Fragile Anthology

August 30, 2024

What's in the box? A new anthology featuring 20 speculative fiction writers dares to find out. Each story begins with a simple premise: a moving company employee discovers something strange about a box in the owner's house. There's the temptation to open the box, of course, and once the unsuspecting employee opens the box, whatever was dreamed up by these 20 writers will be released. The stories have as much variety--from science fiction to visceral horror--as the possibilities of what lies within the box. It could be the doorway to another world, lethal packing peanuts, or the severed head of a celebrity. This anthology has stories from award-winning authors such as Brian Keene (Earthworm Gods) and Cynthia Pelayo (Children of Chicago) as well as lesser-known authors (many of whom are celebrated in the world of independent publishing) who are also worth discovering. VERDICT All of the writers in this collection seem to have fun with the premise of a mover and a cardboard box's mysterious contents, creating a worthy showcase for sci-fi and horror fans looking for their next favorite author.--James Gardner

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2024
In this new speculative-fiction anthology, editor Rose gets things started by posing a question: What would you do if you were a mover at the end of a long day and one of the last boxes. . . moved? What follows are 20 stories, one for each possible outcome of the 20-sided die rolled by the mover in Rose's prologue. Though each author tackles the scenario in their own way, the stories are united by the opening premise and a sense of the surreal. Some offer a weirdly sweet take, like Mykle Hansen's "Echidna" and Laura Lee Bahr's "Dingy," while others dive fully into the horrifying, as in "Messengers," by John Baltisberger, and "Because You're Mine," by David Scott Hay. As the die rolls and boxes are opened, readers will meet aliens adept at replicating memories, the ghosts of teenage girls just dying to play a game, a butterfly yearning for freedom, very hungry packing peanuts, and many, many boxes. Open if you dare.

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