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Growing Things and Other Stories

Paul Tremblay (Goodreads Author)

3.50 · Rating details · 3,902 ratings · 660 reviews

A chilling collection of psychological suspense and literary horror from the multiple award-winning author of the national bestseller The Cabin at the End of the World and A Head Full of Ghosts.

A masterful anthology featuring nineteen pieces of short fiction, Growing Things is an exciting glimpse into Paul Tremblay’s fantastically fertile imagination.

In “The Teacher,” a Br ...more

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ebook, 352 pages

Published July 2nd 2019 by William Morrow

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Growing Things and Other Stories by Paul Tremblay

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Nov 30, 2018 karen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: from-publisher-or-author, hey-shorty

oooh, goodreads choice awards semifinalist for BEST HORROR 2019! what will happen?

a collection of stories! from paul tremblay! in which "karen brissette" appears in one and MAYBE two of the stories. although it's pretty clear to ME that there's no 'maybe' about it, coyboy. between the observation of "The cheerful unhinged-ness" of KB's writing style and the mean-but-accurate grousing about "this obnoxious KB person" (well, i NEVER!!), i am absolutely certain of what those letters stand for. PAUL ...more

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Sep 11, 2019 Will Byrnes rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: short-stories, fiction, horror

We all know the big bad is coming, and there’s nothing we can do to stop it, yet still we go to our jobs and we chitchat about nothing important with coworkers and we go to dinner and we go to the mall and we go to our dentist appointments and we buy groceries and we make plans with friends and family and we walk and love our pets and we watch TV or read or sit in the glow of our smartphones, and all we’re doing is going through the motions because we can’t stop and think and accept that the

...more

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Jun 06, 2019 Char rated it it was amazing

Shelves: dark-fiction, edelweiss, net-galley, short-stories-read, short-story-coll-anthologies-read, william-morrow

4.5/5 stars!

Paul Tremblay first appeared on my radar with his book A HEAD OF FULL GHOSTS. Then came DISAPPEARANCE AT DEVIL'S ROCK, which really impressed me. He followed that up with CABIN AT THE END OF THE WORLD, which broke my heart. Now, here he is with a solid collection of stories that I ADORED.

GROWING THINGS is a hefty volume of tales, mostly told already in other publications, but they were almost all new to me. Among them, these stood out the most:

HER RED RIGHT HAND Something about this ...more

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Aug 07, 2019 Emily (Books with Emily Fox) added it

Shelves: 2019-releases, audiobooks, dnf

I was very excited to read this collection of horror short stories and give another shot to Paul Tremblay.

I listened to it as an audiobook and couldn't focus for the life of me. I listen to plenty of audiobook every year and I rarely have a problem but I could not do it with this one.

The stories weren't compelling enough, one of them had the narrator naming each character before each sentence ffs...

I might try the physical book to see if it will help but I don't think this is for me. ...more

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Dec 30, 2018 Sadie Hartmann rated it it was amazing

Shelves: cemetery-dance

This review originally published on Cemetery Dance (April 29th, 2019)

“I’m terrible at remembering plot and character specifics…if the story is successful, what I do remember and will never forget is what and how that story makes me feel.”—Paul Tremblay in the “Notes” of Growing Things.

Thank goodness Paul Tremblay kindly bestowed some Author’s Notes upon his readers in the end pages for Growing Things. I was not ready to let go! I needed Paul’s conversational and personal commentary on each story This review originally published on Cemetery Dance (April 29th, 2019)

“I’m terrible at remembering plot and character specifics…if the story is successful, what I do remember and will never forget is what and how that story makes me feel.”—Paul Tremblay in the “Notes” of Growing Things.

Thank goodness Paul Tremblay kindly bestowed some Author’s Notes upon his readers in the end pages for Growing Things. I was not ready to let go! I needed Paul’s conversational and personal commentary on each story—almost like I had been on a long journey, the boat had docked and Paul was there to carefully guide his readers as they stepped off the boat to stand on solid land again.

Part of the sentimentality was from Paul’s carefully crafted ordering of the stories. It’s this reader’s recommendation that this collection needs to be read in order. Don’t skip about. It’s not for any reasons other than emotionally; the stories follow a cycle and it’s best to have the same beginning and ending experience as everyone else. I hope that makes sense. I’m trying not to diminish any reader discoveries by oversharing.

