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Among the Lilies
A collection of 12 grotesqueries inspired by the natural and psychological landscapes of New England and by the ghosts that walk the places in-between.The long-awaited new collection of short stories from Daniel Mills, whose literary antecedents include Poe, Hawthorne, Vernon Lee, and John Darnielle. A visionary and poetic stylist. Contains the long out-of-print novella "The Account of David Stonehouse, Exile," and two new stories written expressly for this collection."Daniel Mills is a master of telling tales. . . ."―The New York Journal of Books"If you like your horror well written, haunting and resonant, look no Daniel Mills is your Man!"<- Rue Morgue Magazine
Kindle Edition
First published September 14, 2021
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253 people want to read
About the author
Daniel Mills
62 books115 followersDaniel Mills is the author of Moriah and Among the Lilies and creator of historical crime podcast These Dark Mountains. His nonfiction work has appeared in The Los Angeles Review of Books. He lives in Vermont.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
September 19, 2021
Second collection of short fiction by Daniel Mills, following 2014's equally great THE LORD CAME AT TWILIGHT. A few of these pieces I've read elsewhere (such as "Canticle" and "The Account of David Stonehouse, Exile"), but for the most part this book marked the first time where I had read many of these stories. Some of the highlights include "Lucilla Barton (1857-1880)" (which tells its story in an unconventional manner via a panoply of Catholic parish registers, census records, death certificates and newspaper clippings), "Lilies," the somewhat Lovecraftian "A Shadow Passing," and "Canticle," but the clear winner is the aforementioned "Account of David Stonehouse, Exile," a lengthy novella that ends the collection and which can best be described as a mix of Cormac McCarthy and Robert Aickman, just filtered through Mills' own theological interests.
August 27, 2024
An amazing collection! The last story "The account of David Stonehouse, exile" is a masterpiece.
August 21, 2023
I continue to be pleasantly surprised by the books put out by Undertow, this book included. Most of the stories hit, although the novella that ends this book drags at the end. Overall, I wouldn’t call it grotesque, but I would call it good. Looking forward to more from this author and maybe some stories set in Rhode Island, if we’re going to commit to the New England theme.
August 17, 2021
Reading for review in Booklist
Three Words That Describe This Book: expertly controlled unease, strong narrative voice, unsettling format choices
Three Words That Describe This Book: expertly controlled unease, strong narrative voice, unsettling format choices
February 21, 2024
A very strong 4 to 4.5. Love his style!
August 17, 2021
Among the Lilies, by Daniel Mills
Published by Undertow Publications
I'm always excited to start a new book from Undertow Publications. These stories left me impressed as always. An easy read to start and hard to put down.
The author writes about a persons lot in life, going into detail on how that looks in the weirdest of places. Stories of how sometimes the darkest parts of our lives are those closest to us. Scary and real.
I give this collection of prose a 4 out of 5 stars. I loved most of what was written but a few weren't for me. The following is a list of my favorites.
-Bellow the Falls
Isabella Car's journal is found under her bed after she passes, reasoning as to which forces guided her to being admitted to the hospital. An unfortunate tale starting with the passing of her
Father.
-The Woman in the Wood
James lives with his Uncle Timothy, Aunt Sarah, and baby cousin Mary. He keeps finding dead sheep left in strange patterns in the fields. Is he "sick" and not able to remember how they got there or are they left by the woman in the wood?
-Lillies
Henry and Clemency fall in love. The passing of an uncle leaves them with an impressive property with a dire warning. Has the ghostly cycle taken another generation or was something else less sinister at work?
-Dream Children
Fiona has a dark secret from her past that has been affecting her trying to have children with her Husband. A detective has been hired to discover that past and why Fiona has disapeared. The secret comes out and is darker than they could imagine.
-A Sleeping Life
A boy goes through life half asleep and unaware of his surrounding. Susceptible to whatever is asked of him. The boy falls into a life of crime and obedience.
-The Account of David Stonehouse, Exhale
The longest story of this collection, follows a man name David and a dog named Judah. David saves Judah and moves into a house they find in the mountains. This house was left with furniture, clothes and even a gun for hunting. While fishing, they find a drowned man, and bury him. Unbeknowst to them, this man has a story. A story also known by Judah.
Published by Undertow Publications
I'm always excited to start a new book from Undertow Publications. These stories left me impressed as always. An easy read to start and hard to put down.
The author writes about a persons lot in life, going into detail on how that looks in the weirdest of places. Stories of how sometimes the darkest parts of our lives are those closest to us. Scary and real.
I give this collection of prose a 4 out of 5 stars. I loved most of what was written but a few weren't for me. The following is a list of my favorites.
