"This whole collection is obsessed with death."
Josh Rountree makes no bones about the mood in Death Aesthetic, his third collection of short fiction. Rountree explores the boundaries set by grief and guilt. He cracks open all manner of skeletons to peer inside the chest cavity, wondering what remains after everything else has left. He sniffs the night air, leaps and transforms into something both more human and not human at all. He knows all the words to the songs that bring us back from the edge.
We are never ready for that final transition. Rountree offers no assurances with Death Aesthetic, no promises about what lies beyond that black veil. But, as a compassionate psychopomp, he will be at your side for this journey.
“Death Aesthetic reads like a treatise penned from the world next to this one. Rountree scours the wilds of death and finds, continually, new roads to explore, new landscapes. A moving, measured collection.”
—Keith Rosson, author of Fever House
“The stories in Death Aesthetic craft stark poetry out of a world that is deeply unsettling even in its familiarity. Yet, in the face of man and nature’s cruelty, Rountree’s America preserves hope between its bloodstained teeth. This is an unforgettable collection that will settle in your marrow.”
—J.A.W. McCarthy, Bram Stoker Award and Shirley Jackson Award finalist, author of Sleep Alone
“Death Aesthetic is textural magic. Razor-toothed prose that slits and gorgeous stitches that are pulled tight, bringing the lips of the wounds together. I say wounds because these stories hurt. Their beauty and depth and their words. My God, the words. The first tale made me gasp aloud. The second made tears flow . . . by the last one, I was wet-faced and smiling and ready to go back and do it all again. It is absolutely perfect!”
—John Boden, author of Snarl and Jedi Summer
“Josh Rountree’s stories shine a light on the human condition and its inevitable conclusion. But death is not the villain here. It is a shapeshifter. A friend and an enemy. In Josh’s deft hand, it is haunting, familiar, and endlessly fascinating.”
—Elad Haber, author of The World Outside
“I’ve rarely had so much fun feeling such absolute grief.”
—FanFiAddict
This collection contains the following stories:
• "See That my Grave is Kept Clean"
• "The Cure for Boyhood"
• "Sounds Like Forever"
• "Their Blood Smells of Love and Terror"
• "A Red Promise in the Palm of Your Hand"
• "We Share Our Rage with the River"
• "Love Kills"
• "Constellation Burn"
• "The Green Realm"
• "Till the Greenteeth Draw Us Down"
"The Green Realm" is original to this collection.