I also recommend finishing a story and then flipping to the end, to the Notes, to read what Paul has to say about what you just read. To shed light on what you just encountered. After the first and title story, I was so excited and captivated by what I had just discovered I felt like I needed someone else in the world to freak out with! (Paul’s notes satisfied that urge to have a discussion.)

As the journey continued, I took note of all the experimental narratives, story formatting and literary devices. It’s almost like over the years, Paul Tremblay has had all these fantastic ideas rattling around in his writer brain and this is the collection where he got to try them all out! I really wish I could tell you some of the unique aspects of my favorite stories but to tell you that would be to spoil some of the fun surprises that you should be able to experience for yourself. I just want to tell you that “The Teacher” was intense. “A Haunted House is a Wheel Upon Which Some Are Broken” was strange, powerful and engaging. “It Won’t Go Away” was unsettling and disturbing. “Notes From the Dog Walkers” was a slow build to madness. Madness I tell you! Shock and awe!

“It’s Against the Laws to Feed the Ducks” was upsetting and even beautiful in its sadness. Lastly, I can’t even really talk about “The Thirteenth Temple.” I was super emotional about that story—lots of tears, a knot in my stomach and an odd feeling of closure. Again, thankful for the notes after that particular story.

I just want to urge anyone reading this review to preorder (Update: July 2nd, 2019 AVAILABLE NOW!) this book and then read it straight away. This is one of those books that people will talk about and you just don’t want to be late to the party. Mother Horror is trying her very best to encourage you NOT TO BE LATE TO THE PARTY! I savored my time in these pages—even though some of the stories had been released previously elsewhere, they were all new to me and I treasured every word.

A short story collection from a favorite author is just the best possible thing in the world; Growing Things is among the best of them. ...more

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Apr 05, 2020 Justin Tate marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Did not finish. Got through probably half the stories. Started reading in order and then skipped around based on interesting titles. Paul Tremblay is a talented writer and I enjoyed 'A Head Full of Ghosts' all right, but he hasn't quite mastered a level of readability that manages to glue me to the page.

These stories are particularly challenging because most are highly experimental or, more than likely, incomplete starts to discarded novels. The title story 'Growing Things' for example, spends e ...more

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Sep 02, 2019 Zoeytron rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: public-library

What lies beneath the smelly tattered cushions of a worn out sofa? Look up into the night sky aswirl with white moths, take time to regard a shadow painstakingly pieced together, beware the kudzu and bamboo growing rampant, and steer clear of a town with its very own brand of monster.

Nineteen tales to give you pause, leaving you with a feeling of apprehension and disquiet. My favorite was Something About Birds. Those beaks, those talons . . . cunningly designed to ruffle your feathers and ...more

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Jun 26, 2019 Karl marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019-06-books-bought

Contents:

001 - Growing Things
017 - Swim Wants To Know If It's As Bad As Swim Thinks
031 - Something About Birds
053 - The Getaway
069 - Nineteen Snapshots of Dennisport
083 - Where We All Will Be
097 - The Teacher
109 - Notes for "The Barn In the Wild"
125 - _____
137 - Our Town's Monster
151 - A Haunted House Is A Wheel Upon Which Some Are Broken
175 - It Won't Go Away
191 - Notes From The Dog Walkers
235 - Further Questions For The Somnambulist
245 - The Ice Tower
253 - The Society of the Monsterhood
267 - H ...more

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Aug 04, 2019 TraceyL rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, fantasy

I was disappointed with this book. I love short story collections. I think that's because I like weird or unique story lines, and short story collections allow an author to write down all of their weird ideas that may not be strong enough to base an entire novel on.

There were two stories which I did really like: "Growing Things" and "Nineteen Snapshots of Dennisport"

There were a few stories which I was into, such as "The Teacher" and "It's Against the Law to Feed the Ducks," but they didn't hav ...more

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Mar 10, 2020 bookswithpaulette rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2020, uno-2020

Some creepy short stories in here. Something about birds I enjoyed the most, more thriller stories than horror I would say. The first book I read from Paul was The Cabin at the end of the world and I loved it and was super keen to read more.

