The Off-Season: An Anthology of Coastal New Weird

by Marissa Van Uden (Editor), Mars Abian (Contributor), Alex Keikiakapueo Brewster (Contributor)

The Off-Season: An Anthology of Coastal New Weird features twenty-five brand-new stories of disquieting and disturbing "New Weird" horror set in landscapes and communities on the edge of the sea. These unsettling stories de-familiarize the ordinary, evoke dread in the daylight, and haunt like half-remembered nightmares. They are tales of mysticism, psychedelia, outsiders, obsessions, collapsed boundaries, weird sea life, and the total abandonment of reason. Welcome to your stay behind the curtain. Please check your sanity at the door.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Anthologies, Weird Fiction, Fiction

330 pages, Paperback

First published October 29, 2024

About the author

Marissa van Uden is an editor and writer from Aotearoa-New Zealand who now lives in rural Vermont, in a little cabin in the woods. She is the editor of The Off-Season: An Anthology of Coastal New Weird (Dark Matter Ink, 2024) and the Apex Strange Microfiction anthologies. She is also the EiC of the imprint Violet Lichen Books and an associate editor and interviewer for Apex Magazine.
Her fiction has appeared in Dark Matter Magazine, Zero Dark Thirty, Los Suelos, and Vastarien Literary Journal. She loves animals, wild things, and weird horror.

Reviews

[Kyle Lemmon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Off-Season while visiting Carlsbad and man was it a weird and chilling trip! This is a perfect anthology for the fall or winter read. Check it out and you won’t be disappointed. The prose is crisp, clean, and cuts to the bone at times. It wish it had even more stories! Marissa did a great job collecting these 25 coastal new weird tales. They will twist your brain into a strong sailor’s knot.

[Nicholas Perez]

My friend Alex Keikiakapueo Brewster is in this :)

[Lola Jansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very mixed bag of stories.

Some I liked a lot better then others, some didn’t really make sense to me. But overall really enjoyed the vibes of the book and the common coastal theme.

The fourth and fifth story were my favorites.

Perfect length anthology stories.

Can definitely recommend!

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book because it has a Richard Thomas story in it and because I thought it sounded intriguing. Turns out I didn’t really care for the Richard Thomas story and I didn’t much care for these new weird stories either. There were a few that I liked but I think it just wasn’t the right book for me.

[Lauren L · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll revisit this, but I was very underwhelmed by the stories I have read so far, so have decided to pause for now. At the minute it's a soft DNF.

I have read 5 of the short stories so far and only sort of liked one of them - the first one by J.P.Oakes, which had some intriguing Lovecraftian world-building that left me curious for more, I could quite happily read a novel in this setting. The characterisation was a bit weak. I also viscerally hated one of them - Tiffany Morris' 'So full of the shining flesh', a short story in which very little happens, but the reader is treated to some fairly overwritten purple prose. Lots of poetic phrases and pretty words strung together, to no avail, and there’s a whole faintly ridiculous overwritten paragraph where a character stabs herself with… a fish. Well, a fish scale. From a salmon.

Yeah. I have questions.

The other three stories made no great impression for me, so I decided to call it quits for now and see how I feel about continuing at a later date. I hope they didn’t front-load their stories, because I personally expected…well… not this…

[AgoraphoBook Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Off-Season: 
An anthology of Coastal New Weird

3.25 / 5

For me, this was a mixed bag, in terms of the enjoyment I got out of the stories. 

Many of the tales were just a tad too weird for me to wrap my lil brain around. Some felt more like concepts than actualized stories. But there are certainly plenty of winners within. 

My personal favorite was We Are Not Yet Healed. 

I can be rather fussy when it comes to anthologies, so take my critiques with a grain of salt. But I'd say I really liked about half the stories, and didn't love the others. 

If weird fiction is your jam, I'd recommend checking this one out. There's something within to please most everyone. 

3.25 / 5

[Jacy Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure, I have a story in this, but I'm not reviewing it based upon my story because, newsflash, I like it. The collection is an amazingly diverse collection of what it means to be "new weird". You have artistic pieces that are hard to wrap your head around and merit multiple readings, and some that are straightforward in their prose but weird in their stories. There's a lot of talent on display in this, and while not every story is gonna satisfy every reader, there's enough variance and horror for everyone to find a handful of new, cool writers and killer stories. Check it out.

[halley ✦ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Off-Season: An Anthology of Coastal New Weird is a captivating and deeply unsettling collection of stories that offers something for every lover of the strange and unsettling. Personally, it's a mixed bag, but it has range! I enjoyed most if not all stories. There are ones that require a reread or two for me to fully appreciate, and those where I gave up understanding and just stayed for the vibes. Full review to come!

[Jason Darrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent representation of weird

Fitting for an anthology centred around the sea, the stories compiled herein are deep, with a capital DEEP.

Some literal, others metaphorical, and a few just too leftfield to be followable.

Overall, worth the time and effort (as long as you're not on anti-depressants, already; if so, I'd give this one a miss).

[Venneh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a huge sucker for this specific flavor of horror (people will likely point in the direction of Southern Reach without knowing what they're talkiing about influence wise), and especially how a lot of the authors choose to focus on class and race in part of the horror that unfolds. Pick up this anthology and enjoy the read.

[Smutty Demi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice antology with a unique way of writing and a good mix of different plots. Different than what I'm used to. Some stories were quite vague and I thought huh, wtf, what is it actually about. But it is also surprising at times. Definitely recommended!

[Krystle · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a great mix of stories mind bending, spokey, mysterious all about the sea!

[Jerry MeCaskey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing.

I finished it, but it was an effort. This collection of—what? Stories? It’s more like words thrown against a wall to see what sticks.

There are people who will enjoy this work, though I’m not one of them.