Best of
Dark-Fantasy

2009

The Night Angel Trilogy


Brent Weeks - 2009
    3 volumes in one giant omnibus edition."Way of Shadows", "Shadow's Edge", "Beyond the Shadows" all in one beautiful hardcover edition

The Many Deaths of the Black Company


Glen Cook - 2009
    Journeying there under terrible conditions, they arrive just in time for a magical conflagration in which the bones of the world will be revealed, the history of the Company unveiled, and new worlds gained and lost… all at a terrible price.And in Soldiers Live, no Black Company member has died in battle for four years. Croaker figures it can’t last. Then a report arrives of an an old enemy newly active again. It attacks them at a shadowgate — setting off a chain of events that will bring the Company to the edge of apocalypse and, as usual, several steps beyond.

Hellboy: The Ice Wolves


Mark Chadbourn - 2009
    In Dublin, Ireland, the clientele of a backstreet pub are found dead. In Kyoto, Japan, the bullet train pulls into the station with blood-spattered windows. It is the time of the Black Sun. Across the world, the wolves are calling to each other. Locked in bodies that had no idea they were there, they rise from the depths of the unconscious and turn towards America! For Hellboy, it's a race against time to prevent a devastating wave of primal savagery washing across the land. And so he is drawn to Boston's Beacon Hill and the Grant Mansion, believed to be the most haunted house in New England, where the truth may lie buried.

The Chronicles of Malus Darkblade Volume Two


Mike Lee - 2009
    Includes the books Warpsword and Lord of Ruin. In addition it contains two short stories never published before on Malus Darkblade.

The Child Thief


Brom - 2009
    His eyes are sparkling gold, and when he graces you with his smile you are his friend for life, but his promised land is not Neverland. Fourteen-year-old Nick would have been murdered by the drug dealers preying on his family had Peter not saved him. Now the irresistibly charismatic wild boy wants Nick to follow him to a secret place of great adventure, where magic is alive and you never grow old. Even though he is wary of Peter's crazy talk of faeries and monsters, Nick agrees. After all, New York City is no longer safe for him, and what more could he possibly lose?There is always more to lose.Accompanying Peter to a gray and ravished island that was once a lush, enchanted paradise, Nick finds himself unwittingly recruited for a war that has raged for centuries—one where he must learn to fight or die among the "Devils," Peter's savage tribe of lost and stolen children.There, Peter's dark past is revealed: left to wolves as an infant, despised and hunted, Peter moves restlessly between the worlds of faerie and man. The Child Thief is a leader of bloodthirsty children, a brave friend, and a creature driven to do whatever he must to stop the "Flesh-eaters" and save the last, wild magic in this dying land.

Awakening / Spellbound


Cate Tiernan - 2009
    Betrayed by her first love, she is trying to come to grips with her Woodbane heritage and with Wicca?its thorn and its rose.

The Calling / Changeling


Cate Tiernan - 2009
    But in their search for answers, they find themselves in terrible danger.

The Gospel of Filth: A Bible of Decadence & Darkness


Gavin Baddeley - 2009
    Now Dani Filth and Gavin Baddeley lay bare the fascinating underworld of contemporary culture. Dissecting the Satanic sources that have influenced and informed Cradle of Filth, with a roadmap to every significant landmark in the domains of darkness, including the arcane secrets of Black Magic, via the sex rites of vampirism. Artfully combining Hammer horror style schlock, dripping with eroticism, backed by authentic Black Arts info and a wicked sense of humor, this will dazzle devoted disciples of darkness. Contributors include actor Christopher Lee and Satanist Anton LaVey, to serial killer expert Robert Ressler and necrophile Karen Greenlee.

The Tale Of The Vampire Bride


Rhiannon Frater - 2009
    But my fate was far more terrible than an arranged marriage when my family became prisoners to one of the most fearsome and powerful vampires of all time, Count Vlad Dracula. Imprisoned in the decrepit castle in the Carpathian Mountains, my new life as a Bride of Dracula was filled with bloody feasts, cruel beatings, and sexual depravity. There was no hope of escape It was only when he took me to the picturesque city of Buda on the Danube River and I met a handsome, mysterious vampire in the darkened city streets, did I dare hope to find love and freedom.

Kelland


Paul G. Bens Jr. - 2009
    Or perhaps it begins later, with a devoutly Catholic child with the voice of an angel who is troubled by visions both sacred and profane. Or perhaps later still, with a couple drifting apart following a tragedy. Kelland appears to them all in the guise of a small boy, a lover, a priest...Kelland is an enigma, a puzzle, and an almost imperceptible presence. Kelland is violence, sorrow, and joy. Kelland is the common thread tying five disparate strangers together.

