Of the Flesh: 17 Stories of Modern Horror

Written by Susan Barker, J K Chukwu, Bridget Collins and 12 more

'Outstandingly weird and memorable' GUARDIAN 'Deliciously creepy' NEW SCIENTIST Fear never dies…

Featuring stories from Susan Barker, J K Chukwu, Bridget Collins, Mariana Enríquez, Michel Faber, Lewis Hancox, Emilia Hart, Ainslie Hogarth, Robert Lautner, Adorah Nworah, Irenosen Okojie, Lucy Rose, Lionel Shriver, James Smythe, Lavie Tidhar, Francine Toon, Evie Wyld and Louisa Young.

These stories from eighteen master storytellers will curdle your blood, haunt your dreams and redefine terror.

From a hungry young woman who is not what she seems, to a boy who has taken his mother's advice a little too seriously; from disfigured girls willing to pay any price to fit in, to an immigrant who cannot escape his tormentor in his new home country; from a new home with a sinister secret, to the discovery that a long-dead parent’s corpse is perfectly preserved decades later; this collection plumbs the depths of the psyche and dredges up some very modern horrors.

READERS ARE OBSESSED

'Stunning'

'Well-plotted and horrifying'

'Visceral, creepy, gory… stays in your head long after reading them'

'It's so satisfying to turn to the next story in an anthology like this and be pretty confident it's going to be a banger… bravo'

'Spine-tingling… I was gripped and it kept me up at night as I just wanted to read one more story'

'Often unusual, always unique… a wildly eclectic cornucopia of horror'

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Release date: Oct 10, 2024
• ISBN: 9780008697389

Susan Barker

Susan Barker is the author of Sayonara Bar and The Orientalist and the Ghost, both longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. She grew up in East London with a Chinese-Malyasian mother and a British father, and studied creative writing at the University of Manchester. She spent several years living in Beijing while working on The Incarnations, and currently lives in the UK.

Reviews for Of the Flesh

[Sylvi Christin Nilsen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thought-provoking and entertaining stories about everyday things we might never realize the potential horror of.

I normally don’t care much for anthologies (abrupt focus-shifts and hard to evaluate), but this was different. Loved it.