PRETEND YOU DON’T SEE HER IS OUT NOW!

HAPPY RELEASE DAY!
The brand new 2025 Kandisha Press Anthology is out now! This marks the rebirth of Kandisha Press and the Women of Horror Series. Get your copy today on Amazon and help support Kandisha and women horror authors all around the world!

PRETEND YOU DON’T SEE HER: The Invisible Woman

The Invisible Woman: You barely notice her, sitting alone in the corner of the smoky bar. She walks at night, undetected until she reveals her true self underneath that unremarkable form. We are your shapeshifters, your werewolves, your witchy women, your wicked little creatures and demonic entities, all hiding in plain sight as harried housewives, college students, bartenders, business execs, Instagram influencers–ordinary, often forgotten ladies with dark secrets. We’re ready to show ourselves!

Edited by Jill Girardi and Lydia Prime
Foreword by Candace Nola

Cover Design by Lydia Prime

FEATURED AUTHORS:
Carmen Baca
Charlotte Brookins
Brooklyn Ann Butler
Allison Cellura
Emma Rose Darcy
Sally Darling
Dawn DeBraal
Lillie Franks
Meg Hafdahl
Ruthann Jagge
Candy Madonna
Jen Mierisch
Nora B. Peevy
Mocha Pennington
Eva Roslin
Lauren Lee Smith
Sonora Taylor
Anne Wilkins
Valerie B. Williams
Trish Wilson
Nicole M. Wolverton

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR PRETEND YOU DON’T SEE HER: THE INVISIBLE WOMAN:

“I really love what Kandisha Press stands for and so was very excited when one of the editors of this collection got in touch and asked if I would like a review copy. ‘Yes please!’ I said and, having now read the thing, I can safely say I had a great time.

There is an excellent range of stories to pick through here, all of them punchy and short enough to devour whole. As you might expect with an anthology, not every story connected with me, but I really enjoyed the ones that did…” – Dave Musson, Dave Reads King YouTube Channel (See the full video review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iaBfUbyvy0&list=LL&index=8.)

“Pretend You Don’t See Her is a classic sampling of feminist or pink horror. The title refers to “her”: you know her–the woman in the office whose name you fail to remember, the waitress busting her ass who you can’t bother to make eye contact with, the housewife who blends into the background, the black sheep of the family who you hope skips the next holiday…”Her” even refers to the long forgotten she-monsters who no longer scare you, despite their ability to rip you to shreds.

Next time you encounter “her” you should pay more attention, as that invisible woman is not hiding, she is raging.

The anthology contains a diverse group of stories both in terms of content and author voices. Years ago, Girardi and Prime carved out places for themselves in the pantheon of savvy editors. They have a good eye for story telling and are able to strongly showcase both seasoned and novice writers.

Some standouts for me were Sally Darling’s “Mantra,” Lauren Lee Smith’s “Selkie’s Stew,” Anne Wilkins’ “The Scream,”Nora B. Peevy’s “Carla’s Curiosities,” and Valerie B. Williams’ “Home to Roost.” That said, all of the stories were enjoyable and Pretend You Don’t See Her is a fantastic edition to the Kandisha Press catalogue.” – Elaine Pascale, Author, Editor and Godmother of Horror

“This is such a fun, creepy ride. Every story has its own take on what hides in plain sight—witches, shapeshifters, demons, even everyday monsters—and the variety keeps it fresh the whole way through. Some tales are sharp and unsettling, others lean into dark humor, but all of them pack a punch. It feels like a love letter to women-in-horror, and you can tell the authors had a blast with the theme. Definitely worth picking up!” – Jyl Glen, Author and Editor

“Kandisha Press’ 2025 Women of Horror Anthology (revamping the Women of Horror anthology series, otherwise this would be the fifth volume), contains 21 wide-ranging horror stories, all by female authors, and a foreword by Candace Nola. The anthology’s theme centers on the metaphorical idea of the “invisible woman”: the one you don’t notice, the one hiding or standing back, perhaps voiceless or literally invisible – in the corner of the room, in a bar, on the street, on the edge of the woods – yet she’s the one you’ll have to pay attention to when she does decide to get herself noticed. This smart (and quite topical) idea gives the chance to the authors to come up with some terrific stories, drawing on many familiar horror tropes and even introducing several new ones!

