The Best of Our Past, the Worst of Our Future by Christi Nogle

… I’d recommend this book for anyone who’s ever thought “Detroit? Who would ever want to live in that wasteland?” I also very much appreciate a story that centers a mother who has to deal with all the practicalities of keeping a baby alive and thriving, no matter what circumstances she finds herself in. I’ve just recently moved away, but Night Roll brings home a lot of things that are wonderful about that city: the incredible diversity, the community-mindedness, and the quirky culture that has arisen out of the ashes of the post-industrial city. Night Roll is the most Detroit story I have read since Alexander Irvine’s The Narrows (2005), which was recommended to me by fellow Locus reviewer Gary K. He is also a consistent writer of short fiction and now has a stand-alone novella coming out. DeLuca is known for his work with Small Beer Press and as the editor of Reckoning, an outlet for creative writing on environmental justice. Stories here may recall Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Shirley Jackson’s “The Renegade,” or Kelly Link’s “Stone Animals.Michael J. The pieces range in genre from psychological horror through science fiction and ghost stories, but they all share fundamental qualities: feminist themes, an emphasis on voice, a focus on characters’ psychologies and a sense of the gothic in contemporary life. Their rural and small-town characters confront difficult pasts and look toward promising but often terrifying futures. The Best of Our Past, the Worst of Our Future collects Christi Nogle’s finest psychological and supernatural horror stories. Don't miss this book it's sure to be one of the very best collections of 2023.'- Gwendolyn Kiste, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Rust Maidens and Reluctant Immortals With her collection, The Best of Our Past, the Worst of Our Future, she's created something truly remarkable, the kind of horror that's filled with grit and heart. Her fiction is by turns devastating, horrifying, and beyond beautiful.

'Without a doubt, Christi Nogle is one of my favorite new voices in horror. Readers of “quiet horror” or “slow-burn horror” will enjoy this collection. The Best of Our Past, the Worst of Our Future is whimsical and dreadful, verdant and sinister.

The Best of Our Past, the Worst of Our Future by Christi Nogle