The Mortuary Arts by John Gregory Hancock

Like many of his characters, life has shaped and unshaped him.

They are hopelessly landlocked in Midwest America, far from ocean or desert. Except for the ones that do.' He lives with his wife and soul mate (who puts up with him, beyond all logic) and a fantastically brilliant son (who thrashes him soundly in video games - really, it's no contest). I entreat you to undo the latch and let them in to lie upon your hearth. They travel unique and varied paths to arrive at your shuttered door. The foreword to his 'A Plague of Dreams' says it well: 'These stories, these lies, these Dreamwood Tales, are dipped in the heady ink of my fevered dreams. Hancock is not tied to any one genre, but is comfortable in the science fiction/fantasy/horror realm.

His work has appeared in other anthologies, including Prep For Doom, Bite-Sized Offerings: Tales & Legends of the Zombie Apocalypse, Flying Toasters - The DeadPixel Tales, and Off the Kuf. The Immortality Chronicles - a Top 5 SF Anthology and Hot New Release - featured his story 'The Antares Cigar Shoppe', which was also nominated for Best American Science Fiction. Currently, he has seven books of his own, and has written for The Future Chronicles anthology series, whose titles have hit the overall Amazon Top 10 Bestsellers list. He incorporates his visual sense in his ability to spin compelling yarns. A graphic professional for many years (which is one way to tell a story), his graphic journalism garnered international awards, and was nominated for a Pulitzer. 'synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title. A neo-gothic novella of growing suspense and horror, with 26 beautiful interior illustrations. She learned to find beauty in her newfound art, forming masques to make the dead resemble the living. Kate brazenly used her kerchief to wiped away the concealing powders and stand before them, birthmark revealed and prominent. She knew what she had to do when asked what skills she possessed that qualified her for the position. Desperate, she answered an advertisement for a mortuary assistant, applying makeup to cadavers. When tragedy upended her modest life and dumped her out onto the streets, she was bereft of options. Out of necessity, she became adept at hiding inside her home and behind makeups she formulated and applied herself.

Love was something for which she yearned, but never found within her reach. In 1880s London, that was enough to discourage suitors. Katherine O’Donnell was born with a disfiguring strawberry birthmark across the bottom of her face.

The Mortuary Arts by John Gregory Hancock