Book cover for Spring in the City: A Collection of Dark Speculative Fiction by Xan Van Rooyen, Tim Lees, Jonathan Papernick, Su J Sokol, D F McCourt, Troy Seate, Amanda Cecilia Lang, Ross Baxter, V L Barycz, Die Booth, Rich Larson, Jeff Enos, John Joseph Ryan, E J DeLaney, Maria Haskins, Avram Lavinsky and J R Blanes
2025 Released
391 Pages
6-9 Hours
Ebook Unavailable
Audiobook Unavailable
Hardback Unavailable
Ruadan BooksISBN 9781968143008

Building on the evocative chill captured by 2024's Winter in the City, editors R.B. Wood and Anna Koon are back with a spectacular multicultural lineup to explore Spring in the City--yet wildflowers aren't the only things finding their way through cracked concrete in these dark speculative tales.

Even in the shadows of skyscrapers, spring sees an awakening in the concrete jungle that we call "the city."

Spring in the City: A Collection of Dark Speculative Fiction is the next anthology in Ruadán Books' "...In the City" series that takes place in different metropolises around the world during the changeable, unpredictable return of life from its cold slumber.

But what awakens is not always beautiful.

  • In Stockholm, the vengeful goddess of spring awakens, ready to begin her hunt once again...
  • Faced with an impossible choice, Detroit teens must confront a malevolent entity to protect their urban neighborhood from the creature's insatiable hunger...
  • A journalist escapes to Cape Town to research folklore and only encounters terrifying creatures from local legends, blurring the lines between reality and nightmare...
  • When mysterious fireballs devastate Tel Aviv, a young girl is gifted with extraordinary powers which she must embrace to confront a prophesied cosmic entity...

Featuring new stories by: Xan van Rooyen Tim Lees Jonathan Papernick Su J Sokol & D.F. McCourt Troy Seate Amanda Cecelia Lang Ross Baxter V.L. Barycz Die Booth Rich Larson Jeff Enos John Joseph Ryan E J Delaney Maria Haskins Avram Lavinsky J.R. Blanes

With a Foreword by Bram Stoker Award(R)-winning author Mercedes M. Yardley.

Xan Van Rooyen

Xan van Rooyen is an award-winning autistic and non-binary storyteller from South Africa, currently living in Finland. Xan has a Master's degree in music, and-when not teaching-enjoys conjuring strange worlds and creating quirky characters. You can find Xan's stories in the likes of Three-Lobed Burning Eye, Daily Science Fiction, and Galaxy's Edge among others. They have also written several books including Waypoint Seven (Mirari Press), and My Name is Magic (Tiny Ghost Press). Xan is also part of the Sauútiverse, an African writer's collective, with stories in the multi award-nominated anthology Mothersound as well as the forthcoming Sauúti Terrors anthology (Flame Tree Press). Xan has also had a number of non-fiction articles published, which you can find in the Locus Award winning Afro-Centered Futurisms in Our Speculative Fiction (Bloomsbury, Australia) among others. You can find Xan online here: https: //linktr.ee/xanvanrooyen

More by Xan Van Rooyen

Tim Lees

Tim Lees is a British author living in Chicago. His short fiction has appeared in Postscripts, Black Static, and Interzone, among many other publications. He is the author of the collection The Life to Come, nominated for a British Fantasy Award, the novel Frankenstein's Prescription, described by Publisher's Weekly as "a philosophically insightful and literary tale of terror," and the first two Field Ops novels, The God Hunter, and Devil in the Wires, available from Harper Voyager Impulse. When not writing, Tim has held a wide variety of jobs, including teacher, conference organizer, film extra, and worker in a psychiatric hospital. He can be found on Twitter, and occasionally remembers to update his website.

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Jonathan Papernick

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Su J Sokol

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Troy Seate

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Ross Baxter

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V L Barycz

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Die Booth

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John Joseph Ryan

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Maria Haskins

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J R Blanes

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