Dear reader,

When we were children, we dreamed of being heroes. We wanted to slay dragons and defeat the monsters that scared us.

As we grew older, we were forced to try and find our monsters. We had been told they would be easy to spot. Monsters had too much teeth, too much fur, too much size.

These were lies. We stopped wanting to be heroes. We started to want to be more, to be too much. We wanted, needed, more than the world could give us. We wanted more than what we were told we should be. We wanted to become monsters.

Dear reader,

I want three things for you as you read these stories. I hope you find a story that brings you joy. I hope you find a story that gives you some discomfort. Finally, I hope you find a story here that makes you too much, that makes you just a little bit monstrous.

May you be enthralled and entertained by my accounts of monsters… and may these stories help you wake up the monster inside.

This book contains graphic violence and is not suitable for readers under the age of 18.

In Absence