Blood Legacy: Heir to the Throne


Kerri Hawkins - 2009
    Although superficially resembling a vampire, Ryan possesses all of the mythical creature's abilities and none of its weaknesses. Surrounded by ancient beings who seek to dominate her by force or seduction, she has become the most powerful of her Kind. Due to Victor's illness, she is compelled to lead the hierarchy. Ryan assumes command but is troubled by dark dreams, images that do not belong to any of her Kind. With growing concern, Ryan realizes the dreams belong to one preceding her father. Just as she begins to solidify power, new enemies appear, challenging not only her supremacy but her conception of all that she is. Once thought immortal, she is confronted with the unimaginable: defeat and destruction. For the first time in her life, Ryan faces the possibility of death. And although many of the predators of her Kind would face such a fate with horror or dread...Ryan finds it exhilarating.

Grendel: Behold the Devil


Matt Wagner - 2009
    Behold the Devil follows Rose through this lost period early in his criminal career, as he is under scrutiny not only by the police and media, but also by the prying eyes of an unseen -- possibly supernatural pursuer. Unusually shaken and paranoid, the criminal mastermind is forced to take steps that redefine the evil of the entity known as Grendel!

Unhappy Endings (Digital Edition)


Brian Keene - 2009
    Brian Keene's UNHAPPY ENDINGS features an exciting mix of never-before-published stories and hard-to-find fan favorites, ranging from violent, post-apocalyptic novella to quiet, supernatural human-dramas.

A Practical Guide to Vampires


Lisa Trumbauer - 2009
    Sink your teeth into today's hottest fantasy topic with the next book in the New York Times best-selling series...How old is a vampire fledgling? Why do vampires avoid mirrors? What's the best way to slip into a vampire's home? New York Times best-selling author Lisa Trumbauer illuminates the twilight world of vampires in the next edition in the Practical Guide family of fantasy essentials.Book Details: Format: Hardcover Publication Date: 8/11/2009 Pages: 80 Reading Level: Age 6 and Up

A Robe of Feathers: And Other Stories


Thersa Matsuura - 2009
    Superstitions, legends, and folk myths are passed down through generations and pervade daily living.When a child playing near a river fails to return home, it is whispered that she was swept away by an adzuki arai, or Bean Washer. When a man boarding a ship hears the ringing of an unseen insect, it is announced that a funadama (Boat Spirit) is present and so the auspicious harbinger of smooth seas and abundant catch is celebrated. Even something as innocuous as waking up to find your pillow at the foot of your bed is thought to be the trick of a makura gaeshi, otherwise known as a Pillow Turner. Nothing is as simple as it seems. Your neighbor isn’t merely an eccentric old woman—she might very well be a shape-shifting, grudge-harboring Water Sprite.The Japanese examine life and living with the keenest eyes and the most vivid of imaginations. Thersa Matsuura has captured that essence in this darkly insightful collection illuminating the place where reality falters and slips into the strange and fantastical.

The Shadow Seer


Fran Jacobs - 2009
    When the king's grandson falls deathly ill, the Seer's legends are brought to light once again by Prince Candale's saviour, a witch named Mayrila. She not only believes Candale to be the the fulfillment of long-forgotten prophecies but the Shadow Seer himself...

Dead Souls


Mark S. DenizRebecca Lloyd - 2009
    Within these pages, you will find a man so affected by the horrors he witnessed at war, he believes another is guiding his actions; a small boy with enough malevolence to shake a young girl to her very core; a tattoo artist with a hidden agenda. You will read about a future not as bright as we might have imagined or hoped; a puppet show with a damning message; a new twist on the theory of Beethoven's Immortal Beloved; Adolf Hitler in a new guise, and something terrible that approaches us in the desert. All this, plus many, many more, tales of darkness and human suffering.

Rot


Michele Lee - 2009
    Their friendly staff will ensure they have a safe environment with daily exercise and raw meat.Rest easy knowing they’re in good hands… as they rot.In Michele Lee’s Rot, you won’t find an apocalypse or Romero-style flesh-eaters. This is far more disturbing.In a world where certain people can will others back from death, Silver Springs Specialty Care Community caters to the undead for those who aren’t quite ready to let go (zombie milk available by special arrangement at the home office).Dean, retired from the military and looking for an easier life, runs security at this zombie herding farm, but he learns that dark injustice is not unique to war. There’s a rotten core to Silver Springs. Now, Dean and a quickly-decaying corpse named Patrick are on the hunt for a woman they both love and lost to a lucrative business that specializes in greed, zombies and never having to say goodbye.

