Attack of the
50ft Woman
Praise for ATTACK OF THE 50FT WOMAN
“A memoir of the early atomic age, seen through the dark prism of Z-film science fiction—reinventing one of the most despised and marginalised figures of the era. A monster so unruly and threatening to the status quo that she's been endlessly ridiculed and fetishised is here wound into the history of one of the founding fathers of the nuclear nightmare. This is a sharp, tough, tender, deeply felt book.”
—Kim Newman
writer and critic, author of Anno Dracula and Something More Than Night
“You might be fooled by the title of this piece into thinking this story is a light romp, something weightless and dismissable. You would be wrong. ATTACK OF THE 50FT WOMAN is the capstone of Bailey's project which marries the titles of old monster movies with deep examinations of human beings riven by the simple experience of being alive. In this sweeping, compulsively readable short novel, Bailey grapples with love, guilt, time, morality, and, yes, an honest-to-God 50 Foot Woman. And she will break your fucking heart. This story is a masterpiece.”
—Nathan Ballingrud
author of Crypt of the Moon Spider and North American Lake Monsters
“This fantastic book is equal parts poetry and comics, history and invention, philosophy and physics. Set in Los Alamos, Bailey skillfully dramatises the days before the day the world changed. All while simultaneously proving that the world never changes. This one is for the tall girls.”
— Karen Joy Fowler
winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
New Free Fiction
After the Tripods
A survivor of the Martian war and its apocalyptic aftermath attempts to put the past to rest while raising his young son in the world that remains.
This Island Earth
“A love letter to sci-fi and horror movies, this is a must-read for all fans of the classic era. ” —Stephen Volk
"Dale Bailey is the schlock-film host of your dreams. You may be too moved even to finish your popcorn." —Andy Duncan
"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
"If there is any justice left in the world, This Island Earth will be recognized as a classic." —Nathan Ballingrud
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 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.