3.5 stars I give this collection

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Aug 01, 2019 Alan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Tremblay's collection of short stories has a few entries that are right up there with his phenomenal novels, especially the title story "Growing Things" and "Notes for 'The Barn in the Wild'". Nearly every story is at least good, if not excellent, with "Notes from the Dog Walkers" being the only one I couldn't finish, because it wasn't that interesting and seemed like it wouldn't end. Overall, I was happy to find Tremblay can write as well in short form as he can in full-length novels. ...more

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Jul 05, 2019 Cheryl rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Having liked this author's three horror novels, I found this short story collection to be a disappointment. Most of the stories were really just fragments of "weirdness" and didn't have a full plot. To me, the only stories worth reading were:

- The Getaway (3 stars)
- Nineteen Snapshots of Dennisport (4 stars)
- It Won't Go Away (4 stars)
- Notes From the Dogwalkers (3 stars)

Some writers are better at novels, some are better at short stories, and very few can be good at both. I think Paul Tremblay i ...more

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Oct 01, 2019 D Dyer rated it really liked it

Shelves: horror, 2019-reads, owned

3.5 stars.
It took me a while to get into this collection. The first couple of stories were only OK for me but as I settled into the author‘s writing style and read some of his more experimental pieces, 19 snapshots, the teacher and notes from dog walkers being good examples, I began to enjoy it more. It’s less directly horrifying and more creepy, sometimes even existentially so, then I expected and the stories would best be enjoyed with some gaps in between reading them. Some of the voices have ...more

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Jul 31, 2019 Audra (ouija.doodle.reads) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, short-stories

If ever there were a case for reading short stories, Paul Tremblay is shouting it from the rooftops with this collection.

I can understand why some people aren’t as drawn to short stories. It is a lot of commitment to open up your brain to one new world every time you read a book, let alone twenty or so. But I just can’t get enough of them and constantly have a collection going. I love the complete freedom the short format gives authors and to see where some of them take it makes me excited to be ...more

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Jul 15, 2019 Alma Katsu rated it it was amazing

This collection is the perfect solution for when you want to take a break from binge-watching the latest sensation on Netflix but still want a steady IV-drip of mesmerizing storytelling. Paul Tremblay's work hovers between horror and speculative fiction, that familiar no man's land between dreams and wakefulness. The place where the hairs stand up on the back of your neck in recognition that something strange is going on, that things are beyond your control, and you're going to face a reality th ...more

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Jul 31, 2019 Jon Recluse rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, short-story-collections

A masterful collection of uniquely told tales of horror, from the weird to experimental pieces that will linger in your mind, and your nightmares long after you close the book.
Tremblay's voice is refreshingly his own, even in tribute stories to Laird Barron (THE BARN IN THE WILD) and the one and only Hellboy (HER RED RIGHT HAND).

A must-have for fans of Tremblay, short stories, and damn fine writing.

Highly recommended. ...more

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Oct 18, 2020 Pantelis Andreou rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Now see, I appreciate Paul Tremblay a lot. But most of these stories were tough to get through...

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Jul 03, 2019 Kat Dietrich rated it liked it

Shelves: read-in-2019, netg-edel-author-publisher, anthologies

Growing Things and Other Stories by Paul Tremblay is an anthology of his stories.

First, let me thank Edelweiss, the publisher Harper Collins, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

My Synopsis…and Opinions
A few words about each of the short stories in this collection:

• Growing Things -- Plants take over the world. I enjoyed this one.
• Swim Wants to Know If It Is As Bad As Swim Thinks -- It’s about a monster, ...more

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Jul 26, 2019 Chandra Claypool (WhereTheReaderGrows) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I have a love/hate relationship with short story anthologies. I have GREAT respect for authors who write these as I feel these are harder to write than the full novel as you're putting an entire story together in under 7,500 words. Those that do it well, do it WELL and those are the ones I like but I'll be honest, it's very few and far between where they get me. I am one of those who prefer that full novel, or even the extended short story ala novelette/novella. It's hard to say I "want more" as I have a love/hate relationship with short story anthologies. I have GREAT respect for authors who write these as I feel these are harder to write than the full novel as you're putting an entire story together in under 7,500 words. Those that do it well, do it WELL and those are the ones I like but I'll be honest, it's very few and far between where they get me. I am one of those who prefer that full novel, or even the extended short story ala novelette/novella. It's hard to say I "want more" as I know this is something readers of short stories cringe at seeing when someone critiques these, but there's definitely some truth to this saying... HOWEVER, I've come to realize that when I say I "want more", it's that the author has piqued my interest enough that I want more of the story - give me the ligaments and veins and bloody insides instead of just the surface flesh. Either way, I'm EATING IT ALL UP.

