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Death Aesthetic
"This whole collection is obsessed with death."
Josh Rountree makes no bones about the mood in Death Aesthetic, his third collection of short fiction. Rountree explores the boundaries set by grief and guilt. He cracks open all manner of skeletons to peer inside the chest cavity, wondering what remains after everything else has left. He sniffs the night air, leaps and transforms into something both more human and not human at all. He knows all the words to the songs that bring us back from the edge.
We are never ready for that final transition. Rountree offers no assurances with Death Aesthetic, no promises about what lies beyond that black veil. But, as a compassionate psychopomp, he will be at your side for this journey.
This collection contains the following
• "See That my Grave is Kept Clean"
• "The Cure for Boyhood"
• "Sounds Like Forever"
• "Their Blood Smells of Love and Terror"
• "A Red Promise in the Palm of Your Hand"
• "We Share Our Rage with the River"
• "Love Kills"
• "Constellation Burn"
• "The Green Realm"
• "Till the Greenteeth Draw Us Down"
"The Green Realm" is original to this collection.
Josh Rountree makes no bones about the mood in Death Aesthetic, his third collection of short fiction. Rountree explores the boundaries set by grief and guilt. He cracks open all manner of skeletons to peer inside the chest cavity, wondering what remains after everything else has left. He sniffs the night air, leaps and transforms into something both more human and not human at all. He knows all the words to the songs that bring us back from the edge.
We are never ready for that final transition. Rountree offers no assurances with Death Aesthetic, no promises about what lies beyond that black veil. But, as a compassionate psychopomp, he will be at your side for this journey.
This collection contains the following
• "See That my Grave is Kept Clean"
• "The Cure for Boyhood"
• "Sounds Like Forever"
• "Their Blood Smells of Love and Terror"
• "A Red Promise in the Palm of Your Hand"
• "We Share Our Rage with the River"
• "Love Kills"
• "Constellation Burn"
• "The Green Realm"
• "Till the Greenteeth Draw Us Down"
"The Green Realm" is original to this collection.
- GenresHorror
154 pages, Paperback
Published September 9, 2024
4 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
About the author
Josh Rountree
40 books108 followersJosh Rountree is a novelist and short story writer who works across multiple genres, focusing mostly on horror and dark fantasy. His novel The Legend of Charlie Fish was released by Tachyon Publications in 2023 to wide acclaim, making the Locus Recommended Reading List, and being named one of Los Angeles Public Library’s best books of the year.
More than seventy of his short stories have been published in a variety of venues, including The Deadlands, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Bourbon Penn, Realms of Fantasy, PseudoPod, Weird Horror, and The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror. Several collections of his short fiction have been published, including Fantastic Americana, and most recently, Death Aesthetic, featuring tales of death and transformation.
Rountree lives in the greater Austin, TX metro with his lovely wife of many years, and a pair of half-feral dogs who command his obedience.
More than seventy of his short stories have been published in a variety of venues, including The Deadlands, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Bourbon Penn, Realms of Fantasy, PseudoPod, Weird Horror, and The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror. Several collections of his short fiction have been published, including Fantastic Americana, and most recently, Death Aesthetic, featuring tales of death and transformation.
Rountree lives in the greater Austin, TX metro with his lovely wife of many years, and a pair of half-feral dogs who command his obedience.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 29, 2025
This was an incredible collection! Josh beautifully weaves 10 tales of grief blending fantasy and horror. My favorite of all of these was “Sounds like forever” which put music right in the forefront of the story. A story of loss and the music that brings people back to us. Just a stunner! So many perfect and thoughtfully crafted stories in this book, each one a masterpiece!!
September 23, 2024
Flew through this collection and loved every single story. Some of them I could feel/smell/see/taste. Fantastic writing.
If you haven't yet read Rountree, do yourself a favor and check him out.
If you haven't yet read Rountree, do yourself a favor and check him out.
July 4, 2024
This is a genre bending anthology which manages to capture all things horrific but does so with a profound sense of emotion.
I think the best way to read these stories is in the dark during a stormy night with some mood music lightly playing in the background. Because the emotional impact in the midst of the horror is something you'll feel in your bones.
Whether it's about a were-creature, ghostly cemetery guardians, or monsters in the woods, each of these have a feeling of sadness and melancholy surrounding them. You'll feel sympathy and even empathy for the things usually served to frighten us.
We'll also see creatures as the protagonist with humans being the actual monsters, as in one story about men who catch mermaids from the river and painfully transform them into the guise of human women so they can marry them.
A boy were-creature who just wants to run free is shackled by a spell from a witch and can no longer turn. But he just wants to be free to run. It's sad, I'm telling you!
A small town in Texas where a woman runs away from her past is not quite what it seems. Neither is the family she's staying with.
Each of these tales also has subtle undertones of issues which you'll recognise. They're not in your face about anything but you'll understand them as you read.
This is an excellent anthology full of creatures, monsters, and fascinating concepts done with heartfelt honesty. I highly recommend it.
I received an ARC of this book through the author with no consideration. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.
I think the best way to read these stories is in the dark during a stormy night with some mood music lightly playing in the background. Because the emotional impact in the midst of the horror is something you'll feel in your bones.
