In the Closet, Under the Bed
Saturday, August 22nd, 2009
Title: In the Closet, Under the Bed
Author: Lee Thomas
Publisher: Dark Scribe Press, LLC
Format: Trade Paperback, eBook
ISBN-10: 0981863213
ISBN-13: 978-0981863214
Retail Price: $16.00
Pages: 270
Release Date: 12-31-09
Category: Fiction | Horror | Gay | Single-Author Collection
Sales Contact: DarkScribePress(at)AOL(dot)com
Retail Availability: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Horror Mall
A breathtaking collection of literary dark fiction that will force you to face the terror lurking…in the closet, under the bed…
In this collection of fifteen tales, award-winning author Lee Thomas casts light on the shadows in our closets and explores the fear of boogeymen and beasts we sense lying in wait under our beds. Featuring nine original tales and six acclaimed short stories gathered together in one volume for the first time anywhere, In the Closet, Under the Bed reminds us that sometimes the most terrifying aspects of the human condition come from within.
Table of Contents:
- Foreword | David Thomas Lord
- All the Faces Change New
- An Apiary of White Bees
- Healer
- Dislocation New
- They Would Say She Danced
- Shelter New
- The Good and Gone
- Appetite of the Cyber Tribes New
- Crack Smokin’ Grandpa New
- Anthem of the Estranged
- I Know You’re There New
- Down to Sleep New
- I’m Your Violence
- Tears to Rust New
- The Tattered Boy New
- Afterword | Michael Rowe
Awards:
- FINALIST for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Collection
- FINALIST for the Lambda Literary Award for Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror
Reviews and Blurbs:
“This collection of 15 short stories by Stoker and Lambda award-winning author Thomas (Stained) makes a worthwhile read for horror fans…Thomas’s extremely visceral descriptions and ability to tap into universal fears make this best read in small doses, with the lights on.” - Publishers Weekly [Full Review]
“From lyrical to poignant to funny to beautifully grotesque and back again, this smart, gleefully original collection showcases Lee Thomas’ Herculean talent. What I love most though, is that Thomas gets the purpose of horror: to cast light on the darkness, so that we readers recognize what is good, what is obscene, and what our society has confused between the two.” - Sarah Langan, Award-Winning Author of The Missing and Audrey’s Door
“Lee Thomas’ stories always start as a come-on, with silky smooth prose that draws you into a comfortable world so effortlessly you fail to see the razor-sharp teeth before it’s too late. This is horror at its best, guaranteed to leave you with the shivers, whether you wanted them or not.” - David Wellington, author of Monster Island and 23 Hours
“In these chilling stories, nightmares come to life, ghosts haunt the living, evil dwells inside closets, monsters lurk under beds, all with a perceptive queer twist…The author - a mainstream Bram Stoker Award-winner - has blended homo sensibility and the horror genre with inventive originality; quite possibly, queer Clive Barker seduced hetero Stephen King one dark and stormy night, and the spawn of their co-mingled seed grew up to be Lee Thomas.” - Richard Labonté, Q Syndicate [Full Review]
“There are plenty of truly frightening and horrific moments in In the Closet, Under the Bed, but these stories go beyond the scare. Lee Thomas explores sexual and personal identity; the everyday confusions and complications of being human. His stories are always emotionally authentic, and the answers to the questions he poses never come easy. This is smart, contemporary horror with a compelling conscience.” - Paul G. Tremblay, author of The Little Sleep
“With this superlative collection of stories, Lee Thomas cements his reputation as one of the most powerful and most original voices in horror fiction today. If you’re not reading Thomas, you’re missing out on a bold and unparalleled experience.” - Nicholas Kaufmann, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of General Slocum’s Gold and Chasing the Dragon
“Like every master craftsman of horror, Lee Thomas is weirdly inventive, with an arsenal of tricks and techniques up his sleeves and a universe of creatures, ghouls, ghosts, spirits, and body shifters to unleash on his characters, and readers of his new collection of short stories, In the Closet, Under the Bed will reap the rewards of this explosively talented writer. These stories are monstrous and thrilling and sexy and disturbing. But what makes them truly remarkable and fantastic is their distinctive milieu - gay men battling supernatural forces with dizzying results. Lee Thomas is not only defining the genre of ‘queer horror’ with his new collection, he is setting its gold standard.” - Jameson Currier, author of The Haunted Heart and Other Tales and Where the Rainbow Ends
“Lee Thomas brings to the writing of queer horror fiction a versatile sense of genre and a fierce emotional agenda. Here is a man with issues, as well as back issues. This intense and dynamic collection includes dark psychological narratives, grim physical horror, visionary fantasy, crime and science fiction. You will find fifteen stories in which the multicolored threads of horror and queer sexuality are woven together - but which are, first and foremost, stories about human nature.” - Joel Lane, British Fantasy Award-winning author of The Lost District and The Terrible Changes
“I have been waiting for this collection since I read my first Lee Thomas story two years ago. This man’s prose is just plain seductive. Like Joe Hill, or Peter Straub, or even Graham Greene, Lee Thomas has a way of lulling you into a story with an easy, conversational intimacy. His characters and their stories are so honest you cannot help but lower your guard. And once that happens, he’s got you in his fist. He will leave you battered and shaken, but begging for more. He’s that good.” - Joe McKinney, author of Dead City and Quarantined
“What Thomas does so well is to remind us that late at night when we’re alone, the most disturbing thing that we can find lurking in the closet or under the bed might just be ourselves.” - Paul G. Bens, Jr., author of Kelland
“This super collection contains nine new stories and six previously published in the past decade. Each tale explores the monsters in the closet and under the bed that people prefer remain hidden from family and friends - especially sexuality. Readers will enjoy Lee Thomas’ powerful compilation as the message throughout is simply to avoid the boogeyman in the closet and under the bed by coming out of them with your loved ones at your side; as you and they deserve the best of all of you if they truly are those who love you unrequitedly.” - Midwest Book Review [Full Review]
Book Trailer:
