What Are You Afraid Of?

Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction

by Michael Hyde

Powerful and haunting, the ten stories of this debut collection imagine a world where dreams and reality merge, often with dangerous consequences. Michael Hyde explores the relationships between illusion and reality, delusion and clarity, as his characters come to realize that the revelations they wholeheartedly pursue are often not the ones that await them and will move them. A teenage girl obsessed with the death of a classmate hopes to become the killer's next victim, a wayward graveyard attendant punishes the dead for his punishments in life, and a ghostly vision in a garden shed offers a catalyst for one woman's change.

184 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2005

Reviews

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A plug for my good friend Michael Hyde, who has a way with short stories. He often uses the macabre as a stand in for the every day small evils, slights, and not so very nice things we do to each other and that rots our relationships.

[Andy Augusto · Rating 5 out of 5]

These stories are terrific! Great American Gothic writing full of unforgettable, quirky characters!