Dead Mediums

"Dan Leach's stories swoop and veer from hilarious to bizarre to poignant and sometimes coalesce into all three within a single paragraph. His voice is unique, so tighten your seat belts, because Dead Mediums will take you on a wild, wild ride." -Ron Rash, author of Serena and Burning Bright

"In Dead Mediums, Dan Leach writes with masterful velocity without sacrificing heart." -T. Geronimo Johnson, author of Welcome to Braggsville and Hold It 'Til It Hurts

"Late in Dan Leach's fantastic new book, a character says, 'I am a Southerner and therefore ruined by ambiguity.' This is the rich territory Leach explores in Dead Mediums-the gray, unmapped, ambiguous terrain of relationships, and his exploration has yielded a truly phenomenal collection, one that should establish Leach's reputation as a contemporary master of the Southern short story. If it doesn't, there is no justice in the literary world. This collection absolutely gleams with artistry and passion. The voices that tell these tales run a crazy, wonderful gamut, from the quiet magical realism of 'Fixers' to the gritty, Larry Brown-esque realism of 'The Devil Is Beating His Wife.' These characters-and the stories they tell-live with you long after you turn the final page. You can't ask for more than that." -Scott Gould, author of The Hammerhead Chronicles and Things That Crash, Things That Fly

"Dan Leach brings American myth to South Carolina with a cast of dreamers, dark-horses, family men, and sexed-up maniacs. Dead Mediums makes clean fantasy of everyday, imperfect life. While ordinary people encounter wizards and commune with the dead, Leach's clear-eyed prose keeps readers close to the tensions between people in concert. This is an honest, playful, soulful book." -Stephen Hundley, author of The Aliens Will Come to Georgia First

"Dan Leach is the South's answer to Haruki Murakami. The confrontational stories in this collection are like magic spells drunk on moonshine, weaving their woozy divinations into your head. Because they are meant to describe you, me, and our modern age, they can't help but be as conniving as a Rick Flair promo, as mean as a two-dollar firecracker, and as Christ-haunted as Flannery O'Connor's subconscious. You will keep thinking about these knowing, sunburnt fables long after you've finished this book" -Matthew Thomas Meade, author of Rocketflower

"One of my favorite things in this world is reading a good story, told well. When I read Dan's stories that's exactly what I got. Dead Mediums is well worth your time and money." -Justin Peter Kinkel-Schuster, singer-songwriter behind Constant Stranger and Take Care, Take Care