Whether it's about a were-creature, ghostly cemetery guardians, or monsters in the woods, each of these have a feeling of sadness and melancholy surrounding them. You'll feel sympathy and even empathy for the things usually served to frighten us.
We'll also see creatures as the protagonist with humans being the actual monsters, as in one story about men who catch mermaids from the river and painfully transform them into the guise of human women so they can marry them.
A boy were-creature who just wants to run free is shackled by a spell from a witch and can no longer turn. But he just wants to be free to run. It's sad, I'm telling you!
A small town in Texas where a woman runs away from her past is not quite what it seems. Neither is the family she's staying with.
Each of these tales also has subtle undertones of issues which you'll recognise. They're not in your face about anything but you'll understand them as you read.
This is an excellent anthology full of creatures, monsters, and fascinating concepts done with heartfelt honesty. I highly recommend it.
I received an ARC of this book through the author with no consideration. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.
August 16, 2024
Rountree is a phenomenal talent and Death Aesthetic is an amazing opportunity to see him shine. I’ve been a fan since reading his novella, The Legend of Charlie Fish (which I highly recommend). The themes of death of bondage ring through all the stories in this collection and each one will have at least a few lines that make you stop and say, “wow”. My favorite was We Share Our Rage with the River, which will come as no surprise to anyone who knows about my obsession with dangerous women of the water. Definitely recommend this whether you are new to Rountree’s work or already a fan.
October 14, 2024
I HIGHLY recommend anyone reading this to immediately pick this book up.
All I can say is that my jaw is on the floor with how good this collection was. It’s officially my all time favorite short story collection. Every single one of these stories was absolutely incredible. I didn’t want the book to end. I’d read a million more stories. I was so blown away that I immediately ordered another book from this same author.
I came across this book at a horror book fair hosted at my local brewery. I’d never heard of this author but I loved the cover and I trust the recommendations of the book shop owners that ran the event. I’m so happy that I took a chance because this was everything I didn’t even know I needed.
All I can say is that my jaw is on the floor with how good this collection was. It’s officially my all time favorite short story collection. Every single one of these stories was absolutely incredible. I didn’t want the book to end. I’d read a million more stories. I was so blown away that I immediately ordered another book from this same author.
I came across this book at a horror book fair hosted at my local brewery. I’d never heard of this author but I loved the cover and I trust the recommendations of the book shop owners that ran the event. I’m so happy that I took a chance because this was everything I didn’t even know I needed.
July 8, 2024
I’ve learned to be careful about accepting anthologies and story collections for review because my method of reading them is just not particularly conducive to that activity. When I hit a story I’m just not vibing with, my impulse is to simply skip it. I’m also prone to putting them down halfway through and picking them up again six months later. This is perfectly fine, unless someone is expecting a cogent response to the book as a whole in a somewhat timely manner.
So, it’s a sign of something magic when I read a short story collection from front to back in a matter of days, something I’ve recently done with only Mariana Enriquez’ A Sunny Place for Shady People and, more recently, with Josh Rountree’s Death Aesthetic, two books that show us masters of the form, doing what they do best.
Death Aesthetic might have been simply grim, a collection of stories centered around death and grief, and some of the stories are certainly that. There’s an elegiac tone that predominates, sure, but there’s also a kind of palpable joy, a kind of overcoming, that seeps up through these stories, and that joy comes in the very act of creation itself, in the transformation of grief into story, into art. This is a theme made explicit in several stories (most notably “Till the Greenteeth Drag us Down”), but it’s also a kind of alchemy played out for us, line by line.
There are a lot of children in these stories, and people well into their middle years looking backward, but there is very little “nostalgia” and certainly none of the golden age revisionism one might find in Bradbury or King. No, in these stories, childhood is the locus for the first horrors and the first griefs. It’s a place of near helplessness, where everything from home to religion (there are multiple folk religions built in these pages) seem designed to frighten and stifle.
One standout story, “The Cure For Boyhood” creates just such a claustrophobic scene. When our protagonist learns to transform into a coyote, running all night in his closest approximation of freedom, his parents response is to “cure” him, in a move that could easily be read as an allegory for any number of ways that parents stifle and manipulate their children into what they want them to be. It’s short and devastating.
Along the way, we get Bigfoot stories, mermaids, suicidal folk religions, rock star visitations, and phantom women, all delivered in a style that I can only call magic realism. The world is hopelessly and delightfully skewed in these stories, and they’re all skewed in their own unique ways.
The closing story, “Till the Greenteeth Draw Us Down,” posits an not too distant future of climate collapse, with Galveston, Texas now permanently underwater, and a band of eccentric old folks and orphaned children banded together. We’ve read this story, in one form or another, but it’s not simply the inclusion of the Greenteeth –siren-like beings who resemble the dead and call to the living from the waters–that separates this tale. The whole world is so delightfully skewed, the line between reality and fantasy so blurred, that it takes on a fairytale feel that reminds me of Peter S. Beagle’s masterpiece, The Last Unicorn, itself a simultaneous elegy and celbration.
