Dark Spores

Enter the dark, mycelia-laden world of mushroom horror:• A food blogger hunts for a killer recipe.• Ceaseless rain drives a lonely man into his fungus-covered town. • A grieving son purchases a kit to regrow his dead mother.This anthology explores the mysterious world of fungi, spores…and things that dwell in the dim forest under the rotting leaves. Here you’ll find 31 stories and 5 poems of quiet, cosmic, and body horror—plus subtle humor. Works examine themes of loneliness, desire, consumption, and connection with what lurks in the shadows.Edited by Carol Gyzander and Rachel A. Brune, Dark Spores is the fourth volume in the Stories We Tell After Midnight horror series. Devour these stories—before they devour you!Featuring works by Meghan Arcuri, Rachel A. Brune, Samantha Bryant, R. E. Carr, James Chambers, Rick Claypool, Randee Dawn, Teel James Glenn, Maxwell Ian Gold, Timothy Granville, Rob Grimoire, Carol Gyzander, John G. Hartness, Pedro Iniguez, Jo Kaplan, Nicholas Kaufmann, Ariana Khaim, Gwendolyn Kiste, Nicole Givens Kurtz, Jamie Lackey, Gordon Linzner, M. Lopes da Silva, Lee Murray, Victoria Nations, Candace Nola, Gregory Norris, Tonia Ransom, Daniel Roop, Jef Rouner, Rebecca Rowland, Sumiko Saulson, Shannon Scott, Angela Yuriko Smith, Sara Tantlinger, Elizabeth Twist, and L. Marie Wood.With a special foreword by Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Ghost Eaters: A Novel.Cover: Lynne HansenContents:Mushrooms in Our Blood: Foreword by Clay McLeod ChapmanSwamp Fever by Jamie LackeyThe Epigeous Dead by James ChambersAppetizers A Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter Short Story by John G. HartnessFlesh, Fungi & Farewell by Gwendolyn KisteDead and Forgotten in Manhattanville by Nicholas KaufmannBallerinas of the Earth by Sara TantlingerThe Fourth Girl by Meghan ArcuriIn the Dark by Teel James GlennLichenthropy by Gregory L. NorrisReal Science Shit by L. Marie WoodThe Parasitium by M. Lopes da SilvaPoint Zero by Lee MurrayButterfly Hisses by Tonia RansomThe Cycle of Consumption by Rebecca RowlandFruiting Bodies by Victoria NationsDevilish Deeds by Candace NolaFun Gus by Pedro ÍñiguezNotho-Pan: A City on Angel Wings by Maxwell I. GoldA Dark Infestation by Ariana KhaimWold by Jef RounerA Dark Spore Grows in the Rot by Rachel A. BruneOf Teeth and Mushrooms by Nicole Givens KurtzThe Mushroom Child by Samantha J. BryantThe Greenhouse by Carol GyzanderThe Must of Your Body Covers Me by Sumiko SaulsonThe Angels of Scruggs County by Daniel RoopTender Flesh by Elizabeth TwistCordyceps Angelus by Rob GrimoireButtons by R.E. CarrSporadikos, or Why We Don't Date Mushrooms by Angela Yuriko SmithAn Indisposition by Timothy GranvilleForaging by Shannon ScottNew Mom Grow Kit: Two Stars by Rick ClaypoolNew Life by Gordon LinznerAn Unwanted Growth by Jo KaplanPretty Maids All in a Row by Randee Dawn