Outland is pleased to announce the acquisition of two anthologies from Pushcart nominated Latina writer Lauren Davila. As an editor, Davila has brought together two diverse groups of authors, both established and newly discovered, to explore the eerie and unsettling.
When Other People Saw Us, They Saw the Dead, which Outland will be bringing to the United States in a deal with UK publisher Haunt Publishing, is a collection of Gothic horror, ghost stories, and fairy tales.
A faceless man stalks a woman’s nightmares in Hollywood. A Kanontsistóntie is summoned to seek revenge in a monastery. A move from the projects to Manhattan leads to ominous shadows closing in. Two sisters discover a secret room in their farm, unearthing a sinister power.
When Other People Saw Us, They Saw the Dead is an anthology of dark, unsettling writing from some of the most exciting contemporary BIPOC writers. Blending Gothic, horror, folklore, fantasy and fairy-tale, these eerie short stories will disturb, move and humour you. Death is ever-present in the pages of They Saw the Dead, blending with notions of home, memory, grief and belonging, as well as gentrification, white supremacy and colonisation.
Edited by Lauren T. Davila, They Saw the Dead explores what it is to be truly haunted.
Fans of Silvia Moreno Garcia's Mexican Gothic or Matt Ruff's Lovecraft Country (adapted to the popular series on HBO) will appreciate the tales collected here. Outland expects the collection to be available at bookstores near you in late 2022 or early 2023.
In addition to this collaboration, Davila is editing a brand new original anthology of science fiction, fantasy, cli-fi, and ecological horror, centering on the wrath of nature and the consequences to the humans who have abused her. In an era of climate crisis, these stories explore the worst possible scenarios, not for the planet, but for those who have dared cause her harm. When Davila initially solicited stories for the project, she says, "The stories submitted were absolutely fantastic, and I chose to include those which thematically looked mostly at nature as reclaiming and space as escapism."
Contributors who have signed on to the anthology include Isa Arsén, Alex Brown, Daphne Dador, Lauren T. Davila, Sam Elyse, Laura Galán-Wells, Alyssa Grant, Rien Gray, Mallory Jones, R.J. Joseph, Wen-yi Lee, C.M. Leyva, Rachal Marquez Jones, Darci Meadows, Anna Nguyễn, Amparo Ortiz, Nick Perez, Mary E. Roach, Laura Southern, Morgan Spraker, Miranda Sun, R.M. Virtues, Sabrina Vourvoulias, Katalina Watt, and S. J. Whitby. Outland plans to launch a Kickstarter Campaign to fund the anthology in 2023.
Readers who like cli-fi and post-apocalyptic tales of Earth's recovery, such as Sherri L. Smith's Orleans or Gwendolyn N. Nix's Sharks of the Wastelands, will want to keep watching for news on this forthcoming project!
In the meantime, check out our latest anthology Kickstarter, Never Too Old to Save the World, or pick up one of these Outland anthologies to get a taste of some of our scarier short fiction:
Lauren T. Davila is represented by Susan Velazquez Colmant at JABberwocky Literary Agency. She has edited multiple short story anthologies including Where Monsters Lurk and Magic Hides (Bee Infinite Press; November 2022) and Places We Build in the Universe (Flower Song Press; October 2022). She recently announced a Locale anthology through Inked In Gray Press and she is editing or co-editing other anthologies, including a trope and fairytale retellings anthologies, respectively.
Lauren is pursuing her Ph.D. in English at Claremont Graduate University. She holds an MFA in Fiction Writing from George Mason University. After completing her studies, she plans to teach at the collegiate level while publishing and editing.
She is currently editing her debut novel, AT THE STILL POINTE, an adult gothic mystery featuring ballerinas and the Greek Furies. She is also working on a YA superhero series, picture books, and poetry and short story collections. Besides her personal and anthology work, she is an Acquisitions Editor for CatStone Books where she is actively acquiring speculative manuscripts from diverse authors. She is also a judge at NYC Midnight and the Editor-in-Chief for Foothill Poetry Journal. She lives in the greater Los Angeles area where you can find her swimming, walking her puppy, and drinking one too many rose lattes.