Death Aesthetic is jam packed with weird, seemingly effortless ideas, all executed with precision and heart, but its really the language that sets this collection apart. Line by line, these stories are simply and perfectly crafted.
I’ve rarely had so much fun feeling such absolute grief.
So, it’s a sign of something magic when I read a short story collection from front to back in a matter of days, something I’ve recently done with only Mariana Enriquez’ A Sunny Place for Shady People and, more recently, with Josh Rountree’s Death Aesthetic, two books that show us masters of the form, doing what they do best.
Death Aesthetic might have been simply grim, a collection of stories centered around death and grief, and some of the stories are certainly that. There’s an elegiac tone that predominates, sure, but there’s also a kind of palpable joy, a kind of overcoming, that seeps up through these stories, and that joy comes in the very act of creation itself, in the transformation of grief into story, into art. This is a theme made explicit in several stories (most notably “Till the Greenteeth Drag us Down”), but it’s also a kind of alchemy played out for us, line by line.
There are a lot of children in these stories, and people well into their middle years looking backward, but there is very little “nostalgia” and certainly none of the golden age revisionism one might find in Bradbury or King. No, in these stories, childhood is the locus for the first horrors and the first griefs. It’s a place of near helplessness, where everything from home to religion (there are multiple folk religions built in these pages) seem designed to frighten and stifle.
One standout story, “The Cure For Boyhood” creates just such a claustrophobic scene. When our protagonist learns to transform into a coyote, running all night in his closest approximation of freedom, his parents response is to “cure” him, in a move that could easily be read as an allegory for any number of ways that parents stifle and manipulate their children into what they want them to be. It’s short and devastating.
Along the way, we get Bigfoot stories, mermaids, suicidal folk religions, rock star visitations, and phantom women, all delivered in a style that I can only call magic realism. The world is hopelessly and delightfully skewed in these stories, and they’re all skewed in their own unique ways.
The closing story, “Till the Greenteeth Draw Us Down,” posits an not too distant future of climate collapse, with Galveston, Texas now permanently underwater, and a band of eccentric old folks and orphaned children banded together. We’ve read this story, in one form or another, but it’s not simply the inclusion of the Greenteeth –siren-like beings who resemble the dead and call to the living from the waters–that separates this tale. The whole world is so delightfully skewed, the line between reality and fantasy so blurred, that it takes on a fairytale feel that reminds me of Peter S. Beagle’s masterpiece, The Last Unicorn, itself a simultaneous elegy and celbration.
Death Aesthetic is jam packed with weird, seemingly effortless ideas, all executed with precision and heart, but its really the language that sets this collection apart. Line by line, these stories are simply and perfectly crafted.
I’ve rarely had so much fun feeling such absolute grief.
December 7, 2024
A banging collection of super grim stories about death and everything it makes us feel. It includes some pure gems I won't be forgetting, including the most affecting 4-page story I've ever read ("Love Kills") and a weird atmospheric thriller with a setting so vivid you can taste it ("Constellation Burn").
Some of the stories are takes on classic horror premises but thanks to their brilliant execution they never feel derivative. "The Cure for Boyhood" and "We Share Our Rage with the River" are perfect examples.
While there wasn't a story I didn't like, not everything blew my mind. I found a few of the stories just alright. The opener was probably my least favorite.
All things considered, if you're into horror fiction about death, this is a fantastic pick
Some of the stories are takes on classic horror premises but thanks to their brilliant execution they never feel derivative. "The Cure for Boyhood" and "We Share Our Rage with the River" are perfect examples.
While there wasn't a story I didn't like, not everything blew my mind. I found a few of the stories just alright. The opener was probably my least favorite.
All things considered, if you're into horror fiction about death, this is a fantastic pick
July 23, 2024
The stories in Death Aesthetic craft stark poetry out of a world that is deeply unsettling even in its familiarity. Yet, in the face of man and nature’s cruelty, Rountree’s America preserves hope between its bloodstained teeth. This is an unforgettable collection that will settle in your marrow.
August 21, 2024
Josh Rountree's stories shine a light on the human condition and its inevitable conclusion. But death is not the villain here. It is a shapeshifter. A friend and an enemy. In Josh's deft hand, it is haunting, familiar, and endlessly fascinating.
September 14, 2024
I’ve heard Josh say that he aims for “all killer, no filler,” and he lives up to that here. These stories are all bangers, tolling on some forlorn church bell in a fictional, fabulist Texas town. The first story will break your heart five times over, and each story after is liable to do the same.
November 2, 2024
I’m only two stories in on @josh_rountree ‘s Death Aesthetic but damn! I was not expecting this. It’s far removed from Charlie Fish (which I also loved). I’m floored by the poetic elegance. This is a beautiful addition to Josh’s body of work.
July 17, 2024
In Rountree's writing, Annie Proulx meets Ray Bradbury for a drink in a Texas saloon, where with one gentle turn, the reader will find a knife pressed to their gut.
December 5, 2024
First time reading Josh Rountree, but really liked most of these stories.
March 25, 2025
With each story Rountree distills the haunted history and complicated legacies of Texas. These stories are brutal and often beautiful. A truly incredible collection!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews