In this wildly imaginative debut collection, whimsical tales of princesses and farm girls turn dark, and dark tales of mistreated sideshow freaks turn whimsical. An itinerant marionette falls prey to a lusty mesmerist. An alcoholic camp counselor is haunted by her dead best friend. A juvenile delinquent languishes in a boot camp run by authoritarian grandmas. Be they human monsters or reluctant moth-girls, the outcasts that populate these stories all long for escape, community, acceptance and self-discovery.