Bloody Summer

What do children know that adults can’t begin to believe? The answer is hidden in plain sight in this haunting short story by the bestselling author of Her Body and Other Parties.

Tiger, tiger, burning bright, in the forests of the night. In the town of Never-Again, Pennsylvania, this hand-game song contains a history—centuries of inexplicable tiger sightings. A researcher arrives to write yet another academic paper about the well-studied town, called “Big Cats in the Children’s Hand-Games of Never-Again, Pennsylvania.” Nobody expects to find new clues—but, years after a scene of unimaginable violence, the truth about this childish chant is about to come out.

Carmen Maria Machado’s Bloody Summer is part of Trespass, a collection of wild stories about animal instincts, human folly, and survival from award-winning, bestselling authors. Read or listen to each in a single sitting.