Cover Reveal and Story List: The Midnight Vault II

Your eyes aren't deceiving you...it's here!

There’s nothing quite like working on something you love. Even better when you get the delight of sharing the final piece, butterflies included, with the world.

This year, The Midnight Vault was about reimagining how a collaborative effort could be, starting with our open invitation. We were overwhelmed when nearly one hundred writers joined in. Those stories, and the writers who crafted them, showed all of us that great fiction is alive and well.

What could we do but, again, try to up the ante with the final book?

Shane Bzdok strikes again. We are overflowing with gratitude to have his expertise design every feature of the hardcover that will house this year’s publication, The Midnight Vault II.

“As I approached the cover design this year, my goal was to explore expressions that were abstract enough to represent the diverse range of genres, themes, and concepts within, yet versatile enough to provide a creative scaffolding I could iterate on over the course of more volumes to come. I mean, you know, since we are definitely doing this again, right?

The final visual direction for the cover was inspired by a stunning series of liquid art created by artist Susan Wilkinson. I had already been using her imagery as subtle background texture in much of the prior TMV II post artwork.

For the cover, I started with select pieces of Wilkinson’s work, and then pushed the imagery toward a more graphic, posterized look, reducing the colors to a minimal palette. The result is not only beautiful but also the chameleon I was hoping for, as I believe the design could feel equally at home on a horror novel as on the cover of a sci-fi novel, or even a fantasy title.”

—Shane Bzdok

Step Inside the Vault II

Equally as important as what’s on the front of the book is what’s inside. It’s time to announce the lineup of authors and stories to be included! The hardcover book will feature 22 stories across fantasy, sci-fi, horror, thriller, and allegory.

Disclaimer: the page numbers shown in this image are placeholders only. This image does not guarantee final story order.

Inside TMV II

We’re thrilled to announce the authors in The Midnight Vault II – in alphabetical order:

Michele Bardsley: Sympathy from a Devil

Shane Bzdok: Trompe L’oeil

Phillip Carter: Full Spectrum

J Curtis: The Gospel According to Us

Erica Drayton: M.I.R.A.

Andy Futuro: Achievement Unlocked

Garen Glazier: For a Muse of Fire

Larry Hogue: NPCs

Kelsey Howard: Biscuit

Anne Kimbrough: 3 Curses

Edward Marlo Ruiz: The Long Way to Hell

Sean Thomas McDonnell: Birds of a Feather

Layne Mercer: The Billiardist

Ian Patterson: Manufactured Absence

Bryan Pirolli: Opposite Attraction

S.E. Reid: A Perfect Guest

Bridget Riley: Ophidia

DJ Stapleton: The Whistleback

Sandolore Sykes: Shell

Jason Thompson: Evenwicht

EJ Trask: No Promise But Enlightenment

Ben Wakeman: Fall Back

The foreword has been written by Alex Poirier, VP of Blackwing.

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While we’re at it…

From the outset, we knew that bringing a new volume to life would be special — what we dreamed of, though, was a matched set. So we did just that by revisiting the original Midnight Vault in a way that only Shane could.

These two volumes are so beautifully crafted they’ll take your breath away.

Dive into the original Midnight Vault stories enveloped by these brand new cover designs, acting as a unified tour de force on bookshelves.

With only a few final details left to do, we cannot wait to share both of these incredible books with the world.

Follow the authors:

Author Michele Bardsley, Shane Bzdok, Phillip Carter, J. Curtis, Erica Drayton, Andy Futuro, Larry Hogue, Kelsey Howard Writing, Tell Me a Mystery, Garen Glazier, Edward.Marlo.Ruiz, Sean Thomas McDonnell, Layne Mercer, Ian Patterson, Bryan Pirolli, S.E. Reid, Bridget Riley, DJ Stapleton, Sandolore Sykes, Jason Thompson, EJ Trask, Ben Wakeman