Children of the Fang and Other Genealogies

Langan (The Fisherman) draws inspiration from Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft, David Lynch and other masters of the strange and horrific to create an impressive collection of 21 tales as terrifying as they are mysterious. The exceptional title story finds two siblings investigating family secrets hidden away in their grandfather’s basement and stumbling on a horrific realization. “With Max Berry in the Nearer Precincts” offers a disturbing vision of the afterlife, while “Ymir” ventures into a Canadian mine with an eccentric billionaire and his female bodyguard. True Detective meets Stephen King’s It in “The Communion of Saints,” about a detective whose faith is tested when the Catholic saints are revealed to be other than they appear. In the most science-fictional piece, “Irezumi,” the mysterious, tattoo-covered Noomi Baul is tasked with ridding a virus from a computer system used to keep the dead alive in an alternate world. This well-crafted collection will delight fans of dark, literary horror. Agent: Ginger Clark, Curtis Brown. (Aug.)