Spontaneous Human Combustion

Product Description "In range alone, Richard Thomas is boundless. He is Lovecraft. He is Bradbury. He is Gaiman." —Chuck Palahniuk
With a Foreword by Brian Evenson
In this new collection, Richard Thomas has crafted fourteen stories that push the boundaries of dark fiction in an intoxicating, piercing blend of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Equally provocative and profound, each story is masterfully woven with transgressive themes that burrow beneath the skin.
A poker game yields a strange prize that haunts one man, his game of chance now turned into a life-or-death coin flip.
A set of twins find they have mysterious new powers when an asteroid crashes in a field near their house, and the decisions they make create an uneasy balance.
A fantasy world is filled with one man’s desire to feel whole again, finally finding love, only to have the shocking truth of his life exposed in an appalling twist.
A father and son work slave labor in a brave new world run by aliens and mount a rebellion that may end up freeing them all.
A clown takes off his make-up in a gloomy basement to reveal something more horrifying under the white, tacky skin.
Powerful and haunting, Thomas’ transportive collection dares you to examine what lies in the darkest, most twisted corners of human existence and not be transformed by what you find. Review A Tor Nightfire Most Exciting Horror Book of 2022"In range alone, Richard Thomas is boundless. He is Lovecraft. He is Bradbury. He is Gaiman." —Chuck Palahniuk"This chilling collection of short stories, with plenty of twists and turns, as well as echoes of Lovecraft and Bradbury, probes the dark corners between the horrors humans inflict on each other and those that haunt our nightmares. This volume will please Thomas's existing fans and will surely create new ones." —Shelf Awareness (starred review)"Fans of science fiction, horror, and dark fiction will relish immersing themselves in this collection for all its grit, lyricism, and unquestionable profundity." —Library Journal (starred review)"Equally devastating and refreshing, this is a collection to be savored by horror fans and literary readers alike." —Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)"Horror fans will be drawn to this compelling anthology." —Booklist"Each story is filled with vivid and evocative details and provides a fascinating journey that explores the dark places of our existence and engages its readers throughout . . . [Richard Thomas] does not disappoint." —New York Journal of Books"A feast for the senses, this collection is simultaneously lush and terrifying. Horror and dark fantasy fans are sure to find many delights within." —A.C. Wise, author of Wendy, Darling"Nothing will prepare you for Richard Thomas' stories, for the brutality, for the intense white-hot horror, for the blood-soaked gorgeous beauty of his writing. Reading his fiction is like sinking into a fever dream, filled with an alien-yet-familiar wondrousness to it all that makes you long to be back inside those seductive terrors long after they've ended. I was not prepared: I can't wait to return." —Livia Llewellyn, author of Furnace "Thomas masterfully combines noir and horror. He paints the beauty and the meanness of human life with an ease that belies how damned hard a trick it is to accomplish. Spontaneous Human Combustion is a bottle of the top shelf stuff—smooth, but it burns. Burns all the way to the bottom." —Laird Barron, author of Swift to Chase "By turns poetic and brutal, this is a stellar collection." —Lucy A. Snyder, author of Sister, Maiden, Monster"Richard Thomas brings us expertly crafted tales steeped in violence and beauty. Each richly detailed story teases the reader with equal parts emotion and stoicism. Spontaneous Human Combustion is truly a work of dark wonder." —Mercedes M. Yardley, Bram Stoker Award–winning author of Little Dead Red "The stories in Spontaneous Human Combustion sizzle and burn. Richard Thomas is a narrator of