Content levels
Trigger warnings
Positive tags
Protagonist archetypes
Synopsis
Safe passage / Ramona Ausubel -- Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the angel / Peter S. Beagle -- Cardiology / Ryan Boudinot -- The Pentecostal Home for Flying Children / Will Clarke -- For a ruthless criticism of everything existing / Martin Cozza -- Daltharee / Jeffrey Ford -- Is / Chris Gavaler -- The torturer's wife / Thomas Glave -- Reader's guide / Lisa Goldstein -- Search continues for elderly man / Laura Kasischke -- Pride and Prometheus / John Kessel -- The New York times at special bargain rates / Stephen King -- Couple of lovers on a red background / Rebecca Makkai -- Flying and falling / Kuzhali Manickavel -- The King of the Djinn / Benjamin Rosenbaum & David Ackert -- The city and the moon / Deborah Schwartz -- The two-headed girl / Paul G. Tremblay -- The first several hundred years following my death / Shawn Vestal -- Rabbit catcher of Kingdom Come / Kellie Wells -- Serials / Katie Williams.
Is Real Unreal appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 16 and up.
This anthology blends literary fiction with fantasy elements, exploring death, grief, and existential themes across 20 stories by acclaimed authors including Stephen King. Contains moderate violence, mature themes, and some profanity appropriate for older teens and adults.
What to know going in
This book has moderate violence, mild sexual content, and moderate language. Content notes include death, death of parent, and grief (see the full list above).
Who'll love this
Teens interested in thoughtful, literary fantasy that explores big questions about life, death, and reality will find these stories thought-provoking and genre-bending.