The Croning

by Laird Barron

Overview

Strange things exist on the periphery of our existence, haunting us from the darkness looming beyond our firelight. Black magic, weird cults and worse things loom in the shadows. The Children of Old Leech have been with us from time immemorial. And they love us...

Donald Miller, geologist and academic, has walked along the edge of a chasm for most of his nearly eighty years, leading a charmed life between endearing absent-mindedness and sanity-shattering realization. Now, all things must converge. Donald will discover the dark secrets along the edges, unearthing savage truths about his wife Michelle, their adult twins, and all he knows and trusts. For Donald is about to stumble on the secret...

...of The Croning.

From Laird Barron, Shirley Jackson Award-winning author of The Imago Sequence and Occultation, comes The Croning, a debut novel of cosmic horror.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781597804141
Publisher:	Night Shade Books
Publication date:	05/01/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	569,617
File size:	428 KB

About the Author

Laird Barron was born in Alaska, where he raised and trained huskies for many years. He moved to the Pacific Northwest in the mid ’90s and began to concentrate on writing poetry and fiction. His award-nominated work has appeared in Sci Fiction and The Magazine of Fantasy&Science Fiction, and has been reprinted in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, Year’s Best Fantasy 6, and Best New Fantasy: 2005. Mr. Barron currently resides in Olympia, Washington, and is hard at work on many projects.

Editorial Reviews

Teeming with the cosmic horrors that distinguish the fiction of Lovecraft, Machen, and other weird fiction masters, this eerie first novel offers up a picture of human civilization as a plaything in the claws of malignant alien entities. Don Miller, a corporate geologist, is married to globe-trotting anthropologist Michelle Mock, who for decades has tracked clues pointing to the existence of “the little people.” As Michelle’s research exposes her and Don to numerous weird experiences over the years, it becomes evident that she is investigating something primal—and that she may be shielding Don from its mind-blasting incomprehensibility. The narrative toggles back and forth from past to present, establishing a rhythm between disturbing events and their foreshadowing that reaches a terrifying climax. Barron (Occultation) has studied the work of his predecessors well; already acknowledged a master of the horror short story, he shows himself equally skilled at novel-length work. Agent: Brendan Deneen, FinePrint Literary Management. (May)

Publishers Weekly

“Powerfully written and imaginative, I literally couldn’t put it down!”
—Joseph S. Pulver, Sr., author of The Orphan Palace

“Already a master of the horror short story, he shows himself equally skilled at novel-length work.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“The Croning deserves a place in the bookcase next to T.E.D. Klein’s The Ceremonies, Ira Levin’s Rosemary’s Baby and Fritz Leiber’s Our Lady Of Darkness and that is the highest recommendation that I can give.”
—CrowsNBones.com

"The scariest writer on the planet has to be Laird Barron."
—Paul Goat Allen, The Barnes & Noble Book Blog

"Laird Barron has, in a remarkably short period of time, emerged as one of the leading writers of contemporary weird fiction."
—S. T. Joshi

“If you think there aren’t any new Richard Mathesons or Harlan Ellisons out there, you need to read Laird Barron.”
—Stewart O’Nan, bestselling author of A Prayer for the Dying

“Laird Barron is one of those writers who makes other writers want to break their pencils. I’m serious. His work is that good. Worse than that, he’s an original (damn him!), and the finest writer to join the ranks of the dark fantastic in a long, long time.”
—Norman Partridge, author of Dark Harvest and Lesser Demons

“For my money, Laird Barron is far and away the best of the new generation of horror writers.”
—Michael Shea, World Fantasy Award-winning author of Polyphemus

“Powerfully written and imaginative, I literally couldn’t put it down!”
—Joseph S. Pulver, Sr., author of The Orphan Palace

“Already a master of the horror short story, he shows himself equally skilled at novel-length work.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“The Croning deserves a place in the bookcase next to T.E.D. Klein’s The Ceremonies, Ira Levin’s Rosemary’s Baby and Fritz Leiber’s Our Lady Of Darkness and that is the highest recommendation that I can give.”
—CrowsNBones.com

"The scariest writer on the planet has to be Laird Barron."
—Paul Goat Allen, The Barnes & Noble Book Blog

"Laird Barron has, in a remarkably short period of time, emerged as one of the leading writers of contemporary weird fiction."
—S. T. Joshi

“If you think there aren’t any new Richard Mathesons or Harlan Ellisons out there, you need to read Laird Barron.”
—Stewart O’Nan, bestselling author of A Prayer for the Dying

“Laird Barron is one of those writers who makes other writers want to break their pencils. I’m serious. His work is that good. Worse than that, he’s an original (damn him!), and the finest writer to join the ranks of the dark fantastic in a long, long time.”
—Norman Partridge, author of Dark Harvest and Lesser Demons

“For my money, Laird Barron is far and away the best of the new generation of horror writers.”
—Michael Shea, World Fantasy Award-winning author of Polyphemus

From the Publisher