<p>Garrett Ashley's debut short story collection, <em>Periphylla, and Other Deep Ocean Attractions&nbsp;</em>introduces a cast of characters both strange and strangely familiar: a father struggling to reconcile modern co-parenting with his past life as a yak, a brother and sister fighting to survive in an alligator-infested swamp, residents of a seaside town where the cadence of life and loss follows the heartbeat of the mythical Leviathan. Readers will find stories of&nbsp;reincarnation, zombification, and genetic modification-but most of all, a piercing self-awareness that invites us to laugh at the absurd while also reminding us, in all seriousness, that what some may call "fantasy" often tells the truest story.</p>