“A Syzygy of Snails” is a story collection comprised of seven short stories. The stories operate within the realm of literary fiction, but the author incorporates elements of genre fiction, such as horror, crime, gothic fiction, and even the castaway narrative, in order to meditate on genre and the boundaries between fiction and reality. To that end, stories within stories and metafictive inquiries populate this collection. Although the subject matter varies, from domestic drama grounded in reality to internal conflicts that question reality, fear and disorder thematically bind the stories together as a collection. Each of the stories work to uncover human truths and illustrate that these truths are as present in fiction as in our perceived reality.