Mr. Tremblay.. this is one talented horror writer. As an avid reader of author's notes and acknowledgements, I always tend to skim these before I start my reads and then fully read once I'm done. I am SO glad I did that with this collection as Tremblay gives us notes on most of the stories within. I LOVE these insights and I impress upon you to read these in tandem with the stories as you go. It give them a certain *umph*. Feeling squirrely? *wink*

Like with most anthologies, there are the stories that I loved and stories I didn't quite like as much. I will say that I did enjoy all the stories in this one - at various levels of course. Some had my eyebrows in a continuous furrow while others left my eyes wide and mouth open. (Love the nod to Merry and Marjorie of Head Full of Ghosts.) My favorites? Why thank you for asking. "Nineteen Snapshots of Dennisport", "Note from the Dog Walker" and "It's Against the Law to Feed the Ducks". And I absolutely loved the format of "A Haunted House is a Wheel Upon Which Some Are Broken" and "Further Questions for the Somnambulist".

It's hard to really discuss any of the stories without spoiling them outright. I do think Tremblay is fantastic at ambiguity and I feel most short stories, including these, keep you thinking at the end. Others are more subtly done while some pack a punch. At the end of the day, while this is on the top of my list of short story collections to read, I think that maybe short stories in general just aren't in my wheelhouse. And that's ok. You like what you like. Quack quack.

3.5 stars. ...more

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Jul 20, 2019 Michael J. rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019-ha-a-z-challenge, short-stories, horror, 2019-ha-mount-tbr-challenge, collection

What I enjoy most about Paul Tremblay's work is how he skillfully negotiates the thin line between reality and imagination. His scares come from the paranormal, the supernatural, the unearthly, and contain just enough skepticism that readers are never sure if the disturbing events aren't internally created by one of the characters or just how they imagine things to be. A Headful Of Ghosts and The Cabin At The End Of The World are great examples of that. I'm curious to see if he employs the same ...more

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Jul 19, 2020 Jaksen rated it liked it

Don't know what it is about Mr. Tremblay, I either love or hate his books and this one, well, is in-between.

I own the book, couldn't wait to buy it, read it, taste it, sample etc etc, but...

Some of the stories are quite good. Classic horror, or classic horror with a modern twist, or written in a unique style or voice. Some feel experimental; others contain the trope of the 'ordinary family' suddenly thrown into a apocalyptic world. (World gone wrong; world with monsters; world which no longer ma ...more

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Feb 16, 2019 Lou rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

2019 interview with Paul Tremblay On his Growing Things and Other Stories, his characters, writing, recommendations, and inspirations. | More2Read

Morbid tales, haunting, fears and longings, dwellings, ghosts, devils, creatures, monsters inner and outer, melancholy, sisters, fathers and sons, teachers, men and women, and Merry and Marjorie from Head Full of Ghosts back in the narrative.
A myriad of bat shit craziness presented before the reader, hypnotically evoking within the reader all kinds of ...more

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Aug 01, 2019 Aina rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: everything-horror, fave-horror, short-stories, arc

An entertaining, unsettling collection, I stopped reading this at night because I didn't want to have nightmares! At its core, the stories are about the struggle of living in a world that is cruel and filled with the unknown.

I read the author's previous short stories collection In the Mean Time a few years ago and a couple of stories stood out for me then; 'The Teacher' and 'It's Against The Law To Feed The Ducks'. These stories appear again here and I'm happy to say they are still excellent upo ...more

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Oct 08, 2020 Scott Rhee rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, short-stories

Paul Tremblay won me over with his novel "The Cabin at the End of the World", one of the most disturbing horror novels that I have read in a long time. "Growing Things" is his collection of short stories, most of them previously published in a wide variety of magazines and other horror anthologies that celebrate the New Weird, a fairly new subgenre of which I have grown fond. Other writers in this genre include Laird Barron, Jeff VanderMeer, and James Renner.

What constitutes New Weird? It's hard Paul Tremblay won me over with his novel "The Cabin at the End of the World", one of the most disturbing horror novels that I have read in a long time. "Growing Things" is his collection of short stories, most of them previously published in a wide variety of magazines and other horror anthologies that celebrate the New Weird, a fairly new subgenre of which I have grown fond. Other writers in this genre include Laird Barron, Jeff VanderMeer, and James Renner.

What constitutes New Weird? It's hard to describe, although an overwhelming sense of surrealism, a jarring and unnerving sensation of impending cosmic doom, and a heavy dose of ambiguity all seem to be major aspects of the genre. A seamless blending of multiple genres---science fiction, fantasy, noir, and gothic horror---is also quite common.

