Get ready to pad your TBR, here are just a few of September's new releases!  If you've missed the previous lists ( January ,   Febr...



 Get ready to pad your TBR, here are just a few of September's new releases! 

If you've missed the previous lists (January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September), you can still check those out. And if you are looking for what's still to come, you can see the whole list for 2023 here.


If you have a book releasing this year and want to get on the list, click here and I'll get you added!


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The Dead Take the A Train by 
Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey

Expected publication: October 3, 2023 by Tor Nightfire



Julie Crews is a coked-up, burnt-out thirty-something who packs a lot of magic into her small body. She’s been trying to establish herself in the NYC magic scene, and she’ll work the most gruesome gigs to claw her way to the top.

Julie is desperate for a quick career boost to break the dead-end grind, but her pleas draw the attention of an eldritch god who is hungry for revenge. Her power grab sets off a deadly chain of events that puts her closest friends – and the entire world – directly in the path of annihilation.

The first explosive adventure in the Carrion City Duology, The Dead Take the A Train fuses Khaw’s cosmic horror and Kadrey’s gritty fantasy into a full-throttle thrill ride straight into New York’s magical underbelly.




Let the Woods Keep Our Bodies by E. M. Roy

Let the Woods Keep Our Bodies by E. M. Roy

Expected publication: October 10, 2023 by Ghoulish Books



In the small town of Eston, Maine . . . weird things happen sometimes.


Leo Bates knows what’s behind every corner in her hometown, where she’s lived her whole life. Some disjointed memories and grief for her late parents, sure, but nothing dangerous. Nothing unexplainable.


But the familiar becomes strange the longer you look at it. When Tate Mulder goes missing and Leo is pinned as the prime suspect, she can only watch as the town she thought she knew deteriorates around her. She is forced to confront the truth about her parents, Eston, and her relationship if she is to survive an onslaught of conspiracies, cryptic monstrosities, and whatever is hiding in the woods where Tate was last seen. Finding the girl she loves may be the only way to restore balance to Eston—if such a thing ever existed to begin with.





A Light Most Hateful by Hailey Piper




Expected Publication: October 10, 2023 by Titan Books




When a summer storm sweeps through a sleepy town unleashing a monstrous and otherworldy power that threatens to break reality, Olivia will stop at nothing to find her best friend and get them to safety.
Mona Awad’s Bunny meets Stranger Things in this mind-bending and terrifying examination of female friendship and the lengths we'll go to protect the ones we love, from the Bram Stoker award winning author of Queen of Teeth.


Three years after running away from home, Olivia is stuck with a dead-end job in nowhere town Chapel Hill, Pennsylvania. At least she has her best friend, Sunflower.


Olivia figures she’ll die in Chapel Hill, if not from boredom, then the summer night storm which crashes into town with a mind-bending monster in tow.


If Olivia’s going to escape Chapel Hill and someday reconcile with her parents, she’ll need to dodge residents enslaved by the storm’s otherworldly powers and find Sunflower.


But as the night strains friendships and reality itself, Olivia suspects the storm, and its monster, may have its eyes on Sunflower and everything she loves.


Including Olivia.





The Infested by Renee Lake

Expected publication: October 1, 2023 by Hansen House



Monsters are real and the United States is infested...

In the year 1900, a section of the Mid-Western United States, known as The Infested, is overrun with ghosts and monsters. Despite the evil that lurks just outside their door, Desdemona and her family live in The Infested. Their home is a haven for those that make the treacherous journey from east to west.

While magic keeps them safe, Desdemona has always felt indescribably drawn to the Infested. A dangerous compulsion when her mother dies and her father is late leading the wagon train from the East. When a shadow creature appears on their land, and mysterious, alluring visitors arrive, Desdemona is forced to do something she never wanted: lead her family.

Desdemona and her siblings must band together to save themselves and their home. If they can’t escape the darkness and overcome the tension that has grown between them, their father may very well return to nothing but a graveyard.

Sapphic, Bi and Trans Rep

TW: Eating disorder, anxiety, gore, war, trauma





All These Sunken Souls: A Black Horror Anthology, 
Circe Moskowitz ed.

Expected publication: October 17, 2023 by Amberjack Publishing



Welcome to the Dark.