All the stories are worth reading, but for practical reasons, I’ll mention only the ones I enjoyed most. Brooklyn Ann Butler’s “The Waitress” was closer in style and subject matter to my preferences, written in the form of a female suspect’s testimony to the police: her voice is the only one heard, and it soon transpires that this 56-year-old waitress found herself face to face with something totally evil and disturbingly sinister – another waitress! Though, if she is to be believed, things are far from simple: she encountered a monster. Or did she? Ruthann Jagge’s “Her Black Velvet Bones” is a complex revenge story, with a supernatural twist: a woman who takes care of a university library archive witnesses a student being sexually harassed by a male professor, and decides to take matters in her own hands; but the story has a second layer, one that took me completely by surprise! Emma Rose Darcy’s “You Got Me, Babe,” the opening story of the volume, was quite disturbing, taking the trope of the “bad roommate” usually found in domestic thrillers and turning it into an incredibly unsettling and horrifying reading experience; Charlotte Brookins’ “Afterbirth” had the ending I found creepiest in the volume, giving to the idea of staying young a new and mildly gory spin; and Sonora Taylor’s “Always In My Ear” was totally unpredictable, building on true crime podcasting and turning it all horribly weird! I also recommend “Mantra” by Sally Darling, “Quid Pro Quo” by Dawn DeBraal, “The Scream” by Anne Wilkins, and “The Ballad of Fat Amy” by Mocha Pennington.

Masterfully edited and superbly curated by Jill Girardi and Erin Lydia Prime, the anthology is an outstanding example of women writing horror and cracking a sinister smile while doing it: it explores its theme with subtlety and flair; it breaks some (male) bones on the way; and it manages to convey precisely the message that all women, even the invisible ones, are seen! Highly recommended!” – Milt Theodossius

“Pretend You Don’t See Her: the Unseen Woman. The woman in the corner with a sad smile and a haunted look. The woman who unnerves you with a single look. The woman with the scars. The woman with the intelligent power. Whether you acknowledge them or not, they are lurking: waiting for you.

This is a collection of feminine rage that bubbles and simmers on the page. This is a collection of female empowerment, revenge, myth, and timeless horror. Whether the hero or the villain, these women are complicated, and completely hold your focus.

I enjoyed every single story in this collection, almost all from new-to-me authors. A colossal TOC is presented with style and grace in this beautifully curated anthology.

My personal favourite story was Her Black Velvet Bones by Ruthann Jagge. This had a gothic style and finesse that I really loved, with lots of twists. It reads like velvet on the page, and it stayed with me long after I finished. With that said, considering the number of anthologies out there, this one really resonated with me as an excellent collection of impeccable stories.” – Catriona Mowat

“Pretend You Don’t See Her: The Invisible Woman is an anthology that feature women in the lead roles. But this is no ordinary set of stories. Each of them are horror stories. Some are sedate and delightful. Others are intense and occasionally very graphic in their depiction of a circumstance of horror.

The editors of this anthology are Lydia Prime and Jill Girardi. Prime has been published in several anthologies and her story, Sadie, won the 2020 Critter Readers poll for Best Horror Story of the Year. Girardi is the author of Hantu Macabre, and the founder of Kandisha Press.

Pretend You Don’t See Her: The Invisible Woman is being published by Kandisha Press. It contains twenty-one stories, along with author and editor bios.

It also has a forward by Candace Nola, author of The Unicorn Killer, Hank Flynn and is the head of Uncomfortably Dark.

In the story You Got Me, Babe, Po is concerned about her friend Johnny, who’d kind of disappeared from their group’s social scene. When she finally is able to get to Johnny, she finds a mess of a situation. He’s not gone to work, his personal appearance is ghastly and his apartment’s a wreck. A girl, Beatrice, has been staying with him. But what is really going on? The story unfolds further as we learn a bit more about Johnny might have become the way Po had seen him earlier. Something is not quite right about Bernice. Is she some kind of demon, or succubus? Some kind of other creature? Or did Johnny and Po both fall under the spell of some kind of master manipulator, or psychological predator? This was a great story and a great way to start this anthology. I pretty much thought I knew how the story would end, but how the author framed the ending was interesting. The author of the story is Emma Rose Darcy. When not working in a museum, this Australian is busy writing dark horror and fantasy.

