The Caribbean-rooted writing collective Piton Noire has published The Flying Crapaud IV: Unexpected Door, the fourth volume in its anthology series of speculative fiction. The new collection brings together writers connected to Dominica, the wider Caribbean and beyond, with stories that place Caribbean voices, landscapes and traditions at the centre of science fiction, fantasy and folklore.
The anthology takes readers into worlds where the supernatural and the futuristic meet familiar Caribbean realities. Among the stories in the collection, villagers are haunted by a vengeful sea spirit, a young woman encounters a malevolent force after a night out, and a sorcerer's theft of a sacred orb condemns a village to darkness. Other tales feature a soucoyant defending the old ways before a modernised Witches Council, and a young boy confronting climate change when it snows on his island.
The title of the volume reflects the spirit of the collection, opening a door without knowing exactly what waits on the other side. Across the anthology, readers encounter stories grounded in recognisable Caribbean experiences but unconstrained by conventional boundaries between folklore, fantasy and science fiction.
For Piton Noire, the fourth book represents another step toward a larger objective: developing a body of speculative literature in which Caribbean writers can imagine their own heroes, monsters, futures and alternate realities while drawing strength from the region's cultural inheritance. The collective describes its growing body of work as part of a broader effort to place the Caribbean at the heart of speculative storytelling.
Piton Noire is a writing collective dedicated to nurturing writers interested in Dominica and the Caribbean and encouraging the creation of science fiction, fantasy and folklore-inspired literature. Its mission is to develop a distinctive body of Caribbean speculative fiction while preserving, reimagining and expanding the region's mythology, folklore and oral storytelling traditions. The collective includes writers of different ages, backgrounds and experience levels connected by Caribbean culture and creative storytelling.
The Flying Crapaud IV: Unexpected Door is available now. The collective's media contact is Nicole Georges-Bennett, public relations officer for Piton Noire and The Flying Crapaud Collective.
