"In filth it shall be found" (in sterquiliniis invenitur) is a phrase popularized by psychologist Carl Jung, who wrote extensively on "the shadow side" of the psyche. According to Jung, we are less good, less moral, and less virtuous than we appear to others and even ourselves. He argued that many people operate in a decent manner only because their moral compass hasn't been tested. However, in exploring the shadow side, realizing man's capacity for malevolence, and integrating one's inner monster, people can be actively-rather than passively-moral.

Outcast-Press falls in line with this belief that what you need most often lurks in the recesses you least want to tread: taboo topics, disturbing imagery, and the murky gray area within dichotomies. In this volume, you'll find 20 stories that explore the shadow side of humanity. These stories might disquiet, upset, or even enrage certain readers. Outcast-Press doesn't cater to such cries for censorship because we believe the best art isn't comfortable or comforting. Reading isn't a spectator sport. And since life doesn't come with a trigger warning, neither should literature.

In these stories, we hope each author has explored the shadow side of their mind. Perhaps by working through past trauma or delving into a place that frightens them. For each piece, you won't find easily digestible, stained-glass, or politically correct perspectives. There aren't many commendable characters, and even fewer happy endings. Here, you'll find the downtrodden and dirty. Because it's in the mud, in the dark, in mainlined misery that truth reveals herself in all her filth-caked, blood-crusted glory.

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Authors: Claudia Santino

S.M. Fedor

Greg Levin

Stephen J. Golds

Lauren Sapala

CT Marie

Sue Petty

Paige Johnson

T.W. Garland

Gregory J. Wolos

Amanda Cecelia Lang

G.C. McKay

Simon Broder

Sebastian Vice

Emily Woe

Craig Clevenger

Don Logan

Russell Thayer

Elyse Russell

Victory Witherkeigh