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Fritz Agency
Christian Dittus
Original language
English

MUCKROSS ABBEY

Sabina Murray

and Other Stories

Sabina Murray has long been celebrated for her mastery of the gothic. Now in Muckross Abbey and Other Stories, she returns to the genre, bringing readers to haunted sites from a West Australian convent school to the moors of England to the shores of Cape Cod in ten strange tales that are layered, meta, and unforgettable.

From a twisted recasting of Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca, to an actor who dies for his art only to haunt his mother's house, to the titular "Muckross Abbey", an Irish chieftain burial site cursed by the specter of a flesh-eating groom - in this collection Murray gives us painters, writers, historians, and nuns all confronting the otherworldly in fantastically creepy ways. With notes of Wharton and James, Stoker and Shelley, now drawn into the present, these macabre stories are sure to captivate and chill.

Sabina Murray grew up in Australia and the Philippines and is currently a member of the MFA faculty at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is the author of The Human Zoo, Tales of the New World, A Carnivore's Inquiry, Forgery, Valiant Gentlemen, and The Caprices, which won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.
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Published 2023-03-01 by Black Cat

Comments

“I binge-read this book, savoring the gothic creepiness at the heart of each tale. Packed with compelling, nuanced lives and the deaths that haunt them, each story is a séance—an invitation for unsettled spirits to let their presence be known, ‘desperate for someone to supply the narrative.' Murray supplies it with great style and an uncanny knowingness, leaving room for our imagination to fill in the suggestive spaces with our own dark dread.” — Mona Awad, author of All's Well

“Moors, mists, and mirrors: all expected in classic ghost stories. Careening cars, TV sets with minds of their own, and cellphones: Welcome to a new iteration of spectral spookiness each tale presents a uniquely crafted poltergeist. These are not your father's ghost stories.” – Kirkus Reviews “Delightfully abundant, with well-wrought spookiness .With frequent nods to both contemporary and classic ghost-story writers (Daphne Du Maurier, Henry James), the success of these stories lies not just in the well-crafted writing but in the conscious mixing of a shape-shifting old world with an unreliably secure modern world. A masterly recharging of a treasured literary tradition that Murray clearly loves and respects.” — Library Journal, starred review "Each story has plenty of spookiness and intelligence...Murray's gothic stories pulsate with ornate prose." — Publishers Weekly “This is a tongue-in-cheek take on gothic fiction, though the stories don't veer into humor or parody; rather, Murray tweaks familiar elements. There's a dark energy that looms over each of the stories, with most of the characters being academics, art historians, or artists. Horror readers who enjoy more prosaic elements will admire Murray's drawn-out, elaborate pacing. Overall, it's a well-written, satisfying collection with mystery elements for fans of Sarah Waters and Kate Morton.” — Booklist “Carefully crafted slices of modern gothic layered with intrigue, suspense and macabre delights.” — Star Tribune