That Which Grows Wild
by Eric J. Guignard
Genre: Dark Fantasy, Short Stories
That Which Grows Wild collects sixteen dark and masterful short stories by award-winning author Eric J. Guignard. Equal parts whimsy and weird, horror and heartbreak, this debut collection traverses the darker side of the fantastic through vibrant and harrowing tales that depict monsters and regrets, hope and atonement, and the oddly changing reflection that turns back at you in the mirror.
Discover why Eric J. Guignard has earned praise from masters of the craft such as Ramsey Campbell (“Guignard gives voice to paranoid vision that’s all too believable.”), Rick Hautala (“No other young horror author is better, I think, than Eric J. Guignard.”), and Nancy Holder ( “The defining new voice of horror has arrived, and I stand in awe.”)
Stories include:
• “A Case Study in Natural Selection and How It Applies to Love” - a teen experiences romance, while the world slowly dies from rising temperatures and increasing cases of spontaneous combustion.
• “Dreams of a Little Suicide” - a down-on-his-luck actor unexpectedly finds his dreams and love in Hollywood playing a munchkin during filming of The Wizard of Oz, but soon those dreams begin to darken.
• “The Inveterate Establishment of Daddano & Co.” - an aged undertaker tells the true story behind the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, and of the grime that accumulates beneath our floors.
• “A Journey of Great Waves” - a Japanese girl encounters, years later, the ocean-borne debris of her tsunami-ravaged homeland, and the ghosts that come with it.
• “The House of the Rising Sun, Forever” - a tragic voice gives dire warning against the cycle of opium addiction from which, even after death, there is no escape.
• “Last Days of the Gunslinger, John Amos” - a gunfighter keeps a decimated town’s surviving children safe on a mountaintop from the incursion of ferocious creatures… until a flash flood strikes.
Explore within, and discover a wild range upon which grows the dark, the strange, and the profound.
Tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m a writer and editor of dark and
speculative fiction, operating from the shadowy outskirts of Los Angeles, where
I also run the small press, Dark Moon Books. By day job, I’m a technical writer
and college professor, and before that I worked in mortgage banking. I’m
married, with a young son and daughter. Plus I’ve a dog, cats, desert tortoise,
and a terrarium filled with mischievous beetles. I’ve survived 42 years on this
Earth, although I feel half that age mentally. I’ve travelled quite a bit, but
I’ve lived in the same 25-mile radius in Southern California my entire life.
I’m a pretty normal suburban White dude (third-generation Swiss-American),
mostly passive, mostly introverted, pretty easy-going. I can jump rope all day
long. I founded a hackysack club, that’s long gone under. My wife and I grew up
together. I feel more comfortable in a dive bar than a fancy club. Outside
other life responsibilities, I enjoy hiking and I study entomology (insects)
and genealogy (family history); I woodwork in my garage; model miniatures; and
read, read, read!
What’s the scariest thing that’s ever
happened to you?
I can’t really say I’ve experienced any
dire, Scream-Queen moments of terror. The scariest memories are mostly just
childhood fears, recurring nightmares and the such (don’t ever watch the
Headless Horseman episode from Scooby-Doo!).
One time I woke up alone with a mild
concussion and temporary amnesia on a beach. That felt more surreal than scary
though… I lay there looking up at the moon wondering who and where I was. Very
existential in retrospect.
Once I was mountain biking high up in the
San Gabriel Mountains and slipped off a narrow cliff… I don’t know how high it
was, but I couldn’t see bottom. I somehow reached out and caught the lip of the
precipice just as I was falling over, and managed to claw my way back up.
Though more thrills than fears in that case!
Otherwise, I think the scariest things in
life for me are more along the lines of emotional fears, like doubts, anxiety,
which are worse than any “frightening” experience, as they linger with you for
long, long stretches of time, and feel quite inescapable.
Have you always wanted to be a writer?
No, but I’ve always wanted to be a creative
professional, whether that was involved in creating art, design, or writing.
I’ve been driven to create all my life. If I wasn’t writing, I’d be drawing,
woodworking, painting, modeling, or any number of other things. The same part
that gets me up in the morning is thinking about what I’m going to make next,
even if it’s just a design doodle. I happen to enjoy writing most right now,
and my preference is toward dark matter, being monsters and thrilling
adventures, things that excite, which I’ve also been drawn to all my life. Creating
is my catharsis, my escape, and my satisfaction all at once
Eric J. Guignard is a writer and editor of dark and speculative fiction, operating from the shadowy outskirts of Los Angeles. He's won the Bram Stoker Award, been a finalist for the International Thriller Writers Award, and a multi-nominee of the Pushcart Prize. His stories and non-fiction have appeared in over one hundred genre and literary publications such as "Nightmare Magazine," "Black Static," "Shock Totem," "Buzzy Magazine," and "Dark Discoveries Magazine." Outside the glamorous and jet-setting world of indie fiction, Eric's a technical writer and college professor, and he stumbles home each day to a wife, children, cats, and a terrarium filled with mischievous beetles.
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