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    Acquired Taste

    Author Clay McLeod Chapman
    Hardcover
    $28.99 US
    Titan | Titan Books
    On sale Sep 09, 2025 | 304 Pages | 9781835410783
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    A startling, witty and downright terrifying collection of 25 short stories from the "21st century's Richard Matheson" (Richard Chizmar, Chasing the Boogeyman.) Perfect for fans of Paul Tremblay, Rachel Harrison and Eric LaRocca.

    They're feeding on you too.

    A father returns from serving in Vietnam with a strange and terrifying addiction; a man removes something horrifying from his fireplace, and becomes desperate to return it; and a right-wing news channel has its hooks in people in more ways than one. 

    From department store Santas to ghost boyfriends and salamander-worshipping nuns; from the claustrophobia of the Covid-19 pandemic to small-town Chesapeake USA, Clay McLeod Chapman takes universal fears of parenthood, addiction and political divisions and makes them uniquely his own. 

    Packed full of humanity, humour and above all, relentless creeping dread, Acquired Taste is a timely descent into the mind of one of modern horror's finest authors.
    Clay McLeod Chapman is the creator of “The Pumpkin Pie Show” and the author of Rest Area, Nothing Untoward, and The Tribe trilogy. He is the co-author, with Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick, of the middle grade novel Wendell and Wild. In the world of comics, Chapman’s work includes Lazaretto, Iron Fist: Phantom Limb, and Edge of Spiderverse. You can find him at claymcleodchapman.com.
    Clay McLeod Chapman View titles by Clay McLeod Chapman
    BRAM STOKER AWARD FINALIST
    PASTE MAGAZINE MOST ANTICIPATED HORROR BOOKS FALL 2025
    BARNES AND NOBLE BEST BOOKS TO READ FOR HALLOWEEN


    Few writers are as dependably, delightfully depraved as Clay McLeod Chapman, and few pleasures remain in this world like being terrorized by his words. Please don’t start charging us a subscription fee, Clay--with stories like these, it'd be impossible to say no!—Nat Cassidy, author of When the Wolf Comes Home and Mary


    Daring and dread-inducing, creepy and clever, Clay McLeod Chapman defines contemporary horror. He holds a magnifying glass to everything we want to turn away from and forces us to look, and to look closely—Rachel Harrison, USA Today Bestselling author of So Thirsty and Black Sheep


    Clay McLeod Chapman is a true master of horror.—CJ Leede, author of Maeve Fly and American Rapture


    Masterful. Each individual story in ACQUIRED TASTE is instantly iconic, with sharp prose, dark humor, and situations that feel inexplicably real. This deserves to be talked about in the same breath as King's NIGHT SHIFT and other such classics.—Sam Rebelein, Bram Stoker Award Nominated author of EDENVILLE and GALLOWAY'S GOSPEL


    An absolute blast of a collection, full of unforgettable imagery packed into tightly crafted, page-turning gems of short fiction.—Paste Magazine


    My favorite quasi-Kingian book is “Acquired Taste: Chilling Stories,” by Clay McLeod Chapman, whose excellent shorts recall the winking audacity of King’s stories.—Chicago Tribune


    Acquired Taste... will gross you out, make you laugh and get under your skin in the best kind of way. There’s a story in here for everybody, perfect for the spooky season and beyond.—Page Six


    From scary to unsettling to just plain satiric, ACQUIRED TASTE shows Clay McLeod Chapman using his unique voice to cover horrific moments and thoughts that reflect on both the hidden and overt things in the modern world around us.—BookReporter


    Twisted, tender, deranged, Chapman has a singular voice that is strange and weird and beautiful, and does not falter throughout... it is a privilege to be a horror reader who exists at the same time [he] is writing.—FanFiAddict


    If you’re already a fan of Chapman’s writing, “Acquired Taste” is a must-own. If you’re new to his work, it’s the perfect jumping-off point. —Macabre Daily


    Chapman excels in taking something familiar and twisting it to show that there are horrors beyond belief in ordinary places.—Library Journal, starred review


    A literary punch to the heart—New York Times on Stay on the Line


    A modern horror maestro—Dread Central

    About

    A startling, witty and downright terrifying collection of 25 short stories from the "21st century's Richard Matheson" (Richard Chizmar, Chasing the Boogeyman.) Perfect for fans of Paul Tremblay, Rachel Harrison and Eric LaRocca.

