“This one haunts you for reasons you can’t quite put your finger on. . . . [Josh Malerman] defies categories and comparisons with other writers.”—Kirkus Reviews
Carol Evers is a woman with a dark secret. She has died many times . . . but her many deaths are not final: They are comas, a waking slumber indistinguishable from death, each lasting days.
Only two people know of Carol’s eerie condition. One is her husband, Dwight, who married Carol for her fortune, and—when she lapses into another coma—plots to seize it by proclaiming her dead and quickly burying her . . . alive. The other is her lost love, the infamous outlaw James Moxie. When word of Carol’s dreadful fate reaches him, Moxie rides the Trail again to save his beloved from an early, unnatural grave.
And all the while, awake and aware, Carol fights to free herself from the crippling darkness that binds her—summoning her own fierce will to survive. As the players in this drama of life and death fight to decide her fate, Carol must in the end battle to save herself.
The haunting story of a woman literally bringing herself back from the dead, Unbury Carol is a twisted take on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the final page.
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10 books in catalog
Post-apocalyptic horror fiction gained widespread attention with the publication of Bird Box, a novel exploring psychological survival under total sensory deprivation that was later adapted into a feature film. Josh Malerman introduced readers to this sensory-focused narrative, establishing a distinct presence in contemporary horror and speculative fiction.
Before publishing his debut novel with ECCO/HarperCollins in 2014, Josh Malerman wrote fourteen complete novels without ever shopping a single manuscript to agents or publishers. During this period, he spent six years touring extensively as a singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitarist for the Detroit-based rock band The High Strung, playing an average of 250 shows a year across the United States. He wrote many of his early rough drafts in the passenger seat of the tour van while traveling between cities. For years, Malerman maintained what he described as a glorious delusion, engaging in phantom interviews, imagining interactions with fictional literary agents, debating invisible editors, and placing imaginary hardcover books on his shelves.
The situation changed when Dave Simmer, a friend from high school who had worked with authors and properties in Hollywood, contacted Malerman to ask permission to share one of his manuscripts with contacts in the publishing industry. Simmer helped assemble a professional team, leading to representation by a real agent and active editorial guidance. Following the release of Bird Box in 2014, Malerman published numerous novels, novellas, and short story collections while remaining active in music and later co-founding the production company Spin a Black Yarn in 2020.
Malerman's fiction is marked by high-concept psychological tension, atmospheric horror, and rhythmic pacing influenced by his musical background. Heavily influenced by classic horror films and literature such as The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby, and Bram Stoker's Dracula, alongside classic authors like William Faulkner and Fyodor Dostoevsky, he often constructs book structures with the sequencing and flow of music albums. His stories frequently revolve around unseen or inexplicable threats, close-knit family dynamics, and high-stakes survival scenarios that force characters to navigate extreme environmental or sensory restrictions.
