All That's Lost

by Ray Cluley

“There’s a tiny gap between the stories we tell ourselves and those we tell others and that’s where you’ll find the truth.”

All That’s Lost is the second collection from award-winning writer Ray Cluley, bringing together 17 stories exploring the haunted, the strange, and the uncanny.

Lose yourself in the darkness here, and find yourself changed…

Genres: Short Stories

378 pages, Paperback

First published June 28, 2022

About the author

Ray Cluley is a British Fantasy Award winner with stories published in various magazines and anthologies. Some of these have been republished in ‘best of’ volumes, including Ellen Datlow’s Best Horror of the Year series and Nightmares: A New Decade of Modern Horror, as well as Steve Berman’s Wilde Stories: The Year’s Best Gay Speculative Fiction, and Benoît Domis’s Ténèbres. He has been translated into French, Polish, and Hungarian, and Chinese.

Reviews

[Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ray Cluley’s stories boast virtually flawless exposition and worldbuilding. And they’re all so different. Whether we’re in a Bangladesh shipyard (‘Steel Bodies’), a 1950s US airbase (‘Sideways’), or with a group of thrill-seekers skydiving in Mexico (‘Adrenaline Junkies’), the setting is beautifully depicted and the characters all feel like they’re real people with full, detailed histories. I wish I could say that I loved the stories themselves just as much, but a lot of them turn out to be monster stories, which just aren’t my thing, unfortunately. Nevertheless there was much I enjoyed here, including the dark humour in ‘Mary, Mary’, the landscape horror of ‘In the Wake of My Father’, and – particularly – the lost film story ‘6/6’. I’d heard about this, as it was published as a limited-edition chapbook I’d given up hope of ever getting hold of, and was elated to find it here. Its seemingly impassive account of a number of deleted YouTube videos is mesmerising, eerie and clever.

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[Priya Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read many of these stories as they appeared in anthologies but the joy of reading them together in a collection is the realisation of just how versatile Ray Cluley is. "All That's Lost" is a very satisfying book that spans the spectrum of horror (from cosmic to folk), as well as continents. His love of the natural world shines in his writing, as well as a well-placed sly humour.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a truly tremendous collection of short stories. Each is a world in itself, with engaging characterisation, complex motivations, and where any horror is much more an internal observation rather than some malevolent exterior force. There's a restraint here not to fall into genre trappings, led by the quality of the prose, which elevates these stories into 'literature' rather than pulp fiction (each style has its place, but there is a quality here which is raw in the characters rather than the prose). Set in a variety of locations, Cluley inhabits them: there is never anything other than a sense of authenticity. I won't go into each story because this would turn into an essay, but "The Wrong Shark", for example, where a man recollects his childhood living in the town where the film "Jaws" was shot, is superlative. These stories run through with the skill of the telling and there are new angles on horror to be found within each one. This collection is highly - and unreservedly - recommended.

[Anthony Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Consummate writing as ever, seventeen beautifully crafted stories. Really impressive sense of place in all of them.

[Lynda Rucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best collections of short horror fiction I've ever read. I really took my time with it because I didn't want it to end! What an incredible variety of stories you'll find here--with settings ranging all around the world, from America and the UK to the Arctic, Bangladesh, Myanmar and beyond. But it's the impeccable prose and the depth of character development that really make these stories special. Ray Cluley deserves to be much better known in the mainstream as a truly excellent writer.

[Rhonda Veit · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection is a trip around the world, meticulously researched and detailed, and a terrific read. Equal parts beauty and horror, and packed with originality. Hard to pick favorites but I particularly loved Trapper's Valley, The Castellmarch Man, and The Whalers Song.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fantastic collection by a wonderful, talented writer. Every story is different in style, yet all manage to draw you in with brilliantly realised characters and tightly plotted storylines. If you don't know Ray Cluley, you should.

[Ross Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely exceptional short fiction. The collection I’ll be measuring all others against for the next few years.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely incredible collection of compelling short fiction. Will write a more thorough review later, after organizing some thoughts.