inspired anthology Ride the Star Wind: Cthulhu, Space Opera, and the Cosmic Weird, and the inaugural edition of the award-winning FIYAH literary magazine. Her website wcdunlap.com is coming soon.

She holds a BA in Film and Africana Studies from Cornell University. She is the proud mother of a young adult son and two British Shorthair familiars. Follow WC Dunlap on twitter @wcdunlap_tales.

Broken Eye Books is an independent press, here to bring you the odd, strange, and offbeat side of speculative fiction. Our stories tend to blend genres, highlighting the weird and blurring its boundaries with horror, sci-fi, and fantasy.
​
Support weird. Support indie.

A special Valentine's Day offer for Clinton J. Boomer fans! Order any of Boomer's books from brokeneyebooks.com by this coming February 18 (could be The Hole Behind Midnight, paperback or hardcover, Royden Poole's Field Guide to the 25th Hour, Tomorrow's Cthulhu--or really anything, even if he's not in it!), and he'll sign/personalize it (and maybe even doodle in it) for you.

IMPORTANT DETAILS: Please write SIGNEDBYBOOMER in the memo section of your purchase followed by anything special, like who you'd like it personalized to, for instance. (This must all go in the memo section, not the coupon section.) Once all orders are in, Boomer will sign them and mail them directly to you. Overseas orders must use the more expensive Overseas From US shipping option (and not the AUS- or EU/UK-Friendly Shipping, if given the choice) since these particular orders must be shipped from the US. Everyone should expect longer shipping times than usual given the special circumstances.

Broken Eye Books is publishing the novella Busted Synapses by Erica L. Satifka, a sci-fi tale that explores the changing future.

After a freak superstorm wipes out the entire East Coast of the US, society crumbles in an economic depression known as the Break. Humans have been priced out, driven from the remaining cities. And their replacements—the artificial New People—are smarter and stronger, heralding the future of humanity. 

Broken Eye Books is publishing the serial novel The Mosquito Fleet by Andrew Penn Romine, a sci-fi horror tale that explores the fringes of the cosmos.

In the far future, humankind has settled remote frontier worlds thanks to the exotic science of biotics, a combination of organic and inorganic engineering that powers FTL drives, starships, and even synthetic humans.  

Queen of No Tomorrows releases today! Matt Maxwell takes us to eighties LA in this supernatural horror noir: librarian Cait MacReady forges occult books in her spare time, but her latest has developed a life all its own. 

Early Reviews

"LA noir goes weird and eerie in Queen of No Tomorrows. You might think you’re merely faking an ancient text for profit, but the power of the Word is real, and its truth will likely slither from the shadows of your imagination and bite you. Intriguing and finely written.” (Jamie Delano,  author of HELLBLAZER)

"A dark tour of our most sun-drenched city, led by a woman unlike any other. The prose positively crackles with dread—I couldn't put it down!" (Corinna Bechko, author of INVISIBLE REPUBLIC and HEATHENTOWN)