We are all familiar with tropes of the horror genre: slasher and victims, demon and the possessed. Bloody screams, haunted visions, and the peddler of wares we aren’t sure we can trust. In this young adult horror anthology, fans of Jordan Peele, Lovecraft Country, and Horror Noire will get a little bit of everything they love—and a lot of what they fear—through a twisted blend of horror lenses, from the thoughtful to the terrifying.

From haunted, hungry Victorian mansions, temporal monster–infested asylums, and ravaging zombie apocalypses, to southern gothic hoodoo practitioners and cursed patriarchs in search of Black Excellence, All These Sunken Souls features the chilling creations of acclaimed bestsellers and hot new talents, with stories from Kalynn Bayron, Donyae Coles, Ryan Douglass, Sami Ellis, Brent Lambert, Ashia Monet, Circe Moskowitz, Joel Rochester, Liselle Sambury, and Joelle Wellington.



Here Lies Olive by Kate Anderson

Expected publication: October 24, 2023 by North Star Editions




Growing up in the dark tourism capital of the United States, sixteen-year-old Olive should be comfortable with death. But ever since an allergic reaction almost sent her to the wrong side of the grass, she’s been terrified that there is no afterlife. And after the death of her surrogate grandmother, Olive has kept everyone at arm’s length because if there’s Nothing after we die, relationships and love can only end in sorrow.

When she summons a spirit to answer her questions about death, Olive meets Jay, a hitchhiking ghost trapped in the woods behind the poorhouse where he died. Olive agrees to help Jay find his unmarked grave in exchange for answers about the other side and what comes next.

Meanwhile, someone―or something―is targeting Olive’s classmates, and the longer Jay lingers, the more serious the attacks become. Blaming herself for having brought Jay back, Olive teams up with maybe-nemesis, maybe-crush Maren, ex-best friend Davis, and new girl Vanessa to free Jay’s spirit before he’s trapped as a malevolent shade and the attacks turn deadly. But in doing so, Olive must face her fear of death and risk losing another person she loves to the Nothing.





Nestlings by Nat Cassidy

Expected publication: October 31, 2023 by Tor Nightfire



Ana and Reid needed a lucky break.

The horrifically complicated birth of their first child has left Ana paralyzed, bitter, and struggling: with mobility, with her relationship with Reid, with resentment for her baby. That's about to change with the words any New Yorker would love to hear―affordable housing lottery.

They've won an apartment in the Deptford, one of Manhattan's most revered buildings with beautiful vistas of Central Park and stunning architecture.

Reid dismisses disturbing events and Ana’s deep unease and paranoia as the price of living in New York―people are odd―but he can't explain the needle-like bite marks on the baby.

 Get ready to pad your TBR, here are just a few of September's new releases!  If you've missed the previous lists ( January ,   Febr...



 Get ready to pad your TBR, here are just a few of September's new releases! 

If you've missed the previous lists (January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August), you can still check those out. And if you are looking for what's still to come, you can see the whole list for 2023 here.


If you have a book releasing this year and want to get on the list, click here and I'll get you added!


__________________________________________

Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison

Expected publication: September 12, 2023 by Berkley


A cynical twentysomething must confront her unconventional family’s dark secrets in this fiery, irreverent horror novel from the author of Such Sharp Teeth and Cackle.


Nobody has a “normal” family, but Vesper Wright’s is truly...something else. Vesper left home at eighteen and never looked back—mostly because she was told that leaving the staunchly religious community she grew up in meant she couldn’t return. But then an envelope arrives on her doorstep.


Inside is an invitation to the wedding of Vesper’s beloved cousin Rosie. It’s to be hosted at the family farm. Have they made an exception to the rule? It wouldn’t be the first time Vesper’s been given special treatment. Is the invite a sweet gesture? An olive branch? A trap? Doesn’t matter. Something inside her insists she go to the wedding. Even if it means returning to the toxic environment she escaped. Even if it means reuniting with her mother, Constance, a former horror film star and forever ice queen.


When Vesper’s homecoming exhumes a terrifying secret, she’s forced to reckon with her family’s beliefs and her own crisis of faith in this deliciously sinister novel that explores the way family ties can bind us as we struggle to find our place in the world.






