"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 stories] stand out individually as deft, clever, and touching examples of his chosen theme; and they also work together to wonderful cumulative effect. The book as a whole is a small masterpiece–especially when one considers that it pays homage to a sub-genre of fantastika that has a reputation as schlock; the low-budget horror/SF films of the 1950s." – Locus Magazine
Shirley Jackson Award Finalist, Novel | World Fantasy Award Finalist, Novel
Bailey’s eerie prose centers readers firmly and successfully in his seductive and frightening night wood. – Publisher’s Weekly
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
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
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
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Shirley Jackson Award Finalist
“The stories in this collection range from unsettling to downright chilling, but are uniformly intelligent . . . and memorable.” – Karen Joy Fowler, New York Times–bestselling author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
“Nine gorgeously-written and closely-observed tales of ordinary people trying to hold it together when everything is falling apart. . . . I can’t think of a more accomplished master of the fantastic short form. Prepare to hunt feral Girl Scouts! Pack your bags for a dinosaur safari! Invite friends to your end of the world party! Dale Bailey is the poet of the apocalypse; his stories are guaranteed to haunt you.” – James Patrick Kelly, Nebula Award–winning author of The First Law of Thermodynamics
"Bailey takes on every aspect of campus life with razor-sharp glee, especially the all-too-common elevation of sports over academics, and the unforgiving hierarchy of academia. Alex’s metamorphosis, from basically decent to completely unhinged, is both terrifying and fascinating, and the utterly chilling ending is nothing less than fitting." – Publisher's Weekly
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.