Lost Creatures: Stories

Review
"It's very rare for a story to be uncanny, profound and also enjoy lightness of touch. S.G. Browne somehow manages to do it time after time."
--Michael Marshall Smith
"Beautiful, heart-wrenching, and very funny, S. G. Browne's Lost Creatures is the sardonic city-dwelling sibling of Grimm's Fairy Tales. Browne creates deep empathy for his characters, then breaks your heart with the surprising and entirely understandable choices they make. This book is so original, it's breathtaking. I absolutely loved it."
--Loren Rhoads, author of Unsafe Words
"Sometimes mythic, sometimes strange, S.G. Browne's Lost Creatures is a heartfelt collection of magic and monsters emerging in our world. Each tale can veer between beautiful, funny, honest, startling, surreal, and above all else, fantastic. Lost Creatures is ridiculously brilliant. Don't miss it."
--John Hornor Jacobs, author of A Lush and Seething Hell
"LOST CREATURES is a treasure trove of terror, twisted humor and rampant weirdness. Superbly crafted short stories by one of today's most talented writers. Bravo!"
--Jonathan Maberry, NY Times bestselling author of INK and V-WARS
"Lost Creatures is a delight to read. The stories mix humor with the fantastical, along with Browne's unique observations on the foibles of society and pop culture...every one of the stories is a winner."
--Dana Fredsti, author of the Ashley Parker series and Spawn of Lilith series
"S. G. Browne has delighted readers with his take on zombie rights with Breathers and what if luck was a physical thing you could give and take in Lucky Bastard. In his new book, Lost Creatures, he gives you a taste of many worlds with a delightful short story collection...A perfect addition for fans, or a great start for new readers wanting to try Browne for the first time."--Portland Book Review
The new collection of short stories from the author of Breathers and Less Than Hero.
FINALIST 2021 IAN Book of the Year Awards
FINALIST 2022 Eric Hoffer Book Awards
A family of luck poachers receives a phone call that sets them off in the hopes of reversing their bad fortune. At a singles mixer for chemical elements, a luminous-yet-jaded Neon looks for love, or at least a one-night exothermic reaction. When blue skies turn gray and the daikaiju siren blares, the ten-year-old daughter of the local weatherman discovers her destiny. And washed-up evildoers live out their meaningless lives at a retirement home for villains—you never know when someone might turn the swimming pool into a shark pit, or bring a death ray to Taco Tuesday.
From the imagination of S.G. Browne comes a collection of fourteen short stories of downtrodden luck poachers, lovelorn chemical elements, obsolete villains, disillusioned children, trademarked teenagers, outcast reindeer, victimized zombies, and time-traveling alcoholics—many of them lost and searching for answers. Some of them find what they’re looking for, while one or two discover that childhood dreams can come true.
Lost Creatures is a blend of fantasy, science fiction, dark comedy, and magical realism. Fans of Kelly Link’s Get in Trouble and Karen Russell’s Vampires in the Lemon Grove will find a lot to enjoy in this collection.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Scattered Showers with a Chance of Daikaiju
Riding the Softland Express
Periodic Table of the Elements Weekly Singles Mixer
Letters to Santa (from the Arctic Academy for Gifted Creatures)
Reminiscences of My Childhood Centaurs
Dr. Sinister’s Home for Retired Villains
When the Giant Koi Returned to San Francisco
Intro to Trademark Infringement at Dunkin’ Donuts High
Inside the Monsters Studio
Remedial English for Reanimated Corpses
The Time Traveler’s Guide to Insomnia
The Curse of the Amazing Colossal Thing from Outer Space
All of the Lost Creatures are Found
Intervention for a Lycanthrope