Close to Midnight

Description

An exceptional third book in the horror anthology series which Publishers Weekly highlighted as "Beautifully written pieces that lean into the intuitive and fantastic." Close to Midnight is the third volume in an annual, non-themed horror series of entirely original stories, showcasing the very best short fiction that the genre has to offer, and edited by Mark Morris. This new anthology contains 20 original horror stories, 16 of which have been commissioned from some of the top names in the genre, and 4 of which have been selected from the 100s of stories sent to Flame Tree during a 2-week open submissions window. FLAME TREE PRESS is the imprint of long-standing Independent Flame Tree Publishing, dedicated to full-length original fiction in the horror and suspense, science fiction & fantasy, and crime / mystery / thriller categories. The list brings together fantastic new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.

Mark Morris (editor) has written and edited almost forty novels, novellas, short story collections and anthologies. His script work includes audio dramas for Doctor Who, Jago & Litefoot and the Hammer Chillers series. His recent work includes the official movie tie-in novelizations of The Great Wall and (co-written with Christopher Golden) The Predator, the Obsidian Heart trilogy (The Wolves of London, The Society of Blood and The Wraiths of War), the anthologies New Fears (winner of the British Fantasy Award for Best Anthology) and New Fears 2 as editor, a new audio adaptation of the classic 1971 horror movie Blood on Satan's Claw, for which he won the New York Festival Radio Award for Best Drama Special, and a new audio adaptation of the M.R. James ghost story A View From a Hill, for which he won his second New York Festival Radio Award, for Best Digital Drama Program, and which has also been nominated for an ARIA (Audio & Radio Industry Award).

"Each story is excellent and everyone is as good as the last but some will stick out as a favourite due to taste but if you look at this extremely well put together anthology, they all shine excellently. Excellent award winning anthology that has something for everybody." -- The Literary Podcast "That lockdown-era catalogue of fears and cognitive disruptions finds its purest form in several of the stories, most effectively in Adam Nevill's "Rise Up Together" and "The Nine of Diamonds" by Carole Johnstone. "Rise Up Together" reimagines the horror of forced confinement by implacable authority figures through a grotesquely comic conceit of age triumphing over youth. Johnstone's story is a seemingly more subdued tale of economic desperation and corporate malfeasance that only shows its teeth in a well-earned surprise ending. A sense of loss pervades the entire collection; as writers continue to process the pandemic's fallout, more such tales are bound to find their way into print." -- Toronto Star "A sublime and sinister treat, delightfully scary, we cannot recommend this enough." -- Starburst Magazine Praise for the first two books in the series: "This rich and masterful collection of horror highlights both up-and-coming and established authors in an interesting twist on the standard anthology [...] Highly recommended for longstanding horror fans and those readers who may not think horror is for them. There is something for everyone in this one." - Booklist "This is a short story collection that does exactly what it sets out to, delight and scare. With stories from well-known authors in the genre as well as a few from emerging voices, After Sundown has something for everyone. Highly recommended." - The British Fantasy Society "An entertaining, slickly written, mainstream, fun, something-for-every-horror-fan anthology." - HorrorTree "Beautifully written pieces that lean into the intuitive and fantastic." - Publishers Weekly "There's a refreshing lack of pretentiousness about these stories. The authors span several continents so there's a decent array of themes and styles. Each tale had a very distinct voice, with a superb variety that perfectly illustrates what a broad church the genre covers. I had a blast reading this book. It really has reinvigorated my interest in the horror genre." - Stephen Bacon, author & critic "There is no end to the talent Mark Morris has brought together here. Fans of the genre will be pleased to see new work from such favorites as Nathan Ballingrud and Gemma Files, among others. So if you're ready for a long fall night, pick up a copy of this massive anthology and fall into the mysterious worlds Beyond the Veil." - Phantastiqa "I'm impressed with the imagination and variety coming from the writers. Beyond the Veil, from Flame Tree Press, is another happy clump of ickiness...and I mean that in a good way." - The Happy Horror Writer