Lilly is ten years old, born with a heart defect, and already addicted to heroin. Her mother is gone from her life, and there are rumors that she was killed by her father and buried near the abandoned house across the street. The house intrigues her, she can't stay away, and the monstrous homeless man who lives there has been trying to get Lilly to come inside. For her mother is there, buried in the back, and this homeless man is Lilly's true father, and both want their daughter back.

"Intense, imaginative, and empathic. Matthews is a damn good writer, and make no mistake, he will hurt you." ~Jack Ketchum Ten year old Lilly is the victim of a terrible house fire and a wretched family. Her father is an addict with mental illness, her mother was murdered and then buried across the street, and her uncle got her addicted to heroin. Lilly’s tragic story has been told in the book ALL SMOKE RISES, and it may be true, for the author has broken into your house, and placed Lilly's body on your kitchen counter. He demands you read the manuscript, before cutting his own wrists and bleeding out on your floor. Now you have decisions to make, for Lilly's body may not be dead, and her family is coming for her. MORE PRAISE FOR ALL SMOKE RISES "Make no mistake, when it comes to citations of true horror, you will be hard pressed to find a deeper and more challenging example than you will here. Matthews knows the heartbreak and tragedy of his subject. By the time you are done reading this, you will too." ~KEALAN PATRICK BURKE, Bram Stoker Award winning author of KIN and Sour Candy "Absolutely stunning." ~JULIE HUTCHINGS, author of Running Home "Heartbreakingly sad, overwhelmingly disturbing, creepy, violent and poignant. Highly recommended." ~JOHN FD TAFF Bram Stoker Finalist "Filled with such dread and depravity that even the most desensitized among us will feel the pain. Matthews' prose vividly shows the viciousness and hopelessness of drug addiction, and the beautifully horrifying images will stay with you long after the final page is digested." ~JON BASSOFF, author of Corrosion, winner of the Darkfuse Reader's Choice Award "True reality horror, with supernatural elements that only serve to make it more believable." ~MICHAEL BRADFORD, Executive Producer, Monkey Knuckle Films.

After years of suffering with mental illness, heroin has opened up the gates of heaven for Jervis Samsa. It is all that makes life bearable. But when he gets trapped in his basement without a scrap of dope to shoot, he needs to go to any lengths to get high. The results are something monstrous, and his basement bedroom becomes a hell for those who enter. Includes the short story 'Wicked Smart Carnie' and a sample excerpt from Milk-Blood.