Neon Steel

by Jennifer Maritza McCauley

Set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the 1990s and early 2000s, Neon Steel is acclaimed writer Jennifer Maritza McCauley's love letter to millennial nerd culture. Anime fans, vampires, indie rappers, robots, comic book fans, and thrill seekers find their way through the Steel City's neighborhoods and haunts. A young girl discovers an underground world of Afro Otaku who change the way she sees the city; a high school student discovers a kindred spirit in a Bomba girl; The Terminator (1984) is reimagined as a josei story featuring a purple loc'd robot; and a secret coven of vampires who hide out in Pittsburgh steel mills risk being discovered after they lose one of their own. Magical realist and neon-lit, Neon Steel faithfully follows a group of nerds and the magic that excites them, bringing to life a city and a state of being.

162 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2026

Reviews

[Timbray Shafer]

A fantastic collection that blends the personal, the societal, and the fantastical in clever and satisfying ways. I love that each story stands on its own, but that they are all also interconnected and breathe deeper life into each other. What an enjoyable read.

[Jesse]

Poetic, avant-garde literature. Neon Steel jumps off the page with McCauley’s signature prose. A fun and entertaining read but also explores deeper cultural and spiritual themes. It’s in a genre of it own.

[Lauren Huff]

Ugggghhhh this was so delightful to read. I needed this to get over the midwest winter. An interconnected set of short stories, aggressively clear-eyed, fantastical, and optimistic.

[Donald Quist]

A fantastic collection! great read.