J.G. Ballard’s Crash meets Albert Camus’s The Plague in a transgressive horror novel for the TikTok generation.

Will is a fraud. Olivia is a wreck. They meet at a grief share group and quickly bond over their brokenness. They also have a peculiar hobby; they seek out sickness. Will hunts for the latest strain of flu. Olivia doesn’t feel comfortable in her body if she isn’t suffering from a fever. They become virus chasers, finding confidence in their ability to conquer every affliction they come across.

They soon discover an online community of chasers called The Source and realize that their hobby isn’t all that odd when seen from the right distance. And then the mysterious Zaff literally walks into their life, claiming that he has the goods, knows where the latest outbreak will drop. Intrigued, Will and Olivia decide to take their hobby to the point of obsession, believing that if they can conquer the newest strain, nobody can hurt them.

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR THE BODY HARVEST

"Viscerally and metaphysically repulsive — and a dangerously accurate snapshot of a society, as only Michael Seidlinger could do."

—Stephen Graham Jones, New York Times bestselling author of the Indian Lake Trilogy

"Human connection as drug, fame as disease: Seidlinger carves from our Age of Illness a brilliantly nihilistic nightmare."

—Daniel Kraus, author of Whalefall

"The Body Harvest is an absolute fever dream. It features characters who have the need to feel alive through feeling their mortality, identifying it, and pushing it to its very limits; of being on the verge of death but not dying, of using illness as a way to overcome the difficulties of life. If given the opportunity, if there are no consequences, how many would succumb to their darkest desires? If we are immortal, would morality still stand?"

  —Ai Jiang, author of Linghun

“Michael J. Seidlinger is a twisted wizard of transgressive craft, and The Body Harvest is his phlegmcore Fight Club. A tale of viral codependency that starts off like Terrence Malick’s Badlands with a biohazard spin before taking a Cronenbergian turn down David Lynch Lane. This book will leave you bedridden and babbling for your next Seidlinger fix.” 

—Brian McAuley, author of Candy Cain Kills and Curse of the Reaper

Praise for Anybody Home?

"Do not, under any circumstance, read when you’re alone. One of the most disturbing novels I've read in years."

—Danielle Trussoni, New York Times Book Review

“This book makes Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay look like a cakewalk. This is THE MOST intense psychological horror you have ever read. Seriously. It makes Out by Natsuo Kirino look tame.”

—Library Journal (Starred Review)

“Anybody Home? is an immersive novel that deconstructs home invasions for sport, resulting in addictive commentary on the horror genre itself.”

—Foreword Reviews (Starred Review)

MICHAEL J. SEIDLINGER is the Filipino-American author of The Body Harvest, Anybody Home?, Tekken 5 (Boss Fight Books), and other books. He has written for, among others, Wired, Buzzfeed, Polygon, The Believer, and Publishers Weekly. He teaches at Portland State University and has led workshops at Catapult, Kettle Pond Writer's Conference, and Sarah Lawrence. He is represented by Lane Heymont at The Tobias Literary Agency. You can find him at michaeljseidlinger.com.

OFFICIAL RELEASE

7.23.2024

ISBN: 9781955904872