Out of Body: Stories

A wildly inventive collection of interconnected speculative stories—spanning the multiverse, demonic attachment, and life after death—from an electrifying new voice in fiction.

An aimless ghost haunts his ex-girlfriend for evidence that she’s actually upset about his death.

A group of teens discovers a machine that purports to predict the best day of its users’ lives.

A young woman is horrified to discover that an aggressive stranger she met on a night of bar-hopping now manifests in every photo that is taken of her.

A drunken posse descends into the woods in search of clowns that have been terrorizing their small town.

Chris Vanjonack’s fiction is haunted not only by specters of death, but by the elusive questions of life, and above all, the wonder and horror of the infinite. Uncanny, surreal, and infectiously clever, the stories in this linked collection contain horrors great and small, fueled as much by the fantastic as by longing, dread, and all-too-human frailties.

Morbidly funny and brilliantly observed, Out of Body is an atmospheric, dead original feast for the senses.

"Eerie, unhinged, and hilarious, these stories are the work of a true original. Chris Vanjonack is the best new writer I've encountered in a long while!" - Dan Chaon, author of One of Us

“Steeped in wondrous weirdness and heart, Chris Vanjonack’s stories take you into the most vulnerable nooks of his characters’ humanity. These stories deliver wildly entertaining premises that unfold tenderly, poignantly and hilariously. A sparkling delight to read!” - Gerardo Sámano Córdova, author of Monstrilio

"Chris Vanjonack's Out of Body is its own singularity. A dazzling collection where characters aren’t bound to a single story, let alone a single universe. Teeming with haunts and heartbreak, this book will leave you breathless." - Gus Moreno, author of This Thing Between Us

“Chris Vanjonack's stories are weird and shimmering little worlds, surreal spaces warmed by the unmistakable feeling of something I know very well passing between characters. I'll read everything he writes.” - Elissa Washuta, author of White Magic

“Chris Vanjonack’s debut collection is completely fresh—quirky and subtle, sometimes dark, always very, very funny. All the stories stick with you. If Joy Willliams and Kelly Link begat a literary heir, his stories would read like Chris Vanjonack’s.” - David Wright Faladé, author of Black Cloud Rising and The New Internationals