Bodies of Work

Clay McLeod Chapman is the creator of "The Pumpkin Pie Show" and the author of Rest Area, Nothing Untoward, and The Tribe trilogy. He is the co-author, with Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick, of the middle grade novel Wendell and Wild. In the world of comics, Chapman's work includes Lazaretto, Iron Fist: Phantom Limb, and Edge of Spiderverse. You can find him at claymcleodchapman.com.

GOODREADS MOST ANTICIPATED HORROR 2026Bodies of Work is a demented wonderland of fantasy and carnage, all gussied up in a true crime outfit. It pulls off risks in weathered territory, assuring readers that Chapman commands madcap horror.-FangoriaClay McLeod Chapman's BODIES OF WORK is a scalpel, and you cannot read this book without being reshaped by it. It is a rot-crumbled tale of human brokenness, clear-eyed and visceral, awful, tragic and somehow exquisitely triumphant. But as with all of Chapman's work: it comes at a cost.-Chris Panatier, author of The Redemption of Morgan BrightOrnate and remarkably intricate for such a slender book, encountering Clay McLeod Chapman's Bodies of Work for the first time feels both startling and exhilarating like discovering a broken relic of long-since forgotten art. A profane hymn screaming from the charnel pit of a blood-clogged throat, an obscene portrait torn from careless, withered hands-this novella is deeply subversive, absorbing, and original.-Eric LaRocca, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last SpokeBodies of Work is a chilling read that shows the horror of real crime whilst giving the victims a voice. Excellent read for horror and crime lovers.-V. Castro, Bram Stoker award nominated author of Maria The WantedIn prose both fevered and stunning, Clay McLeod Chapman takes us into the world of a tormented killer-and into the minds of the young women whose lives he steals. Colorful and haunting, Bodies of Work stitches together beauty and cruelty, madness and imagination, as it plays all our best feelings against each other. A compelling and brutal read that proves Chapman is a true master of horror.-Wendy N. Wagner, author of Girl in the CreekFantasy and reality warp and blend in a pure Chapman product, where a serial killer's demented fantasies give bloom to creative carnage on the canvas of his victims' bodies. Sad, sickening, and weirdly sweet, Bodies of Work is an unflinching window into the horrors of one way too dedicated artist's demented creative process.-Bitter Karella, Hugo nominated author of MoonflowA beautiful, horrifying, and timely tale about the dark side of the creative process (and a frank examination of the artist as monster). Chapman is one of the most inventive voices in contemporary horror.-Shaun Hamill, author of The DissonanceIn Bodies of Work, Clay McLeod Chapman offers a glimpse into that liminal space where the true horror within remains undefined. A novella that's fractured between perspectives, it warps and shifts even as it reveals. Dark, fecund and engrossing... unique.-BookbeardA standard bearer for horror that's both entertaining and intellectually rigorous.--Ginger Nuts of HorrorThis chilling, surreal novella delivers a brutal reckoning where the unseen refuse to stay silent.-Booktrib