Grotesque: Monster Stories

In a collection inspired by the mythologies of Europe, China, and her beloved Aotearoa-New Zealand, four-time Bram Stoker Award®-winner Lee Murray twists and subverts ancient themes, stitching new creatures from blood and bone, hiding them in soft forest mists and dark subterranean prisons.

In this volume, construction workers uncover a hidden tunnel, soldiers wander, lost after a skirmish, and a dead girl yearns for company.

Featuring eleven uncanny tales of automatons, zombies, golems, and dragons, and including the Taine McKenna adventure “Into the Clouded Sky”, Murray’s Grotesque: Monster Stories breathes new life into the monster genre.

Cover Art: Greg Chapman /Foreword: David Wood

Publisher: Crossroad Press

LINKS: Amazon / B&N / Smashwords / Google / Kobo

Finalist in the Australian Shadow Awards 2020

Finalist in the Imadjinn Awards 2020

Finalist in Sir Julius Vogel Awards 2020

FREE! Listen to Lifeblood, performed by Heath Miller on Pseudopod

Listen to the podcast HERE.

https://pseudopod.org/2020/12/18/pseudopod-736-lifeblood/

PRAISE FOR GROTESQUE: MONSTER STORIES

“With GROTESQUE: MONSTER STORIES, Lee Murray proves she is a first-rate talent! These stories are fascinating, unexpected, and scary as hell!” — Jonathan Maberry, New York Times Bestselling Author of RAGE and V-WARS

“Keep calm and buckle up! From traveling to the dark side of exotic locales to visiting those familiar places you only thought you knew, author Lee Murray flexes her talent and range in this debut collection.” — Rena Mason, award winning author of THE EVOLUTIONIST and EAST END GIRLS

“Action, thrills, monsters, awesome!” — USA Today Bestselling Author, David Wood.

“Taine McKenna needs to stay the (bleep) home!” — Christine Morgan's World of Words.

“Murray’s tales run the gamut of the horror spectrum, from horrifying to terrifying to heartbreaking. There is a story for everyone in this wonderful collection.”

— Tom Deady, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of HAVEN

“It has been said creating is a path of immortality; Murray’s engaging tales bring us into the dream time of imagination, mixing her unique dark stories and the Māori culture to create a collection existing outside of time, taking us with it.”

— Linda D. Addison, award-winning author and HWA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.

“Murray’s formidable imagination is laid bare here, presenting a dizzying array of monsters from around the world—leaping effortlessly from ancient reanimated soldiers in the Loire Valley, to Māori demons, to horrors even closer to home: the monsters within our own families.”

— Aaron Sterns WOLF CREEK 2, WOLF CREEK ORIGIN

“A compelling collection of diverse, thought-provoking worlds.” — Sublime Horror

“The collection's stand out tale, Heart Music, is an original piece of flash fiction, which accomplished more in two pages that most stories ever do. The writing is blunt and beautiful, immersing us in graveyards, corpses, robbery and romance.” — Rue Morgue

“Grotesque: Monster Stories shows Murray has some serious writing chops. This collection of 11 stories runs the gamut of styles and subjects – there really is something for everyone. Historical fiction – check. Lovecraftian Mythos – check. Devastating emotional work – check. Just fantastic stuff.” — Kendall Reviews

Grotesque: Monster Stories is an outstanding collection from a fantastic author. Be on the lookout for what’s sure to be one of the top collections of 2020. — Gingernuts of Horror

"Murray has the ability to use only a few words to paint long-lasting, deep, and endless variations of people and creatures. Poets, dreamers, children, trauma victims, heroes, monsters, royalty, villains, mythical creatures, and more…all come to life in Murray’s stories" — Horrorfuel

Podcast Interviews with Lee, featuring Grotesque: Monster Stories

Eating the Fantastic with Scott Edelman

http://www.scottedelman.com/2020/07/22/lee-murray/

James Reid Authors in Focus

https://fantasy-focus.com/2020/07/authors-in-focus-episode-25-interview-with-lee-murray-by-jmd-reid/

Book Chat with Anita Stewart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOivEnxikzE

HP Lovecast Podcast with Nicholas Diak and Michele Brittany

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1022692/7725136-hplcp-fragments-ep-07-interview-with-lee-murray

Blogposts, interviews, and articles:

Christine Morgan's World of Words

https://christinemariemorgan.wordpress.com/2021/01/09/jan-2021-reviews/