    They're feeding on you too.

    A father returns from serving in Vietnam with a strange and terrifying addiction; a man removes something horrifying from his fireplace, and becomes desperate to return it; and a right-wing news channel has its hooks in people in more ways than one. 

    From department store Santas to ghost boyfriends and salamander-worshipping nuns; from the claustrophobia of the Covid-19 pandemic to small-town Chesapeake USA, Clay McLeod Chapman takes universal fears of parenthood, addiction and political divisions and makes them uniquely his own. 

    Packed full of humanity, humour and above all, relentless creeping dread, Acquired Taste is a timely descent into the mind of one of modern horror's finest authors.

    Author

    Clay McLeod Chapman is the creator of “The Pumpkin Pie Show” and the author of Rest Area, Nothing Untoward, and The Tribe trilogy. He is the co-author, with Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick, of the middle grade novel Wendell and Wild. In the world of comics, Chapman’s work includes Lazaretto, Iron Fist: Phantom Limb, and Edge of Spiderverse. You can find him at claymcleodchapman.com.
    Clay McLeod Chapman View titles by Clay McLeod Chapman

    Praise

    BRAM STOKER AWARD FINALIST
    PASTE MAGAZINE MOST ANTICIPATED HORROR BOOKS FALL 2025
    BARNES AND NOBLE BEST BOOKS TO READ FOR HALLOWEEN


    Few writers are as dependably, delightfully depraved as Clay McLeod Chapman, and few pleasures remain in this world like being terrorized by his words. Please don’t start charging us a subscription fee, Clay--with stories like these, it'd be impossible to say no!—Nat Cassidy, author of When the Wolf Comes Home and Mary


    Daring and dread-inducing, creepy and clever, Clay McLeod Chapman defines contemporary horror. He holds a magnifying glass to everything we want to turn away from and forces us to look, and to look closely—Rachel Harrison, USA Today Bestselling author of So Thirsty and Black Sheep


    Clay McLeod Chapman is a true master of horror.—CJ Leede, author of Maeve Fly and American Rapture


    Masterful. Each individual story in ACQUIRED TASTE is instantly iconic, with sharp prose, dark humor, and situations that feel inexplicably real. This deserves to be talked about in the same breath as King's NIGHT SHIFT and other such classics.—Sam Rebelein, Bram Stoker Award Nominated author of EDENVILLE and GALLOWAY'S GOSPEL


    An absolute blast of a collection, full of unforgettable imagery packed into tightly crafted, page-turning gems of short fiction.—Paste Magazine


    My favorite quasi-Kingian book is “Acquired Taste: Chilling Stories,” by Clay McLeod Chapman, whose excellent shorts recall the winking audacity of King’s stories.—Chicago Tribune


    Acquired Taste... will gross you out, make you laugh and get under your skin in the best kind of way. There’s a story in here for everybody, perfect for the spooky season and beyond.—Page Six


    From scary to unsettling to just plain satiric, ACQUIRED TASTE shows Clay McLeod Chapman using his unique voice to cover horrific moments and thoughts that reflect on both the hidden and overt things in the modern world around us.—BookReporter


    Twisted, tender, deranged, Chapman has a singular voice that is strange and weird and beautiful, and does not falter throughout... it is a privilege to be a horror reader who exists at the same time [he] is writing.—FanFiAddict


    If you’re already a fan of Chapman’s writing, “Acquired Taste” is a must-own. If you’re new to his work, it’s the perfect jumping-off point. —Macabre Daily


    Chapman excels in taking something familiar and twisting it to show that there are horrors beyond belief in ordinary places.—Library Journal, starred review


    A literary punch to the heart—New York Times on Stay on the Line


    A modern horror maestro—Dread Central

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