Nate Southard

Beneath the surface, no one can hear you scream. By turns terrifying and hilarious, Dead Bait 4 is an anthology about the fears that dwell beneath the surface - and within the human heart. Lake monsters, lamprey invasions, and humanoid fish from the deep are only some of the strange encounters in this collection of twenty-two stories of aquatic horror. From splatterpunk to horror comedy to literary surrealism, Dead Bait 4 is as wide-ranging as the bodies of water that encompass this planet. When the fish come out, you'd better believe there will be consequences.

From Bram Stoker Awards(R) Nominee Nate Southard, eighteen of his best horror stories selected by the author, published from 2005 to 2015. It contains: "His Start," "Why I Do It," Working the Bag," "In the Clearing Beneath the Firs," and "Yellow Triangles" previously published in Broken Skin (2009); "Insomnia Is My Only Friend" previously published in Horror Literature Quarterly no. 1 (2007); "Silent Corners" previously published in Trunk Stories no. 3 (2007); "Se orita" previously published on HorrorWorld.org (2009); "Work Pit Four" previously published in Of Keene Interest no. 1 (2009); "Going Home, Ugly Stick in Hand" previously published in Black Static issue 20 (2010); "Armageddon, Now Available in High Definition" previously published in Darkness on the Edge (2010); "The Blisters on My Heart" previously published in Supernatural Noir (2011); "Mouth" previously published in Horror for Good (2012); "Bottle. Paper. Samurai." previously published in LampLight (2015); "It Burns" previously published in Something Went Wrong (2012); "It's Even Better the Second Time" previously published in Horror d'Oeuvres (2008); "A Team-Building Exercise" previously published Aoife's Kiss (2005); "Three, Two, One" previously published in A Hacked-Up Holiday Massacre (2011). Cover Art by Daniele Serra.