The Sea Gives Up the Dead: Stories

INDIES INTRODUCE SELECTION TOP 10 DEBUT BOOKS • INDIE NEXT SELECTION • GRACE PALEY AWARD WINNER for SHORT FICTION • DEBUTIFUL'S MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2025 • MS. MAGAZINE'S MOST ANTICIPATED FEMINIST BOOKS OF 2025 • DEBUT AUTHOR, MOLLY OLGUÍN brings us THE SEA GIVES UP THE DEAD, a collection of stories sprinkled into the soil of fairy tales, left to take root and grow wild there.

“Witty, witchy, darkly brilliant”—Andrea Barrett • “A wunderkammer of beauty and sorrow.”—Carmen Maria Machado, author of In the Dream House • “...gripping from the opening sentences to the last lines.”—Kirkus Reviews • "...contains multitudes" —NPR • “Fantastical, queer, wildly inventive stories.”—Pocket Books Shop • “A mouthwatering ride.”—Paper Boat Booksellers • “Absolutely fantastic!”—Left Bank Books, St. Louis, MO

A lovesick nanny slays a dragon. The devil tries to save her mother. A girl drowns and becomes a saint. Three kids plot to blow up their dad, a grieving mother sails the sea to find her son’s grave, a scientist brings a voice to life, and a mermaid falls into the power of a witch. Here, historical fiction, horror, and fantasy tangle together in a queer garden of love, grief, and longing.

© 2025 Red Hen Press (Ebook): 9781636282725

Release date

Ebook: 29 April 2025