A landmark new translation of a Calvino classic, a whimsical, spirited novel that imagines a life lived entirely on its own terms Cosimo di Rondó, a young Italian nobleman of the eighteenth century, rebels against his parents by climbing into the trees and remaining there for the rest of his life. He adapts efficiently to an existence in the forest canopy—he hunts, sows crops, plays games with earth-bound friends, fights forest fires, solves engineering problems, and even manages to have love affairs. From his perch in the trees, Cosimo sees the Age of Enlightenment pass by, and a new century dawn. The Baron in the Trees exemplifies Calvino’s peerless ability to weave tales that sparkle with enchantment. This new English rendering by acclaimed translator Ann Goldstein breathes new life into one of Calvino’s most beloved works.

Some type of gigantic, grey mass passes by—an ashen, misty mass with cut-out windows from end to end. One can feel the gust of a satanic draught from these open holes, hear the flapping, maddeningly blown-about shutters; one can almost see the spectral faces of the passengers. . . . A wandering train that appears, seemingly at will; an engine driver who is inseparable from his machine; a passenger who waits for trains but never travels on them; obsession with speed and motion; a harbinger of disaster; a daring liaison: these are the themes of The Motion Demon, Stefan Grabinski's collection of nine stories, first published in Poland in 1919. Stefan Grabinski (1887–1936), often referred to as 'The Polish Poe', struggled during his lifetime to gain recognition in his native land. He was an idealistic loner who strove for an understanding of the hidden forces of both the world and the human mind; and he represented those forces in the most potent framework available to him—his stories of the supernatural. With no one to champion him in his own land, it took until 1993 and the publication of The Dark Domain (translated by Miroslaw Lipinski) for English language readers to become truly aware of this undisputed master of original and interesting fantastic fiction. The stories of The Motion Demon are peopled by memorable characters, and even a simple railway journey offers telling clues to the metaphysical and beyond. All aboard for a unique adventure! With this first complete translation of The Motion Demon, Ash-Tree Press begins a comprehensive series of Grabinski volumes that will duplicate the content of the original Polish editions and also assemble short stories which never saw book publication. The complete series will represent the first comprehensive, collected work of Stefan Grabinski in any language. CONTENTS: Introduction by Miroslaw Lipinski; Engine Driver Grot; The Wandering Train; The Motion Demon; The Sloven; The Perpetual Passenger; In the Compartment; Signals; The Siding; Ultima Thule.

In Mike Corrao's instant cult-classic GUT TEXT, the reader observes the text caught in the physical objectness of a book as it slowly becomes a living organism: self-conscious, feeling pain, fear, and desire. RITUALS PERFORMED IN THE ABSENCE OF GANYMEDE takes the text beyond the physical, where the reader and text enter the search for a body that can contain you both. “Rituals Performed in the Absence of Ganymede’ is a book in perpetual motion, forming and informing cognition in and beyond time. A book whose language births the body of the new reader.” — Christina Tudor-Sideri, Author of Under the Sign of the Labyrinth “Mike Corrao has created a text that bubbles from the page and wraps itself around the reader. Upon peeling it from their skin, the paragraphs will continue to grow and morph, easily outgrowing and crushing the microscope that it has been placed under.” — Thomas Moore, Author of Alone

While taking an early-morning walk through the streets of contemporary Toronto, graduate student Ardeth Alexander is abducted by two men and taken to an isolated building, where she discovers to her horror that she has been brought to supply blood to an imprisoned vampire named Dimitri Rozokov. Present-day 1994 alternates with the 1898 diary of obsessed businessman Ambrose Dale, who drove Rozokov into hiding and a 100-year sleep from which he awoke only to be captured by a sadist who keeps him in line with an ultrasound machine and makes pornographic snuff films of the hapless vampire feeding on prostitutes. Learning his story, Ardeth gradually loses her horror of Rozokov and begins to see their human jailers as the real monsters. They must work together if they are to escape and find who has done this to them. Their only hope of salvation is to trace the links to Rozokov's Victorian nemesis and discover the person behind his 20th-century captivity. AIDS and incest mingle with age-old vampire lore.

