Fearful Symmetries

By Thomas F. Monteleone

“Dark fantasies that strive for a subtle sense of unease rooted in the troubled emotions of their characters. . . . These solidly crafted tales consistently evoke an enjoyably unsettling mood of horror.”—Publishers Weekly

Thomas F. Monteleone bestows his mastery of the horror genre in the selected short fiction of Fearful Symmetries, collected works spanning more than twenty years of his career. Revel in the deftly deployed classic horror tropes of these twenty-six stories, from their Lovecraftian monsters and archetypal vampires to Bradbury-esque mysteries and Twilight Zone-type tales.

In “The Night Is Freezing Fast,” a mysterious hitchhiker emerges from a white-out winter-storm, following a boy and his grandfather into an ever-more dangerous evening. “Love Letters”—written as a series of letters from a backwoods Pennsylvanian farmer, a private investigator, and an adult pen pal service—subtly instills psychological suspense into the epistolary form. From celebrity-hunting vampires in “Triptych di Amore” to Lovecraftian behemoths in “Yog Sothoth, Superstar,” there’s a skillfully told trope for every horror reader.

With a wry-voiced author’s note accompanying each story, and an introduction from the late Rick Hautala, the Bram Stoker Award-winning Fearful Symmetries thrills and disturbs with its twisted tales.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Diversion Books
• Release date: Nov 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9781635767599

Thomas F. Monteleone

Thomas F. Monteleone, born in 1946, is an American science fiction and horror fiction author. Monteleone has been a professional writer since 1972, and 4-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award. He has published more than 100 short stories in numerous magazines and anthologies. His stories have been nominated for numerous awards, and have appeared in many of the best-of-the-year compilations. His notorious column of opinion and entertainment, "The Mothers And Fathers Italian Association," currently appears in Cemetery Dance magazine. He is the editor of seven anthologies, including the highly acclaimed Borderlands series edited with his wife, Elizabeth, of which, Borderlands 5, won a Bram Stoker Award in 2003. They conduct a “boot-camp” for writers at Seton Hall University. He has also written The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing a Novel. Monteleone also writes for the stage and television, having scripts produced for American Playhouse (which won him the Bronze Award at the International TV and Film Festival of New York and the Gabriel Award), George Romero's Tales from the Darkside, and a series on Fox TV entitled Night Visions.