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 twelve 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. Bradford Morrow’s chilling inheritance scenario, Jonathan Santlofer’s seductive con game, James Morrow’s heretical tour-de-force, and Elizabeth Hand's wrenching portrait of a dying hedonist exemplify fiction that cuts deep and lingers. Across these pages, the familiar world cracks open to reveal what lies beneath: violence, longing, and the possibility of grace. In a spirited afterword, Junot Díaz urges us to read “hungrily, adventurously, and blasphemously”—the perfect benediction for a compilation that defies conventional artistic boundaries.  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.