Accidents Never Happen

“From the very first page, I loved immersing myself in Penny Zang’s haunted dive bars of Baltimore. With a creepy cast of characters who all seem more suspect than the next and a beautifully eerie prose, Zang creates an atmospheric tale of legends, ghosts, revenge, and complicated sisterly bonds. Truly unique.” – Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau, author of We Would Never Tell
“In what is becoming Zang’s signature style, she gives us a dead poet, a grieving young woman, and the question of how completely we can fail to know the people we’d swear we know best. In her debut, Doll Parts, it was Plath. Here, it’s Poe. Two sisters, a missing father, a crumbling bar, and a serial killer, all wrapped in smoke-filled, 1980s Baltimore. Fans of Long Bright River will find their new favorite here.” – Liz Lawson, New York Times bestselling author of It Happened One Murder and The Agathas
“Penny Zang has crafted an incredible gothic ghost story in Accidents Never Happen. I came for the 80s dive bar vibes, and I stayed for the twisty mystery involving an Edgar Allan Poe-inspired serial killer terrorizing his way through the Baltimore bar scene.” – Stacy Willingham, New York Times bestselling author of Forget Me Not
“Penny Zang writes gothic at its coolest. Accidents Never Happen is a black-pink fever dream of sisterhood, murder, and the stories that haunt us.” – Daphne Woolsoncroft, author of The Season of Sinking
“A haunting tribute to Edgar Allan Poe, Baltimore, and the bonds of sisterhood, Penny Zang’s latest novel is both a chilling thriller and a love letter to the author and city she knows so well. Accidents Never Happen is one of the most original and atmospheric books I’ve read all year!” – Lauren Nossett, award winning author of Indie Darling
“Baltimore dives. Sisters with secrets. Serial murders. And Edgar Allen Poe. Penny Zang blends it all into fast-paced thrill ride that feels just like hearing your favorite bartender tell you their craziest story.” – Daria Lavelle, author of Aftertaste
“Beautifully written and packed with Poe lore, Accidents Never Happen is a powerful portrayal of family loyalty and historical intrigue. Behind the propulsive serial murders and haunted dive bars is a story about the tales we tell each other and the complexity of sisterhood. A must-read for all Poe lovers!” – Saratoga Schaefer, USA Today Bestselling Author of Trad Wife and The Last Time We Drowned
“In Penny Zang’s new novel, 1980s Baltimore is a labyrinthian dreamscape–all shadows, dive bars, and trap doors. A main character that feels straight out of We Have Always Lived in the Castle, still reeling from the disappearance of her father, must now find her missing sister, while being hounded by police, taunted by locals, and trailed by ghost tours. Accidents Never Happen is two parts Edgar Allan Poe, one part Shirley Jackson, and a dash of Blondie, served with a serial killer garnish.” – Laura Leffler, author of Tell Them You Lied
“Set in the 1980s Baltimore dive bar scene, Accidents Never Happen is a fiercely atmospheric thriller where you can practically smell the Aqua Net, hear the jukebox blasting Blondie. I got so caught up in the beer- and Poe-soaked vibes, I didn’t see the serial killer coming until the final, devastating reveal. This was totally the gothic escapism I’ve been craving!” – K.T. Nguyen, Agatha and Anthony Award-winning author of You Know What You Did
“Sprinkled with easter eggs that will undoubtedly delight all Edgar Allen Poe fans, Accidents Never Happen is a chilling and atmospheric examination of sisterhood and family loyalty. With writing that feels like slinking through a foggy and haunted gothic Baltimore, every dead body uncovered perfectly dials up the tension, leaving readers breathless for more.” – Liann Zhang, author of Julie Chan is Dead
“Zang delivers an utterly creepy, haunting, and propulsive novel. Accidents Never Happen is dripping with rich Baltimore history, unhinged family dynamics, and told in a way that makes you feel like a patron at Goldies listening to a bar story that chills you all the way to the bone.” – Marlee Bush, author of Darling, You’re Next

May Cobb is the award-winning author of The Hollywood Assistant, A Likeable Woman, My Summer Darlings, and The Hunting Wives, which is being adapted into an 8-episode series for STARZ. She earned her MA in literature from San Francisco State University, and her essays and interviews have appeared in The Washington Post, Texas Highways, Good Housekeeping, and more. A Texas native, she lives in Austin with her family.

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