Scales and Petals

by Michael Bailey, L.A. Spooner (Illustrator)

The sick imagination of Michael Bailey brings you thirteen dark poems and thirteen tales of the macabre [ and some bonus content ] that will make you think twice before turning your room dark for the night. A young woman chews her fingernails raw, unable to stop; a television set dangles from an apartment complex window; a large chest is found containing only a banded bouquet of wilted flowers; a stitched bear named Thatch bleeds at the neck, his stuffing torn out; a man wakes up duct-taped to a mammoth wooden chair. Between writing the novels PALINDROME HANNAH and PHOENIX ROSE, Michael Bailey penned and published a number of short fiction and poetry pieces, some of which can be found in literary magazines and anthologies around the world. A few of these fallen dragon scales and flower petals are reprinted here, while others are completely original to this collection, Once you crack the spine, there's no going back.This second edition contains a bonus script and graphic adaptation of "Plasty," a collaboration with artist L.A. Spooner, and three previously unpublished flash fiction pieces.

Genres: Horror, Poetry

242 pages, Paperback

Published March 25, 2010

About the author

Michael Bailey is a recipient and ten-time nominee of the Bram Stoker Award, a five-time Shirley Jackson Award nominee, and a three-time recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Award, along with several independent publishing accolades. He has written, edited, and published many books of various genres. His latest is Righting Writing, a nonfiction narrative used as curriculum for aspiring writers, and Silent Nightmares: Haunting Stories to Be Told on the Longest Night of the Year, an anthology co-edited with Chuck Palahniuk to be published by Simon & Schuster in fall of 2026. He is also the screenwriter for Madness and Writers, a creative documentary series about writers, and a producer for numerous film projects. Find him online at nettirw.com, or on social media @nettirw. He is represented by Lane Heymont of the Tobias Literary Agency.