Rainbow Filth



Expected Publication: September 5, 2023 by Ghoulish Books



Rainbow Filth is a weirdo horror novella about a small cult that believes a rare psychedelic substance can physically transport them to another universe.






Monstrous by Jessica Lewis

Expected publication: September 12, 2023 by Delacorte Press


Forced to spend her summer in her aunt's strange small town, a teen girl discovers dark secrets hidden in the woods. From the author of Bad Witch Burning comes another pulse-pounding novel perfect for fans of Supernatural and Lovecraft Country.

Don't go outside past dark. Come straight home after church. And above all—never, ever, go into Red Wood.

These are the rules Latavia’s aunt tells her as soon as she arrives in Sanctum, Alabama for the summer. Weird, but Latavia isn’t here to solve any scary small town mysteries; she’s here for six weeks and six weeks only, and then she’s off to college and won’t look back. Still, Sanctum has its perks—mainly, the cute girl who works at the local ice cream shop.

But Latavia can’t ignore how strange her aunt’s tiny town is. The residents are suspicious of her and at times hostile, and it’s clear she’s some kind of outsider. That’s proven when Latavia is dragged out of her house in the dead of night, into the forbidden Red Wood, and presented as a human sacrifice to an ancient monster.

Latavia won’t be eaten without a fight. She’ll do whatever she has to do to survive—even if that includes making a deal with the monster, endangering her crush and family, and even risk turning into a monster herself.






What Kind of Mother by Clay McLeod Chapman

Expected publication: September 12, 2023 by Quirk Books


After striking out on her own as a teen mom, Madi Price is forced to return to her hometown of Brandywine, Virginia, with her seventeen-year-old daughter. With nothing to her name, she scrapes together a living as a palm reader at the local farmers market.

It’s there that she connects with old high school flame Henry McCabe, now a reclusive local fisherman whose infant son, Skyler, went missing five years ago. Everyone in town is sure Skyler is dead, but when Madi reads Henry’s palm, she’s haunted by strange and disturbing visions that suggest otherwise. As she follows the thread of these visions, Madi discovers a terrifying nightmare waiting at the center of the labyrinth—and it’s coming for everyone she holds dear.

Combining supernatural horror with domestic suspense into a visceral exploration of parental grief, What Kind of Mother cements Clay McLeod Chapman's reputation as a “star” (Vulture) and “the twenty-first century’s Richard Matheson” (Richard Chizmar, Chasing the Boogeyman.)



What Stalks Among Us by Sarah Hollowell

Expected publication: September 12, 2023 by Clarion Books


From Sarah Hollowell, author of A Dark and Starless Forest, comes a spine-tingling, deliriously creepy YA speculative thriller about two best friends trapped in a corn maze with corpses that look just like them. Best friends and high school seniors Sadie and Logan make their first mistake when they ditch their end-of-year field trip to the amusement park in favor of exploring some old, forgotten backroads. The last thing they expect to come across is a giant, abandoned corn maze. But with a whole day of playing hooking unspooling before them, they make their second mistake. Or perhaps their third? Maybe even their fourth. Because Sadie and Logan have definitely entered this maze before. And again before that. When they stumble on the corpses in the maze, identical to them in every way (if you can ignore the stab and gunshot wounds)--from their clothes to their hidden scars to their dyed hair, to that one missing tooth--they quickly realize they’ve not only entered this maze before, they’ve died in it too. A lot. And no matter what they try, they can’t figure out what—or who —is hunting them. Deeply unnerving, clever, and atmospheric, this time-bending, mind-bending speculative horror is a poignant meditation on the lasting effects of trauma and the healing powers of connection and forgiveness—all while delivering more surprise twists and turns than a haunted corn maze. 




Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig

Expected publication: September 26, 2023 by Del Rey



A small town is transformed by dark magic when a strange tree begins bearing magical apples in this new masterpiece of horror from the bestselling author of Wanderers and The Book of Accidents.

It’s autumn in the town of Harrow, but something else is changing in the town besides the season.

Because in that town there is an orchard, and in that orchard, seven most unusual trees. And from those trees grows a new sort of apple: Strange, beautiful, with skin so red it’s nearly black.

Take a bite of one of these apples and you will desire only to devour another. And another. You will become stronger. More vital. More yourself, you will believe. But then your appetite for the apples and their peculiar gifts will keep growing—and become darker.

