First published 2013
This anthology opens multiple doorways into strange territories. In one tale, a funeral procession winds through Asian landscapes while mourners confront unexpected revelations. Another story plunges readers into a Victorian forest where an ancestral estate harbors dark family secrets. A carriage crashes in the expansive Runelords universe, setting off a chain of consequences that ripple across dimensions. The collection moves between comedy and terror, often within the same story. Characters face moments that strip away their assumptions about reality. Some tales explore family bonds twisted by supernatural forces. Others examine the price of magical gifts. The stories refuse easy comfort, pushing into territories where conventional wisdom fails. Each piece delivers emotional weight alongside its fantastic elements. The anthology establishes Fiction River as a venue for writers willing to take creative risks.
Genres: short-stories, literary-fiction, fantasy, horror
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Asia, Victorian-Era
Period: 19th-Century, 20th-Century
258 pages · Paperback · WMG Publishing
Content warnings: violence