Beyond All Reasonable Doubt, Jesus Is Alive!
Stories
by Melissa Lozada-Oliva
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Pub Date Sep 02 2025 | Archive Date Aug 19 2025
Astra Publishing House | Astra House
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Description
From the author of Dreaming of You and Candelaria comes an ethereal and revelatory short story collection about faith, delusion, and the demons that can't get enough of us.
A beheaded body interrupts a quinceañera. An obsession with her father’s bizarre video game shifts a lonely girl’s reality. A sentient tail sprouts from a hospital worker’s backside, throwing her romantic life into peril. And in the novella “Community Hole,” a recently cancelled musician flees New York and finds herself in a haunted punk house in Boston.
This collection, at once playful, grisly, and tender, presents a tapestry of women ailing for something to believe in – even if it hurts them. Using body horror, fabulism, and humor, Melissa Lozada-Oliva mines the pain and uncanniness of the modern world. Reveling in the fine line between disgust and desire, Beyond All Reasonable Doubt, Jesus is Alive! is for the sinner in us all.
Advance Praise
"Melissa Lozada-Oliva writes with a perfect blend of intoxicating magic and unflinching humor, illuminating the visceral tensions of yearning and darkness that define our most human moments. Beyond All Reasonable Doubt, Jesus is Alive! invites readers to confront the demons that haunt us all with a spellbinding, evocative tenderness. Surprising, witty, and deep, Lozada-Oliva is one of my favorite storytellers working today. A beautiful, sharp-tongued collection that feels like an instant classic with an edge all its own.” —Chelsea Bieker, author of Madwoman and Godshot
"Each story in this collection is a treat you’ll want to savor. Hilarious and deliriously odd, Beyond All Reasonable Doubt, Jesus is Alive! dives giddily into the joys and troubles of being a flawed person. I was mesmerized by each of Lozada-Oliva’s delicious jumps of imagination, landing in a place more marvelous and heart-achingly human than I would ever expect. This collection is a treasure!" —Gerardo Sámano Córdova, author of Monstrilio
"In Melissa Lozada-Oliva's hands, girlhood is the eerie, seething, unsurvivable thing that women all know it to be. Lozada-Oliva's protagonists cry, scheme, joke, lie, mourn, humiliate themselves, and scream for attention in settings both familiar and fantastical. It's a mark of the author's brilliance that as they do all this, they also charm us, every step of the way." —Rax King, author of Tacky
Marketing Plan
MARKETING AND PUBLICITY PLANS • National media campaign including print, online, radio, and podcast • Pitch excerpts to major literary and genre fiction publications • Pitch interviews and profiles to major publications • Targeted outreach to reviewers and publications focused on short fiction, horror, speculative fiction, female writers, Latinx writers • Author events at indie bookstores, reading series, and festivals • Bookseller outreach • Influencer outreach • Social media campaign in collaboration with author
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781662601828 |
| PRICE | $26.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 256 |
Links
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Reviewer 1674199
Incredible collection of short stories! Visceral, twisted horror stories that set you on edge in a million different ways. Casts swirling shadows over girlhood, teeth, Cristo Negro, third-grade teachers, panthers and the very places we call home. Melissa Lozada-Oliva's writing is captivating.
Thank you to Astra House and NetGalley for the ARC!
Talia S, Reviewer
Beyond All Reasonable Doubt, Jesus Is Alive!: Stories by Melissa Lozada-Oliva is a book you should definitely have on your radar this summer. Wow, this book was so much fun and wonderfully strange. I had an amazing time reading it. I was beyond thrilled to receive this ARC, and after reading it, I can confidently say that this might be one of the best short story collections I’ve ever read. Melissa Lozada-Oliva is a talented writer who truly understands her audience. I devoured these stories. The opener, which shares the book’s title, was captivating and eerie, pulling me in right from the start. It gave me subtle Todd Solondz, Ghost World and old school Creepypasta vibes, which I absolutely loved. I found myself particularly drawn to Pool House, Dream Man, and Community Living, those stories were especially memorable for me. I highly recommend this book and suggest you keep an eye on this author! I also loved her other book Candelaria which I read while I was reading this collection because I was loving it so much. Put this book on your TBR’s right now! Beyond All Reasonable Doubt, Jesus Is Alive! Comes out September 2, 2025. Thanks very much to Astra House for giving me access to an arc of this one.
Heather F, Bookseller
This is a fascinating and disturbing story collection, much like Lozada-Oliva's earlier works in that way. They're very unique and weird AF, with a voice at times unlike anyone else publishing today.
Reviewer 1794531
I read it in two days, it is absolutely captivating. Once I started reading a story I needed to know what happened next. The stories are so well written and tense. Lozada-Olivia manages to create such fleshed out and real characters.
My favourite stories were The Heiress, Heads, Pool House and But I’m Still King. As a mixed latina woman, I related to a lot of different little elements in each story.
Made for a great summer read, during a hot sticky day. Absolutely great book, absolutely recommend it to anyone who loves weird girl lit!
Reviewer 1262100
Just a phenomenal collection of short stories. The visceral nature of the horror and body imagery depicted intertwined with revelations on place, home, and family resulted in both a physical and emotional reaction in many cases.
Thank you to netgalley and Astra House for a complimentary earc in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewer 1796246
Thank you Astra House for providing me with an arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
My Goodreads review will be posted on August 26, 2025.
This was incredible! I don't usually enjoy short story collections, but I thoroughly enjoyed almost every story in this collection. They were dark, sometimes gross, and unlike anything I have read before. Each story was so different while still feeling very cohesive as a collection. I especially loved the stories that included vague dystopian settings.
What really sold me on this collection, however, is the writing. Lozada-Oliva has such a way with words, and there was always one specific line that impacted me deeply in each story. I cannot wait to read more from this author, and I would highly recommend this collection if you love weird books!
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