Some argue existence is an exercise in futility. They claim there are no winners in life. Ultimately, we are insignificant in the face of vast cosmic intelligences that were old when the Universe began.
The best minds gibber at the incomprehensibility of it all. Other minds lose themselves in strange geometries because they can’t comprehend any alternative.
Whatever. The rest of us have to get up in the morning, feed the cat, and go to work.
*The Cozy Cosmic* contains 33 stories of the horrors hidden within the micro-aggressions, the horrors trapped beneath the floorboards, and the horrors waiting patiently on the windowsill. This is the horror that forgets to turn off the light at night. This is the horror of waiting for the tea to boil, knowing full well who you just buried-for the second time-in the yard less than a hour ago. This is the horror of knowing where the dark wool comes from, but you wear the sweater anyway because it was a gift-an expression of love-and, well, being alone is worse than the horror of the unknowable, isn’t it?
The full table of contents for *The Cozy Cosm* ic is as follows:
John Shirley ~ Death, in Two
Tais Teng ~ On Hearing the First Shoggoth in Spring
Tyler Battaglia ~ What the Sea Provides
Ellis Bray ~ My Grandmother’s Sacristy
E. E. Marshall ~ Right and Bright
Devan Barlow ~ Dinner, Overlooking the Sea
Scotty Milder ~ A Little God in Their Hands
Maxwell I. Gold ~ The Great Cosmic Itch
Remy Nakamura ~ Wet Dreams in R’lyeh
Andrew S. Fuller ~ A Perfectly Fine Hobby
Kiera Lesley ~ Obsolescent
Kurt Newton ~ A Mournful Melancholia of Things Forever Lost
J. B. Kish ~ Lo-Fi Chocolate Cake
Rajiv Moté ~ Carrisa and Kevin Gaze into the Abyss
Daniel David Froid ~ In Another Distant Land, in a Luminescent Land
Kate Ristau ~ Shine
Erik Grove ~ Fuzzy Fuzzy Kitty Kitties
William J. Connell ~ Poe’s Guys Respond to Their Significant Others
Paul Jessup ~ The Museum of Endless Summer
Ngô Bình Anh Khoa ~ Through Life and Death, Forevermore
Jonathan Wood ~ Javapocalypse
L. E. Daniels ~ Final Cycle
Ken Hueler ~ The Unknowable Ones
Tania Chen ~ A Study of Metamorphosis Calamity
Eric Shanower ~ The Purple Emperor
Kevin Wetmore ~ A Child’s Christmas in Innsmouth
Megan Lee Beals ~ Splinterbone
Corinne Hughes ~ The Sheep Rancher’s Husband
Shanna Germain ~ A Napkin Upon Your Glass
Simone Cooper ~ Gnocchi
Jessie Kwak ~ Blood and Glitter
Cody T Luff ~ Den Mother
R. Ostermeier ~ The Dark Young