Flowers in a Dumpster

by Mark Allan Gunnells

Overview

Seventeen Tales to Frighten and Enlighten

The world is full of beauty and mystery. In these 17 tales, Gunnells will take you on a journey through landscapes of light and darkness, rapture and agony, hope and fear.

A post-apocalyptic landscape where it is safer to forget who you once were... An unusual support group comprised of cities dying of a common illness... A porn star that has opened himself up to demonic forces... Two men battling each other to the death who discover they have much in common... A woman whose masochistic tendencies may be her boyfriend's ruin... A writer whose new friendship proves a danger to his marriage and his sanity.

Let Gunnells guide you through these landscapes where magnificence and decay co-exist side by side.

Come pick a bouquet from these Flowers in a Dumpster.

"... hilarious and horrifying, as all great satire must be." - Clive Barker

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780994679321
Publisher:	Crystal Lake Publishing
Publication date:	11/27/2015
Pages:	314
Product dimensions:	5.06(w) x 7.81(h) x 0.66(d)

Editorial Reviews

"... hilarious and horrifying, as all great satire must be." - Clive Barker

"Mark Allan Gunnells' imagination is as vivid and varied as his characters, and the shocks his tales deliver are all the stronger for the restraint of his storytelling. A collection of considerable range and depth, Flowers in a Dumpster showcases an eloquent new voice in horror." - Ramsey Campbell

"What I love about Mark Allan Gunnells' stories isn't just the chill factor, or the wit, or the dramatic turns - although those things are all present - but the compassion inherent in the storytelling. Whether it's a couple touching hands as they approach an ominous house or a gruff husband giving in to his wife's kindness, the rich humanity is what makes these stories so effective and memorable." - Lisa Morton, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of GHOSTS: A HAUNTED HISTORY.

"Gunnells' work is brave, bold, and surprising, and as far as I'm concerned, "The Support Group" is worth the price of admission alone. If, like me, you adore short story collections, you could do a hell of a lot worse than this one. The breadth and scope of horror on display here is delightful, and marks Gunnells as one of the bright stars in the dark sky of our genre." - Kealan Patrick Burke, Bram Stoker Award winning author of THE TURTLE BOY, KIN, and SOUR CANDY

"Mark Allan Gunnells is an under-rated writer. He's been that since long ago when I first discovered some of his early writing for Sideshow Press. He should be better known just on the basis of the output of high quality fiction. Part of the problem (and really the strength of Mark's writing), I think, is well demonstrated in this present collection. The stories are very diverse, each told in a distinctly different voice. These pieces are stylistically and thematically different. None have predictable endings. Often the stories end with the reader left with an unsettling moral ambiguity. Rather than relating his work to a more well-known horror writer, I think his stories may be closer in tone/feel to the work of Raymond Carver, a mainstream writer, who wrote a lot of dark fiction. The present collection contains surprises from story to story, rewarding the good reader. All a joy to read." - Gene O'Neill, THE HITCHHIKING EFFECT and THE CAL WILD CHRONICLES

"Flowers in the Dumpster is filled with solid stories from an author who knows his craft. I was thrilled to find surprising gems sprinkled throughout. Highly recommended." - Kate Jonez, Bram Stoker (R) and Shirley Jackson Award nominated author of CEREMONY OF FLIES and CANDY HOUSE

"Flowers in a Dumpster is a collection of short stories with dark hearts. Alternate worlds, living statues, paranormal investigators...it's all in here and none of it will turn out well for the characters. It wouldn't be horror if the shit didn't hit the fan!" - Mass Movement Magazine

From the Publisher