Dust jacket by Lee Moyer

Caitlín R. Kiernan’s short fiction was first published in 1995. Over the intervening decade and a half, she has proven not only one of dark fantasy and science fiction’s most prolific and versatile authors, but, to quote Ramsey Campbell, “One of the most accomplished writers in the field, and very possibly the most lyrical.” S. T. Joshi has written, “Kiernan’s witchery of words creates a mesmerizing effect that we haven’t seen since the days of Lovecraft and Bradbury.”

Two Worlds and In Between: The Best of Caitlín R. Kiernan (Volume One) presents a stunning retrospective of the first ten years of her work, a compilation of more than two hundred thousand words of short fiction, including many of her most acclaimed stories, as well as some of the author’s personal favorites, several previously uncollected, hard-to-find pieces, her sf novella, The Dry Salvages, and a rare collaboration with Poppy Z. Brite. Destined to become the definitive look at the early development of Kiernan’s work, Two Worlds and In Between is a must for fans and collectors alike, as well as an unprecedented introduction to an author who, over the course of her career, has earned the praise of such luminaries as Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub, Charles De Lint, and Clive Barker.

The Signed Limited Edition will feature sixteen pages of artwork from a variety of artists who’ve worked with Kiernan over the years, pages from her work on the DC/Vertigo comic The Dreaming, and a new chapbook, The Crimson Alphabet.

Trade: Fully cloth bound hardcover edition
Limited: 600 numbered copies, bound in leather, including the bonus chapbook The Crimson Alphabet, signed by author

Table of Contents

Author’s Introduction

Part One (1993-1999)

Emptiness Spoke Eloquent [1993]
Two Worlds; and In Between [1994]
To This Water (Johnstown, Pennsylvania 1889) [1994]
Tears Seven Times Salt [1994]
Breakfast in the House of the Rising Sun (Murder Ballad No. 1) [1995]
Estate [1996]
Rats Live on No Evil Star [1997]
Salmagundi (New York City, 1981) [1998]
Postcards from the King of Tides [1997]
Giants in the Earth [1995]
Zelda Fitzgerald in Ballet Attire [1995-1999]

Part Two (2000-2004)

Spindleshanks (New Orleans, 1956) [2000]
The Road of Pins [2001]
Onion [2001]
In the Garden of Poisonous Flowers [2001]
Night Story 1973 (with Poppy Z. Brite) [2001]
From Cabinet 34, Drawer 6 [2002]
Andromeda Among the Stones [2002]
La Peau Verte [2003]
Riding the White Bull [2003]
Waycross [2003]
The Dead and the Moonstruck [2004]
The Daughter of the Four of Pentacles [2004]
The Dry Salvages [2004]
The Worm in My Mind’s Eye [2004]
Houses Under the Sea [2004]
Publication History
Illustrations (Bonus in Limited)

From Publishers Weekly (Starred Review, Pick of the Week):
“This retrospective volume, the first of two, contains works published between 1993 and 2004 that show Kiernan’s rapid ascent from a journeyman writer bringing a fresh perspective to classic horror themes (“Emptiness Spoke Eloquent,” a Dracula “sequel,” and the title tale, an exercise in punk nihilism with zombies) to one of the most innovative and imaginative stylists in contemporary dark fantasy. All of the selections are distinguished by Kiernan’s poetic style, which conjures a rich, enveloping atmosphere of dread and imparts a surreality to the narratives that supports their weird events. Every story in the book deserves its “best” designation.”

From Library Journal:
“These stories…chronicle the literary progress of one of the genre’s most remarkable and exciting voices… [They] display a unique, iconoclastic vision that celebrates language as well as story.”