This Island Earth: 8 Features From the Drive-In
“A love letter to sci-fi and horror movies, this is a must-read for all fans of the classic era. With a master’s precision and a longing for those cherished moments of cinema that made us who we are, Bailey brings heartache, honesty and humour to films that never existed—but you will wish they did.” —Stephen Volk, author of The Dark Masters Trilogy
“Dale Bailey is the schlock-film host of your dreams. Again and again, he finds the beating heart within the most lurid titles in Hollywood history and demonstrates they’re really home movies.” —Andy Duncan, Nebula and World Fantasy Award-winning author of The Pottawatomie Giant & Other Stories
“Whether it’s cabbage-head aliens, teenage werewolves, or handsome jocks doomed to play hero, Bailey renders the deceptively familiar with a dedication to surfacing what makes the monstrous human, and humanity so monstrous.” —Isabel Yap, author of Never Have I Ever: Stories
“Dale Bailey has long been one of the greatest undersung writers in the fantasy genre. On display is a full range of humor, depth, horror, sweetness, heartbreak, and wonder. If there is any justice left in the world, This Island Earth will be recognized as a classic.” —Nathan Ballingrud, Shirley Jackson Award-winning author of Strange and North American Lake Monsters
The following audio was recorded live on June 14, 2023 at the KGB Bar with guests Nathan Ballingrud & Dale Bailey.
Podcast: Play | Download
In The Night Wood
Shirley Jackson Award Finalist, Novel
Bailey’s eerie prose centers readers firmly and successfully in his seductive and frightening night wood. – Publisher’s Weekly
Bailey’s novel is both a resonant tale of literary obsession and a story of old myths rising violently to the surface of an otherwise rational world. And it largely succeeds at both: its central characters are well-drawn, and its more uncanny aspects never overwhelm the emotional connections Bailey has established throughout the book. – Tor.com
In the Night Wood is an affecting, weighty, and haunting book about the shackles of grief. – Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Cabin at the End of the World
Luminously written, literate, absorbing, transporting, and all-around excellent. I couldn’t put it down. – Karen Joy Fowler, author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves and The Jane Austen Book Club
Featuring some of the ambiance of Robert Holdstock’s pagan fantasies, a bit of the flavor of Ian McEwan’s The Child in Time, and simpatico resonance with the similarly understated and involving fantasies of Graham Joyce, Bailey’s book proves that the shelves of libraries are truly congruent with the hidden chambers of the human heart. – Asimov’s Science Fiction
DALE BAILEY is the author of nine books, including This Island Earth: 8 Features from the Drive-In, In the Night Wood, The End of the End of Everything, and The Subterranean Season. His story “Death and Suffrage” was adapted for Showtime’s Masters of Horror television series. His short fiction has been frequently re-printed in best-of-the-year anthologies, including The Best Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, The Best Horror of the Year, and The Year’s Best Weird Fiction. He has won the Shirley Jackson Award and the International Horror Guild Award and has been a finalist for the World Fantasy, Nebula, Locus and Bram Stoker awards. Dale lives in North Carolina with his family.