Grotesquerie

Richard Gavin

Chapters (18)

grotesquerie

richard gavin

ᚷ ᚱ ᛟ

ᛏ ᛖ ᛋ

ᛩ ᚢ ᛖ

ᚱ ᛁ ᛖ

Advance Praise for grotesquerie

“Richard Gavin is an important figure in the contemporary horror/weird fiction field. Influenced by masters such as Blackwood and Ligotti, Gavin is cerebral, yet empathetic. He reconfigures classical tropes to suit his own unique perspective. grotesquerie is a major event.”

— Laird Barron, author of Swift to Chase

“grotesquerie contains the latest records of Richard Gavin’s continuing explorations of the intersection between the mundane and the numinous, the earthly and the spectral, the pastoral and the horrific. Drawing on and in dialogue with such writers of the visionary weird as Aickman, Ligotti, and Machen, Gavin’s fictions extend the tradition into bold new territory. Original, idiosyncratic, Richard Gavin is like no one else.”

— John Langan, author of The Fisherman and Children of the Fang and Other Genealogies.

“In grotesquerie, Richard Gavin summons ancient gods and vengeful ghosts. He nods knowingly to the horror/weird fiction greats, but forges a singularly unique vision.”

— Priya Sharma, author of Ormeshadow

“...richly articulated nightmares that will delight horror fans [...] will put readers in mind of both classic weird fiction and the supernatural mysteries of the 1970s.”

— Publishers Weekly

Other Books by Richard Gavin

Fiction Collections

Charnel Wine

Omens

The Darkly Splendid Realm

At Fear’s Altar

Sylvan Dread: Tales of Pastoral Darkness

Esotericism

The Benighted Path: Primeval Gnosis & The

Monstrous Soul

The Moribund Portal: Spectral Resonance and the Numen of the Gallows

As Editor

Penumbrae: An Occult Fiction Anthology (co-edited with Daniel A. Schulke & Patricia Cram)

grotesquerie

Interior design, typesetting, and layout by Courtney Kelly

Interior decoration designed by Alvaro Cabrera | Freepik

Proof-reader: Carolyn Macdonell-Kelly

TRADE ISBN: 978-1-988964-22-5

LIMITED HARDCOVER ISBN: 978-1-988964-23-2

This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events or persons—living, dead, or undead—is entirely coincidental.

Undertow Publications Pickering, ON Canada

undertowpublications.com

Publication history appears at the back of this book.

Smashwords Edition License Notes

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‘To the everlasting spirit of Rosaleen Norton,

this lot of shadows & masques is offered.’

“If the objects of horror, in which the terrible grotesque finds its materials, were contemplated in their true light, and with the entire energy of the soul, they would cease to be grotesque, and become altogether sublime.”

— John Ruskin, The Stones of Venice (1853)

Contents

Banishments

Fragile Masks

Neithernor

Deep Eden

The Patter of Tiny Feet

The Rasping Absence