A Blackness Absolute is a collection of short horror stories by Canadian author Caitlin Marceau. The collection takes in uncertainties of perception, feelings of vulnerability—to the weather, the natural world, the tenuousness of sanity—and mixes these elements with a strong sense of history and folklore. From the title piece, which evokes the pure claustrophobic terror of becoming lost and disoriented in a cave-system, to the final tale, Doireann, where a woman performs unusual funeral rites in a starving community, each story layers ambiguities to create an unnerving effect that will get under your skin.
This new edition also includes Marceau’s novelette Magnum Opus, which follows the story of Charlotte Curran, an author who’s willing to do whatever it takes to make sure her newest book is a best seller... even if that means murdering her best friend. Nobody suspects her of killing renowned author Kim Lavoie, but when Charlotte starts seeing Kim everywhere she turns, she quickly realizes it's more than just her guilty conscience haunting her. With each passing day, Kim’s judging gaze grows more difficult to escape. Magnum Opus is a dark look at the price of fame and the legacy we leave behind.
If you love great storytelling, creepy atmospherics, and stories that instill a sense of dread that will return to you in the dead of night, then you’re sure to find something to enjoy in this masterful collection. These stories will linger long after you close the book.
PRAISE FOR A BLACKNESS ABSOLUTE:
“Caitlin Marceau explores the familial bonds that tie us together and break us down like no other. Her work bleeds Canadiana like thick maple syrup and lingers long after you've left the page.”
– Lor Gislason, author of Inside Out
"In her latest collection, Caitlin Marceau continues to display her boundless creativity and inventiveness. With surgical precision, she cuts into the hearts and minds of her doomed characters, extracting gothic tales of ghostly betrayal, teenage revenge, cloying claustrophobia, statuesque sirens and more. Marceau understands the terror that waits in the dark places beyond the seemingly Everyday. Fans will not be disappointed, and new readers will find themselves falling deep into A Blackness Absolute."
– Laura Keating, author of Agony's Lodestone
"A sharp tongue stretching deep into the collective unconscious, like campfire stories, to divine a vast array of hells to chill you with. A Blackness Absolute stitches together Junji Ito-esque horrors that crawl into some atavistic part of your brain and take root there, shading your dreams with dread and uncertainty. Marceau has written a reflection on the terrifying ways in which time stains everything, unforgivably, into states of ruin. She cuts, with serrated edge, into the pure, disturbing imagination of nightmares, and sustains terror from start to finish. Creepy as hell. Utterly addictive and compellingly frightening. A remarkable ride I cannot recommend enough."
– Sofia Ajram, author of The Arborglyph
"Another dark and desolate collection from a fantastic new talent; Marceau understands how to tap into the root of deep, inescapable fear, and applies it with calculated precision. The title of the collection functions as both a siren and a warning—there are no happy endings here, no last-minute saviours. Creeping, incremental dread unspools around you like cold rope, pulling you down into a dark and infinite void, and the last lines of these stories gut-punch hard, leaving you winded but wanting more."
– Lindz McLeod, author of Turducken
Caitlin Marceau is a queer author and lecturer based in Montreal. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing, is an Active Member of the Horror Writers Association, and has spoken about genre literature at several Canadian conventions. She spends most of her time writing horror and experimental fiction, but has also been published for poetry as well as creative non-fiction. Her work includes Palimpsest, Femina, A Blackness Absolute, and This Is Where We Talk Things Out. For more, check out CaitlinMarceau.ca
