book cover of The Secret Life of Insects
Added by 2 members
 

The Secret Life of Insects

(2023)
A collection of stories by

 
 
In 'The Secret Life of Insects', a forensic entomologist tries to solve the murder of his wife, who impossibly seems to have been killed in a forest at the same time she was asleep in bed with him. The husband in 'The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife' becomes concerned by his wife's strange behavior, which includes sleepwalking, muttering strange phrases, and a bizarre erotic fascination with octopi. In 'Come to Me', a woman visits a witch doctor who promises to forge an unbreakable bond between her and the man of her dreams, but things go horribly awry after the man dies. And in the novella 'Demoness', four high school friends reunite at a class reunion twenty years later and must face the long-buried truth of a demonic experience from their youth.

Bernardo Esquinca's haunting tale 'Señor Ligotti' represented Mexico in the acclaimed The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories and was a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award. Now Valancourt Books is proud to present this collection of fourteen of his best stories, which also features a foreword by award-winning author Mariana Enríquez and stunning full-page illustrations by Spanish artist Luis Pérez Ochando.

‘These stories are fully cognizant of Horror’s past, but they also provide clear signposts for Horror’s possible future. Very deft, smart stories that manage to do in ten pages what most novels struggle to accomplish in thirty times that. Esquinca is a writer to watch.’ – Brian Evenson, award-winning author of
Song for the Unraveling of the World

‘From short, punchy, Twilight Zone-ish stories to longer, far more insidious dances with horror and madness, Esquinca weaves reality with illusion deftly in
The Secret Life of Insects, an excellent collection. Recommended!’ – Elizabeth Engstrom, author of When Darkness Loves Us and Black Ambrosia

‘Bernardo Esquinca’s haunting, original stories spin out implications like spider silk: light, strong . . . and very dangerous.’ – Michael Cisco, author of
The Divinity Student




Genre: Horror

Visitors also looked at these books


Used availability for Mariana Enriquez's The Secret Life of Insects


About Fantastic Fiction       Information for Authors