The Deading by Nick Belardes
“Do not eat fish from these waters. Or oysters. Really, just stay inland. Except that, in The Deading, that doesn't necessarily mean you're safe, either.” —Stephen Graham Jones, bestselling author of The Only Good Indians
Erewhon Books is pleased to announce The Deading, the debut novel from Nick Belardes, arriving next year in the Summer of 2024.
A lyrical eco-horror novel, The Deading records the downward spiral of a small California town as the town's environment and populace succumb to a strange phenomenon called “deading,” which irrevocably transforms their lives forever.
Author Nick Belardes had this to say: “What can I say but the future is grim! The Deading is an eco-horror lens into this present condition. And this novel is possible because of team Erewhon! I feel lucky to have met Diana Pho. Her insight has allowed me to further bore into this dark world, this foreseeably grim future. In doing so, she not only helped interpret this work in new ways, but through her expert guidance and curiosity, has unearthed something deeper about our human condition. I hope this story goes beyond what our imaginations may have previously encountered about our climate crisis. Erewhon has especially provided an exciting, generous outlet to the marginalized narratives that encapsulate The Deading. I feel so fortunate! And come on, their books, authors, and book covers are really freakin’ cool!”
A writer of the American West, Nicholas Belardes’s fiction often combines elements of literary fantastic, fantasy, eco-horror, and science fiction. His obsession with nature, history, the world’s ongoing climate disasters, blended with a daily birdwatching habit, has filled his prose with not just warblers and flycatchers, but also other obscurities from the natural world. His work has appeared in Speculative Fiction for Dreamers (Ohio State University Press), Carve Magazine and more. He’s currently wrapping up his MFA at UC Riverside Palm Desert Low Residency where he worked with Stephen Graham Jones and Tod Goldberg.
Editor Diana Pho added, “Disquieting, haunting, and aching, The Deading kept me awake long into the small hours of the night thinking about the horrors of nature, both human and otherwise. Not to mention how much I learned about birding from Nick! This is a gem of a book, and I can't wait for others to discover its dark beauty.”
The official book synopsis is below:
If you want to stay, you have to die.
In a small fishing town known for its aging birding community and the local oyster farm, a hidden evil emerges from the depths of the ocean. It begins with sea snails washing ashore, attacking whatever they cling to. This mysterious infection starts transforming the wildlife, the seascapes, and finally, the people.
Once infected, residents of Baywood start “deading”: collapsing and dying, only to rise again, changed in ways both fanatical and physical. As the government cuts the town off from the rest of the world, the uninfected, including the introverted bird-loving Blas and his jaded older brother Chango, realize their town could be ground zero for a fundamental shift in all living things.
Soon, disturbing beliefs and autocratic rituals emerge, overseen by the death-worshiping Risers. People must choose how to survive, how to find home, and whether or not to betray those closest to them. Stoked by paranoia and isolation, tensions escalate until Blas, Chango, and the survivors of Baywood must make their escape or become subsumed by this terrifying new normal.
At points claustrophobic and haunting, soulful and melancholic, The Deading lyrically explores the disintegration of society, the horror of survival and adaptation, and the unexpected solace found through connections in nature and between humans.
Cover reveal and preorder links to come soon!