A chilling collection of psychological suspense and literary horror from the multiple award-winning author of the national bestseller The Cabin at the End of the World and A Head Full of Ghosts.
A masterful anthology featuring nineteen pieces of short fiction, The Growing Things is an exciting glimpse into Paul Tremblayβs fantastically fertile imagination. In βThe Teacher,β a Bram Stoker Award nominee for best short story, a student is forced to watch a disturbing video that will haunt and torment her and her classmatesβ lives. Four men rob a pawn shop at gunpoint only to vanish, one-by-one, as they speed away from the crime scene in βThe Getaway.β In βSwim Wants to Know If Itβs as Bad as Swim Thinks,β a meth addict kidnaps her daughter from her estranged mother as their town is terrorized by a giant monster . . . or not. Joining these haunting works are stories linked to Tremblayβs previous novels. The tour de force metafictional novella βNotes from the Dog Walkersβ deconstructs horror and publishing, possibly bringing in a character from A Head Full of Ghosts , all while serving as a prequel to Disappearance at Devilβs Rock. βThe Thirteenth Templeβ follows another character from A Head Full of Ghosts βMerry, who has published a tell-all memoir written years after the events of the novel. And the title story, βGrowing Things,β a shivery tale loosely shared between the sisters in A Head Full of Ghosts , is told here in full. From global catastrophe to the demons inside our heads, Tremblay illuminates our primal fears and darkest dreams in startlingly original fiction that leaves us unmoored. As he lowers the sky and yanks the ground from beneath our feet, we are compelled to contemplate the darkness inside our own hearts and minds. **
Review
"Paul Tremblay has mastered creepy, interstitial spaces with his own brand of supernatural-adjacent horror. This collection proves again that in any form, at any length, Tremblay is a must-read." -- "Chuck Wendig, New York Times bestselling author "
"Paul Tremblay's writing has a way of sneaking under your skin and messing with your head... Growing Things is a collection of bite-sized, disturbing and brilliantly observed stories...Some will make you question everything you thought you knew about the craft of writing." -- "Sarah Lotz, author of The White Road"
"A skilled purveyor of the uncanny who always seeks meaning amidst the fear, Paul Tremblay is one of the key writers who have made modern horror exciting again." -- "Adam Nevill, author of The Ritual"
About the Author
Paul Tremblay has won the Bram Stoker, British Fantasy, and Massachusetts Book Awards and is the author of Disappearance at Devil's Rock , A Head Full of Ghosts , and the crime novels The Little Sleep and No Sleep Till Wonderland. He is a member of the board of directors of the Shirley Jackson Awards, and his essays and short fiction have appeared in the Los Angeles Times , Entertainment Weekly online, and numerous year's-best anthologies.