The Spiderweb Tree

In a distant forest near a swamp stood a dead oak tree filled with spiderwebs. Among the tree’s branches sat a silver-eyed magic man, who played a major role in the personal evolution of the Wicked Queen. The 18 Spiderweb Tree stories in this collection are twisted retellings of classic fairy tales and folklore, created for adults instead of kids. These stories include “Hansel & Gristle,” “The Shoemaker’s Unpaid Interns,” “The Secret Last Name Of The Psychic Alchemist,” “The Musical Rat-Catcher,” “Little Big-Nosed Woodenhead,” “The Tabby Who Enjoyed Wearing Shoes,” and more.

This collection includes five more tales – “The Lady With Little Friends In Her Hair And Other Urban Legends.” An urban legend is part of a modern brand of folklore, in which tales are circulated as true, and they often reflect the anxieties found in society. The urban legends found here include “The Kid Whose Pet Wasn’t Really A Dog,” “The Guy Who Never Left The Mall,” “The Woman Who Found A Surprise In Her Pop Can,” and more.

MARK McLAUGHLIN is a Bram Stoker Award-winning author whose earliest works were published in literary journals during his teen years. His fiction, nonfiction, and poetry have appeared in more than 1,000 magazines, newspapers, websites, and anthologies, including CEMETERY DANCE, MIDNIGHT PREMIERE, DARK ARTS, LIVING DEAD 2, WRITER'S DIGEST, GALAXY, TOASTMASTER MAGAZINE, and two volumes of YEAR'S BEST HORROR STORIES (DAW Books). He is also an experienced public relations specialist. He is the author of the novels HUMAN DOLL, a tale of suspense, murder, and the entertainment industry ... THE HELL NEXT DOOR, an adventure set in the after-life ... and INJECTABLES, a work of Lovecraftian horror.

Wildside Press has released a mammoth collection of McLaughlin's fiction: THE WEIRD WORLD OF MARK McLAUGHLIN MEGAPACK®. In addition, McLaughlin is the author of many other solo fiction collections, including AS OSIRIS WILLS, BEST LITTLE WITCH-HOUSE IN ARKHAM, MIDNIGHT PET SHOW, EMPRESS OF THE LIVING DEAD, DIMENSION OF MONSTERS, URBAN MONSTERS, UMBRA SAPIENS, THE SPIDERWEB TREE, and HIDEOUS FACES, BEAUTIFUL SKULLS. McLaughlin is the author of many works in the tradition of H.P. Lovecraft. Story collections in this vein,  co-written with his best friend, Michael Sheehan, Jr., include THE WRATH OF NYARLATHOTEP, HORRORS & ABOMINATIONS, NIGHTMARES & TENTACLES, WEIRD WORSHIP, THE HOUSE OF THE OCELOT, THE PRISONER OF CARCOSA, and CITY OF LIVING SHADOWS. 

McLaughlin is the coauthor, with Rain Graves and David Niall Wilson, of THE GOSSAMER EYE, which won the 2002 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Poetry. Also, Mark is the author of the poetry collections, CRUSHED VELVET, THE EMBRACE OF THE INTERNET WITCH, and PROFESSOR LAGUNGO'S EXOTIC ARTIFACTS & ASSORTED MYSTIC COLLECTIBLES: INCREASED INVENTORY.