The Long Way Still — A Horror Anthology by Erik Bilicki
Amazon #1 Bestseller in Short Story Anthologies & Collections. Released April 14, 2026.
Eight horror stories about landscapes that remember what happened in them — and the quiet horror of discovering they've been practicing. For readers of Shirley Jackson, Paul Tremblay, and Carmen Maria Machado.
Stories
- Dark Water (novella, 21,400 words) — Set during a total solar eclipse in a small Minnesota town. Linnea Koski, the town librarian, sees dark water closing over her. A story about foreknowledge and moral compromise.
- The Dancers (8,900 words) — After a divorce, Matt moves into a decaying shotgun house on Detroit's east side. The house resists being empty.
- The Everlasting Autumn of Nemen (5,700 words) — After a devastating personal loss, Jack and Sarah drive through northern Minnesota and stumble into Nemen — a town suspended in a perfect, unchanging autumn.
- The Bright Angel Ledger (8,500 words) — A man returns to the Grand Canyon during the off-season and finds a weathered ledger concealed within the limestone.
- The Silence (4,400 words) — When sound begins to disappear from the world, communities respond with organization rather than panic.
- Longwave (4,200 words) — A solitary narrator inherits a remote house along Minnesota's North Shore (Lake Superior) with an old radio still tuned to long-forgotten frequencies.
- The Range Below (4,000 words) — A geology student disappears after entering an unlisted Iron Range mine shaft in northern Minnesota.
- The Ghost Bride of Frostbite Creek (6,800 words) — Folk horror in a blizzard on a remote stretch of northern Minnesota.
Press & Reviews
"Readers who appreciate the atmospheric storytelling of Carmen Maria Machado, Paul Tremblay, and Shirley Jackson will find much to admire in The Long Way Still." — Press Release, February 2026
"Atmospheric, unsettling, and quietly haunting." — NewInBooks
"The story about the eclipse was my favorite (Dark Water)... Bilicki uses wonderful, descriptive language about Minnesota sites that are spellbinding." — Jason Kalenborn (Goodreads ARC)
"A haunting collection of stories, perfect to be added to this year's fall reading lists." — Theresa Bourke (Goodreads ARC)
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