One of the most respected voices of contemporary dark fiction, Gary Braunbeck, returns with all the gravity of an imploding star to chronicle the inescapable grimness of our human condition with There Comes a Midnight Hour. The full moon portending mysterious occurrences and nocturnal creatures as it illuminates your surroundings has had a shroud pulled over it by the author’s deft hand. In this midnight hour, there is no light to guide you, no matter how dim, as each story pulls you inexorably deeper into a desolate world paved with terror and smothered by an atmosphere of doom. Those fragile things ground into dust underfoot by your progress here are not twigs or dead leaves but your illusions of safety. While others map beaten paths on the literary landscape Braunbeck explores a veritable Marianas Trench where the sun never rises and toxic currents drag you through the bones of primitive things half-remembered—order, complacency, hope—making for a searing journey you’ll never forget. This collection brings together some of the author’s most hard-hitting stories published over his celebrated quarter-century career, those with such a resounding emotional core you are left contemplating them long afterward. There Comes a Midnight Hour illustrates not only how profound an impact genre fiction can have on a reader, but also why Braunbeck’s work has influenced the next generation of horror authors. Discerning lovers of all things dark who have become jaded and are counting down the seconds for a volume of stories to distinguish their shelves…look no further. Your time has run out.