Mike Allen wears many creative hats, at least one of them tailor-made by his wife and partner-in-crime Anita. An author, editor, and publisher of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, Mike has written, edited, or co-edited thirty-nine books, among them this dark fantasy novel Trail of Shadows, his sidearms, sorcery, and zombies sequence The Black Fire Concerto and The Ghoulmaker's Aria, and his latest horror collection Slow Burn. Unseaming and Aftermath of an Industrial Accident, his first two volumes of horror tales, were both finalists for the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Story Collection, and his dark fable "The Button Bin" was a nominee for the Nebula Award for Best Short Story. Another collection, The Spider Tapestries, contains experiments in weird science fiction and fantasy. As editor and publisher, Mike has been nominated twice for the World Fantasy Award: first, for his anthology Clockwork Phoenix 5, the culmination of the Clockwork Phoenix series, showcasing tales of beauty and strangeness that defy genre classification, and for Mythic Delirium, the magazine of poetry and fiction he edited for twenty years. He's also a three-time winner of the Rhysling Award for poetry. His six poetry collections include Strange Wisdoms of the Dead, a Philadelphia Inquirer Editor's Choice selection, and Hungry Constellations, a Suzette Haden Elgin Award nominee. With Anita, he runs Mythic Delirium Books, based in Roanoke, Virginia. Their cat Pandora assists.