Gwendolyn is a woman with a college-aged daughter and a teen-aged son. Her husband no longer looks at her as he once did, with lust in his eyes. In a conversation with her friend Elfine, Gwendolyn learns of a way to get her husband interested in her again. The story has a twist at the end that made me think of the adult stories of Roald Dahl. The title of this story is Afterbirth and was written by Charlotte Brookins. Her stories have been in publications such as All Existing and Haunting Words Press.

Ruthanne Jagge lives on a ranch somewhere in Texas. When she’s not baking, caring for an adopted dog, or helping out her rancher husband, Ruthanne writes horror stories. I reviewed her novella, The New Girls’ Patient, a couple of years ago. Her story for this collection is Her Black Velvet Bones. The main character, Liza, is the curator of rare books at a university library named after her aunt. Liza is only at the library for a limited time, having been away on trips the remainder of the year. A lecherous professor and a traumatized female student are central to the story, which has a touch of modern gothic. This is a terrific horror story that led in one direction, only to provide an ending that I was definitely not expecting.

Mantra is a delightful story that features a young woman named Amelia. She is not very successful in the dating world. Coupled with that is a mixture of a desire to diet and somewhat obscure hunger pangs. Reciting a mantra about not being hungry doesn’t serve Amelia too well, even when she’s possibly found the right guy. I figured out what was going on with Amelia, but the author painted a very vivid portrait of Amelia’s plight. Sally Darling is the author of the story. A member of the Horror Writers Association, Sally is a vocalist and bassist who hangs with the heavy metal band, Crossbreed, and co-owns a school specializing in rock music.

Lauren Lee Smith is a screenwriter and novelist. Her historical horror novel, The Night Pool, will be published in the fall of 2026. Her story, Selkie’s Stew, is very interesting. Selkie is human, but not quite. She has sealskin that grows on her legs. Her husband has to scrape the sealskin off daily. This is a chore he doesn’t like but is necessary. Selkie wishes she could just run away to the sea, but her infant daughter couldn’t go with her. Selkie is always making a stew that she hopes will appease her husband a bit. But by the end of the story, things take a turn that the husband hadn’t quite anticipated.

Quid Pro Quo is a story of a wife who despises her husband. All because of an accident he caused where two people died. She has a recurring nightmare about the event, but they eventually go away because of a solution that was offered her. But little did she know that there was a quid pro quo attached to that solution. The story’s author, Dawn DeBraal, has been published over 700 times and her latest novel, The Lord’s Prayer: A Series In Horror, won the 2024 Literary Global Book Award for Fictional Anthology.

Can a person’s angst, anger and rage turn into a salient being? This is the premise of The Scream. A teenage girl keeps a lot of things bottled up. But she can go to a specific place and scream to let it all out. This scream turns into something far more horrific, and dangerous as the story progresses. I wasn’t sure where the story was going, but thought the ending was pretty good. The story is by Anne Wilkins. She has been described as a sleep-deprived school teacher in New Zealand, who writes in what little spare time she has. Her writing has won three awards in the last two years.

Just like Adam taking a bite of the apple in the Garden of Eden, Dani’s bite of an unusual fruit brings about a complete change in her world. This story, Star Mouth, takes place in the mid 1950’s. Dani is a lowly secretary with a overbearing boss and a domineering father. A happenstance with a cardinal bird and taking a bite of a strange fruit takes Dani’s life in a completely different direction. This delightful story is from Meg Hafdahl, who among little things like writing horror stories, is a screenwriter and film producer.

We all know that AI has become a very real thing in our world today. But how advanced will AI be in the near future? In the story, Remote Control, Ethan is a remote worker in a high-tech environment. But he is a bit lonely. So, Ethan boots up an AI companion, Sophie. And what starts out as simple interaction between Ethan and Sophie becomes something very sinister. I have been around computers for eons and am sort of a nerd. So, I really enjoyed this story. It was written by Allison Cellura, a seasoned special education professional. Even though she has written many stories, this is her published debut.

