Almond-eyed celestial, the filial daughter, the perfect wife.

Quiet, submissive, demure.

In Black Cranes, Southeast Asian writers of horror both embrace and reject these traditional roles in a unique collection of stories which dissect their experiences of 'otherness, ' be it in the colour of their skin, the angle of their cheekbones, the things they dare to write, or the places they have made for themselves in the world. Black Cranes is a dark and intimate exploration of what it is to be a perpetual outsider.

This Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson Award-winning anthology in which Southeast Asian authors explore what it's like to feel otherness, took the literary horror communities and readers by storm in 2020 when it was first released. Now, Raw Dog Screaming Press is proud to re-release it in hardcover and paperback. The hardcover edition has new cover art by Greg Chapman, synching artistically to other books within the Black Cranes universe. The interior has been redesigned by book guru Todd Keisling who has incorporated images and textures for a lush reading experience. A new afterword by Nancy Holder, six-time Bram Stoker Award winner and New York Times best-selling author has been added to this edition.

Many of the stories included have been recognized individually. Grace Chan's Aurealis-nominated story "The Mark," was shortlisted for Australia's Norma K. Hemming Award, which recognizes excellence in the exploration of themes of race, gender, sexuality, class, or disability in a published speculative fiction work. The Eugie Foster was also awarded for Elaine Cuyegkeng's story "The Genetic Alchemist's Daughter." Black Cranes was an Aurealis Award Finalist, Australian Shadows Award Finalist, British Fantasy Award Finalist, and was Locus Award Recommended

Praise for Black Cranes

"A varied and fascinating collection of monsters, full of dazzling landscapes and writers to watch."-E. Lily Yu author On Fragile Waves

"As haunting and versatile as the Chinese erhu, the stories in Black Cranes pluck and bow the strings of the Southeast Asian experience with insightful depth and resonance." -Tori Eldridge, author of the Lily Wong series

"The preconceived notions of both the authors' identities and of the limitations of the horror genre itself will be smashed to pieces, to the delight of readers." -Library Journal

"A bloody-toothed smile hidden behind the hand of propriety and social expectation."-Pseudopod

"Resonates with bold originality throughout." -Space & Time Magazine

"The beauty of this collection is in the diversity of the voices and the individuality and uniqueness of each story coming together in one book." -Tor Nightfire

"Lyrical and haunting prose... This is dark, reflective fiction at its best." -Tomes and Tales