Available in paperback from Whiskey Tit.   $18.   ISBN 978-1-952600-55-5

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After God created the Prison of the World, he threw away the key. In this collection of uncanny and disconcerting stories, a few unfortunate but charismatic innocents seek to find it. Any luck? Read Divine In Essence to find out!

Ten tales of the Strange to unchain you from the Real:

—a young boy captive in his stepmother’s glass eye,

—the engrossing diary of a sassy and intrepid girl-ghost,

—an “impudent” woman consigned to a passive life in a mirror,

—a mutilated Fury ransacking the dream world,

—Icarus mired in Brigitte Bardot,

—and more!

The stories of Divine In Essence exemplify a sui generis slipstream style that deftly weaves a psychedelic literary fabric from elements of Fabulism, Occult Horror, Oneiric Fiction, Irrealism, and the Weird. Attune your mind and be transformed. Escape!

(Nota bene for trigger-sensitive peeps: contains disturbing scenes, harm to children, and ontological dysphoria—sometimes even all at once.)

“Yarrow Paisley dictates dreams onto paper. His work is like nothing else I’ve read—enchanting, touching, terrifying, absurd.”
—E. Catherine Tobler, author of The Necessity of Stars

“With his trademark sly humor, Paisley has created a world in a glass eye, a tour de force guaranteed to give readers delightful nightmares.”
—Mickey J. Corrigan, author of What I Did for Love

Relevant Publicity

BookView Review author interview.

Literary Titan author interview.

What the World is Saying

“Paisley crafts ten nightmarish short stories sure to lodge—if not fester—in the minds of readers. With subjects ranging from the supernatural to the shockingly commonplace, Paisley’s horrors are stomach-turning and grotesque, perfect for reading during a storm or under the covers by flashlight. […] While it doesn’t guarantee happy endings, there’s joy in these grim stories that echo, in tone, the early greats of cosmic horror. Paisley seems to dance with them, the playfulness keeping readers on edge—it’s never safe to get comfortable. This hard-to-forget collection offers many dark rewards.”
—BookLife by Publisher’s Weekly

“Yarrow Paisley’s spellbinding short story collection Divine In Essence concerns ghosts, possession, violence, sex, and death—topics handled with generous amounts of the weird and monstrous.”
—Marjorie Jensen, Foreword Clarion Reviews, ★★★★

“Paisley’s ornate, baroque prose—dense with inventive imagery and wordplay, by turns luminous and tenebrous—evokes comparisons to literary horror writers such as Thomas Ligotti and Caitlin R. Kiernan.”
—Edward Sung, IndieReader, ~★★★★

“An irreverent and boundary-pushing collection of short stories, Divine In Essence is a burst of radical creativity with a heavy dose of darkness. Readers will find their stomach in knots, or their mind twisted by the kaleidoscoping puzzles in the prose, which is a testament to the original power of this writing. From the supernatural and hypersexual to the deeply divine and philosophical, this aggressively unique read expands the scope of the horror genre, asserting Paisley as an exemplary writer of dark fiction.”
—SPR Review, ★★★★★

“A psychedelic reimagining of reality, where the ordinary brims with magic and unease, and traditional storytelling conventions dissolve. Paisley’s prose is hypnotic, weaving lyrical beauty with sinister undertones. The characters, grotesque yet achingly human, grapple with metaphysical forces in landscapes where transformation is inevitable and often horrifying. Gothic in its sensibility but modern in its execution, the stories oscillate between visceral horror and reflective musing, creating an unnerving rhythm that enthrals and unsettles in equal measure. Not for the faint-hearted, the book is graphic, provocative, and deeply layered.”
—The Prairies Book Review

“Darkly imaginative tales that dissect human nature with unflinching precision. […] A must-read for fans of finely-constructed, thought-provoking fiction.”
—BookView Review, Recommended Book

“Yarrow excels at setting ostensibly innocent scenes, using charming protagonists as bait, then trapping readers in a room with all their most deep-seated terrors, particularly those tied to the intricate challenges of being human. […] This trailblazing collection will profoundly impact any who engage with it deeply.”
—R.C. Gibson, Indies Today, ★★★★★

“A collection of ten amazing short stories that blend literary styles and evoke a range of emotions, from unsettling to beautifully frightening.”
—Andrew Okiemute, Book Nerdection, ★★★★★

“This collection is unlike anything I’ve read before. […] For fans of surreal horror, it’s a rewarding challenge. Each story stands out in its own right, and there’s not a weak one in the bunch. It’s best enjoyed story by story, allowing time to digest each one’s unique oddities. Divine in Essence is perfect for readers who crave something deeply strange and entirely original.”
—Literary Titan, ★★★★

“Yarrow Paisley has a gift for finding unusual metaphors, drawing connections between the most seemingly unrelated things, and diving deep into the psyches of characters living through incomprehensible experiences.”
—Gabriel Santos, Readers’ Favorite, ★★★★★

“Divine In Essence is a captivating collection that explores the complex relationships between parents and their children, obsession, and selfhood, and the haunting legacies left by both love and loss.”
—Doreen Chombu, Readers’ Favorite, ★★★★★

“Paisley’s exploration of human curiosity and the universal longing for freedom from life’s constraints adds a powerful resonance that continued to haunt me long after I had set the stories down.”
—K.C. Finn, Readers’ Favorite, ★★★★★

“Yarrow Paisley’s writing is poetic and scary, brilliantly capturing the otherworldly nature of each story with a pace that keeps the reader on edge, never knowing what bizarre twist may emerge next.”
—Chad Richins, Readers’ Favorite, ★★★★★

“I loved the sarcasm and the subtleness, which made the book effective in passing on the intended message without alienating anyone.”
—Frank Mutuma, Readers’ Favorite, ★★★★★

“Paisley is an accomplished, experienced writer who blends elements of horror, eroticism, suspense, tragedy, and fantasy. He uses literary devices such as narration from the point of view of inanimate objects, personification, complex metaphors, and descriptive writing to establish his distinctive voice as an author and produce an incredibly diverse collection of short stories.”
—Joslyn Vann, US Review of Books

“The stories balance eerie, otherworldly scenarios with deeply human emotions, creating a strange familiarity amidst the weirdness. Each story is so fabulous that every reader, upon reading the same pages as the next, will have read a different story. There’s magic in a book like that.”
—Allison Walker, Hollywood Book Reviews, Starred Review

“There are some recurring themes in Paisley’s work, specifically, body horror and the oftentimes unpleasant relationships between children and adults. This isn’t splatter horror by any means, but there are scenes of mutilation that might give some readers nightmares.”
—Richard Bist, Reader Views, ★★★★★

“A collection of stories that takes readers beyond the realms of the average imagination into unknown worlds and to encounter mysterious creatures. With unexpected plot twists and engaging characters, these stories are collectively an entertaining and thought-provoking read. Fans of ghost stories as well as science fiction are sure to enjoy this eclectic mix of up-all-night, hard-to-put-down stories.”
—Dawn Colclasure, Reader Views, ★★★★★

“A masterpiece for readers who crave thrill, terror, and literary depth. Yarrow Paisley crafts a world through language, plot, and horrifying and uniquely beautiful characters.”
—BookBelow