This is what happens when the townsfolk discover the secret of the orchard. Soon it seems that everyone is consumed by an obsession with the magic of the apples… and what’s the harm, if it is making them all happier, more confident, more powerful?

And even if buried in the orchard is something else besides the seeds of this extraordinary tree: a bloody history whose roots reach back the very origins of the town.

But now the leaves are falling. The days grow darker. And a stranger has come to town, a stranger who knows Harrow’s secrets. Because it’s harvest time, and the town will soon reap what it has sown.

 Get ready to pad your TBR, here are just a few of August's new releases!  If you've missed the previous lists ( January ,   Februar...



 Get ready to pad your TBR, here are just a few of August's new releases! 

If you've missed the previous lists (January, February, March, April, May, June, July) you can still check those out. And if you are looking for what's still to come, you can see the whole list for 2023 here.


If you have a book releasing this year and want to get on the list, click here and I'll get you added!


__________________________________________

The Apology by Jimin Han

Expected publication: August 1, 2023 by Little, Brown and Company



In South Korea, a 105-year-old woman receives a letter. Ten days later, she has been thrust into the afterlife, fighting to head off a curse that will otherwise devastate generations to come.


Jeonga Cha has always shouldered the burden of upholding the family name. When she sent her daughter-in-law to America to cover up an illegitimate birth, she was simply doing what was needed to preserve the reputations of her loved ones. How could she have known that decades later, this decision would return to haunt her—threatening to tear apart her bond with her beloved son, her relationship with her infuriatingly insolent sisters, and the future of the family she has worked so hard to protect?


Part ghost story and part family epic, The Apology is an incisive tale of sisterhood and diaspora, reaching back to the days of Japanese colonialism and the Korean War, and told through the singular voice of a defiant, funny, and unforgettable centenarian.

Add to Goodreads






The Bonus Room by Ben H. Winters



Expected Publication: August 1, 2023 by Quirk Books




From New York Times best-selling and Edgar Award-winning author Ben H. Winters, this supernatural page-turner about a real-estate nightmare will make you think twice about your dream home.


Susan and Alex Wendt have found their dream apartment in a gorgeous Brooklyn brownstone.


Sure, the landlady is a little eccentric. And the elderly handyman drops some cryptic remarks about the basement. But the rent is so low, it’s too good to pass up.


Big mistake. Susan awakens every morning with fresh bug bites, but neither Alex nor their daughter, Emma, has a single welt. An exterminator searches the property and turns up nothing. The landlady insists her building is clean. Susan fears she’s going mad—until she makes a chilling discovery in the bonus room.


Filled with Hitchcockian suspense, The Bonus Room is a horrifying tale of a dream home that becomes a nightmare.


Previously published in 2011 as Bedbugs.






The Fiends in the Furrows III: Final Harvest


Expected publication: August 1, 2023 by Nosetouch Press


YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW THE FIENDS IN THE FURROWS FINAL HARVEST is a collection of nineteen stories embodying the menacing essence of Folk Horror. Folk Horror fans will uncover in these short stories tales of rampant rural monstrosity and agrarian horror within rustic settings, where dread sinks its roots deep into the earth to bring forth a bountiful crop of unforgettable terrors. Nosetouch Press is proud to present THE FIENDS IN THE FURROWS FINAL HARVEST to horror readers everywhere.

FEATURING:

Die Booth, “Paper Coins”
Ryan Cassavaugh, “The Last Honeyboy”
Dan Coxon, “Come Sing for the Harrowing”
Matt Elphick, “Cooper’s Hill”
Tracy Fahey, “Witchwalking”
J.M. Faulkner, “Radegast”
Timothy Granville, “Sarsen Wood”
Coy Hall, “Herald of the Red Hen”
Fox Claret Hill, “Mrs. Badger’s Bones”
Charlie Hughes, “The Motley”
Rae Knowles, “Mulberry Silk”
Thersa Matsuura, “Child of the Gods”
Catherine McCarthy, “The Sickle and the Tithe”
Damien B. Raphael, “As the Thing is Needed”
Zachary Rosenberg, “The Gods That Drift With Us”
Melissa A. Szydlek, “Back Yonder”
Steve Rasnic Tem, “F is for the Farm”
Richard Thomas, “The Keeper of the Light”
Alex Wolfgang, “Malleability”




Wild Spaces by S.L. Coney

Expected publication: August 1, 2023 by Tor.com



Robert R. McCammon’s Boy’s Life meets H. P. Lovecraft in Wild Spaces, a foreboding, sensual coming-of-age debut in which the corrosive nature of family secrets and toxic relatives assume eldritch proportions.

