{"product_id":"the-midnight-muse-9781960988805","title":"The Midnight Muse","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhen a metal band's lead singer vanishes in the woods, the mushrooms in the forest might know more than they're letting on in this mycelium-metal horror novel from Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author Jo Kaplan.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe dead collect in low places.\u003c\/i\u003e That's what Brynn Werner, lead singer of metal band Queen Carrion, wrote in her notebook before she vanished while staying at a cabin in Oregon's Umpqua National Forest.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eA year later, on the anniversary of her disappearance, the rest of her bandmates visit the cabin to remember her and find a way to move on. But tensions arise over who should be their new singer and who is responsible for Brynn's disappearance--tensions that boil over as they realize not all is as it seems at Trail Creek Cabin.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eStrange entries in the guestbook write about visions of a pale form that moves through the trees, figures wearing gas masks lurk in the distance, and there's a strange fungus growing from the wall of a tunnel in the cabin's basement. Then they hear Brynn's voice echo impossibly through the forest--and the pale form that emerges from the trees is her perfect likeness. Is it her ghost...or something else?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eBrynn knew there was a secret in these woods. It's why she chased her muse here to finish her masterpiece. \u003ci\u003eThe Midnight Muse\u003c\/i\u003e is an alluring and grotesque dissection of self and fungus. Kaplan delivers an ominous spiral of psychological torment as the members of Queen Carrion slip into a more \u003ci\u003enatural\u003c\/i\u003e skin.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Jo Kaplan\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Clash Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/10\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 350\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.01lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.77d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781960988805\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/12\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/01\/2026 pg. 44\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJo Kaplan is the Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author of \u003ci\u003eIt Will Just Be Us\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eWhen the Night Bells Ring\u003c\/i\u003e. Her short stories have appeared in \u003ci\u003eFireside Quarterly, Black Static, Nightmare Magazine, Vastarien, Horror Library, Nightscript\u003c\/i\u003e, and numerous other anthologies and magazines. In addition to writing, she teaches English at Glendale Community College and is the co-chair of the Horror Writers Association's Los Angeles chapter. She also plays cello in both the Symphony of the Verdugos and the band Guerra\/paz.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"Jo Kaplan \/ Paperback \/ English","offer_id":47733900738717,"sku":"9781960988805","price":41.06,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/files\/img_f03f1e16-5d9f-4e18-b13b-da6a2db30a12.jpg?v=1773738270","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/the-midnight-muse-9781960988805","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}