WINNER OF THE 2015 WORLD FANTASY AWARD
WINNER OF THE 2014 SHIRLEY JACKSON AWARD
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2014 BRAM STOKER AWARD
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2015 BRITISH FANTASY AWARD
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2015 EDGE HILL SHORT STORY PRIZE
Ghost thumbs. Microscopic dogs. One very sad can of tomato soup . . . Helen Marshall's second collection offers a series of twisted surrealities that explore the legacies we pass on to our children. A son seeks to reconnect with his father through a telescope that sees into the past. A young girl discovers what lies on the other side of her mother's bellybutton. Death's wife prepares for a very special funeral. InGifts for the One Who Comes After, Marshall delivers eighteen tales of love and loss that cement her as a powerful voice in dark fantasy and the New Weird. Dazzling, disturbing, and deeply moving.
Praise forGifts for the One Who Comes After
"Helen Marshall whispers in your ear when she fits the noose around your neck, filling you with wonder and dread, urging you into a startling, beautiful darkness. These stories--which sometimes feel more like spells--are the very best kind of unsettling."
--Benjamin Percy, author ofRed Moon,The Wilding,Refresh, RefreshandThe Language of Elk
"Helen Marshall is a writer who creates real people in real situations, then uses the fantastic to pry her way inside her readers' ribcages and break us wide open."
--Neil Gaiman, international bestselling author ofThe Ocean at the End of the Lane