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Christian Dittus
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SUICIDE WOODS

Benjamin Percy

Stories

A spine-tingling new collection of stories from the acclaimed author of Thrill Me and The Dark Net

Benjamin Percy is a versatile and propulsive storyteller whose genre-busting novels and story collections have ranged from literary to thriller to postapocalyptic. In his essay collection, Thrill Me, he laid bare for readers how and why he channels disparate influences in his work. Now, in his first story collection since the acclaimed Refresh, Refresh, Percy brings his page-turning skills to bear in Suicide Woods, a potent brew of horror, crime, and weird happenings in the woods.

A boy in his uncle's care falls through the ice on a pond and emerges in a frozen, uncanny state. A group of people in therapy for suicidal ideation undergoes a drastic session in the woods with fatal consequences. A body found on a train and a blood-soaked carpet in an empty house are clues to a puzzling crime in a small town. And in a pulse-quickening novella, thrill seekers on a mapping expedition into the “Bermuda Triangle” of remote Alaska are stranded on a sinister island that seems to want them dead.

In story after story, which have appeared in magazines ranging from the Virginia Quarterly Review and Orion Magazine to McSweeney's and Ploughshares, Percy delivers haunting and chilling narratives that will have readers hanging on every word. A master class in suspense and horror, Suicide Woods is a dark, inventive collection.

Benjamin Percy is the author of THE DARK NET, THE DEAD LANDS, THE WILDING, and the story collection REFRESH REFRESH. He also works for Detective Comics and writes the Green Arrow series with artist Patrick Zirchner, and he writes the popular WOLVERINE podcast for Marvel.
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Published 2019-10-01 by Graywolf Press

Comments

“An addictive mix of gritty crime fiction and otherworldly horror. . . . Percy's prose is exacting, finely tuning the atmospherics that give the collection such an eerie overall feeling. . . . SUICIDE WOODS is a testament to Percy's skill as a writer. He takes no shortcuts in eliciting thrills. The collection is by turns provocative and terrifying.”

The story “Suicide Woods” from Benjamin Percy's forthcoming story collection of the same name has been optioned for TV by producer Matt Goldberg.

“Percy's stories are atmospheric, concise, and at times terrifying, and he leads readers into unexpected revelations and visceral violence. . . . Readers who are drawn to dark and unexpected twists will enjoy Percy's musings on life, identity, and the powerful effects of nature on the human condition.”

“He builds tension with evocative sounds. . . . readers might be reminded of James Dickey's “Deliverance” — Percy imbues his tale with unforeseeable twists and intimations of the uncanny. . . . In SUICIDE WOODS, he tells small, strange stories, and lets us figure out the subtext.” Read more...

Finalist for the Minnesota Book Awards Read more...

“Percy's haunting, well-crafted prose frequently elevates the mundanity and isolation of being human into something otherworldly in his genre-bending collection [Suicide Woods]. . . . This gripping, often unnerving collection showcases Percy's talent as a skilled, versatile storyteller.”

“From the woods to the dark, Benjamin Percy creates a horrific thriller collection in this short story series. The stories contained in the collection are dark, chilling and perfect for October if you're looking for a spooky story collection. From Alaska's Bermuda triangle to a train mystery and the death of a child, every story is individual and utterly captivating.”

“Twisted and thorny and beautiful. . . . disturbing and unforgettable. . . . A small masterpiece.” Read more...

“Benjamin Percy's awareness of his own craft is apparent throughout his new collection of short stories, SUICIDE WOODS. Each tale is a creaking door, hinging on a high concept or an uncanny hook, nicely derivative of weird masters such as Edgar Allan Poe and Robert Aickman. The virtue of this collection lies in its super-refined telling, thanks to Percy's efforts to break through the barriers between genre fiction and literature.”

“Percy's story collection explores a natural world, tired of being misunderstood and threatened by humans, that is finally threatening back. . . . Like modern Grimm fairy tales, the stories in this volume are cautionary and haunting.” (starred review)