"HERE JOHN TURNER WAS CAST AWAY IN A HEAVY SNOW STORM IN THE NIGHT IN THE YEAR 1755" "THE PRINT OF A WOMAN'S SHOE WAS FOUND BY HIS SIDE IN THE SNOW WHERE HE LAY DEAD" John Turner was a packman. With his train of horses he carried salt and silk across distances incomprehensible to his ancient and static community. He brings ideas as well as gifts that have come, by many short journeys, from market town to market town, and from places as distant as the campfires of the Silk Road. John Turner's death in the 18th century leaves an emotional charge Ian and Sal find affects their relationship in the 21st, challenging the perceptions they have of themselves and of each other. A visionary fable firmly rooted in a verifiable place, this novel is an evocation of the lives and the language of all people who are called to the valley of Thursbitch.

Some type of gigantic, grey mass passes by—an ashen, misty mass with cut-out windows from end to end. One can feel the gust of a satanic draught from these open holes, hear the flapping, maddeningly blown-about shutters; one can almost see the spectral faces of the passengers. . . . A wandering train that appears, seemingly at will; an engine driver who is inseparable from his machine; a passenger who waits for trains but never travels on them; obsession with speed and motion; a harbinger of disaster; a daring liaison: these are the themes of The Motion Demon, Stefan Grabinski's collection of nine stories, first published in Poland in 1919. Stefan Grabinski (1887–1936), often referred to as 'The Polish Poe', struggled during his lifetime to gain recognition in his native land. He was an idealistic loner who strove for an understanding of the hidden forces of both the world and the human mind; and he represented those forces in the most potent framework available to him—his stories of the supernatural. With no one to champion him in his own land, it took until 1993 and the publication of The Dark Domain (translated by Miroslaw Lipinski) for English language readers to become truly aware of this undisputed master of original and interesting fantastic fiction. The stories of The Motion Demon are peopled by memorable characters, and even a simple railway journey offers telling clues to the metaphysical and beyond. All aboard for a unique adventure! With this first complete translation of The Motion Demon, Ash-Tree Press begins a comprehensive series of Grabinski volumes that will duplicate the content of the original Polish editions and also assemble short stories which never saw book publication. The complete series will represent the first comprehensive, collected work of Stefan Grabinski in any language. CONTENTS: Introduction by Miroslaw Lipinski; Engine Driver Grot; The Wandering Train; The Motion Demon; The Sloven; The Perpetual Passenger; In the Compartment; Signals; The Siding; Ultima Thule.

"Am I walking toward something I should be running away from?" — Shirley Jackson A woman returns home to revisit an encounter with the numinous; couples take up residence in houses full of sinister secrets; a man fleeing a failed marriage discovers something ancient and unknowable in rural Ireland . . . In her introduction, Lisa Tuttle observes that “certain places are doomed, dangerous in some inexplicable, metaphysical way”, and the characters in these stories all seem drawn in their own ways to just such places, whether trying to return home or endeavouring to get as far from life as possible. These nine stories by Shirley Jackson Award winner Lynda E. Rucker tell tales of those lost and searching, often for something they cannot name, and encountering along the way the uncanny embedded in the everyday world. Contents "Haunted Places, Haunted People" by Lisa Tuttle "The Receiver of Tales" "Widdershins" "The House on Cobb Street" "Where the Summer Dwells" "Who Is This Who Is Coming?" "The Queen in the Yellow Wallpaper" "The Wife's Lament" "This Time of Day, This Time of Year" "The Haunting House" "Story Notes" "Acknowledgements" Lynda E. Rucker is an American writer born and raised in the South and now living in Europe. Her stories have appeared in dozens of magazines and anthologies. She is a regular columnist for Black Static, has had a short play produced on London’s West End, and won the 2015 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Short Story. Her first collection, The Moon Will Look Strange, was published by Karoshi Books in 2013.