Throughout history our fear of and desire to control death has raised empires and broken gods. What's dominated the past is sure to follow in the future. Even in the Anthropocene, the global epoch of humankind, the planet is in the throes of a sixth period of mass extinction. Here is a collection of dark fables and modern fairytales, inspired by Scandinavian folk tales and the work of H.C. Andersen, about death, the dead, and our relationship to both, to celebrate the living and remind us that only one thing is certain in life.