Book excerpt: Almond-eyed celestial, the filial daughter, the perfect wife. Quiet, submissive, demure. In Black Cranes, Southeast Asian writers of horror both embrace and reject these traditional roles in a unique collection of stories which dissect their experiences of 'otherness, ' be it in the colour of their skin, the angle of their cheekbones, the things they dare to write, or the places they have made for themselves in the world. Black Cranes is a dark and intimate exploration of what it is to be a perpetual outsider. Praise for Black Cranes  "A varied and fascinating collection of monsters, full of dazzling landscapes and writers to watch."-E. Lily Yu author On Fragile Waves "As haunting and versatile as the Chinese erhu, the stories in Black Cranes pluck and bow the strings of the Southeast Asian experience with insightful depth and resonance." -Tori Eldridge, author of the Lily Wong series "The preconceived notions of both the authors' identities and of the limitations of the horror genre itself will be smashed to pieces, to the delight of readers." -Library Journal "A bloody-toothed smile hidden behind the hand of propriety and social expectation."-Pseudopod "Resonates with bold originality throughout." -Space & Time Magazine "The beauty of this collection is in the diversity of the voices and the individuality and uniqueness of each story coming together in one book." -Tor Nightfire "Lyrical and haunting prose... This is dark, reflective fiction at its best." -Tomes and Tales