In this debut collection of stories Carly Holmes peers intoevery corner of the strange fiction genre: from rural gothicthrough to traditional ghost stories and the uncanny. Mothersturn into trees when the sun goes down; Russian Dollsmourn their missing sisters in rotting houses; men offersacrifices to the monsters who embody their inner wildness;and murderous demons protect young girls' virginity.Ranging from flash fiction to novelette, these stories are inturn chilling, playful, and melancholy. The bonds of familyand of community, both in their fracturing and their healingstates, the uneasy relationship between living in the presentand yearning for the past, are themes that thread their waythrough Figurehead. Every tale is rich with landscapeshaunted by loss and longing.