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Nathan Ballingrud

(b.1970)

Nathan Ballingrud was born in Massachusetts in 1970, but spent most of his life in the South. His short story collection, North American Lake Monsters, won the Shirley Jackson award, and his collection Wounds was adapted by Netflix. His work has been nominated for the World Fantasy, British Fantasy, and Bram Stoker awards. Among other things, he has been a cook on oil rigs and barges, a waiter, and a bartender in New Orleans. He now lives in Asheville.

Awards: Jackson (2014) see all

Genres: Horror, Science Fiction

New and upcoming books

October 2026

Kingdom of the Conqueror Worm
(Lunar Gothic Trilogy, book 3)

Series

Lunar Gothic Trilogy
   1. Crypt of the Moon Spider (2024)
   2. Cathedral of the Drowned (2025)
   3. Kingdom of the Conqueror Worm (2026)

Novels

The Strange (2023)

Collections

   North American Lake Monsters (2013)
     aka Monsterland
   Wounds (2019)
   The Atlas of Hell (2025)

Novellas and Short Stories

The Visible Filth (2015)

Books containing stories by Nathan Ballingrud

All Hallows' Eve (2026)
edited by
Ellen Datlow

The Big Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy (2025)
edited by
Ellen Datlow

Night & Day (2025)
(Saga Doubles)
edited by
Ellen Datlow

More books

Awards

	2025 Manly Wade Wellman Award : Crypt of the Moon Spider
	2014 Shirley Jackson Award for Single-Author Collection : North American Lake Monsters
	2008 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Short Fiction : The Monsters of Heaven

Award nominations

	2025 World Fantasy Award for Best Novella (nominee) : Crypt of the Moon Spider
	2024 Manly Wade Wellman Award (shortlist) : The Strange
	2024 Locus Award for Best First Novel (nominee) : The Strange
	2020 World Fantasy Award for Best Novella (nominee) : The Butcher's Table
	2020 Shirley Jackson Award for Single-Author Collection (nominee) : Wounds
	2020 British Fantasy Award for Best Novella (nominee) : Butcher's Table
	2016 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novella (nominee) : The Visible Filth
	2014 World Fantasy Award for Best Collection (nominee) : North American Lake Monsters
	2014 Locus Award for Best Novelette (nominee) : The Good Husband
	2014 Locus Award for Best Collection (nominee) : North American Lake Monsters
	2014 British Fantasy Award for Best Collection (nominee) : North American Lake Monsters
	2013 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novelette (nominee) : Wild Acre
	2013 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection (nominee) : North American Lake Monsters
	2012 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Short Fiction (nominee) : Sunbleached
	2010 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Short Fiction (nominee) : The Crevasse

Nathan Ballingrud recommends

The Widows of Winding Gale (2026)
Kealan Patrick Burke
"...one of the best horror stories I've read in a long time. It is many kinds of horror story at once: a ghost story, a sea monster story, a town under siege story, a story about grief and thwarted dreams, a story about profound isolation. You're in for a treat."

The October Film Haunt (2025)
Michael Wehunt
"For a few years now, Michael Wehunt has quietly been producing some of the most unsettling horror short stories in the country. With his first novel, The October Film Haunt, he shows he's even scarier in the long form. This is an eerie and savage work of meta-horror made all the more effective for the delicacy of its psychological portrayals. Slide this one into the VCR and let it wreck you."

When the Wolf Comes Home (2025)
Nat Cassidy
"When the Wolf Comes Home is a big, brawling horror novel that moves with relentless velocity and pitiless fury. Even so, it's driven by a big red beating heart, full of compassion for its characters, if not mercy. Cassidy has raised the bar with this one. It deserves to be a bestseller."

No One Dies from Love (2023)
Robert Levy
"Robert Levy's No One Dies From Love may well end up being the book of the year for me. There is a frankness, a boldness, and a compassion in these stories that give real weight to the darkness they hold. It's easy to caricature human pain and vulnerability in service to a horror story, but Levy writes with honesty and depth, and it makes all the difference. I saw some of my own dark corners reflected back to me in this book, and felt the peace that comes from recognition. And that, to me, is what stories are all about."

The Black Maybe (2022)
Attila Veres
"The Black Maybe, by Attila Veres, is a refreshing blast of cold cellar air. The horror is insidious and surreal, slowly chewing away what you think is real until you find yourself surrounded by a nightmare. I love this book!"

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke And Other Misfortunes (2022)
Eric LaRocca
"Eric LaRocca is like a punk rocker crashing the over-produced world of arena rock in the 1970s: he's ferocious, angry, and coming on at a hundred miles an hour. He reminds us of what horror does better than any other genre: it lets loose the raw primal scream of life."

Boys, Beasts, & Men (2022)
Sam J Miller
"If you're not reading Sam J. Miller, you're seriously missing out."

Red Hands (2020)
(Ben Walker, book 3)
Christopher Golden
"Ben Walker is back in Christopher Golden's Red Hands, a plague novel with a twist you won't see coming. This novel is part thriller, part horror, part science fiction -- in other words, as immediate and timely as this morning's paper. Except in Golden's world, the good guys give as good as they get. And the ride is a hell of a lot more fun."

The Loop (2020)
Jeremy Robert Johnson
"The Loop is the Cronenberg film we never got. It's a volcano of a book: violent, compassionate, relentless, and opulently strange."

Survivor Song (2020)
Paul Tremblay
"For the past few years, Paul Tremblay has been setting the standard for modern horror. His genius is that he never forgets the core of a great horror novel resides first in its characters. In Survivor Song, he revitalizes the zombie novel by keeping the focus narrow and intimate: two women, in the space of a few hours, just trying to get across town. The result is heartfelt and terrifying, in a narrative that moves like a bullet train."

The Twisted Ones (2019)
T Kingfisher
"By turns warm, witty, and frightening, with a charming protagonist, a diverse and vibrant supporting cast, and -- best of all -- a noble, dimwitted dog. Fair warning: there is a razor in the center of this confection, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I won't be forgetting grandmother's house anytime soon."

In the Night Wood (2018)
Dale Bailey
"In the Night Wood taps into the oldest, darkest roots of the fairy tale tradition, presenting the story of a family in crisis while steered by the pagan energies of a wilder age. It is beautiful, heartbreaking, and inspiring. Once again, Dale Bailey proves he’s among the best writers we have."

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