A man hiding under an assumed identity loses his grip on reality when the false life he’s created becomes more real than his own.
A woman discovers that the construction project tearing her neighborhood apart is really a bridge between this world and another.
When a man tries to save his son from a brutal and horrifying rite of passage, he discovers that some things are beyond his control.
"The darkness in Surface’s characters arises from knowledge of those spaces of the self and the world which are troubling, disturbing. Strange stories, yes, and dark, too. Stories whose fine prose and sympathetically drawn characters give them an emotional heft and resonance not always found among this stripe of fiction. Stories that follow you."
– John Langan, The Strange Darkness of David Surface
“An exciting, fresh voice. A writer whose artful style and subtle depictions of the weird should be relished.”
– Adam Nevill, author of Some Will Not Sleep, Hasty for the Dark, Wyrd and Other Derelictions
"What makes these stories so powerful is Surface's simultaneous commitment to the realistic and the strange--and his understanding that they're not opposing realms, but are adjacent and intertwined. These are nimble and satisfying stories that take the best qualities of literature and genre to create a creature that is its own distinct, dark thing."
– Brian Evenson, author of A Collapse of Horses, and Shirley Jackson Award Winner.
“THESE THINGS” is a superlative collection by a master of the genre. Not only does he create nightmare images that stay in the mind long after you’ve put the book aside, but––here’s the key––his themes are deeply rooted in universal emotions. Surface digs deep, and his personal honesty pays dividends, putting him at the top of the tree of contemporary short story writers working in the realm of the uncanny. These are truly horror for grown-ups, and I highly recommend you savor them.”
–Stephen Volk, author of The Dark Masters Trilogy, Monsters In the Heart, screenwriter for The Awakening and Ghostwatch.
These Things That Walk Behind Me from Lethe Press features fourteen stories from David Surface previously published in venues including Best Horror of the Year, Nightscript, and Supernatural Tales, including five new previously unpublished stories.
Foreword by John Langan.
Release date: October 1, 2024. Now available for preorder here.
Foreword by John Langan.
Release date: October 1, 2024. Now available for preorder here.
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Thirteen stories in which people reach the limits of their known worlds. Stories where ghosts take many forms, where the monsters are sometimes human, sometimes not. Stories where the discoveries people make come at a cost, and crossing over into the unknown can be both liberating and terrifying. “Grounded in a gritty realism, many of the protagonists are like ghosts themselves, trapped in old patterns that are no longer relevant, and unable to see a way out. It is often the supernatural itself that brings home to them the terrible clarity of just how lost they are. For David, the supernatural tale is also a way to explore broader issues of personal and institutional breakdown. We're fortunate as readers to have him beside us in the dark.” – Lynda Rucker |
"Suffused with atmosphere, populated by horrors half-seen and then, in startling moments of revelation, seen all too clearly, David Surface's stories stay firmly rooted in ghost story tradition. But where those oddly comforting classical terrors bubble up from grief or loss or regret or revenge, the menaces in 'Terrible Things' sprout from a disturbingly contemporary sense of bewilderment. These are the ghosts of lockdown drills and frayed marriages, identity confusion and forced retirement and that constant crackling hum of a world tilting out of true, and therefore new and now and terrifying all over again." - Glen Hirshberg, author of the Motherless Children trilogy.
"Each of the stories contained within 'Terrible Things' is a small treasure to be marveled at. David Surface unpicks the seam of humanity to reveal the necrosis of our terrible secrets - the harms we visit upon one another, the lies we tell - but also that quiet hope that beneath it all there might still be something worth saving. Compassionate, astute and beautifully crafted, these are horror stories with soul." - Laura Mauro, author of Sing Your Sadness Deep.
"David Surface is like no one else. His fiction has a precision of detail that is always unsettling, and often heart-breaking. One of our greatest contemporary writers." - Ralph Robert Moore, author of Ghosters, As Dead as Me, and Father Figure.
David Surface knows home is an alien place and 'Terrible Things' is your expedition report - you'd do well to read it. - Adam Golaski, author of Stone Gods and Worse Than Myself.
"Each of the stories contained within 'Terrible Things' is a small treasure to be marveled at. David Surface unpicks the seam of humanity to reveal the necrosis of our terrible secrets - the harms we visit upon one another, the lies we tell - but also that quiet hope that beneath it all there might still be something worth saving. Compassionate, astute and beautifully crafted, these are horror stories with soul." - Laura Mauro, author of Sing Your Sadness Deep.
"David Surface is like no one else. His fiction has a precision of detail that is always unsettling, and often heart-breaking. One of our greatest contemporary writers." - Ralph Robert Moore, author of Ghosters, As Dead as Me, and Father Figure.
David Surface knows home is an alien place and 'Terrible Things' is your expedition report - you'd do well to read it. - Adam Golaski, author of Stone Gods and Worse Than Myself.
Published May 2021 by Black Shuck Books.
Thirteen stories from Supernatural Tales, Shadows and Tall Trees, Nightscript, The Tenth Black Book of Horror, Morpheus Tales, Ghost Highway, and Darkest Minds.
Available here.
Published May 2021 by Black Shuck Books.
Thirteen stories from Supernatural Tales, Shadows and Tall Trees, Nightscript, The Tenth Black Book of Horror, Morpheus Tales, Ghost Highway, and Darkest Minds.
Available here.
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What if you had the power to heal your broken family? To bring back a lost loved one? In a place called Angel Falls, where an ancient and mysterious power waits to fulfill their deepest wishes, Jessie and Jared are about to find out that getting what you wish for can be the most dangerous thing of all. "I was a huge fan of 'Angel Falls', co-written by Julia Rust and David Surface, one of those very reflective novels that deserves to find an audience...I found this powerful character study of two lonely teenagers who connect strangely moving...Fans of thoughtful, character-driven stories which balance the pains of early teen romances with subtle supernatural stories are in for a real treat.” – Toby Jones, Best of 2022: Young Adult Horror and Dark Fiction, Ginger Nuts of Horror |
“Fast-paced and compelling, Angel Falls is a page-turner with well-drawn characters and a terrific supernatural mystery propelling a story that is, at its core, about love, loss and the inevitability of change. I couldn't put it down.”
- Lynda Rucker, author of You’ll Know When You Get There
“What if you discovered you could make your wishes real? When Jessie and Jared find that Angel Falls may grant them that power, they’re forced to confront the effects their desires have on those they love. Teen and adult readers alike will be captivated, as I was, when mysteries of the past and secrets of the present collide in this eerie story of family, friendship, and the supernatural.”
–Patricia Lillie, author of The Cuckoo Girls
“Exquisitely written YA novel that is equally gripping for any age adult. The development of the plot and characters, with unexpected twists and turns, creates a captivating read. Highly recommended.”
- Amazon review
“What a lovely horror it is to enter Angel Falls where the air drips with fog, and the tender heart of human desire becomes a fetid root of loss. What a balm it is to go there and heal old wounds, without risk, through the gift of this well-told story!”
– M. Rickert author of The Shipbuilder of Bellfairie and Lucky Girl, How I Became a Horror Writer: A Krampus Story
“Angel Falls is a touching, tension filled young adult novel that had me engrossed from start to finish. The authors absolutely nail the emotional angst of two teenaged characters fraught with familial and supernatural terrors, all while developing deep feelings for one another. When it comes to supernatural young adult fiction, Angel Falls is the best novel in the genre I’ve ever read. It’s that good.”
—Tony Tremblay – Bram Stoker nominated author of The Moore House, and Do Not Weep For Me
Angel Falls is available here.