Winner of the ReLit Award for Best Short Fiction, Ian Roger’s debut is a corker, a paean to everything that scares us. Like the best of horror fiction, Rogers’ stories defy easy categorization. A jazz club may or may not be Hell, but is certainly not a place you want to visit. A loveable housecat proves adept at exterminating pests of all sizes. A campfire story takes an unusual turn. And in “Deleted Scenes” (my favourite in a collection rife with nominees), an actor finds himself employment by filming scenes never meant to be seen. Rogers has a way of tweaking even the most mundane idea and making it sparkle anew. Believe me, I’ll never look at a spider the same way again. Or ever again.

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