Dark Fiction Inspired by the Alternative Era
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For anyone looking for a bold collection of horror and crime stories, this Nick Mamatas-edited anthology inspired by the dark edges of alternative music features new work from Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Paul Tremblay, Josh Malerman, Meg Gardiner, and more.
After midnight is as dark as it gets...
Whether thanks to an overnight college radio shift or cable pumping flickering videos into TVs across America, the music of the alternative era was the soundtrack to our lives, and sometimes our deaths. 120 Murders is an anthology of power chord crimes and keyboard horrors--the best noir, dark fantasy, and transgressive fiction from writers inspired by grunge, goth, ska, synthpop, and every eclectic sound of the alternative era.
Featuring new stories by Cara Hoffman, Jeff Chon, Zandra Renwick, Jason Ridler, Veronica Schanoes, Todd Grimson, Alex Jennings, Josh Malerman, William Boyle, Michael Marano, Meg Gardiner, Brian Francis Slattery, Jeffrey Ford, Elena Mauli Shapiro, Chris L. Terry, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Libby Cudmore, Cyan Katz, Paul Tremblay, Selena Chambers, Maxim Jakubowski, and Molly Tanzer.
Cara Hoffman is the author of three critically acclaimed novels for adults: Running (a New York Times Editor's Choice), Be Safe I Love You (nominated for a Folio Prize), and So Much Pretty (a New Yorker Books Pick and New York Times Best Suspense Novel of 2011). She is also the author of the popular middle grade novel Bernard Pepperlin (a Junior Library Guild Selection). She has written for Rolling Stone, the New York Times, Paris Review, Bookforum, and National Public Radio, among others, and has been a visiting writer at University of Oxford. She lives in Manhattan and teaches at the Stonecoast MFA program at University of Southern Maine.
Jason S. Ridler is an adjunct professor of history at Norwich University and former lecturer at the Royal Military College of Canada.
Todd Grimson was the author of three novels and a collection of short fiction. His debut novel, Within Normal Limits, was the winner of the Oregon Book Award. His third, Brand New Cherry Flavor, was adapted into a Netflix limited series in 2021. He died in January 2025.
Alex Jennings is well known for his TV and theatre work. His TV credits include Inspector Morse, Smiley's People, The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries and Bad Blood. His film credits include War Requiem, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Wings of the Dove and The Four Feathers.
Josh Malerman is the acclaimed author of Bird Box and more than three dozen books, as well as the lead singer and songwriter for the rock band the High Strung. He has been nominated for multiple Bram Stoker Awards and lives in Michigan.
Meg Gardiner is the author of sixteen acclaimed, award-winning novels. Her thrillers have been bestsellers in the U.S. and internationally and have been translated into more than twenty languages. China Lake won an Edgar Award and UNSUB, the first in Gardiner’s acclaimed UNSUB series, won a Barry Award. Her third UNSUB novel, The Dark Corners of the Night, has been bought by Amazon Studios for development as a television series. A former lawyer, three-time Jeopardy! champion, and two-time president of Mystery Writers of America, Gardiner lives in Austin, Texas.
Jeffrey Ford is the author of the novels The Physiognomy, Memoranda, The Beyond, The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque, the Edgar Award–winning The Girl in the Glass, The Cosmology of the Wider World, The Shadow Year, and The Twilight Pariah, and his collections include The Fantasy Writer’s Assistant, The Empire of Ice Cream, The Drowned Life, Crackpot Palace, and A Natural History of Hell. He lives near Columbus, Ohio, and teaches writing at Ohio Wesleyan University.
Silvia Moreno-Garcia is the author of The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, Velvet Was the Night, Mexican Gothic, Gods of Jade and Shadow, and many other books. She has won the Locus and British Fantasy awards for her work as a novelist, and the World Fantasy Award as an editor.
Paul Tremblay is the multiple award-winning, critically acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author of eight previous novels (Horror Movie, The Pallbearers Club, Survivor Song, The Cabin at the End of the World, Disappearance at Devil's Rock, A Head Full of Ghosts, No Sleep Till Wonderland, and The Little Sleep); a middle-grade novel, Another; and two short fiction collections (The Beast You Are and Growing Things). He lives outside of Boston with his family.
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