A drunk college guy and a girl who just wanted to be loved is the basis for the story The Ballad of Fat Amy. Kyle is the poster boy for drunk college kid with a hot girlfriend. He, his sister, Kayla, her boyfriend and Kyle’s girlfriend Aimee are all at her father’s beach house on spring break. But what is a somewhat laid-back experience becomes something else entirely. Because Kyle has done something not quite so nice. The reader finds out about what happened in series of flashbacks. And that, what happened then, with a young woman named Amy, reaps horrific consequences now. The thing with Amy and Kyle brought me back to my clubbing days, where I’d see guys like him make fun of, and then later, pick up women they considered less desirable, just to get laid. This somewhat cautionary horror tale is from Mocha Pennington. Besides co-hosting Tea Time, a gossip channel on YouTube, she has written stories that have appeared in several anthologies.

A Twist of Fate is a ghost story, of sorts. Amy is trying to run away from her abusive husband. She stops at a motel that has seen better days. Amy thinks she is safe, but once in her room, she encounters some kind of spirit. And with horror stories of this nature, the theme becomes about vengeance and retribution. This story, with a definite twist to it, is by Trish Wilson, who writes horror, romance and erotic stories under her real name and pen names E.A. Black and Elizabeth Black.

Always In My Ear is a story of two high school girls who become serial killers. Victoria and Brooke meet in school and find out they both love the thrill of possibly killing someone. Things escalate over time and then there is a true crime podcast that directs people to seek out and go after people purported to be killers, even if they aren’t. I found this story to be a bit disturbing in the sense that this type of psychosis could actually happen in real life. Sonora Taylor, the author of the story, is an award-winning novelist. Her short stories have found their way into several collections.

Tierra Roja is a quiet tourist destination village in the story Xolo. Alta works at a dress shop owned by Antonia. Alta gets offended by a tourist who tries to drive down a price on a dress, only to have the woman insult Antonia. Later, determined to give the tourist a talking to, Alta observes a horrendous act. But that is only part of the story. Did Alta somehow cause this to happen, or is there something, or someone else involved? This is a very interesting story that deals with both the supernatural and ancient cultures. Carmen Baca, whose had stories nominated for Best of the Net and the Pushcart Award, is the author of this story.

Waitresses in uniforms, with pet names for their regular customers and who chain-smoke on their breaks are pretty much a thing of the past. The story, The Waitress, takes the reader back to those times, specifically 1979. Geraldine Jackson is giving a statement at the Promise Township Police Department. She is a chain-smoking waitress who knows one of the cops well enough to ask about his mother. But what is Geraldine giving a statement about? She spins a tale about a waitress who seems to be sapping the life out of her fellow waitresses. But is this fact or fiction? As the story unfolded by way of Geraldine’s statement, it became obvious that something evil was going on. But it could have been real or it could have just been Geraldine starting to lose her mind. By the of Geraldine’s statement, it is learned just why she’s giving a statement to the cops. This is a delicious story that molds a stereotypical gum popping, chain-smoking waitress of yesteryear into either a hero or a deranged villain. Brooklyn Ann Butler is the author of this story. She writes the B Mine series, which are novels that seem like they were taken straight from ‘80’s horror films.

Valerie is a painter. She has this painting she’s been working on. But something strange is going on. The painting seems to be changing, but Valerie can’t figure what’s going on with it. She is renting a room at a mansion owned by a mysterious woman named Mercel. Had Mercel been messing around with the painting, or is there something else, some possibly sinister going on? The title of this story is The Painted Man. Jen Mierisch is the author. By day she is a website administrator, but at night she writes strange, yet captivating stories.This story took a couple of corner turns, so I didn’t know exactly what was going on. But, by the end of the story, everything fit together. It was a strange, but very interesting story

Karma and Camile is about a woman whom the local townspeople think is a witch. Or something like that. All of the people who tried to wrong Camile suffered some kind of disastrous fate. That is the front half of the story. The back half is a story of vivid horror, in graphic detail. This back half is about what happens to people who take bothering Camile to new lows. Candy Madonna is the author of this story. Besides writing horror tales, she has also written a spiritual self-help book titled Gotta Be Shifting.

