The Book of Accidents

1

Tinnitus


This was Oliver:

The boy, fifteen, knelt on the ground, his chin against his chest, the soft undersides of his forearms pressing into his ears even as his fingers dug into the thatch of messy hair at the back of his head. His ears rang sharply not the tolling of a bell but a shrill whine, like that of a dental drill. To one side of him: yellow lockers. To the other: a water fountain. Above: a waterfall of bright fluorescence. Somewhere ahead were two gunshots, bang, bang. Each made his heart jump. Somewhere behind him were the murmur and rustle of students moving from classroom to classroom, seeking safety. Oliver imagined them dead. He imagined his teachers dead. Blood on linoleum. Brains on chalkboard. He imagined weeping parents on the news, and the suicides of survivors, and the thoughts and prayers of uncaring politicians he could see the pain like a little ripple that became a wave, that met other waves and became tsunamis roaring back and forth over people until all were drowned underneath.

A hand grasped his shoulder and shook him. A word spoken as if through a fishbowl his name. Someone was saying his name. Olly. Oliver. Olly! He gently rocked himself back on his ankles, sitting partly upright. It was Mr. Partlow, his BioSci teacher. Hey. Hey, lockdown drill s almost over, Oliver. You okay? Come on, kiddo, let s get you

But then the teacher let go and took a half step back. Mr. Partlow stared down at the floor no, not at the floor. At Oliver. Oliver took a look, too. His crotch was wet. Fingers of liquid were spreading down his pant legs. Ahead, he saw a few students gather and stare. Landon Gray, who sat behind him in homeroom, looked sad. Amanda McInerney who was in all the plays, and chorus, and student council made a gross face and giggled.

Mr. Partlow helped him stand up and took him away. Oliver wiped tears from his face, tears he didn t even know he d spilled.


2

The Lawyer


This

Chuck Wendig

[The Book of Accidents] is Chuck Wendig s magnum opus, blazing with imagination, humanity, and a tiny glimmer of hope for a world drowning in cruelty. It s horror for right now, and it s Wendig s best so far. Christopher Golden, New York Times-bestselling author of Road of Bones

Only Chuck Wendig can blend horror, fantasy, and science fiction into a propulsive thriller that is as funny as it is frightening, clever as it is uncanny, tender as it is terrifying. A magical ride. Alma Katsu, author of Red Widow and The Deep

Chuck Wendig s The Book of Accidents transported me to the golden age of sprawling horror novels that I loved so much as a kid. Sweeping yet intimate, multilayered and bighearted, this is a novel to sink deeply into. Dan Chaon, New York Times bestselling author of Ill Will

In the tradition of Stephen King s Dark Tower books, Wendig views the cosmic and terrifying through the lens of the domestic, anchoring his visions of the sublime in the grit of the familiar. The result is a novel to ramble around in, to get lost in. John Langan, author of Children of the Fang and Other Genealogies

An unforgettable, terrifying dose of top-flight horror that hits on our most basic core fears, The Book of Accidents chills you to the bone while still warming your heart. Alex Segura, author of Star Wars Poe Dameron: Free Fall and Miami Midnight

With a story both universally horrifying and viscerally intimate, Wendig brilliantly uses The Book of Accidents to explore a painful truth: In the end, we all haunt ourselves. I couldn t get through the pages fast enough. Kiersten White, New York Times bestselling author of The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein

Move over King, Chuck Wendig is the new voice of modern American horror. The Book of Accidents is a masterwork, and Chuck is only just getting started.