Burnt Tongues

Transgressive fiction authors write stories some are afraid to tell. Stories with taboo subjects, unique voices, shocking images—nothing safe or dry.

Burnt Tongues is a collection of transgressive stories selected by a rigorous nomination and vetting process and hand-selected by Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club, as the best of The Cult workshop.

These stories run the gamut from horrific and fantastic to humorous and touching, but each leaves a lasting impression.

Some may say even a scar.

Chuck Palahniuk’s thirteen novels are the best-selling Fight Club, which was made into a film by David Fincher, Survivor, Invisible Monsters, Choke, which was made into a film by Clark Gregg, Lullaby, Diary, Haunted, Rant, Snuff, Pygmy, Tell-All, Damned, and Doomed. He is also the author of Fugitives and Refugees, a nonfiction profile of Portland, Oregon, published as part of the Crown Journeys series, and the nonfiction collection Stranger Than Fiction. He lives in the Pacific Northwest.

Richard Thomas is the author of three books—Transubstantiate, Herniated Roots, and Staring into the Abyss. His over 100 publications include Cemetery Dance, PANK, Gargoyle, Weird Fiction Review, Midwestern Gothic, Arcadia, Pear Noir!, Chiral Mad 2, and Shivers VI (with Stephen King and Peter Straub). He is also the editor of two anthologies out in 2014: The New Black (Dark House Press) and The Lineup: 25 Provocative Women Writers (Black Lawrence Press). In his spare time he writes for The Nervous Breakdown, LitReactor, and is editor in chief at Dark House Press. For more information visit www.whatdoesnotkillme.com.

Dennis Widmyer is the cofounder of ChuckPalahniuk.net, the official website of Chuck Palahniuk, as well as LitReactor.com, an online magazine, workshop, and educational program. He is also a Los Angeles–based filmmaker with three feature films to his name and a number of shorts, videos, and festival bumpers. For more information visit www.denniswidmyer.com.