flash fiction

“Cross-Generational Cryptid Theory” in The Arcanist

My final short story of 2022 is up!

The Arcanist is going on permanent hiatus. I’ve had the honor of appearing there four times in the past with stories Crones in Their Larval State, Demons of Particular Taste, Jormungander’s Dance, and The Mother Stitch, with the first three reprinted in my short story collection Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy because I felt so strongly about them (and the fourth might have been there, but it came out after signing the collection with The Seventh Terrace).

So many final story of 2022 is also my final Arcanist story. I’m so glad I could be a part of its swan song with this weird post-post-apocalyptic weird familial flash fic, “Cross-Generational Cryptid Theory.” It’s free to read and listen to online, so enjoy.

In Queen of Teeth news, two items: the novel has been nominated for the This Is Horror Award for Novel of the Year 2021, so thank you everyone who voted for it. Also, the audiobook will be releasing from Tantor on December 27th, but it’s available for pre-order now.

Also exciting, No Gods for Drowning has officially made Vulture’s list of “The Best Horror Novels of 2022” alongside incredible work that came out this year. I’m honored to see my book among them.

“Feast for Small Pieces” on Pseudopod, TPONG audio update, 2021 lists

Posted on 2021-12-31 by Hailey Piper article audio audiobook flash fiction novella short story the possession of natalie glasgow

Last story of the year, and it’s about a favorite for many: “Feast for Small Pieces” opens my short story collection Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy, and also opens the final 2021 episode of Pseudopod, Flash on the Borderlands LIX, which features four horrific flash fics for your listening pleasure.

In further audio news: previously available exclusively to Audible, The Possession of Natalie Glasgow audiobook, narrated by the brilliant Gemma Amor, is now available at a wide selection of online retailers, including Libro.FM!

In other news, Queen of Teeth had the good fortune to appear on a couple more end-of-year lists, and I’m immensely grateful:

– Kirkus Best Indie Books of 2021

– Autostraddle Best Queer Books of 2021

– The Lineup, 2021 Horror Book Highlights

Also, Book Riot recommended Unfortunately Elements of My Anatomy in their article Short Stories for Dark Nights.

That will do it for 2021. Thank you for all your support, and Happy New Year!

Queen of Teeth release dates update; Pride Month stories

Posted on 2021-06-20 by Hailey Piper audio flash fiction novel queen of teeth short story

“… one of the best horror books of 2021.” – Rue Morgue

My debut novel from Strangehouse Books, Queen of Teeth, is closer than ever now! Limited hardcover orders carry on to the end of June, and now we have new release dates for other version.

Paperback: August 1, 2021

Ebook: September 1, 2021

Kindle pre-orders are up on Amazon! Paperback soon to come!

I’m excited for readers to meet Yaya, Doc, and Magenta all the sooner!

In the short story realm, I have two new ones out for Pride Month! The first is not horror at all, strangely enough, but a steampunk western romance flash fic, “The Heart Is a Spare Part,” which appears in Baffling Magazine #4, available right now on their Patreon and then in July on their main page.

Next, The Wicked Library has unleashed their super-stuffed Pride Month Special, with stories by many wonderful queer horror authors. My sci-fi horror tale “A Little Too Late for Little Green Men” kicks off the festivities!

Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy release day!

Posted on 2021-05-07 by Hailey Piper collection flash fiction short story unfortunate elements of my anatomy

At last, it’s release day for Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy! My first short story collection comes from The Seventh Terrace, stuffed with 18 tales of queer horror, isolation, and the monstrous feminine. It includes my first novelette in two years, “Recitation of the First Feeding,” and a host of body horror, sci-fi horror, and all things macabre.

Check it out in paperback and ebook

Praise for Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy:

“In Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy, Hailey Piper masterfully crafts a resolutely modern gothic, unearthing the rotten, the broken and the strangely beautiful. Piper wields incisive prose with empathy and deep intuition, carefully dissecting the monstrous bodies herein and spilling their stories onto the page. A compelling and essential collection.”