Roya is a young Indian woman, who works in a London Library. She has run away from an abusive husband and is trying to build a life without him. This was a marriage she was forced into by her abusive father. Roya gets an unwanted visit from an aunt. Then, having learned of her father being very ill, Roya reluctantly returns to the family home. But what awaits her is not like anything she’d expected. The title of the story is Shahmaran. The title refers to a mythological creature that is half serpent and half woman. The character plays into the final part of the story, where nothing is what it seems to be. This is an interesting tale that mixes Indian family hierarchy with Indian /Iranian mythology. Eva Roslin, whose stories have been published in collections such as Slay And Slay Again, is the author of this story.

Carla has been around for a few centuries. She is kind of hiding in plain sight. Carla has a shop with toys that cut people. Not seriously cut them, just enough to draw blood. Because Carla needs blood, virgin blood, to sustain her beauty. This is the foundation for Carla’s Curiosities, a delightful tale that takes bits of fairy tale lore and blends it with mythology. It even has a fun little bit that features a real, modern, icon. Nora B. Peevy is the author of the story and whose previous stories, often termed as quirky, can be found in places like Weird Fiction Quarterly.

Zahra is a young woman. A vampire, having been turned by her patron, Clemencia, Zahra is a bit precocious. And a bit promiscuous. But this story is more about Clemencia and how she feeds to sustain herself. In fact, a segment of the story details how she feeds on someone. The title of the story is In The Blood We Live. It is a strange story that predicates that women who are turned and become vampires, don’t actually discard all of their human aging predicaments. The creator of over fifty published stories and essays, Nicole M. Wolverton is the author of this one.

Attractive female secretaries and clerks are often seen as eye candy and not thought very capable. The story, Home To Roost, takes this societal imbalance and gives things a horror twist. This twist involves a promotion that was given to a man instead of a woman, a parrot who is more intuitive than the average bird and a bizarre heritage that gives the story a prolific ending. Valerie B.Williams wrote this story. Her debut novel, The Vanishing Twin, was published in late 2024.

The final story in the collection is Vegetable Love, written by Lillian Franks. Her work can be found in publications such as Always Crashing. In this story, Ms. Allen is a bit eccentric. But the people of the little town she lives in give her a bit of leeway due to her garden. Apparently, Ms. Allen has an astounding garden. On a walk, Ms. Allen happens across something. That something turns into a story element that comes off a bit like Steven King might have written it. The story is definitely strange and delightful. And a great way to close out this volume of horror tales.

Pretend You Don’t See Her: The Invisible Woman is a fantastic anthology. Other than Ruthanne Jagge, I hadn’t read anything from the writers in this anthology. But I was engaged, enthralled and thoroughly entertained by the stories that Jagge and the others provided for this anthology.

Pretend You Don’t See Her: The Invisible Woman will be available on September 30, 2025 at major book retailers.” – Bruce Von Stiers, BVSReviews.com

“Overall, this was a massively impressive and enjoyable collection. The high-end names gathered together provide a great selection of themes and topics throughout here, especially with the relevance of the stories heading into female-centric tales of body autonomy, coming to terms with your body as they grow up, or the rage displayed at being overlooked, leading to a gruesome act of retribution, just some of the topics featured here. This makes for a great time as the range of features brought into the series is spiced up with a smattering of voices and tones in their writing to make the individual stories stand out even more, with the range of styles also coming together in a strong showcase here as it drops Gothic Horror, Splatter, Mythological homages, and even comedic touches. Not every story will resonate, especially with the volume of talent gathered here, but they’re fun enough and often kept to a short standard that makes for a fun read.” – Don Anelli

