A ghost makes a friend. Ulla Shooks is testifying, ladies and gentlemen, countering the wicked with the godly. The powers-that-be are trying to kick in Nikki's door as she, like, struggles against the shackles of conformity? Melissa gets high and dreams of an oblivion that won't make the E! Channel news. Patty Hearst is watching the apocalypse on TV. All this and more is waiting for you in The Empty Page: Fiction inspired by Sonic Youth.

Featuring contributions from Eileen Myles, Emily Maguire, Steven Sherrill, Rebecca Godfrey, J Robert Lennon, Laird Hunt, Samuel Ligon, Shelley Jackson, Matt Thorne, Katherine Dunn, Kevin Sampsell, Mary Gaitskill, Scott Mebus, Emily Carter Roiphe, Hiag Akmakjian, Jess Walter, Tom McCarthy, Rachel Trezise, Catherine O'Flynn, Peter Wild & Christopher Coake.

Before The Rain holds stories that are war-torn, sub-marine and cooked up in cafes. Writers Mollie Baxter, Tom Fletcher and Peter Wild prove themselves to be engaging storytellers.

And here's what writer David Gaffney has to say:

'Fearless, funny, wise and moving, Peter Wild slowly works his narratives into a corkscrew of fascinating ideas and situations and then, uncoiling, hits us with such power we are left reeling...'

And Dogmatika...

Secrets, madness, lycanthropy, alienation. Not the typical ingredients for an inspiring read but this is no ordinary collection. Before The Rain's startling tableaux combined with its authentic settings and dialogue make for an impressive introduction, it's ordnance survey design charting the heights and depths of human experience and pointing the way to three highly promising literary futures.

Mechanical ducks, shark women that taste of liquorice, perverted sexual shenanigans in cramped office spaces, double-crossing Nazi apologists, bald-headed cultural subversives and celebrity deer-culling - this is just a glimpse into the wonderful and frightening world of Perverted by Language. Featuring contributions from Niall Griffiths, Matthew David Scott, Jeff VanderMeer, Mick Jackson, Carlton Mellick III, Nick Johnstone, John Williams, Nick Stone, Michel Faber, Nicholas Royle, Steve Aylett, Stav Sherez, Peter Wild, Nicholas Blincoe, Clare Dudman, Kevin MacNeil, Andrew Holmes, Helen Walsh, Stewart Lee, Richard Evans, Matt Thorne, Matt Beaumont & Rebbecca Ray.

Praise for Perverted by Language:

‘Excellent’ Independent on Sunday

‘Defiantly uncompromising... successfully evokes the spirit of The Fall’ Daily Telegraph

‘Innovative and imaginative’ Time Out

‘A witty, dark and often surreal anthology that’s as enjoyably anarchic as Smith himself’ Metro

‘Writers known and less so who’ve each managed to bring some fresh hell to MES’s already weird and frightening world… a triumph’ Stuart Maconie, Word Magazine

'The best stories are laterally-minded flights of fancy... they nudge at the secrets contained in hidden worlds and parallel universes. It's this precise restraint that tantalises' Herald

100 writers. 100 stories. All proceeds to Amnesty International. Published by Social Disease.

Includes contributions from Daren King, Ian Sansom, Nick Stone, J Robert Lennon, Patrick Neate, Nicholas Blincoe, Niall Griffiths, Willy Vlautin, Sara Gran, Gina Ochsner, Dermot Bolger, Rick Moody, Sam Lipsyte, Percival Everett, Jonathan Lethem, Katherine Dunn, Ben Myers, Lana Citron, Damon Galgut, Steven Sherrill, Michel Faber, Jeff VanderMeer, Stewart Lee, Charlie Williams, Rebbecca Ray, Matt Thorne, Kate Pullinger, Emily Maguire, Christopher Brookmyre, Steve Aylett, Aimee Bender, Steve Almond, Nick Johnstone, Stella Duffy, Arthur Nersesian, Carlton Mellick III, Fred Dutton & 73 other writers…