THE LEAVES FORGET
Olivia has been missing for months. Her family have tried to accept that perhaps she’ll never be found, and they’ll never know what happened.
So when her brother Craig unexpectedly receives a stack of letters from Liv, all written not long after her disappearance, he’s both excited and frightened. Reading through her correspondence, Craig begins to get a sense of where she was, but he still doesn’t know where she is now, or if she’s even still alive.
Using what clues he can from the old letters, Craig sets off with his partner and his father to find Olivia, hoping for the best, fearing the worst.
ISBNs:
978-1-80394-319-0 (hardcover)
978-1-80394-318-3 (signed and numbered hardcover limited to 100 copies)
2023 Aurealis Awards Finalist
Best Horror Novella
2023 Aurealis Awards Finalist
Best Fantasy Novella
PRAISE FOR THE LEAVES FORGET
“The Leaves Forget blends cosy, 21st-century mindfulness beliefs with influences older than history, older than religion, perhaps older than humankind itself, to concoct a terrifying adventure. As ever, Baxter’s characters are fascinating, his prose sharp and his plotting faultless. Dash down this breakneck read in good time to save your sanity.”
– Clare Rhoden, Aurealis Magazine, #167, February 2024
“Absolutely compelling from the very first page, Baxter’s The Leaves Forget had me riveted the entire time. Fast-paced, family-fuelled and leading us to a dark and action-packed ending, this was phenomenal!’
– Steve Stred, 2 x Splatterpunk-nominated author of Mastodon, Father of Lies: The Series, and Churn the Soil
“The Leaves Forget by Alan Baxter is a story that is not easily forgotten. Cults, vengeance, deception and trauma, it’s all there, and you’ll struggle to look away even for a second. Baxter has once again crafted an unsettling and disturbing read, one that will make you hug your loved ones that much tighter.”
– Ross Jeffery, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of The Devil’s Pocketbook and I Died Too, But They Haven’t Buried Me Yet
“Is there anything worse than not knowing? Alan Baxter proves there is, conjuring terror beyond a family’s worst fears in The Leaves Forget, a monstrous, mind-altering tale of cults and the occult set in the dark oubliette of rural Tasmania. A deeply unsettling page-turner from a leader in Australian horror, The Leaves Forget is a journey you just have to take. Transcendent.”
– Lee Murray, five-time Bram Stoker Award®-winning author of Grotesque: Monster Stories
“The pacing was absolute perfection… I picked this up late one evening telling myself I’d read just a couple chapters before bed. Bad idea… Fans of very suspenseful tales with a cult and supernatural feature, go grab a copy right away!”
“This is a novella where the storytelling is brilliantly constructed to grab us from page 1 and keep us on our toes and our anxiety levels high throughout. Baxter uses the letters in a really refreshing way that builds these characters that you’ll care for and the threats to them that we want to stop happening. Strongly recommended for horror fans as the season of spooky arrives.”