Figurehead

First published in limited edition hardback by Tartarus Press in 2018. This edition contains three new stories. 'Sleep' was selected for Best Horror of the Year Volume 11 "Figurehead is, primarily, an interrogation of womanhood through the lens of the gothic and weird, and its portrayal of femininity is closely linked to nature, wildness, and a kind of magic that’s rooted in the earth ... Through beautiful, rhythmic prose Figurehead weaves a sequence of stories that are strange, captivating, and unforgettable." Wales Arts Review "Carly Holmes is a bewitching writer, and Figurehead is a book that's as full of eeriness and enchantment as one could ever wish for." Buzz Magazine "Some of the stories are modern day fairy tales, with characters called Gretel knowingly wandering through, while others such as the eponymous story ‘Figurehead’ offer out-and-out fantasy in which the wooden figure on a ship’s prow is given voice to share with us her marine adventures just as ‘Little Matrons’ finds Russian dolls revealing their inner secrets. There’s a confident sense of logic underpinning all of this, a believability to such extraordinary events and happenings which is all down to the author’s assured skill in harnessing a wild imagination to the dark drifts of story." Nation.Cymru

Ranging from flash fiction to novelette, these stories are in turn chilling, playful, and melancholy. Every tale is rich with landscapes haunted by loss and longing.Ranging from flash fiction to novelette, these stories are in turn chilling, playful, and melancholy. The bonds of family and of community, both in their fracturing and their healing states, the uneasy relationship between living in the present and yearning for the past, are themes that thread their way through Figurehead. Every tale is rich with landscapes haunted by loss and longing. In this debut collection of stories Carly Holmes peers into every corner of the strange fiction genre: from rural gothic through to traditional ghost stories and the uncanny. Mothers turn into trees when the sun goes down; Russian Dolls mourn their missing sisters in rotting houses; men offer sacrifices to the monsters who embody their inner wildness; and murderous demons protect young girls' virginity.