98 ratings | 15 reviews | avg rating:4.52

Helen Marshall’s Followers (203)

Helen’s Bookshelves

to-read (23)
currently-reading (0)
read (100)
best-2013 (1)
great-ya (2)

Helen’s Friends (729)

Kathleen Jennings

797 books | 457 friends

Ian Rogers

962 books | 534 friends

Costi Gurgu

538 books | 1,083 friends

Kat Tischler

762 books | 60 friends

Wanda Lynne Young (Bookalicious)

658 books | 5,063 friends

Michael Sorbello

4,141 books | 1,239 friends

David Monroe

3,877 books | 921 friends

Kurt Springs

2,230 books | 1,003 friends

More friends…

Helen Marshall

Goodreads Author

Born

in Canada

Website

http://www.helen-marshall.com

Twitter

manuscriptgal

Genre

Fantasy, Horror, Poetry

Member Since

February 2010

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/helen_marshall

edit data

Helen Marshall (manuscriptgal.com) is an award-winning author, editor, and bibliophile.

Her poetry and short fiction have been published in The Chiaroscuro, Paper Crow, Abyss & Apex, Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet and Tor.com. In 2011, she released a collection of poems entitled Skeleton Leaves from Kelp Queen Press and her collection of short stories Hair Side, Flesh Side was released from ChiZine Publications in 2012. This collection won the 2013 British Fantasy Sydney J. Bounds Award and was short-listed for a 2013 Aurora Award for Best Related Work. It was named one of the top ten F/SF books of 2012 by January Magazine. Her second fiction collection Gifts for the One Who Comes After launched in September 2014.
...more

13 posts
Helen Marshall's Blog

Laura’s Foul-Mouthed Guide to Surviving Writers

Last summer Helen attended the Clarion West writer’s workshop. For her, this meant six glorious weeks of writing and critiquing; for me, this meant six glorious weeks free of writer-drama.

So, to help all the writer spouses, friends and family out there, here is my foul-mouthed guide for surviving writers.

1. Writers are assholes.

As Helen said, 90% of being a writer is being an asshole. And it’s tru Read more of this blog post »

5 likes · Like • 3 comments • flag

Published on June 21, 2013 13:41 • Tags: living-with-writers, me-me-me, writing

View all 13 posts »

Combine Editions
Helen Marshall’s books

Average rating: 3.69 · 5,428 ratings · 956 reviews · 115 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Migration 3.39 avg rating — 951 ratings — published 2019 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Hanging Game 3.52 avg rating — 591 ratings — published 2013 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Gifts for the One Who Comes After 3.97 avg rating — 245 ratings — published 2014 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hair Side, Flesh Side 3.87 avg rating — 226 ratings — published 2012 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Year's Best Weird Fiction, Vol. 4 by Helen Marshall (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Michael Kelly (Goodreads Author) (Editor) 3.63 avg rating — 98 ratings — published 2017 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Lady, the Tiger and the Girl Who Loved Death 3.36 avg rating — 83 ratings — published 2025 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Sex Lives of Monsters 4.26 avg rating — 27 ratings — published 2013	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Animal: SRMC #4 4.68 avg rating — 22 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Skeleton Leaves: A Collection 4.67 avg rating — 15 ratings — published 2011 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Gold Leaf Executions 4.78 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 2023	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Helen Marshall…

Quotes by Helen Marshall (?)

