Dehiscent

Across a world where the weather lurches between punishing heat and bitter cold, what remains of human society clusters in tiny settlements, where people work hard to gather enough to get by. The Zhus are the exception. Yi has spent her whole life inside the family's ancestral home, shielded from the hardship that wears down everyone around her. Behind its walls, the household enjoys running water, electricity, and more food than anyone outside could imagine. When Yi starts looking for a way to spread that good fortune beyond her family, she uncovers a dreadful secret hidden within the Zhu house.

Dehiscent is an eco-horror story set in a near future that feels uncomfortably close to our own. It explores the kind of humanity that can be found in the most monstrous of places.

Cover art and illustrations are by Ivy Teas.

Ashley Deng is a Canadian-born writer of Chinese-Jamaican heritage with a passion for fantasy and Gothic fiction. Trained in biochemistry, she is drawn to explaining the often impenetrable worlds of science and medicine to general readers. Outside of writing, she enjoys thinking critically about society, culture, and genre fiction. Her writing has appeared in Nightmare, Fireside, Augur, and other publications.