Harvill Secker to publish feminist horror collection from Kirsty Logan

Harvill Secker is publishing a collection of feminist, literary horror stories from Scottish writer Kirsty Logan next October.

Liz Foley, publishing director at Vintage imprint Harvill Secker, acquired world rights to the collection, Things We Say in the Dark, from Cathryn Summerhayes at Curtis Brown.

Things We Say in the Dark is described as an "exhilarating and powerful" collection of dark, feminist tales that centre around women’s fears - among them fear of domesticity, fear of childbearing, and fear of inescapable violence. The collection will span contemporary fairy tales, ghost stories and dark and visceral stories, featuring shark babies, vengeful relatives, an abandoned theme park, kelpies and malevolent strangers.

Foley said she was "thrilled" to be publishing the collection, promising it packs "an extraordinary punch". "Kirsty’s formal invention means every story has something completely distinct and memorable about it but they also cohere brilliantly as a collection, with the pieces speaking to one another about female experience, domestic claustrophobia, desire, family ties and male aggression," she expanded.

Logan's previous work includes novels The Gracekeepers (Harvill Secker, 2015) and The Gloaming (Harvill Secker, April 2018), drawing on themes of love, grief and fairytales, as well as the short story collections A Portable Shelter and The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales (Salt Publishing), the latter the winner of the Polari First Book Prize in 2015. She also co-presents the podcast "Teenage Scream" which dissects 90s teen horror.

The Bookseller reported a boom in sales of short story collections at the start of this year, rising by almost 50% in value to hit their highest level in seven years.