Malarkey Books is proud to publish It Came From the Swamp, an anthology of short stories about the creatures that haunt our dreams and fuel our fantasies. Some of the creatures here, like the sasquatch if you ever find one, are flesh and blood animals. Others, like DG Bracey's Boo Hag and Edward Karshner's Appalachian golem, are the stuff of folklore, relics of a bygone era thriving on our fascination with the unknown. Though the subject might be the cryptids themselves, the real stars here are the human beings. The predatory privilege of the men in Jaq Evans' "Flood Tide" is more monstrous than anything lurking in the shallows. Meagan Lucas' Mishipeshu, the water panther of Anishinaabe lore, is blamed for the all-too-human sins of the past.

Edited by Joey R. Poole

Cover design by Sarah Allen Reed

Stories by DG Bracey, Sheldon Birnie, Jon Doyle, Jaq Evans, Zakariah Johnson, Edward Karshner, Steve Lambert, Meagan Lucas, J.S. McQueen, and T.A. Simonelli.