The Horsey Tree
& Other Scary Tales

In 1998, S.S. Kingsolver had to quit smoking after serious lung disease. What poured out over the next couple of years of fighting nicotine cravings was not despair — it was sixteen stories. Writing became a therapeutic tool, and the result is a collection where real life takes one step sideways into the macabre: murders witnessed out of time, quiet rituals that hide slow destruction, and ordinary people pushed to the edge of the unknown.

These stories contain true life situations distorted enough to make them fun to read. Life is scary and sometimes impossible to face without a little fantasy thrown in to lighten the harsh reality. — S.S. Kingsolver

Format

Paperback

Pages

134

Genre

Horror Fiction

ISBN-13

978-1-4137-1343-5

Sixteen tales in all. A few you'll find inside:

• The Horsey Tree
• Slow Suicide
• The Trip
• The Bamboo Thicket
• …and eleven more

"Slow Suicide" was Kingsolver's first published story in the horror genre, and "The Bamboo Thicket" was later rewritten with Eric S. Brown and published as the novel Katie.

S.S. Kingsolver turned the hardest chapter of her life into fiction. After lung disease forced her to give up smoking in 1998, she picked up the pen instead — and never looked back. Her stories blend lived experience with dark fantasy, finding the horror hiding in everyday places. She is also the author of Three Strikes You're Out.

“Any horror lover should not miss this collection of short stories. They’re creepy, disturbing, and frightening! Ms. Kingsolver is one of the few authors I’ve read that makes me squirm in my seat … unable to stop.” — Reader review, Amazon (2004) ★★★★★

“All three start off normal like and then each takes a turn into the dark side. What an enjoyable ride!” — Reader review, Amazon (2004)