Caitlin Marceau

FEMINA: A Collection Of Dark Fiction explores the horror of womanhood. Or, more accurately, the horror of gender norms and societal expectations placed on women. This collection features work that delves into themes of identity, motherhood, sexuality, and isolation. A mix of Kristen Roupenian’s “Cat Person And Other Stories” and Carmen Maria Machado’s “Her Body And Other Parties: Stories”, this collection is a blend of psychological, supernatural, and body horror. FEMINA looks at the horror of being a woman in a man’s world.

This Is Where We Talk Things Out by Caitlin Marceau, author of Palimpsest: A Collection of Contemporary Horror, follows the gut-wrenching journey of Miller and her estranged mother, Sylvie, who have always had a tense relationship. After Miller's father dies, she agrees to a girls' vacation away from the city to reconnect with the only family she has left. Although she’s eager to make things work, Miller can’t help but worry that her mother is seeing their countryside retreat as a fun weekend getaway instead of what it really is: a last-ditch effort to repair their relationship. Unfortunately, that quickly becomes the least of Miller’s problems. Sylvie's trapped in the past and if Miller's not careful, she will be too. A cross between Stephen King's Misery and Stephanie Wrobel's Darling Rose Gold, This Is Where We Talk Things Out explores the horror of familial trauma, mother-daughter relationships, and what happens when we don't let go.

A Blackness Absolute is a collection of short horror stories by up-and-coming Canadian author Caitlin Marceau. The collection takes in uncertainties of perception, feelings of vulnerability—to the weather, the natural world, the tenuousness of sanity—and mixes these elements with a strong sense of history and folklore. From the title piece, which evokes the pure claustrophobic terror of becoming lost and disoriented in a cave-system, to the final tale, "Doireann," where a woman performs unusual funeral rites in a starving community, each story layers ambiguities to create an unnerving effect that will get under your skin. If you love great storytelling, creepy atmospherics, and stories that instil a sense of dread that will return to you in the dead of night, then you’re sure to find something to enjoy in this masterful collection. These stories will linger long after you close the book. PRAISE FOR A BLACKNESS ABSOLUTE: “Caitlin Marceau explores the familial bonds that tie us together and break us down like no other. Her work bleeds Canadiana like thick maple syrup and lingers long after you've left the page.” — Lor Gislason, author of Inside Out "In her latest collection, Caitlin Marceau continues to display her boundless creativity and inventiveness. With surgical precision, she cuts into the hearts and minds of her doomed characters, extracting gothic tales of ghostly betrayal, teenage revenge, cloying claustrophobia, statuesque sirens and more. Marceau understands the terror that waits in the dark places beyond the seemingly Everyday. Fans will not be disappointed, and new readers will find themselves falling deep into A Blackness Absolute." -- Laura Keating, author of Agony's Lodestone "A sharp tongue stretching deep into the collective unconscious, like campfire stories, to divine a vast array of hells to chill you with. A Blackness Absolute stitches together Junji Ito-esque horrors that crawl into some atavistic part of your brain and take root there, shading your dreams with dread and uncertainty. Marceau has written a reflection on the terrifying ways in which time stains everything, unforgivably, into states of ruin. She cuts, with serrated edge, into the pure, disturbing imagination of nightmares, and sustains terror from start to finish. Creepy as hell. Utterly addictive and compellingly frightening. A remarkable ride I cannot recommend enough." -- Sofia Ajram, author of "The Arborglyph" "Another dark and desolate collection from a fantastic new talent; Marceau understands how to tap into the root of deep, inescapable fear, and applies it with calculated precision. The title of the collection functions as both a siren and a warning—there are no happy endings here, no last-minute saviours. Creeping, incremental dread unspools around you like cold rope, pulling you down into a dark and infinite void, and the last lines of these stories gut-punch hard, leaving you winded but wanting more." -- Lindz McLeod, author of Turducken