Spring in the City: A Collection of Dark Speculative Fiction

Building on the evocative chill captured by 2024’s Winter in the City, editors R.B. Wood and Anna Koon are back with a spectacular multicultural lineup to explore Spring in the City―yet wildflowers aren’t the only things finding their way through cracked concrete in these dark speculative tales.

Even in the shadows of skyscrapers, spring sees an awakening in the concrete jungle that we call "the city."

Spring in the City: A Collection of Dark Speculative Fiction is the next anthology in Ruadán Books’ “…In the City” series that takes place in different metropolises around the world during the changeable, unpredictable return of life from its cold slumber.

But what awakens is not always beautiful.

• In Stockholm, the vengeful goddess of spring awakens, ready to begin her hunt once again…
   
• Faced with an impossible choice, Detroit teens must confront a malevolent entity to protect their urban neighborhood from the creature’s insatiable hunger…
   
• A journalist escapes to Cape Town to research folklore and only encounters terrifying creatures from local legends, blurring the lines between reality and nightmare…
   
• When mysterious fireballs devastate Tel Aviv, a young girl is gifted with extraordinary powers which she must embrace to confront a prophesied cosmic entity…
   

Featuring new stories by: Xan van Rooyen | Tim Lees | Jonathan Papernick | Su J Sokol & D.F. McCourt | Troy Seate | Amanda Cecelia Lang | Ross Baxter | V.L. Barycz | Die Booth | Rich Larson | Jeff Enos | John Joseph Ryan | E J Delaney | Maria Haskins | Avram Lavinsky | J.R. Blanes

With a Foreword by Bram Stoker Award®-winning author Mercedes M. Yardley.

R. B. WOOD 

Former technologist and world traveler, R. B. Wood is an MFA graduate from Emerson College and the founder/CEO of Ruadán Books. Along with his editing passion, R. B. is a writer of speculative dark thrillers. Mr. Wood has had numerous titles published and is currently working on his next thriller. His shorter, weird stories have appeared in multiple anthologies and online magazines. 

R. B. and his wife Tina adore animals and are self-professed “crazy cat people.” 

You can find him online via rbwood.com and on most social media platforms. 

ANNA KOON 

Boston-based artist and writer Anna Koon has published articles for a variety of periodicals, one poem, two screenplays, and a children’s book entitled Willamina, Queen of the Worms. She is the founder and director of an educational series presented to various arts organizations throughout Massachusetts. Additionally, she works as a creative coach and editor. Anna lives at the top of what was once the women’s quarters of a Victorian mental institution with her husband and two whippets, Zeta Puppis and Nimble Nimbus. Learn more about her @ www.a2n2.net.