-Bellow the Falls
Isabella Car's journal is found under her bed after she passes, reasoning as to which forces guided her to being admitted to the hospital. An unfortunate tale starting with the passing of her
Father.
-The Woman in the Wood
James lives with his Uncle Timothy, Aunt Sarah, and baby cousin Mary. He keeps finding dead sheep left in strange patterns in the fields. Is he "sick" and not able to remember how they got there or are they left by the woman in the wood?
-Lillies
Henry and Clemency fall in love. The passing of an uncle leaves them with an impressive property with a dire warning. Has the ghostly cycle taken another generation or was something else less sinister at work?
-Dream Children
Fiona has a dark secret from her past that has been affecting her trying to have children with her Husband. A detective has been hired to discover that past and why Fiona has disapeared. The secret comes out and is darker than they could imagine.
-A Sleeping Life
A boy goes through life half asleep and unaware of his surrounding. Susceptible to whatever is asked of him. The boy falls into a life of crime and obedience.
-The Account of David Stonehouse, Exhale
The longest story of this collection, follows a man name David and a dog named Judah. David saves Judah and moves into a house they find in the mountains. This house was left with furniture, clothes and even a gun for hunting. While fishing, they find a drowned man, and bury him. Unbeknowst to them, this man has a story. A story also known by Judah.
November 14, 2022
I had never read anything by Mills prior to this so I was pleased to find within the first few pages that this was going to be no ordinary journey. The 11 stories and one 75 page novella revolve around nature, Biblical references, the 1800's (except for two stories), and clever, slow rising dread. The characters with their good manners, proper English, and hints of innocence are all relatable. I think that's what makes the horror all the more unsettling when it is revealed. All of these "components" are handled with such respect and confidence, the reader is transported quite easily to another time.
My favorites: Lucilla Barton (1857-1880) for its unique, clever structure; A Shadow Passing for its symbolism and difficult ending; and the novella, The Account of David Stonehouse, Exile, for the fully realized dark fantasy story I won't forget.
It really is a noteworthy accomplishment when an author can lose their readers in the world(s) they create. Definitely a must if you are into well-written, dread-filled, period pieces.
My favorites: Lucilla Barton (1857-1880) for its unique, clever structure; A Shadow Passing for its symbolism and difficult ending; and the novella, The Account of David Stonehouse, Exile, for the fully realized dark fantasy story I won't forget.
It really is a noteworthy accomplishment when an author can lose their readers in the world(s) they create. Definitely a must if you are into well-written, dread-filled, period pieces.
January 4, 2022
The second collection from the writer of “The Account of David Stonehouse, Exile” a standalone chapbooks from Dim Shores: (a favorite of mine) also appears in “Among the Lilies.” Mills stylishly compliments the 19th century gothic vibe, his choice of words and old New England settings prepares the plot for Lillies to grow. Then guides the readers over the Supernatural, frightening and sometimes unsettling paths… This collection haunts just right.
The new stories I read in this collection that top my favorites:
Lilies
Dream Children
Canticle
The new stories I read in this collection that top my favorites:
Lilies
Dream Children
Canticle
January 26, 2022
Being a huge fan of Mills' other book, Moriah, I couldn't wait to dig into his new collection. And I wasn't disappointed. I love the way he creates tension and atmosphere. And some of the sentences and passages require multiple readings before I continue the story, so beautiful is his command of language and style. Wonderful work.
January 16, 2022
Great tales, expertly told. I enjoyed many of the stories and the way they were written. I found "The Account of David Stonehouse, Exile" to be haunting and superbly told. I have a feeling that it will remain in my head to be examined for some time. A haunting unto itself.
December 23, 2025
The Account of David Stonehouse, Exile is such a great novella. A real masterpiece of modern horror in the tradition of the English strange tale and folk horror. Gorgeous prose, sinister religious imagery, body or nature horror but I can’t tell which.
August 17, 2021
My full review is published elsewhere. I just want to point out that the collection includes some excellent ghostly tales in the tradition of the best supernatural fiction
February 2, 2022
A wonderful collection of literary horror, which often feels like it came straight out of nineteenth-century New England. Every kind of haunting is explored in this book.
March 14, 2022
Could not rate this one. I know the writing is good but for me could not follow the stories well. Just not my think I believe.
October 16, 2022
I don't think short stories are for me. I really liked some of them and some I just wanted to skip. 2.5 but ill round it up as I think the writing is good, just not for me.
October 17, 2022
Beautifully written heartache!
September 13, 2024
I read this while bed-ridden with a mysterious fever (almost certainly Gothic in origin) and found it to be the perfect companion to a state of semi-delirium.
