AN ANTHOLOGY edited by Preston Grassmann & Chris Kelso
CATEGORY Horror / Dark Fantasy
PUBLICATION DATE  June 2024
COVER ART  Richard A. Kirk
INTERIOR ART  Yoshika Nagata, Dempow Dorishima & Richard A. Kirk
PAGES  390

EDITION
Trade Paperback — ISBN 978-1-80394-342-8  [£15.99]

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Mad Butterfly’s Ball is an essential compendium of stories dedicated to the lurking horror and profound wonder of those that live, largely unseen, in the world around us—the enigmatic insect! Featuring original and new works by Clive Barker, Jeffrey Thomas, Kaaron Warren, Paul Di Filippo, Eugen Bacon, and many more, alongside classics of the subgenre, The Mad Butterfly’s Ball is the largest and most comprehensive anthology of its kind, with stunning illustrations by Richard Kirk and Yoshika Nagata. 

CONTENTS  

HEAD  

• Insects and the Poetics of Estrangement - Preston Grassmann
• Hive Politics – Chris Kelso  

THORAX  

• Upon a Milk Warm Dawn – Clive Barker
• Hivehead – Paul Di Filippo
• The Wings of Mourning – Jeffrey Thomas
• The King’s Walkingstick – Richard A. Kirk
• Butterflies of Eastern Texas – Kij Johnson
• The Nature of Bees – Priya Sharma
• The Absent Swarm – Tom Over
• The Dream of Akinosuke — Lafciado Hearn
• The Man From Nowhere – Eugen Bacon  
• Lysergic is The Circle of My Secret – Joe Koch
• After the Flood – Anna Tambour
• Eejelé – Nuzo Onoh
• Possum – Matthew Holness
• Warning Wings – Arlton Eadie
• Scarabaeus – Rumi Kaneko (translated by Preston Grassmann)
• The Roaches – Thomas M. Disch
• The Ladybug – D.R.G. Sugawara  
• Mantis Wives – Kij Johnson
• Jenny Longlegs – Chris Kelso & Brian Evenson
• Not Just the Stars that They Devour – Matt Neil Hill
• Honeydew — Dempow Torishima
• The Empire of the Ants – H.G. Wells
• The Parliament of Wasps – Preston Grassmann
• Caterpillars – E.F. Benson
• The Ruins with a Spectator – Kaaron Warren
• The Hollow Electricity of Tiny Papery Wings or the Pinprick in the Powder — Christopher Young
• An Egyptian Hornet – Algernon Blackwood
• Wrapped Up — Ramsey Campbell
• Decomposer – Alvaro Zinos-Amaro
• Death is like the Insect – Emily Dickinson  

ABDOMEN  

• The Praying Mantis – Henri Fabre
• Entomophilia: A Case for the Defence – Preston Grassmann
• The Death of Conrad Unger – Gary J. Shipley
• Mimic and Starship Troopers: Us and Them – Jon Greenaway
• The Ancient Cockroach – Chris Kelso