In this darkly funny novella written and illustrated by Michael Dahlie, a young man finds himself in the small village of Toyne in 1974. There to oversee the semi-secret construction of a bomb shelter, he finds himself ensnared in the mounting tensions between competing factions involved in the project, befriends an eccentric variety of locals, and witnesses a series of unlikely events, including an unfortunate encounter with quicksand and a disastrous balloon outing. Recalling Edward Gorey's illustrated tales, but with a style all his own, Dahlie explores the quirks of small-town life with an edge.

MICHAEL DAHLIE is the author of two novels and his short fiction has appeared in places like Harper's, Electric Literature, and Ploughshares. He's the winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award and a Whiting Award, and he received an NEA Literature Fellowship in 2020 for his illustrated work.