November 8, 2025
I unfortunately found this collection very inconsistent. The Gothic works were each striking, while the later stories that dealt with religion as a major theme bordered on incoherent.
November 27, 2021
Something Abides After Such Horror: a Review of Daniel Mills’s Collection, AMONG THE LILIES
I initially became acquainted with Mills’s work back in 2014, when I picked up a copy of The Lord Came at Twilight (Dark Renaissance Books), a collection that, I might note, continues to garner much (and well-deserved) praise. (Bonus: each story in this volume is supplemented by an illustration by M. Wayne Miller.) Not long after, I was privileged to have a story appear along with Mills in the inaugural installment of C.M. Muller’s annual anthology, Nightscript (Chthonic Matter, 2015); and it was with the tale therein, “Below the Falls,” that I grew piqued by the author’s storytelling strength. Among the Lilies (Undertow Publications, 2021) is his latest fiction collection.
Using the term “channeling” when assessing Mills’s work, I intend it devoid of pejorative. Daniel Mills writes without emulation, but his style taps into a medium of Kodachrome antiquity, conjuring an aesthetic of arresting sagacity.
One can find a number of stories that are period pieces, of a sort — stories that, while paying reverence to traditions ossified by Hawthorne, Bronte, and Brockden Brown, operate as an enhancement to the forms of the Gothic and nineteenth-century supernatural horror. Mills acknowledges this in sly blips, communicating to his audience, “We talked of music and literature and I admitted even my love of Poe and Hawthorne and to the escape I had found in romances of the darkest character” (“Lilies”).
Other tales, though, are robust in their modern mode. I’d point to “The Lake” and (a dark little ditty with which I’m particularly enamored) “Dream Children”; I’ve been unable to cast light onto the surface of water at night without a stitch of icy unease since reading it. The collection is capped off by the impressive novella, “The Account of David Stonehouse, Exile,” which originally appeared as a standalone volume published by Dim Shores in 2016.
Regardless of the era Mills places his readers, he conducts his literary tours with a professorial lack of pretension, revealing stories that are sharp and crisp — tales that hum with neon solemnity.
After all this time, I find Mills’s writing creatively nourishing, and I believe unacquainted readers will find his skills, as one of his characters puts it, “not inconsiderable.” Conversely, to his steadfast friends: those who know this, know. I’ve stated it elsewhere, but it bears repeating: Deft and unsettling, Daniel Mills’s Among the Lilies is a haunting enhancement of modern horror fiction — an electrically delicate collection of specters.
I initially became acquainted with Mills’s work back in 2014, when I picked up a copy of The Lord Came at Twilight (Dark Renaissance Books), a collection that, I might note, continues to garner much (and well-deserved) praise. (Bonus: each story in this volume is supplemented by an illustration by M. Wayne Miller.) Not long after, I was privileged to have a story appear along with Mills in the inaugural installment of C.M. Muller’s annual anthology, Nightscript (Chthonic Matter, 2015); and it was with the tale therein, “Below the Falls,” that I grew piqued by the author’s storytelling strength. Among the Lilies (Undertow Publications, 2021) is his latest fiction collection.
Using the term “channeling” when assessing Mills’s work, I intend it devoid of pejorative. Daniel Mills writes without emulation, but his style taps into a medium of Kodachrome antiquity, conjuring an aesthetic of arresting sagacity.
One can find a number of stories that are period pieces, of a sort — stories that, while paying reverence to traditions ossified by Hawthorne, Bronte, and Brockden Brown, operate as an enhancement to the forms of the Gothic and nineteenth-century supernatural horror. Mills acknowledges this in sly blips, communicating to his audience, “We talked of music and literature and I admitted even my love of Poe and Hawthorne and to the escape I had found in romances of the darkest character” (“Lilies”).
Other tales, though, are robust in their modern mode. I’d point to “The Lake” and (a dark little ditty with which I’m particularly enamored) “Dream Children”; I’ve been unable to cast light onto the surface of water at night without a stitch of icy unease since reading it. The collection is capped off by the impressive novella, “The Account of David Stonehouse, Exile,” which originally appeared as a standalone volume published by Dim Shores in 2016.
Regardless of the era Mills places his readers, he conducts his literary tours with a professorial lack of pretension, revealing stories that are sharp and crisp — tales that hum with neon solemnity.
After all this time, I find Mills’s writing creatively nourishing, and I believe unacquainted readers will find his skills, as one of his characters puts it, “not inconsiderable.” Conversely, to his steadfast friends: those who know this, know. I’ve stated it elsewhere, but it bears repeating: Deft and unsettling, Daniel Mills’s Among the Lilies is a haunting enhancement of modern horror fiction — an electrically delicate collection of specters.