An eleven-year-old boy lives an idyllic childhood exploring the remote coastal plains and wetlands of South Carolina alongside his parents and his dog Teach. But when the boy’s eerie and estranged grandfather shows up one day with no warning, cracks begin to form as hidden secrets resurface that his parents refuse to explain.

The longer his grandfather outstays his welcome and the greater the tension between the adults grows, the more the boy feels something within him changing —physically—into something his grandfather welcomes and his mother fears. Something abyssal. Something monstrous.



The Handyman Method: A Story of Terror by
Nick Cutter and Andrew F. Sullivan

Expected publication: August 8, 2023 by Gallery / Saga Press



A chilling domestic story of terror for fans of Black Mirror and The Amityville Horror.

When a young family moves into an unfinished development community, cracks begin to emerge in both their new residence and their lives, as a mysterious online DIY instructor delivers dark subliminal suggestions about how to handle any problem around the house. The trials of home improvement, destructive insecurities, and haunted house horror all collide in this thrilling story perfect for fans of Nick Cutter’s bestsellers The Troop and The Deep.




Whalefall by Daniel Kraus

Expected publication: August 8, 2023 by MTV Books




The Martian meets 127 Hours in this scientifically accurate thriller about a scuba diver who’s been swallowed by an eighty-foot, sixty-ton sperm whale and has only one hour to escape before his oxygen runs out.

Jay Gardiner has given himself a fool’s errand—to find the remains of his deceased father in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Monastery Beach. He knows it’s a long shot, but Jay feels it’s the only way for him to lift the weight of guilt he has carried since his dad’s death by suicide the previous year.

The dive begins well enough, but the sudden appearance of a giant squid puts Jay in very real jeopardy, made infinitely worse by the arrival of a sperm whale looking to feed. Suddenly, Jay is caught in the squid’s tentacles and drawn into the whale’s mouth where he is pulled into the first of its four stomachs. He quickly realizes he has only one hour before his oxygen tanks run out—one hour to defeat his demons and escape the belly of a whale.

Suspenseful and cinematic, Whalefall is a thriller about a young man who has given up on life…only to find a reason to live in the most dangerous and unlikely of places.






Mosaic By Catherine McCarthy

Expected publication: August 8, 2023 by Dark Hart Books




Something wicked waits.

When a stained-glass artist embarks upon the restoration of a church window, her personal demons are put to the test when she unveils a conspiracy to reawaken a cosmic force.






Dead Ends by Marc E. Fitch

Expected publication: August 15, 2023 by Flame Tree Press



Four lives are thrown into chaos after a disturbed young man sets fire to an abandoned house with a chilling history, setting off a chain of events rooted in paranoia, powerlessness, desperation and tragedy that will ultimately converge in a day of horror.

Dead Ends is a powerful, character-driven novel of escalating tension and violence driven by isolation, politics and technology and set against the backdrop of a country in the throws of upheaval.

No one is safe. The residents of a small, forgotten neighborhood are being watched, stalked and harassed by someone or something, and it seems they are powerless to stop it, sending them down an all-too-real path of self-destruction and insanity. As the fear, desperation and death toll mounts, these seemingly average, normal people are twisted into doing the unthinkable.





The Lonely Lands by Ramsey Campbell

Expected publication: August 15, 2023 by Flametree Press



The latest bestseller from the ultimate craftsman of the dark fantastic, Ramsey Campbell. 

Joe Hunter has begun to adjust to the loss of his wife when he hears her calling from beyond, “Where am I?” His urge to help leads him into her afterlife, which is made up of their memories. Even the best of those is no refuge from the restless dead, and Joe can only lure them away from her. Soon they begin to invade his everyday life, and every journey he makes to find her leaves him less able to return. When her refuges turn nightmarish he may have to make the ultimate sacrifice to keep her safe…

Published November 21, 2022 LAYERS OF INSPIRATION BY KEITH ANTHONY BAIRD Living as I do in England’s Lake District area, I’m immersed in a ...