“This anthology is incredibly well written by a stellar line up of authors. I must thank Kandisha Press for allowing me to ARC for you! This anthology explores creativity, parenthood, loneliness and feminine rage amongst other topics. We are the unseen. We are women. I especially liked Quid Pro Quo and Star Mouth. I loved the premise of the forbidden fruit. What I love about an anthology is the ability to find new authors and I have found plenty that I want to explore within this one! Remote Control was my favourite story. I love the premise of AI and sentient beings and what this could bring… or take away from our lives. Fat Amy’s story stayed with me that punch drunk confidence that crests in drink when really you feel so small, so out of place. I think this anthology has stories that relate to a whole plethora of women and their situations. A must read for women everywhere.” – K.D. Davies, Author

“Pretend you don’t see her: the Invisible woman is a collection of short stories written by various talented authors. Unique and compelling in their own individual way. Five stars.” – Mark Mackey, Author

“What” a cracking anthology, as we say in the UK! A really good anthology packed with female-centric and/or feminist horror stories. I had a great time with it!” – Kayleigh Dobbs, Author & Owner of Happy Goat YouTube Channel and website (Read a detailed review on happygoathorror.com!)

“This anthology showcases some amazing short stories! Clara’s Curiosities, A Twist of Fate, Remote, and The Ballad of Fat Amy are particularly thought provoking evil tales. I recommend this book to my short story horror people hands down! I devoured it in under a 24 hour period.” -Nicole Unbehaun, Author

“This anthology, PRETEND YOU DON’T SEE HER: THE INVISIBLE WOMAN, edited by Jill Girardi and Erin Lydia Prime with an introduction by Candace Nola, is a prolific cornucopia of twenty-one short stories, each more interesting and thrilling than the next. From muses to ghosts to vampires to odd gardening techniques, this anthology has everything you want in horror, with some strange and unsettling tales that will stay with you and chill your bones.

Jill Girardi and Erin Lydia Prime do a masterful job of placing these stories in the right places, making this an engaging and page-turning extravaganza that makes this book hard to put down.

Here are a few of my favorites.
BALLAD OF FAT AMY by Mocha Pennington
YOU GOT ME, BABE by Emma Rose Darcy
XOLO by Carmen Baca
THE WAITRESS by Brooklyn Ann Butler
SHAHMARAN by Eva Roslin
VEGETABLE LOVE by Lillie Franks..”
– Paul G. Grammatico, Author

“Thank you, Jill Girardi, and Kandisha Press for the gifted copy!

What a clever collection of horror short stories by and about women! Just like the summary says, these are women you might easily overlook until their darker, hidden selves are revealed. While this may be a work of fiction, each story reflected the real-life horror that women have experienced and continue to experience.

It was refreshing to read stories where women and their experiences take center stage. I liked how this collection challenges and overthrows traditional gender roles and power dynamics, turning the so-called “invisible” women into unforgettable ones.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.” – Chie, The Review Nook

“21 horror stories that invoke feminine rage. The woman that is invisible is ready to come out and play. Jill has assembled a top-notch group of female writers. There was not a story that lagged or dropped off. Each one was so powerful and engaging. The four that stood out the most for me were: The Scream by Anne Wilkins–love the B movie horrors and the teen emotions, Home to Roost by Valerie Williams–Any tale that revolves around a greet myth is great, Her Black Velvet Bones by Ruth Ann Jagge–the gothic style and telling was off the page, and The Ballad of Fat Amy by Mocha Pennington–the gore and revenge! Can’t wait to see what anthology is next.” – Dan McKeithan

“This was a fun horror anthology that did a great job of presenting a variety of different interpretations of the theme. The writing ranged from amateur to impressive with my personal favorites being “You Got Me, Babe” and “Her Black Velvet Bones.” – Jamie Zaccaria, Author

“4.5/5

I was absolutely honored to be asked to read this ARC before its official release on September 25. I love a good collection of short stories, especially when it’s horror and there is an underlying theme throughout. Women are some of the most ignored and taken advantage of by others in our society. They are only seen as wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, servers, and sometimes expendable. These stories show that this may be to their advantage and to our disadvantage. Whether they are one of the creatures of the night, one of those protecting us from evil both human and monster, or sometimes both, they are not to be underestimated or ignored any longer.” – Booksandgrounds

---