Harry Meyers is ill-equipped to handle funeral planning of any sort. If he had a goldfish and that goldfish died, he would probably find a way to bungle the flushing. But when Harry's mother passes away without having made any arrangements, and he's the only surviving next of kin, Harry is called on to navigate a grimly hilarious, half-real world of morgues, morticians, fetishes, and cosmic disaster. Transgressive and bleakly funny, terrifying but surprisingly humane, The Half-Freaks showcases Nicole Cushing's ever-evolving take on the Weird.
Author Biography:
Nicole Cushing is the Bram Stoker Award(R) winning author of Mr. Suicide and a two-time nominee for the Shirley Jackson Award. Various reviewers have described her work as "brutal", "cerebral", "transgressive", "taboo", "groundbreaking" and "mind-bending". This Is Horror has said that she is "quickly becoming a household name for horror fans". She has also garnered praise from Jack Ketchum, Rue Morgue Magazine, Thomas Ligotti, and Poppy Z. Brite. Visit her online at nicolecushing.wordpress.com. Jon Padgett is the owner and operator of Grimscribe Press and is Co-Editor-In-Chief of the This Is Horror Award Winning publication, Vastarien: A Literary Journal, a source of critical study and creative response to the work of Thomas Ligotti. Padgett's first short story collection, The Secret of Ventriloquism, was named the Best Fiction Book of 2016 by Rue Morgue Magazine. He has work out or forthcoming in Weird Fiction Review, PseudoPod, Lovecraft eZine, and the anthologies Mannequin: Tales of Wood Made Flesh, Ashes & Entropy, 32 White Horses on a Vermillion Hill, Volume 2, A Walk on the Weird Side, Wound of Wounds, Phantasm/Chimera, and For Mortal Things Unsung. His recent novelette, The Broker of Nightmares, was published by Nightscape Press. Padgett's 20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism has been published as an illustrated chapbook by Tallhat Press and as an LP (narrated by Padgett) by Cadabra Records. Late in 2019, Nightscape Press will release a deluxe, fully illustrated box set called Secret Gateways, which includes new, expanded editions of Padgett's The Secret of Ventriloquism, Matthew M. Bartlett's Gateways to Abomination, and a third collection entitled The Latham Fielding Liaison, with stories written in collaboration by the two authors. Padgett is a professional-though lapsed-ventriloquist who lives in New Orleans with his spouse, their daughter, and a rescue dog and cat. He
