Dakota and Ed Hollander have lived quiet, isolated lives deep in the Smoky Mountains for nearly a decade without much trouble—despite the pious locals who scrutinize their way of life. Everything changes overnight when a brutal civil war decimates the United States, leaving behind a wasteland of decay and ruin in its wake... Now, in a world recovering from famine and war, Dakota and Ed fight to prepare themselves for the harsh winter that will soon arrive on their doorstep. But Dakota’s sense of safety is rattled when lost travelers come knocking, and everything Ed told them about the world post-disaster is scrutinized as the secrets hidden in the cellar desperately claw their way to the surface. The carnage of Ed’s devotion is strewn across the snow in blood red streaks, and Dakota finds themself making drastic choices that threaten to strip away their humanity like flesh off a carcass. At the end of the world, love is written with the blade of an axe, and the most haunting plague of all may just be man’s own hubris.
Author
A.L. Davidson (she/they/he) is a queer and disabled indie author who loves writing genre-blending stories, tales of heartwarming and horrifying romance, and the coziest sci-fi and urban fantasies you’ll find this side of the galaxy. She specializes in narratives filled with ghosts, grief, isolation, queerness, disability rep, ecohorror, space exploration, slow burn romance, and the human condition. She is a 2023 Indie Ink, Queer Indie, Pushcart Prize, and BBNYA nominee, and a 2024 Indie Ink and Small Spec Awards nominee, and has penned several short stories that have been featured in various lit mags and anthologies since 2022. They are best known for their collection of genre-blending web novels, including the slightly popular cozy horror series "The Night Farm", as well as their horror romance novellas "When The Rain Begins To Burn" and "Lover, Thy Name Is Pestilence", and the "R-PNZL: A Futuristic Fairytale" short story series. She is a crazy plant parent and lives with her cat, Jukebox the Ghost, in Kansas City. When she's not writing, you can find her working a shift and the funeral home, playing cozy video games, and diving into her ever-growing pile of manga.
