What?
Running with the Pack is an anthology of nineteen short stories and poems by the Fantastic Writers Collective. The tales they tell blend folklore, fantasy, magical realism, horror and the uncanny, all bound in one gorgeously illustrated hardback volume. They create a world where magic whispers from the most mundane moments of ordinary life and nothing is really as it seems.
You can read a spoiler-free summary of all the stories in our Substack post.
Who?
The Fantastic Writers Collective are nine writers who mostly met in 2021 during an online London Lit Lab course taught by Zoe Gilbert (who supplies the foreword for Running with the Pack). Although we share an interest in the uncanny and the fantastical in literature, our writing styles are varied, and the stories in Running with the Pack run the gamut from horror to comedy.
Why?
The Fantastic Writers Collective believe in the power of storytelling as an antidote to a world determined to lock itself in Baba-Yaga’s oven and turn the heat up. We also believe in books, real solid books, as the perfect medium to carry our stories. We decided that Running with the Pack will not be something you can scroll past; it will not be published as an e-book, even if that means fewer sales.
We set about creating an enchanting book with a physical presence to match the timelessness of our stories. This means it’s a hardback printed on good, heavy paper. Our illustrator designed a layout based on medieval book-craft, and produced a series of illustrations using traditional media, often with handmade tools.
Where?
Running with the Pack is available from our online shop. We are keen that when you read your copy of Running with the Pack you should take your time about it, with a drink to hand and a plate of biscuits. To help you do this each copy comes with a free recipe card for our very own Wolf Tale (or Tail) Biscuits.
And not only that we will also include a completely unique woodblock printed bookmark.