The Art of What You Want

by Nat Cassidy

Harris is facing some pretty serious problems. His tech company is in trouble. His beloved wife is dead. And his house is haunted by her ghost.
He's pretty certain the stress might be making him lose his mind.
But it's not hopeless.
He has a best friend, a sympathetic ear, a ton of money, and expensive whiskey.
He also has a keen sense of business.
He knows there's always a deal waiting to be made.
No matter how horrifying the compromises might be.

This is the second issue in the From the Cassidy Catacombs series. Each issue features a complete, standalone short story by Nat Cassidy.

The first 100 copies of each issue are hand-signed by the author and include collectable art cards featuring artwork by Caitlin Marceau.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction

24 pages, Paperback

Published May 21, 2024

About the author

NAT CASSIDY is a national bestselling and Bram Stoker Award-nominated author whose acclaimed works include Mary ("One of the Best Horror Novels of All Time" - Audible), Nestlings, and Rest Stop. Esquire described him as one "of the best horror writers of this generation" and among the writers "shaping horror's next golden age." His award-winning plays have been produced across the country, including Off-Broadway and the Kennedy Center. You've also maybe seen Nat guest-starring on shows such as Law & Order: SVU, Blue Bloods, Bull, Quantico, FBI, and many others ... but that's a topic for a different bio. His newest novel, When the Wolf Comes Home, hit shelves in April 2025 and was called "a classic" by Stephen King. He lives in New York City with his wife.

Reviews

[Stay · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The sun was down and he was waiting for the deluge of nightmares to begin. Only this time, there weren't images and videos and voicemails stampeding into his phone. This time, there was a slurred voice calling from outside the unlocked front door."

I've been told over and over again to go into this blind. Don't read the synopsis, don't look at reviews, and definitely don't peek at the warnings in the back of the book. Like a good little reader, I did as I was told and I am so glad that I finally listened. This is a book that you want to know nothing about before diving right on in. It makes the book that much more f**cked up and satisfying.

This book gets crazier as you flip the pages. It was purely twisted in its own special way and you'll never read anything like it. One of my favorite reads of the year!

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe the most fucked up short story I’ve ever read. 5/5 stars, would read again. Go in blind, it’s better that way.

[Angyl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nat Cassidy this is soo sick and twisted, I love it.
read if you wanna say "what the fuck!"

[Nick Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will never, ever forget this story- even if I tried.

[kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

What it’s about:
Harris is facing some pretty serious problems. His tech company is in trouble. His beloved wife is dead.
And his house is haunted by her ghost.
He's pretty certain the stress might be making him lose his mind.
But it's not hopeless.
He has a best friend, a sympathetic ear, a ton of money, and expensive whiskey.
He also has a keen sense of business.
He knows there's always a deal waiting to be made.
No matter how horrifying the compromises might be.

Content warnings:
…would be too spoilery to include them all here but just know it is violent and fucked up.

Thoughts:
A BANGER. Absolutely twisted. My jaw dropped open from disbelief on the last page; I never would have guessed it would take the direction that it did. This one is going to stick with me. (20 pages long)

[Marguerite Turley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy shit! That went south real quick! I was not expecting that ending at all. A fantastic, incredibly disturbing and ick inducing story that Nat is so good at. Give me more of these chap books, completely unhinged tales to freak me out!!

[Anna Dupre · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far this is the most WTF thing I’ve read from Cassidy. Which is saying something if you’ve read Mary or Nestlings. I had an idea of where the story was going BUT I WAS VERY WRONG. Which is a good thing because sheesh do we see some darkness. What starts out as a possible ghost story devolves into something else entirely outlining intense feelings of greed, demand, retribution, and manipulation. I seriously had to reread the last few pages and audibly spoke to an empty room, “OH, WE WENT THERE.” It’s best you go in with minimal facts so I won’t go into details but, damn that was wild (in a good way).

[thevampireslibrary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of Generation and The Art Of What You Want

Blessed with two short stories from Nat Cassidy I inhaled these,  my mouth was left dry as the sahara because it was easier to leave it agape in absolute shock than shut it because inevitably these stories would take another unforseen turn and I'd be left, what do the kids say? Shooketh? Nat has the knack (that rolls off the tongue nice dunnit) of writing real gruesome skin crawling scenes that just come out of no where and knock you for six, being a chapbook the heavier themes are only lightly caressed (grief, greed, manipulation, the possible ending of humanity) leaving the reader to draw their own ominous conclusions, perfectly executed with Cassidy's sharp wit and punch to the gut horror these leave you wanting more

[Kayleigh McKee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Welp. That was unsettling. Short form Nat is WAAAAAAAY scarier than long form 🥲 This little chapbook goes hard and fast.

“All business really is, is the art of knowing what you want”

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

BRUH.

[Jessie-Punkersfictionreads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Um…that was fucking terrifying.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

What psycho twisted horror did I just read? This packed a punch and then some. Think I'm gonna go read it again now.

[Brooklyn Attic Books]

This story took an even more sinister turn than I originally expected! Quite an apogee!

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super disturbing ending that I very much enjoyed

[Kirsten Marzonie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dang ol’ dang. Did not expect that ending and this will be on my mind for awhile *claps*

[kaycee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh… 👁️👄👁️

[Ali Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS is what a short story should be 👏🏼
Perfection.

[Ruby the Wizard · Rating 4 out of 5]

HUH????????????????????????

[Bliss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Please see my 3 stars as 3.5.

For only 20 some odd pages, this gets the job done.
I was sucked in from the jump and was unable to look away as things unfolded.

The only thing I didn't really understand was the very, very ending --there was a disconnect for me in regards to the woman Harris is with.

[Lolly ⭐️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was crazy, but also brilliant. I went in blind (as I recommend you do too - do not read the synopsis, content warnings or any reviews, just stop it right now) and Nat Cassidy did not disappoint. 4 stars only because I think I need to reread it to figure out exactly what happened in that ending!

[Sassy Sarah Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

I feel like I have read this at some point. It felt so familiar, and I knew the plot beats and points. The concept is an interesting twist on the haunted house, but I hated the twist of him not being haunted by his dead wife, but by some random woman his best friend paid to harass him.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 - Well, that was fucked up lol

He's posted it here for free, in case you want to be disturbed yourself :D

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest, I had to read this one twice because I thought it was a little confusing. Now I understand it (mostly), but wouldn’t say this is one of my favorites although I still love this author’s creativity.

[Megan Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nat and Shortwave does it again! I absolutely love and devour these short chapbook/zines. More, please, especially from Nat!

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

So interesting. Wish it was longer though

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty dark. Yeah, don't ever expect to not get repercussions after fucking with someone, especially the way this went down. Yikes!

[Brittany Rothwell]

Probably one of the best horror short stories I’ve read!

[Jenni · Rating 5 out of 5]

hey -- what the fuck?????????

shortwave publishing put this out as a chapbook (buy it!!) but you can read it here: https://shortwavepublishing.com/magaz...

[Christy Greenwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my god excuse me sir!? Yiiiikes but also that was so good.

[Kore · Rating 4 out of 5]

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST