The Ever-Descending Staircase

In an old warehouse in Pennsylvania, a dark and terrible secret is shown to a researcher of spiritual phenomena.Monsters roam the wilds of America, all spawned by a strange being whose cycle of breeding, feasting, and nesting is interrupted by a small-town police officer, a cyber investigator, and a revenge-seeking father.A teenage boy without family or a home encounters tragedy and horror in the snowy woods, where the threshold between human reality and the impossible is guarded by an unlikely creature.At a seedy dive bar, while teetering on the edge of sanity, an afflicted alcoholic meets a stranger who changes his life forever.A pregnant veterinarian at a Wyoming zoo has an unexpected meeting with an infernal presence.A man trapped in a bizarre and lonely afterlife regrets his suicide.A grieving widower learns that even a selfless wish from the heart can end in a horrible fate when asked of cosmic entities beyond human reason and understanding.“James Carlson’s stories are both lyrical and horrific. Within the tales are spiritual battles between good and evil, but Carlson doesn’t rely on simple moralizing; instead, he allows his characters to experience, and sometimes overcome the excruciating suffering that all humans must face. An impressive collection.”—Jon Bassoff, author of CAPTAIN CLIVE’S DREAMWORLD