“Every writer dreams of a perfect language. Every writer dreams of a language that obeys, that comes to heel. For some this language is spare and pure, pared down to reveal essential truths without ornament or obfuscation. For others it is devilish and twisting, folding back over itself to create layers of meaning, shades of nuance.
A language that will survive through the ages.
A language that will crack open the heart of readers like a hazelnut.”
― Helen Marshall

tags: essential-truths, language, perfect, writer

1 likes

“This kind of fantasy, in which “something is not quite right”, lends itself very well to Gothic sensibility, with its convoluted use of language and its tormented heroes. And then there is an element of irrationality built into the rational and, coming from a Spanish background, I interpret this as surrealism, for me this is a major element I recognize in weird writing, and one that is present in my own understanding of the weird.”
― Helen Marshall, Year's Best Weird Fiction, Vol. 4

0 likes

“Weird fiction is a strange beast, an eclectic genre (or subgenre). It originated in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century through the works of authors including Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Machen, and M. R. James, and has since developed over the course of the last hundred years to encompass new writers such as China Miéville, M. John Harrison and others. Weird fiction is notable for its generic uncertainty; it exists at the boundary between science fiction and horror—perhaps—or between literary fiction and horror—perhaps—or between Lovecraft and whatever happens to be floating close to hand at any given moment—perhaps!”
― Helen Marshall, Year's Best Weird Fiction, Vol. 4

0 likes

See all Helen Marshall's quotes »

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Sci-fi and Heroic...: 2015 World Fantasy Award Winners Announced	6	73	Nov 09, 2015 05:47AM
Horror Aficionados : Track the short fiction you read in 2017	31	263	Jan 03, 2018 11:05AM
Spells, Space & S...: Aickman’s Heirs (August 2018)	150	37	Sep 11, 2018 08:53AM
CanadianContent: October 2018: The Bone Mother	25	27	Oct 31, 2018 07:42AM
Horror Aficionados : Track the short fiction you read in 2018	36	161	Jan 05, 2019 12:44PM
Sci-fi and Heroic...: What are you Reading this March?	78	75	Mar 31, 2019 07:48AM
Horror Aficionados : Pseudopod	508	1102	Jul 15, 2019 10:58AM

More…

recent posts
Helen’s Groups

Book Giveaways — 5486 members — last activity Dec 31, 2025 11:48PM
The place to go to tell others about your book giveaways and contests. And where book lover's can go to find ways to get free books. We all love those ...more

Giveaways and Contests — 713 members — last activity May 27, 2025 08:15AM
If your having a giveaway or contest, leave your link here and what your giving away!

Magic Realism — 1030 members — last activity Jul 04, 2025 11:47AM
Magic realism is a global and varied mode of literature, from the early twentieth century European works which made the everyday seem magical, to the ...more

ChiZine Publications — 53 members — last activity Apr 13, 2018 03:01PM
ChiZine Publications is a Canadian independent publisher specializing in weird, subtle, and disturbing literary fiction. CZP wants fiction that takes ...more

ChiZine Publications — 134 members — last activity Jun 27, 2014 02:42PM
To discuss the great books of ChiZine Publications, or any similar dark, quality literature. Or to discuss rock and roll. Or sex. And drugs. But mostl ...more

Contest Extravaganza! — 85 members — last activity Mar 15, 2009 02:02PM
What do a laptop, a Kindle 2, and a weekend in New Orleans, La. have in common? We're giving them all away! For more info, go to: http://www.deborahle ...more

Adarna SF: a speculative fiction blog for the ebook revolution — 184 members — last activity Apr 11, 2019 12:08AM
Dedicated to indie speculative fiction: books from independent publishers and self-published authors. Goodreads authors are welcome. Formerly known as ...more

PoMo and Surreal Fiction Book Club — 145 members — last activity Oct 29, 2014 10:35AM
This book club is dedicated to people who enjoy surreal and post-modern fiction and would like to explore and read a new title monthly or bi-monthly. ...more

Q&A with Goodreads Author, Andy Hicks — 3 members — last activity Aug 27, 2013 08:17AM
Author of the financial thriller, It Seems As It May, Andy Hicks has written an entertaining yet educational novel based on one woman's struggle again ...more

Ad Astra — 30 members — last activity Feb 25, 2016 08:36AM
Ad Astra is Toronto's premier literary convention for sci-fi and fantasy fans. This group exists for attendees and fans of this great convention! ...more

More of Helen’s groups…

Helen’s Friend Comments

No comments have been added yet.