Elin Olausson’s Shadow Paths

Tales From Between Presents focuses on the fiction of a single author per edition, complete with author notes on each story and a wide-ranging interview. It’s a must-have publication for fans of genre fiction.

This edition of TFBPresents features a collection of literary horror from Elin Olausson, one of the finest new talents in genre fiction.

”Olausson (…) is a must-read for anyone who appreciates literary horror.”
– Rebecca Rowland, Horror Tree

Buy link
Amazon
Goodreads

Reviews

”I am so happy to have discovered an incredible new writing talent. Elin Olausson’s stories are truly magical. I absolutely loved the format where interviews and story notes were dispersed between the stories as this allowed me to really get to know the author and how they write.
Elin Olausson’s beautiful prose hides the spread of evil taking root in her fiction. The reality creeps up on you with a terrible shock. These tales remind me of dark and twisted fairy tales not meant for children. I really loved all these stories but I think my favourites have to be Scar, and Lion’s Game.”
– Goodreads reviewer

”Tales from Between knocked it out of the park with Ai Jiang’s Smol Tales from Between Worlds, so I walked into Elin Olausson’s Shadow Paths with high expectations. Normally, anthologies work like this: you love some stories; you like some stories; one or two don’t do it for you—they aren’t necessarily stinkers, but you dislike the topic, the tone, the prose. They might be someone else’s jam, but they aren’t yours. 

Not so in Olausson’s short collection. Every story in Shadow Paths slams it out of the park. “The Old Man” may be one of the best spec fics about body dysmorphia I’ve ever encountered. “Love” left me sick with shock (thanks for that image, Elin—it’s permanently etched in my brain cave).“Wishes” simply ached; “The Lion Game” is a master exercise in voice. But “Scar” — Christ on a tricycle. With spare, lovely prose, Olausson packs a wicked gut-punch. 

This prose distinguishes her writing throughout the collection. Quietly elegant, it seems an aesthetic’s art, intense yet gracile. Each story’s beauty intensifies its horror, and that counterpoint makes for a gorgeous, hard-hitting collection. 

Books in the “Tales from Between Presents” series each include an editor note, author notes, and an interview. Perhaps that sounds like padding, but the extra material adds context and flavor to the stories. Not everyone’s jam—new criticism, Harold Bloomish folk will find it tiresome and irrelevant. Eh. They should grow up and crawl out of Bloom’s shadow. 

I devoured this collection. Shadow Paths cements Olausson as a leading voice in new horror, and you’ll walk away wanting more.”
– Wrong Publishing

”I don’t even want to say anything about this one, because I want everyone reading it to have the same sense of awe and discovery that I had going in blind.

Each entry is hauntingly beautiful, and I was completely lost in this little world while I read.

I devoured this in a single sitting where the time just flew by, and I can’t recommend it enough.”
– Goodreads reviewer

”This is my first time reading a Tales From Between Presents… book so let me speak first about the format. This is somewhere between a short story collection and a magazine interview, interweaving a handful of stories with questions for the author about herself and her writing. It’s a really nice way to get to know an unfamiliar author, but I have to admit to mostly skimming the interview sections as I was much more interested in the stories themselves. Which were, I have to say, very good indeed.

A creepy, haunting collection of horror and dark fantasy, Shadow Paths has the feel of a book of modern fairy tales. I was captivated by Olausson’s lyrical writing and dark twists, and will definitely seek out more by this author.”
– Goodreads reviewer

”SHADOW PATHS is a mini-collection of 5 unsettling horror stories w a series of Q & A’s + author’s notes. @elin_writes’s distinct, descriptive writing & the unique uncanniness of the worlds revealed make this a memorable assemblage of quietly sinister, somewhat melancholic tales.”
– Mother Suspiria on Twitter

”Dark, luxurious prose in these engrossing tales. I love stories like this that take place in the shadowy woods. These are emotionally-stirring and atmospheric, and they’ll linger with your for some time!”
– Goodreads reviewer

”If I could sum up this collection in two words, they would be eerie, and beautiful.”
– Goodreads reviewer