The Drain — Caitlin T. Vale (Pre-Order)

Pre-Order. Publishing July 2026

The Eden Book Society was a publishing house which produced horror novelettes for a private list of subscribers from its inception in 1919 until 2006, presided over by the Eden family. Handed down through the generations, the history of the Eden Book Society is intertwined with that of the Eden family itself - shrouded in mystery and occult intrigue, with many dark rumours emanating from their ancestral home of Irkwell Manor.

Poppy's got a boy problem. She stole some money from her arsehole ex and now he's after her, and he's not the forgiving type. When she runs into a sexy, mysterious woman known only as Chérie things get more complicated. Chérie says she can help Poppy out, but for a price. Chérie's looking for some people, and she needs a companion. The trip takes them across the country and into Europe. But Chérie isn't like anyone else. She's hungry. She can only travel at night. And the trail of blood she leaves behind her is only growing... 

Caitlin T. Vale was only nineteen when her debut, Her Hands, was published by the Eden Book Society in 1988. Over the next ten years she produced three more novels, including The Drain, and one collection of shorter fiction. Often compared to literary colleagues in America such as Poppy Z Brite and Melanie Tem, Vale found a readership who eagerly lapped up her brand of violent queer fiction which often sat on the very edge of erotica. But after a scandle involving the British newspaper The Daily Express she chose to avoid the limelight and retired from writing. She now lives with her wife and an over-growing herd of pet rabbits in Hebden Bridge.

The Eden Book Society is a literary hoax perpetrated by Dead Ink in order to create a playground for today's horror authors to let their imaginations run wild. The real authors behind the 1993 collection are Chikodili Emelumadu, Grady Hendrix, Alison Rumfitt, Alex Pheby, Nina Allan, John Darnielle, Rowan Hisayo Buchanan & Kylie Whitehead.