Axe: Stories That Cut Deep

Heresy Press’s new anthology, Axe: Stories That Cut Deep, gathers dazzling short fiction from some of today’s most acclaimed voices, including National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize winners. Inspired by Kafka’s injunction that “a book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us,” these thirteen stories strike at complacency with audacity and style. Joyce Carol Oates, Sherman Alexie, Chuck Palahniuk, Lionel Shriver, Andrew Doyle, Richard North Patterson, Jeffrey Ford, David Sedaris, and Alice Walker deliver tales of cruelty, compassion, delusion, and revelation—from gothic horror and biting satire to surreal fables and lyrical meditations. Across these pages, the familiar world cracks open to reveal what lies beneath: violence, longing, and the possibility of grace.

In these daring tales by celebrated and boundary-pushing authors, nothing is as it seems. Joyce Carol Oates reveals the dark roots of genius, while Sherman Alexie charts a Native scholar’s mystical return to his heritage. Bradford Morrow turns inheritance into horror; Lionel Shriver and David Sedaris skewer modern taboos, and Chuck Palahniuk exposes the dark seamy side of child sex trafficking. Jonathan Santlofer’s seductive thriller and Andrew Doyle’s hallucinatory farce explore deception and madness; Alice Walker and Elizabeth Hand deliver haunting explorations of death and grieving, while Richard North Patterson, Jeffrey Ford, and James Morrow expose beauty, compassion, and absurdity in equal measure. Provocative, poignant, and richly imaginative, these thirteen stories dare to tell uncomfortable truths.

In a spirited afterword, Junot Díaz urges readers to read “hungrily, adventurously, and blasphemously”—the perfect benediction for a compilation filled with trenchant, impactful stories.

SHERMAN ALEXIE is a poet, writer, and filmmaker. Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and National Book Award, he is the author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, a beloved classic that sold millions of copies worldwide. His most recent book is a memoir, You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me. Alexie is an enrolled member of the Spokane Tribe and was raised in Wellpinit, Washington, on the Spokane Indian Reservation. He lives with his family in Seattle.

JUNOT DÍAZ was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New Jersey. He is the author of the critically acclaimed novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which won the Pulitzer Prize, and This Is How You Lose Her, a New York Times bestseller and a National Book Award finalist. Díaz is a member of the Heresy Press Advisory Board.

CHUCK PALAHNIUK debuted in 1996 with the novel Fight Club. The book received the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award and was adapted into a 1999 cult classic film directed by David Fincher. Palahniuk has authored over two dozen books, including the New York Times bestsellers Choke, Lullaby, and Haunted. Choke was adapted for film in 2008. He has also written graphic novel sequels to Fight Club and various non-fiction collections.

ANDREW DOYLE is a writer, broadcaster, and stand-up comedian. He is the author of Free Speech and Why It Matters and The New Puritans. As his satirical alter ego, Titania McGrath, he has written My First Little Book of Intersectional Activism. Titania’s live show, Mxnifesto, was staged at the Duchess Theatre in London’s West End. His plays include Borderland (national tour for 7:84 Scotland), The Second Mr. Bailey (BBC Radio 4), and Reacher’s Point (BBC Radio 4).

JEFFREY FORD is the author of the novels The Physiognomy, Memoranda, The Beyond, The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque, The Girl in the Glass, The Shadow Year, and Ahab’s Return. His short story collections are The Fantasy Writer’s Assistant, The Empire of Ice Cream, The Drowned Life, Crackpot Palace, A Natural History of Hell, and Big Dark Hole.

ELIZABETH HAND is the author, most recently, of A Haunting on the Mill, the authorized sequel to Shirley Jackson’s classic novel The Haunting of Hill House. Her two dozen other works of fiction have won many awards, including multiple Shirley Jackson, World Fantasy, and Nebula Awards. She divides her time between Maine and London.

BRADFORD MORROW’s new novel, The Forger’s Requiem, is forthcoming in January 2026 from Grove Atlantic. It completes his Forgers trilogy begun with The Forgers and The Forger’s Daughter. His other novels include Come Sunday, The Almanac Branch, Trinity Fields, Giovanni’s Gift, Ariel’s Crossing, The Diviner’s Tale, and the Prague Sonata, as well as a collection of dark stories, The Uninnocent. Winner of an Academy Award for Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, among other awards, he is the founding editor of Conjunctions.

JAMES MORROW is the author of twelve novels, including Towing Jehovah, Blameless in Abaddon, The Last Witchfinder, and Galápagos Regained, along with five stand-alone novellas. He has received the World Fantasy Award, the Nebula Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, and the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire. Morrow was an early supporter of Heresy Press and presently serves on the Advisory Board.

JOYCE CAROL OATES is the author of many books, including, most recently, Flint Kill Creek: Stories of Mystery and Suspense and Butcher. Among her numerous awards are the National Book Award for Fiction, the PEN/Malamud Award, the National Humanities Medal, and the Jerusalem Prize for the Freedom of the Individual in Society. She lives in Princeton, New Jersey, and serves on the Advisory Board of Heresy Press.

RICHARD NORTH PATTERSON is a lawyer, novelist, and political commentator. His twenty-three novels include sixteen New York Times bestsellers. He has also written two books of political analysis, including the forthcoming Tripwires, which addresses America’s descent into authoritarianism and offers a way forward. His columns have appeared in such publications as The Bulwark, HuffPost, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Times (London),and The Atlantic. He lives in Jacksonville, Florida, and on Martha’s Vineyard with his wife, Dr. Nancy Clair. Patterson is a member of Heresy Press’s Advisory Board.

JONATHAN SANTLOFER is the author of seven novels, including the international bestsellers The Last Mona Lisa and The Lost Van Gogh. His memoir The Widower’s Notebook was a New York Times notable book and a featured segment on Fresh Air with Terry Gross. He has edited seven anthologies, including the New York Times Notable Book It Occurs to Me That I Am America. His artwork is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Tokyo Institute of Contemporary Art. He is the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts grants. He has been a Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome and the Vermont Studio Center and serves on the board of Yaddo, the oldest arts community in the United States. His eighth novel, Ten Perfect Guests, was published in September 2025.

DAVID SEDARIS is the author of Barrel Fever, Holidays on Ice, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls, Calypso, and The Best of Me. His diaries were published in two volumes, Theft By Finding: Diaries 1977–2002 and A Carnival of Snackery: Diaries 2003–2020. His latest books are Happy-Go-Lucky and Pretty Ugly. He lives in England and is a contributor to The New Yorker, the BBC, and CBS NewsSunday Morning.

LIONEL SHRIVER has written widely for the Times (London), the Financial Times, Harper’s Magazine, UnHerd, The Spectator, and many other publications. She has been a guest on countless podcasts and has appeared at events internationally. She is the author of one story collection, an essay collection, and seventeen novels, including Mania, Should We Stay or Should We Go, The Mandibles, and We Need to Talk About Kevin (which became a 2011 film starring Tilda Swinton). Her work has been translated into thirty-five languages. Her latest novel, A Better Life, concerning immigration, appeared in 2026.

ALICE WALKER is a novelist, poet, and essayist. Her best-known work, The Color Purple, won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. It became a feature film directed by Steven Spielberg and was adapted as a Broadway musical. She is also the author of Meridian, The Third Life of Grange Copeland, and multiple poetry collections.