Published November 21, 2022


LAYERS OF INSPIRATION BY
KEITH ANTHONY BAIRD


Living as I do in England’s Lake District area, I’m immersed in a truly inspiring region which is matched in its beauty by a rich history going back into antiquity. Quite aside from the breath-taking scenery which includes rugged mountains, sprawling lakes, lush forests, and rolling hills, there’s a lore which permeates every glade and valley. The Romans were here, as evidenced in their lasting marks upon the landscape. The Celts too, with numerous stone circles dotting the moors and fells which speak of druidic rites and a shadowy nature we’ll never fully understand.


As a writer in the sphere of dark fiction there’s much in the way of inspiration to draw upon. Just about every major town here has some trace of its glorious past still intact. Castles, inns, and manor houses litter the countryside, each with a story dating back centuries. And it’s in these settings we find tales of the supernatural which provide yet another layer of interest to an already overflowing pot. With its annual visitor numbers in the millions, the district plays host to tourists from all corners of the globe. Many experience encounters with what can only be described as the ‘otherworldly’. 


One well-known spot is Kirkstone Pass. The gateway to Patterdale valley, the pass is often closed in harsh winters due to its lofty position. In days of yore, it would have been treacherous for those travelling on foot or by horse-drawn carriage, and one such tale has given rise to a particular haunting which has become synonymous with the inn there. It is the story of Ruth Ray, who was on her way from Patterdale to see her sick father with her small child in tow. As so often happens, the weather unexpectedly took a turn for the worst and snow quickly fell, making it impossible to walk in any direction with certainty. When Ruth had not returned home, her husband set out to look for her, only to find her frozen and lifeless. The baby was wrapped up heavily and survived. To this day, Ruth still haunts the Kirkstone Inn. It is thought she warns walkers of the weather and the dangers of the pass.

Another tale tells of a young boy who was killed by a coach outside the inn. It is reported that a photograph of a 17th century coachman was captured while he was lurking in the bar. The ghost was apparently the great, great grandfather of the family who took the picture, and it’s said that his spirit followed the visiting family home. There are accounts too of a grey lady and the ghost of a hiker who once worked at the inn, who is believed to be the culprit of poltergeist activity there. Another restless spirit is that of a woman who was hanged nearby for the murder of her child. It’s said she haunts the tree on which she met her end.


Tales of the Kirkstone Inn are just a few of the many which are commonplace in an area steeped in such a rich heritage. The aforementioned castles and manor houses have their fair share of hauntings too, and even the very hills themselves, according to a number of sightings. If legend is to be believed, the fellside on the edge of Blencathra mountain is home to a ghostly procession that has been witnessed on a few occasions at Midsummer. The first time they were seen is said to have been during the evening of Midsummer's Day in 1735, where a servant claimed to have watched a line of soldiers, both on foot and horseback, marching their way across the fell.


So it’s easy to take inspiration from everything around me here in the Lake District. I sincerely hope my fellow writers, wherever you are, have an equally wonderful setting in which to thrive in your writing.



Keith Anthony Baird is the author of The Jesus Man: A Post-Apocalyptic Tale of Horror (Novel), Nexilexicon (Novel), And a Dark Horse Dreamt of Nightmares (Book of Shorts), This Will Break Every Bone In Your Heart (Novelette) and Snake Charmer Blues (Short), and a psychological/horror novella titled A Seed in a Soil of Sorrow. His works can be found on Amazon and Audible.

The Diabolica Britannica horror anthology was his brainchild, in which you will find his own contribution Walked a Pale Horse on Celtic Frost. 2021 saw the release of the Diabolica Americana and HEX-PERIMENTS anthologies, the latter in partnership with author Ross Jeffery.

His dark fantasy novella In the Grimdark Strands of the Spinneret is coming from Brigid’s Gate Press in November 2022.

He is currently querying a dystopian/cyberpunk novella titled SIN:THETICA and writing a vampire-themed novella called A Light of Little Radiance in collaboration with fellow British author Beverley Lee.

He lives in Cumbria, in the United Kingdom, on the edge of the Lake District National Park.

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