“Stretch[es]theboundariesofthegenre...It’shorrifying,butthere’sbeauty.“--TheNewYorkTimes“Oneofthefield’smostaccomplishedshortstorywriters.“--TheWashingtonPostAgrippingcollectionofsixstoriesofterror--includingthenovella“TheVisibleFilth,“thebasisfortheupcomingmajormotionpicture--byShirleyJacksonAward-winningauthorNathanBallingrud,hailedasamajornewvoicebyJeffVanderMeer,PaulTremblay,andCarmenMariaMachado--“oneofthemostheavyweighthorrorauthorsoutthere“(TheVerge).Inhisfirstcollection,NorthAmericanLakeMonsters,NathanBallingrudcarvedoutadistinctlysingularplaceinAmericanfictionwithhis“piercingandmerciless“(TorontoGlobeandMail)portrayalsofthemonstersthathauntourlives--bothrealandimagined:“WhatNathanBallingruddoesinNorthAmericanLakeMonstersistoreinvigoratethehorrortradition“(LosAngelesReviewofBooks).Now,inWounds,Ballingrudfollowsupwithanevenmoreconfounding,strange,andutterlyentrancingcollectionofsixstories,includingonenewnovella.FromtheeeriedreaddescendinguponaNewOrleansdivebartenderafteracellphoneisleftbehindinarollickingbarfightin“TheVisibleFilth“tothesearchforthemapofhellin“TheButcher’sTable,“Ballingrud’sbeautifullycraftedstoriesarerivetingintheirquietlyterrifyingdepictionsofthemurkylinebetweentheknownandtheunknown.
