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Cover and Frontispiece by Dave Felton Cover Design by Jonathan Dennison
The Secret of Ventriloquism
Expanded Edition
Jon Padgett’s acclaimed collection/hybrid novel, named the Best Fiction Book by Rue Morgue Magazine, now returns in an expanded edition of the original, with three new stories. The book features Dave Felton’s iconic cover art and frontispiece as well as a Foreword by the legendary Thomas Ligotti.
With themes reminiscent of Shirley Jackson, Ligotti, and Bruno Schulz, but with a strikingly unique vision, Padgett’s work explores the mystery of human suffering, the agony of personal existence, and the ghastly means by which someone might achieve salvation from both. A bullied child seeks vengeance within a bed’s hollow box spring. A lucid dreamer is haunted by an impossible house. A dummy reveals its own anatomy in 20 simple steps… A fog-soaked city heaves its dying breath. And a presence speaks through them all.
Purchase Your Copy
Trade Hardcover
Case Laminate (70 lbs paper) 5″ x 8″, 250 pgs. $40 USD (Shipping included)
Trade Paperback
4.25″ x 7″, 342 pgs. $20 USD (Shipping included)
eBook
Kindle/ePub format. Pay What You Can
Table of Contents
- Foreword by Thomas Ligotti
- Introduction by Matt Cardin
- The Mindfulness of Horror Practice
- Murmurs of a Voice Foreknown
- The Indoor Swamp
- Origami Dreams
- 20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism
- Flight 389
- The Infusorium
- Organ Void
- The Secret of Ventriloquism
- A Little Delta of Filth
- Escape to Thin Mountain
- The Secret Society of Dummies
Praise
“’20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism’ is what might be deemed an ultimate horror vision… That is how an ultimate horror vision works its wonder.”
– Thomas Ligotti
“The Secret of Ventriloquism is horror with a capital H. Some of Padgett’s lines raised the hair on my neck. The stories radiate darkness… In a year of exceptional weird fiction, this is a mattock-handle-wrapped-in-barbed-wire heavy hitter.”
– Laird Barron
