Aliya Whiteley

The Beauty

Drink down the brew and dream of a better Earth. Skyward Inn, within the high walls of the Western Protectorate, is a place of safety, where people come together to tell stories of the time before the war with Qita. But safety from what? Qita surrendered without complaint when Earth invaded; Innkeepers Jem and Isley, veterans from either side, have regrets but few scars. Their peace is disturbed when a visitor known to Isley comes to the Inn asking for help, bringing reminders of an unnerving past and triggering an uncertain future. Did humanity really win the war?

Skyward Inn

The Loosening Skin

Short fiction collection from award-winning, Clarke Award, John W. Campbell, BFS, BSFA, Shirley Jackson, James Tiptree Jr and Saboteur Award nominated author, Aliya Whiteley. The new collection of humane, beautiful and disarming short stories from the award-winning author of The Beauty, Clarke Award nominee The Loosening Skin and The Arrival of Missives, Aliya Whiteley. In 16 stories Whiteley deftly unpeels the strangeness of everyday life through beguiling gardens, rebellious bodies and journeys across familiar worlds, with her trademark wit and compassion. Witness the future of farming in a new Ice Age, or the artist bringing life to glass; the many-eyed monsters we carry and the secret cities inside our bodies; the alien invasion through our language to the Chantress and her twists on the fairy tale. Fascinating and always unexpected, Whiteley is unlike any other writer working today.

From the Neck Up

The Arrival of Missives

Fungi can appear anywhere, from desert dunes to frozen tundra, and create anew from rotting matter. They can invade bodies and thoughts; they can live between our toes or between our floorboards; they are unwelcome intruders or vastly expensive treats; they are symbols of both death and eternal life. But despite their familiar presence, there's still much we don't know about these secretive life forms. In this illuminating book, Aliya Whiteley delves into everything from cellular makeup to the fascinating ways fungi interact with their surroundings and other species, as well as the many varied roles they've played in our own civilization. The vast potential of these understudied organisms is still untapped; though long used as a source of food and medicine, they could also hold the key to a variety of scientific advances, from agriculture to environmental innovations. The Secret Life of Fungi is a glimpse into their incredible, surprising and dark world: a lyrical tour through the eruption, growth and decay under our feet, overhead, and even inside us.

Discoveries from a Hidden World

The Secret Life of Fungi

Will you visit the island? Skein Island, a private refuge twelve miles off the coast, lies in troubled waters. Few receive the invitation to stay, but those who do may stay for one week, free of charge. Those few who are chosen must pay for their stay with a story from their past - a Declaration for the island's vast library. What happens to your Declaration after you leave the island is none of your concern. From the monsters of Ancient Greece to the atrocities of World War II, from heroes to villains with their seers and sidekicks by their sides, Skein Island looks through the roles we play, and how they form and divide us. Powerful and disturbing, it is a story over which the characters will fight for control. Until you realise the true enemy is the story itself.

Skein Island

An astonishing literary crossover novel about the pressures of growing up and the nature of authorship. In January 2314, curator Rowena Savalas stumbles upon a story, The Dance of the Horned Road, posted to the internet in the summer of 2024. Is it an autobiography, fiction, fantasy? How does it relate to the history that she knows of the Age of Riches, when millions of bytes of information were created every second? In The Dance of the Horned Road, the protagonist Fairly walks the titular road – a quest many of the youngsters in her village undergo every year. She is followed by the breathing man, her breathing man: a continuous presence, dogging her heels every step of the way. As Fairly’s quest progresses, so Rowena’s life changes alongside it. A predictable life of curation becomes one of exploration, adventure and love. An astonishing, metatextual exploration of the traditional quest narrative, of the pressures of growing up, and of the acceptance – and rejection – of your lot in life, this is Whiteley at her most brilliant, a gorgeous work of literary speculative fiction.

Three Eight One

Peace, Pipe

Greensmith

From Aliya Whiteley, author of the critically-acclaimed The Beauty, comes a genre-defying story of fate, free-will and the choices we make in life.In the aftermath of the Great War, Shirley Fearn dreams of challenging the conventions of rural England, where life is as predictable as the changing of the seasons.The scarred veteran Mr. Tiller, left disfigured by an impossible accident on the battlefields of France, brings with him a message: part prophecy, part warning. Will it prevent her mastering her own destiny?As the village prepares for the annual May Day celebrations, where a new queen will be crowned and the future will be reborn again, Shirley must choose: change or renewal?The Arrival of Missives is a unique work, deftly marrying literary and genre influences. It heralds the arrival of a major new voice in speculative fiction.

Arrival of Missives

“Feels like a major collection” – The Washington Post A short fiction collection to stand with Ted Chiang's Exhalation and Kelly Link's Magic for Beginners. The new collection of beautiful, strange and disarming short stories from the award-winning author of The Beauty, Clarke Award nominee The Loosening Skin and The Arrival of Missives, Aliya Whiteley. In 16 stories Whiteley deftly unpeels the strangeness of everyday life through beguiling gardens, rebellious bodies and journeys across familiar worlds, with her trademark wit and compassion. Witness the future of farming in a new Ice Age, or the artist bringing life to glass; the many-eyed monsters we carry and the secret cities inside our bodies; the alien invasion through our language to the Chantress and her twists on the fairy tale. Fascinating and always unexpected, Whiteley is unlike any other writer working today.