Tremblay is notable in that he seems to have mastered the art of subtlety in horror, almost to the point where horror is derived from, inexplicably, a complete lack of horror. Case in point is the brilliant story "It's Against the Law to Feed the Ducks", told from the perspective of a young boy who is on vacation with his parents. The reader begins to realize that something horrible is happening on a global scale, but there is absolutely no mention of what it is, as the parents want to shield the children as much as possible from panic.

In another tension-filled story, "Where We All Will Be", a young boy on the autism spectrum is seemingly the only human left on Earth who is not affected by an inexplicable event that calls everyone, pied-piper-style, to a watery death by walking into the ocean.

In "The Teacher", students in an AP English class are shown a video that has negative life-altering consequences for all of them.

Some stories have a (very very dark) humor to them, such as "Notes From the Dog Walkers", in which the hired help leaves progressively more insane and terrifying notes for the dog owner. In "A Haunted House is a Wheel Upon Which Some are Broken", the story is in the form of one of those "Choose Your Own Adventures" books, but every choice inevitably leads back to the beginning in an infinite loop.

Every story in this collection is unnerving as hell, leaving one with an uncomfortable sense of a world that has slightly lost its bearings. It's a sensation that most of us can relate to. ...more

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Jan 19, 2019 Chris DiLeo rated it it was amazing

"Some fears can only be explored by story. Some emotions can only be communicated by story. Some truths can only be revealed by story" (333).

That quote is from the "Notes" section of GROWING THINGS, an impressive collection of disturbing tales, and I share it here because that quest for exploration and emotion and truth through story is what motivates me to read and to write. If you want to know what I mean by "story truth," read THE THINGS THEY CARRIED by Tim O'Brien.

This book is not slated for ...more

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Jul 04, 2019 Rachel Dawn Drenning rated it it was ok

Well. I have come to the conclusion that I am just not a Tremblay fan. I've tried! DADR was decent, but that's the only one I even somewhat cared for.
I didn't read all of the stories in this book, but after reading over half ..I just wasn't impressed. ...more

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Jul 11, 2019 Beth M. rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Y’all. No, seriously. Y’all! This book just earned a spot on my top 10 of the year so far! 😱

Growing Things is my first experience with the work of Paul Tremblay and it definitely won’t be the last. He has a masterful way of beginning with a real life situation that is slowly infused with just the right amount of terror and anxiety. As the stories spiral into the realm of horror, they keep the reader guessing. Are these situations really as they seem? Are they fantastical? Or could there perhaps ...more

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Jul 18, 2019 Micah Unice rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

It's been really cool watching Tremblay's language evolve. He's one of my favorite authors, but I've always had a hard time with the self-awareness of his prose. Here he's reached a new plane. There are so many voices in these stories. Every single entry is poignant. (Merry and Marjorie from A Head Full of Ghosts even make an appearance!) I tried limiting myself to one story every two days, but that didn't last. I hope his career is a long one. ...more

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Dec 10, 2019 Armand Rosamilia rated it really liked it

As with any short story collection, there will be hits and misses. The misses are few and far between in this one, luckily. While I didn't love every story, there weren't any clunkers.

Standouts (for me) include "Something About Birds" and "It Won't Go Away"

I'm a big fan of this author's novels and it's nice to see he can excel in shorter fiction, too. ...more

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Dec 11, 2019 avery (avereads) rated it really liked it

“All we’re doing is going through the motions because we can’t stop and think and accept that the pit of dread in our stomach is a pit of knowing. The big bad is coming.”

Growing Things and Other Stories is a collection by the master of ambiguity. I broke down all the stories because they do all have different things to offer. There’s so many different methods of story telling, from notes to interviews to photograph descriptions to choose your own stories. Anyways here’s a lil peak at what I thou ...more

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Horror Aficionados : September 2019 - Growing Things and Other Stories	23	142	Oct 21, 2019 05:07PM
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About Paul Tremblay

Paul Tremblay

5,406 followers

Paul Tremblay has won the Bram Stoker, British Fantasy, and Massachusetts Book awards and is the author of Survivor Song, Growing Things, The Cabin at the End of the World, Disappearance at Devil’s Rock, A Head Full of Ghosts, and the crime novels The Little Sleep and No Sleep Till Wonderland. His essays and short fiction have appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly ...more