Beware Us Flowers of the Annihilator

• A bullied boy’s worst shame turns out to be his strongest ally in the never-ending schoolyard war…
• Saxon warriors hunt down the beleaguered remnants of a Danish army—but they didn’t count on the little warrior among them, the one with the strange shimmering armour…
• Chuck thought that things couldn’t get any worse than the giant floating skull always waiting outside his apartment window…but then a knock came on his door…
• A military cop and his faithful dog seek out an ancient evil in the Iraqi desert, but then discover it’s all so much worse than that…
• The crew of the Enola Gay was en route to Japan, toting the first atomic bomb…and then the pilot, Tibbets, noticed the giant black flower clinging to the bulkhead…
• A Roman emperor and his adviser unravel the mystery of a series of strange marble sculptures, only to discover sorcery at work…

These and many other weird stories...

There are few short story specialists as prolific, endlessly entertaining, creative, and simply batshit crazy as Alexander Zelenyj. These bizarre stories often capture startling snapshots of life, coming-of-age moments, heartbreak, or individuals trapped within the ripples of otherworldly occurrences. The natural ability to effortlessly flow between genres is a rare gift and few do it better, where literary rulebooks are discarded and the monsters are frequently the most compassionate characters. He has an unpredictable and jarring writing style, which takes plots and narratives into bizarre directions, often slipping down sideroads, instead of directing his narratives into the realms of the crowd pleasing money shot. He refuses to play by any literary rulebook, except his own. This is all part of Alexander Zelenyj’s unique charm.
- Tony Jones, Horror DNA

Phantasmagoric, imaginative, unflinching and magnificent, Zelenyj writes like a madman possessed. With Beware Us Flowers of the Annihilator, we get one of the greatest modern day short story writers spreading his wings and flying away with the readers' souls. Simply phenomenal.
- Steve Stred, author of Mastodon, Churn the Soil and Wagon Buddy

Wildly original, and a complete master at pulverizing the boundaries which restrict genres, Alexander Zelenyj is a dazzling shooting star in the world of weird fiction.
- Ginger Nuts of Horror

Canada’s master of elegantly drafted bizarrie… Science fiction, surrealism, Canadiana and great storytelling: not too many books these days can be said to Have It All, but Beware Us Flowers of the Annihilator can and does.
- Adam Groves, The Bedlam Files

Contents

Introduction by Brian A. Dixon
Peacekeeper and the War-Mouth
The Deathwish of Valerie Vulture
Maleficia Falling
Houses Within Houses Within Houses Within
Silver the Starfallen
Young, But Tomorrow
Little Boys
Peace Machines
Oppenheimer’s Door
The Threat from Earth
The Electric Voice of Summer
Bright Sons of the Morning
Siege
Spiders in the Temple
Love-Goggles 1966
Laundromatricide and the Wrath
Gods Great and Gods Small
Wild Animals at Play
People-Eater & the Wolf Inside
Sister-Biter
Rat-Eaters in Lucifer’s Land
A Savage Path
Cry for Mother
We Are Alone
The Punished World
Roads of Peace