Synopses & Reviews
"Here is how monstrous humans are."
A sentient, murderous prosthetic leg; shadowy creatures lurking behind a shimmering wall; brutal barrow men-of all the terrors that populate The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell, perhaps the most alarming are the beings who decimated the habitable Earth: humans. In this new short story collection, Brian Evenson envisions a chilling future beyond the Anthropocene that forces excruciating decisions about survival and self-sacrifice in the face of toxic air and a natural world torn between revenge and regeneration. Combining psychological and ecological horror, each tale thrums with Evenson's award-winning literary craftsmanship, dark humor, and thrilling suspense.
Review
“Masterful and foreboding, each story in The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell is a tightly wound mystery which unravels just enough to show us the dark depths of the human condition. From a curator intent on destroying all evidence of human life to a house intent on consuming its inhabitants, don’t be surprised if you catch yourself holding your breath as you enter these fantastic worlds. Brian Evenson is one of our most brilliant minds, and he has outdone himself again.” Sarah Rose Etter
Review
“[A] towering collection of nightmarish horror, sci-fi parables, and weird tales... ‘Once I take you there,’ ends another story, ‘you'll have a hard time dragging yourself away.’ The same could be said of Evenson's unforgettable work, drawn from the darkest corners of the imagination and nearly impossible to forget.” Publisher's Weekly, starred review
Review
“Like with Borges or Kafka, every one of Brian Evenson’s stories are a whole world distilled down to a few pages, and rendered in a pointillism that feels not just abstract, but cosmic, yet is gritty all the same, and leaves a distinct, bloody residue in your mind, in your heart. And then you can no longer look at the world the way you used to.” Stephen Graham Jones
Review
“In this rich offering, a true collection of worlds, Evenson gives us visions of the future that are avenues to the past; glimpses of the strange where we find what’s deeply familiar; in the living, the dead; and in these fantastic stories, the clearest, starkest portrait of our depraved reality. Evenson at his greatest — visceral, relentless, alive.” Samantha Hunt
Review
“Literary horror at its most existential, visceral, and wonderful. These strange stories build upon each other to create an uncanny shadow universe rich, vivid and shimmering with every kind of terror. Another brilliant collection.” Mona Awad
Video
Watch the Powell’s virtual event with Brian Evenson and Matt Bell!
About the Author
Brian Evenson is the author of over a dozen works of fiction. He has received three O. Henry Prizes for his fiction. His most recent book, Song for the Unraveling of the World, was a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award, the Los Angeles Times Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction, and the Balcones Fiction Prize. He lives in Los Angeles and teaches at CalArts.