August 27, 2021
Among the Lilies is a rather singular collection by a writer whose prose style and recurring themes might almost be mistaken for those common to 19th-century weird and horror fiction. Daniel Mills and his protagonists amble in delicate menace through the tangibly-described natural scenery of a New England that no longer quite exists, leaving a tapestry of subtle terror creeping in their wake.
The triumph of this collection is the weight of dread that builds and builds as one progresses through its stories. Mills’s impeccable prose wastes nary a word as he spins his webs of enigmatic fear, entangling readers in mysteries without explanation that somehow reveal the world as a place both inexplicable and horrifying. Readers who appreciate beautiful writing will find much to admire here.
The only jarring note for me in an otherwise seamless collection was the sequencing that placed a story set partly in 1997 after several stories set in what sometimes appears to be and is sometimes explicitly stated to be the mid-to-late 1800s. While the tone of that story, “The Lake,” settled into something that fit the book, its rather more 20th-century themes of boys and bikes and traumatic coming-of-age experiences felt a little at odds with the other stories’ recurring themes of ill, dying, mad, and illicitly—often incestuously—sexual women and the men who are in some way ruined by proximity to such women’s pregnancies, birthings of children, and inevitable deaths. I also could not help feeling a little put off by the collection’s preoccupation with the horrors adjacent to female sexuality and illness—why is it that men must always find such horror in feminine existence?—though Mills certainly does not treat these horrors lightly, and I will add that my distaste and unease in some ways served to make the stories even more frightening, which may well have been the author’s intent.
Ultimately, though I did not always enjoy this collection’s themes, I could not help being swept away by its captivating style and the sheer quality of its sentence-level writing. I imagine I will keep an eye out for other books by Mills, and will recommend this volume to readers in search of something both excellently written and truly frightening.
I received a free digital advance copy of this title from Undertow Publications via Edelweiss+ in exchange for my review.
The triumph of this collection is the weight of dread that builds and builds as one progresses through its stories. Mills’s impeccable prose wastes nary a word as he spins his webs of enigmatic fear, entangling readers in mysteries without explanation that somehow reveal the world as a place both inexplicable and horrifying. Readers who appreciate beautiful writing will find much to admire here.
The only jarring note for me in an otherwise seamless collection was the sequencing that placed a story set partly in 1997 after several stories set in what sometimes appears to be and is sometimes explicitly stated to be the mid-to-late 1800s. While the tone of that story, “The Lake,” settled into something that fit the book, its rather more 20th-century themes of boys and bikes and traumatic coming-of-age experiences felt a little at odds with the other stories’ recurring themes of ill, dying, mad, and illicitly—often incestuously—sexual women and the men who are in some way ruined by proximity to such women’s pregnancies, birthings of children, and inevitable deaths. I also could not help feeling a little put off by the collection’s preoccupation with the horrors adjacent to female sexuality and illness—why is it that men must always find such horror in feminine existence?—though Mills certainly does not treat these horrors lightly, and I will add that my distaste and unease in some ways served to make the stories even more frightening, which may well have been the author’s intent.
Ultimately, though I did not always enjoy this collection’s themes, I could not help being swept away by its captivating style and the sheer quality of its sentence-level writing. I imagine I will keep an eye out for other books by Mills, and will recommend this volume to readers in search of something both excellently written and truly frightening.
I received a free digital advance copy of this title from Undertow Publications via Edelweiss+ in exchange for my review.
kindle-tbr
September 9, 2024if i don't like this...
"Below the Falls"
rating: tbd/5
"The Woman in the Wood"
rating: tbd/5
"Lucilla Barton (1857–1880)"
rating: tbd/5
"Lilies"
rating: tbd/5
"The Lake"
rating: tbd/5
"A Shadow Passing"
rating: tbd/5
"Dream Children"
rating: tbd/5
"Lincoln Hill"
rating: tbd/5
"A Sleeping Life"
rating: tbd/5
"Arena"
rating: tbd/5
"Canticle"
rating: tbd/5
"The Account of David Stonehouse, Exile"
rating: tbd/5
"Below the Falls"
rating: tbd/5
"The Woman in the Wood"
rating: tbd/5
"Lucilla Barton (1857–1880)"
rating: tbd/5
"Lilies"
rating: tbd/5
"The Lake"
rating: tbd/5
"A Shadow Passing"
rating: tbd/5
"Dream Children"
rating: tbd/5
"Lincoln Hill"
rating: tbd/5
"A Sleeping Life"
rating: tbd/5
"Arena"
rating: tbd/5
"Canticle"
rating: tbd/5
"The Account of David Stonehouse, Exile"
rating: tbd/5
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews