The Killing Garden and Other Stories

A deliciously dark and atmospheric collection of short stories from New York Times bestselling author Carrie Ryan.

Meet a ruthless executioner who races the condemned through the palace gardens before strangling them. Or a man-sized white rabbit who hosts elaborate, macabre tea parties in the woods behind a young girl's house. Step into worlds where dark memories are eaten by an innocent child, where plague doctors roam the night, or where zombie-like monsters have been cured at a terrible cost.

Drawing on inspiration from favorites such as E.M. Forster's "The Machine Stops," Ursula Le Guin's "Those Who Walk Away From Omelas," and Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," Carrie Ryan's latest collection is both bittersweet and haunting, monstrous and hopeful.

Note: This collection contains six short stories that have been previously published in various anthologies. New to this collection is a "story behind the story" essay where I discuss my inspiration for each story.