The weird. The strange. The outre. AFTER YOU’VE GONE AND OTHER OUTRE TALES presents 10 stories of men and monsters, goths and ghouls, violence and vengeance … and a touching tale of a boy and his dentist. These are all part of the world of John Peyton Cooke, best known for his dark thrillers TORSOS and THE CHIMNEY SWEEPER. Selections include: After You’ve Gone, the original tale of the bad Samaritan, which was reprinted in BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES 2003; A Doll’s Tale, which reveals everything we ever wanted to know about demon dolls but were afraid to ask; The Penitent, which shows what happens when an inventive sadist joins with an insatiable masochist; The Strawberry Man, about two gay skatepunks in love and in thrall to the power of an addictive fruit; and Serostatus, in which Tom, a middle-aged gay New Yorker and AIDS widow, finds himself spooked by the ghosts of tricks past; plus five other tales of the weird … the strange … the outre.