[image error]Cover by Matthew Revert

My debut short story collection, OUT NOW from CLASH Books. Thirteen weird pieces of literary genre fiction. Singularities, ciphers, and reappearing limbs. Alien messiahs and murderous medieval hydrocephalics. A dark collection that twists dreams into nightmares in an attempt to find a whisper of truth.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

LETTERS TO THE PURPLE SATIN KILLER
TWICE AMPUTATED FOOT
THE BLACK HOLE
HOMUNCULOID
MAISON D’OEUFS
MUMMER’S PARADE
THE HAND OF GOD
SUPREME MATHEMATICS: A CIPHER
WHISPERS IN THE EAR OF A DREAMING APE
THE WHOLE INFERNAL MACHINE
AFT LAVATORY OCCUPIED
THE GOSPEL OF X
NOBODY RIDES FOR FREE

“This is dark stuff, but fun, without any hipster wink of irony or cynicism. Writing stories that are simultaneously grim and good-hearted is a fucking tough line to straddle, and writing them well… let’s just say I don’t see that often. Chaplinsky walks a barbed-wire tightrope here. In short, good shit.”

—Craig Clevenger, author of The Contortionist’s Handbook

“In Whispers in the Ear of a Dreaming Ape, Joshua Chaplinsky takes readers on a wild ride through a landscape of darkness and absurdity. You may think yourself safe, but you’ll learn soon enough—no one rides for free.”  

—Kevin Kolsch, writer/director of Starry Eyes, Pet Sematary

“If you’re sick of tepid short stories that taste like watered down milk, Whispers in the Ear of a Dreaming Ape is the collection of multi-colored, bite-sized brain pan bullets that might just be the cure. Joshua Chaplinsky has an imagination both of depth and breadth, and no two stories are alike. You can practically hear the lively, fascinating, hallucinatory click of his brain throughout the book. An enjoyable read for all of us dreaming apes.”

—Autumn Christian, author of Girl Like a Bomb

“The weird tales of Joshua Chaplinsky are full of magic and surprises. Whispers In the Ear of a Dreaming Ape is one of the most original short story collections of the year. A must-read if you like your fiction smart and strange.” 

—Cameron Pierce, author of Ass Goblins of Auschwitz, Our Love Will Go the Way of the Salmon

“Spend some time in Chaplinsky’s weird and wild stories and you may want to bathe afterward, but you will have been relentlessly entertained.” 

—Kelly Thompson (Eisner nominated comics writer – Deadpool, Captain Marvel, X-men)

REVIEWS

The Big Smoke
Dead End Follies
Kendall Reviews

INTERVIEWS

LitReactor (w/ Rob Hart)
Kendall Reviews
Gingernuts of Horror
The Page 69 Test at The Next Best Book Blog