From the Neck Up and Other Stories

From the author of The Loosening Skin and The Beauty, Aliya Whiteley, Skein Island is a powerful and disturbing look at the roles we play, and how they form and divide us. This new edition features a brand new novelette set in the same world as Skein Island. Skein Island, a private refuge twelve miles off the coast, lies in turbulent waters. Few receive the invitation to stay for one week, free of charge. If you are chosen, you must pay for your stay with a story from your past: a Declaration for the Island's vast library. What happens to your Declaration after you leave the island is none of your concern. From the monsters of Ancient Greece to the atrocities of World War II, from heroes to villains with their seers and sidekicks by their sides, Skein Island looks through the roles we play, and how they form and divide us. Powerful and disturbing, it is a story over which the characters will fight for control. Until they realise the true enemy is the story itself.

Nominated for the Shirley Jackson and Saboteur awards, this game-changing story was chosen by Adam Nevill as one of his favourite horror short stories: “What a refreshing gust of tiny spores this novella explodes into, and I inhaled them all with glee”. Somewhere away from the cities and towns, in the Valley of the Rocks, a society of men and boys gather around the fire each night to listen to their history recounted by Nate, the storyteller. Requested most often by the group is the tale of the death of all women. They are the last generation. One evening, Nate brings back new secrets from the woods; peculiar mushrooms are growing from the ground where the women’s bodies lie buried. These are the first signs of a strange and insidious presence unlike anything ever known before… Discover the Beauty.

K S Dearsley

Killing it SoftlyThe Best by Women in HorrorSuzie Lockhart and Digital Horror Fiction are thrilled to present 32 chilling tales of terror from some of the best authors in horror. Killing It Softly includes stories from New York Times best selling authors Nancy Holder and Elaine Cunningham, together with more shocking short nightmares from the finest award winning female writers in the genre.Your heart won't stop pounding as you dig into the pages of this book; from the moment you immerse yourself in the first tale, about a women waking to find herself inside a coffin, buried alive, until the last, a coming of age story about a sixteen-year-old's journey of self-discovery amidst all hell breaking loose. You'll find your proof that women can, indeed, do a wicked dance between science fiction and horror as they penetrate your darkest thoughts, to bring forth stories promising to leave you with a lingering anxiety you can't seem to shake. Any romantic notions of vampires will be crushed, and dark and twisted plots will confirm definitively that females can even write about zombies. We dare you to read stories that will leave you deeply disturbed, and some that will slice into your very soul. It wouldn't be horror if there wasn't an ode to Edgar Allen Poe...we have two masterfully written tales. There are stories off the odd and unusual, stories that take a perilous dive into worlds of disturbing shadows, and there's even an exorcism-in a tale that daringly addresses the heartbreaking disease that is alcoholism.Enter at your own risk...Featuring: Rebecca Snow, H.R. Boldwood, Christine Lucas, Gerri Leen, Tracie McBride, Rie Sheridan Rose, Aliya Whiteley, Marion Pitman, Jenner Michaud, Suzanne Reynolds-Alpert, Carole Gill, Tina Rath, Airika Sneve, Carson Buckingham, Chantal Boudreau, Eleanor R. Wood, Nidhi Singh, Rebecca J. Allred, Rebecca Fraser, Jo-Anne Russell, K. S. Dearsley, Amanda Northrup Mays, M.J. Sydney, Rose Blackthorn, Annie Neugebauer, Elaine Cunningham, Sandra Kasturi, Jess Landry, Sarah Hans, Lillian Csernica, Tory Hoke, and Nancy HolderKilling It SoftlyPresented by Digital Fiction Publishing Corp.DigitalFictionPub.comTable of Contents: Torn Asunder-Rebecca SnowLambent Lights-H.R. BoldwoodNosophoros-Christine LucasWhat the Rain Brings-Gerri LeenTaking it for The Team-Tracie McBrideHere We Go Round-Rie Sheridan RoseSongs for Dead Children-Aliya WhiteleyMusic in the Bone-Marion PitmanAll of a Heap-Jenner MichaudTraitorous, Lying, Little Star-Suzanne Reynolds-AlpertTruth Hurts-Carole GillA Trick of the Dark-Tina RathAbysmoira-Airika SneveSkin Deep-Carson BuckinghamOrbs-Chantal BoudreauRule of Five-Eleanor R. WoodGuilty by Chance-Nidhi SinghEcdysis-Rebecca J. AllredCoralesque-Rebecca FraserThe Funhouse-Jo-Anne RussellGraffiti-K. S. DearsleyComplete-Amanda Northrup MaysEllensburg Blue-M.J. SydneyAbandoned-Rose BlackthornThe Call of the House of Usher-Annie NeugebauerRavens-Elaine CunninghamFoxford-Sandra KasturiThe Root-Jess LandryLong Time, No See-Sarah HansSaving Grace-Lillian CsernicaMillie's Hammock-Tory HokeChanged-Nancy Holde

A Digital Horror Fiction Anthology of Short Stories

Killing It Softly

Brian Wilson

Richard Thomas

Sarah Lotz

Adrian J Walker

Ian Steadman

David Hartley

Nick Adams

Daniel Carpenter

Erik Bergstrom

Simon Billinton

Marion Coleman

J Stuart Croskell

Heather Cuthbertson

Andrea Hardaker

Eleanor Hickey

Tom Heaton

Allyson Kersel

Adam Lock

Alice Noel

Gregg Williard

This is the tale of a town on the fringes of fear, of ordinary people and everyday objects transformed by terror and madness, a microcosm of the world where nothing is ever quite what it seems. This is a world where the unreal is real, where the familiar and friendly lure and deceive. On the outskirts of civilisation sits this solitary town. Home to the unhinged. Oblivion to outsiders. Shallow Creek contains twenty-one original horror stories by a chilling cast of contemporary writers, including stories by Sarah Lotz, Richard Thomas, Adrian J Walker, and Aliya Whitely. Told through a series of interconnected narratives, Shallow Creek is an epic anthology that exposes the raw human emotion and heart-pounding thrills at the genre's core. Welcome to Shallow Creek!

Aliya Whiteley

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