World of Darkness: Slasher


Chuck Wendig - 2009
    This book closely examines the role of the mass murderers and serial killers in the World of Darkness, including those under supernatural influences, and those that are hunters who have been pushed too far.

The Song and the Sorceress


Kim Vandervort - 2009
    Vandervort imbues each of the novel's scenes with a fine sense of historical detail, from costumes to courtly behavoir, even as she builds a plausible world of magic...Vandervort's dynamic characters, surprising story turns, and unabashed romance will leave readers eager to follow the continued adventures of this sword-wielding princess." The Song and the Sorceress, by Kim Vandervort, the first book in the series: Journey with nineteen-year-old Ki'leah Alrhiane Del'Sivahr, who flees an isolated life as High Princess of Si'vad to escape an arranged marriage and run away with the Palace Bard. When he fails to meet her, fate sweeps Ki'leah into an alliance with a band of men and women known as the Fey-Velahr. Despite her doubts and inadequacies, Ki'leah soon discovers that she is a useful accessory to the quest, a vital member-for she alone possesses information, carefully guarded within the lore of her royal ancestors, that could unlock the mystery....

The Judging Eye


R. Scott Bakker - 2009
    Scott Bakker's magnificent debut into the upper echelon of epic fantasy. In those three books, Bakker created a world that was at once a triumph of the fantastic and an historical epic as real as any that came before.Widely praised by reviewers and a growing body of fans, Bakker has already established the reputation as one of the smartest writers in the fantasy genre-a writer in the line stretching from Homer to Peake to Tolkein. Now he returns to The Prince of Nothing with the long awaited The Judging Eye, the first book in an all-new series. Set twenty years after the end of The Thousandfold Thought, Bakker reintroduces us to a world that is at once familiar but also very different than the one readers thought they knew. Delving even further into his richly imagined universe of myth, violence, and sorcery, and fully remolding the fantasy genre to broaden the scope of intricacy and meaning, R. Scott Bakker has once again written a fantasy novel that defies all expectations and rewards the reader with an experience unlike any to be had in the canon of today's literature.

Pumpkin Teeth


Tom Cardamone - 2009
    Where a man accidentally receives a package meant for his neighbor, a situation complicated by the fact that he lives next door to a Sphinx. A nurse finds herself working in a retirement home for vampires, while in the future a man questions his decision to live life as a manatee. Featuring tales of quiet suburban anomie, to superhero tropes, to intense erotic horror, Pumpkin Teeth spans the range from Palahniuk insanity to Bradburyesque tenderness. Warning, once you are bitten by Pumpkin Teeth, it will not let you go. A finalist for the 2009 Lambda Literary Award for Best LGBT SF/Fantasy/Horror!

Bauchelain and Korbal Broach


Steven Erikson - 2009
    The first three tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, the famed necromancers from the Malazan Book of the Fallen, collected in one volume.Contents:Blood Follows (2002)The Healthy Dead (2004)The Lees of Laughter's End (2007)

Peckinpah: An Ultraviolent Romance


D. Harlan Wilson - 2009
    The decidedly estranged yet complacent occupants of this proverbial smalltown go about their business like geriatrics in a casino … until their business is interrupted by a sinister gang of outsiders. Angry, slick-talking, and ultraviolent to the core, Samson Thataway and the Fuming Garcias commit art-for-art’s-sake in the form of hideous, unmotivated serial killings. When an unsuspecting everyman’s wife is murdered by the throng, it is up to Felix Soandso to avenge her death and return Dreamfield to its natural state of absurdity.

Phoenix and the Darkness of Wolves


Shane Jiraiya Cummings - 2009
    Damon believes he is the last ash-covered survivor, a man's whose past-and future-is inextricably tied to the magick that caused the conflagration. He tracks a phoenix through this apocalyptic wasteland in the hopes of using its magick to restore his lost family to humanity. His family, in turn, have been condemned to limbo as shadow wolves, emerging for a few fleeting moments every sunset to hunt Damon in the hope his death will free them from their torment. The hunt is on!

The Monsterologist: A Memoir in Rhyme


Bobbi Katz - 2009
    In engaging rhyme, the monster master tells all about Count Dracula (“When you visit Transylvania, be sure to stay with me”); issues a werewolf warning; and dishes on trolls, ghosts, witches, ogres, and myriad mythological and literary creatures!Designed to look like a treasured scrapbook, every page features an eye-catching mix of drawings, photos, and handwritten text. Plus, kids will love the die-cut, gatefolds, and other cool surprises throughout! Visit www.themonsterologist.com for more fun and information!