– Laura Mauro, British Fantasy Award-winning author of Sing Your Sadness Deep

“With surgical precision, Hailey Piper’s stories slice through the skin, fat, and muscle of her characters’ lives, all the way down to the living bone and what is written on it. In terms of their prose, their wit, their insight, their compassion, their terror, these are the sharpest of stories. Read them, but be prepared for the cuts.”

– John Langan, author of Children of the Fang and Other Genealogies and Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Fisherman

“The Bird With the Clownish Plumage” in Campfire Macabre; Worm translation

Posted on 2021-01-06 by Hailey Piper flash fiction novella short story the worm and his kings

Welcome to the world of 2021! It comes with clowns in my neck of the woods. Campfire Macabre is a flash fiction anthology of monstrous proportions, boasting dozens of stories by incredible horror authors. This publication also marks a personal milestone: my woodsy tale “The Bird With the Clownish Plumage” marks my 50th published short story.

Check it out.

Also, I’m pleased to announce that my queer cosmic horror novella The Worm and His Kings will be translated into Spanish for a release in Spain by Dilatando Mentes Editorial, a wonderful publisher that has been translating works of horror in beautiful new Spanish editions. More details and cover art to come.

“The Mother Stitch” in The Arcanist

Posted on 2020-08-30 by Hailey Piper flash fiction short story

I have a new horror flash fic over at one of my favorite places, The Arcanist. This one gets a bit bodily and uncomfortable, so fair warning!

Also, my author page is up at Off Limits Press along with a compilation of info for The Worm and His Kings, my upcoming queer cosmic horror novella that releases November 15, 2020.

“Forgive the Adoring Beast” in Dream of Shadows; “There Is an Old Lady Who Swallows the Stars” in Neon Horror; new interview

Posted on 2020-06-03 by Hailey Piper flash fiction interview short story

Happy Pride Month! I delayed updating for what I feel should be obvious reasons. The first Pride was a riot though and no change comes without fighting for it.

New stories:

Dream of Shadows has released their second issue, inside which you’ll find my post-apocalyptic fantastical horror flash fic, “Forgive the Adoring Beast” alongside lots of other cool stories.

Over in the UK, The Haunted Bouncy Castle has released their first anthology, Neon Horror, which is all queer horror creators. My flash fic “There Is an Old Lady Who Swallows the Stars” appears inside.

Next, Stephanie Evelyn has been running a terrific series of interviews, Women Thought Leaders in Horror, over at her blog and was kind enough to invite me to be part of it. She posed interesting questions that I was all too happy to answer. You can check that interview here.

More to come soon!

“Jormungandr’s Dance” in The Arcanist

Posted on 2020-05-08 by Hailey Piper flash fiction short story

Flash fiction Friday!

Over at The Arcanist, “Jormungandr’s Dance” tells of a city under attack and a man eager to save his girlfriend, but … it’s complicated.

Read or listen to it over at The Arcanist!

“Feast for Small Pieces” in Year’s Best Hardcore Horror, Volume 5

Posted on 2020-05-01 by Hailey Piper flash fiction reprint short story

In a rare instance of punctuality this year, I’m posting about a release on release day. Can you imagine?

Today Red Room Press releases The Year’s Best Hardcore Horror, Volume 5: Going Global, a stunning anthology of 2019’s hardest hitting, most gruesome, and darkest horror short stories. My flash fiction “Feast for Small Pieces” is the first story you’ll see inside, followed by a host of wonderful horror.

This is the first time one of my works has been included in any Best of anthology, so it’s extra special to me for that. Available in ebook and paperback, with an audiobook on the way!

Also, the first Hailey’s Comments newsletter went out today. If you’re not already subscribed, change that for the better here.

“Endless Parade” in Flash Fiction Online; An Invitation to Darkness in paperback

Posted on 2020-04-04 by Hailey Piper flash fiction novelette short story

Welcome to April, our latest geological era of 2020, and I have a new story out! A flash fiction of post-apocalyptic folk horror, “Endless Parade,” is up on Flash Fiction Online.

In less new news, but still new-ish, my LGBT Gothic horror story An Invitation to Darkness, published as a standalone novelette in digital form by Demain Publishing in September 2019, is now in paperback! With the worldwide paper/publishing situation as it is, I’m not sure how availability will be, but it is there. It exists!

Paperback link