Fears: Tales of Psychological Horror

You try to save a young girl from sexual assault, but she's not really a victim. Your child is sacrificed in compensation for your social misstep. You compete in a sick game to save your loved ones. Your mom is insane, your dad is dying, your brother is not your brother, and you're stuck in the same house until one or all of you are dead. Far below the unlikeliness of the supernatural lives something worse: the depths of human depravity. We live in fear of the cruelties of respected leaders and of the despicable crimes of neighbours who seem normal. We live with anxiety about our innermost desires and the unforgivable things we might do in a moment of passion. Or, if we fail to curb our urges, we live with the terrible secrets of our unfettered resentments. In this uniquely unsettling anthology, editor Ellen Datlow has unearthed twenty-one exemplary tales of what humanity fears most: People. Fears contributors include Dale Bailey, Laird Barron, Simon Bestwick, Charles Birkin, Ray Cluley, Theresa DeLucci, Steve Duffy, Sharon Gosling, John Patrick Higgins Carole Johnstone, Stephen Graham Jones, Margo Lanagan, Livia Llewellyn, Josh Malerman, Bracken MacLeod, Annie Neugebauer, Tim Nickels, Joyce Carol Oates, Stewart O'Nan, Hailey Piper, Priya Sharma.