Cover design by Ian Koviak.

The Worm in Every Heart: A Collection

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Publication Date

September 8, 2026

Print Length

320 Pages (Paperback)
99,426 Words

ISBN

9798897320486 (Paperback)

MSRP

$19.99 (Paperback)

About The Worm in Every Heart

Finally back in print! The second collection from Gemma Files, the multi-time Bram Stoker Award and Shirley Jackson Award winning author of Experimental Film, and whose stories "overwhelm the reader with a true sense of wonder, awe, and horror" (Paul Tremblay, award-winning author of The Cabin at the End of the World).

"Nobody in a Gemma Files story puts a hand on a doorknob and opens the door they shouldn't—these folks are already in the other side." (Paula Guran in Horror Garage) The inhabitants of the stories in The Worm in Every Heart include gods and madmen, arsonists and ancient vampires, monsters and mothers who don't know how to love. No matter where they live—Warsaw during World War II, British India, or modern-day Toronto—their realities are not our own, but ones in which we'll willingly immerse ourselves for a terrifying moment or two...

Featuring new illustrations by the author, this collection includes:

  • "Nigredo"
  • "Ring of Fire"
  • "The Guided Tour"
  • "Year Zero"
  • "Flare"
  • "Bottle of Smoke"
  • "Fly-By-Night"
  • "In the Poor Girl Taken by Surprise"
  • "A Single Shadow Make"
  • "Beyond the Forest"
  • "Sent Down"
  • "The Kindly Ones"
  • "By the Mark"
  • "The Emperor’s Old Bones"
  • "The Narrow World"

The Worm in Every Heart News
March 28, 2025
Today we are announcing a new deal for Kissing Carrion and The Worm in Every Heart, the debut and sophomore collections by Bram Stoker Award winner Gemma Files…
About the Author

Gemma Files is a Canadian horror writer, journalist, and film critic. Her novel, Experimental Film, won the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel and the Sunburst Award for Best Canadian Speculative Fiction (Novel). Gemma is also a two-time Bram Stoker Award winner.

Other Titles by Gemma Files
🥇 Award Finalist