Mike Mignola and Dark Horse present the complete Plague of Frogs saga, from Hollow Earth to The King of Fear. This second volume dives deeper into Abe’s origin story, introduces the reader to Bureau villains Memnan Saa and The Black Flame, and features the first appearance of fan-favorite Daimio!Hellboy creator Mike Mignola teams up with co-writer John Arcudi (A God Somewhere) for occult adventure drawn by series regular Guy Davis (Sandman Mystery Theatre), with guest artists John Severin (Two-Fisted Tales), Karl Moline (Joss Whedon’s Fray), Peter Snejbjerg (Starman), and Herb Trimpe (The Incredible Hulk).

    A short story written by Derek Landy dedicated to the winner of the character competition, Charlie Smith, containing the winning entry of "Geoffrey Scrutinous".

    

    He hates history and loves bacon, rats, and playing tricks on his squeamish older sister. When he opts out of a family weekend trip, he never guesses that he is about to take a terrifying journey into darkness. Hungry demons and howling werewolves haunt his waking nightmares... and threaten his life.

    Kiernan’s short fiction was first published in 1995. Over the intervening decade and a half, she has proven not only one of dark fantasy and science fiction’s most prolific and versatile authors, but, to quote Ramsey Campbell, “One of the most accomplished writers in the field, and very possibly the most lyrical.” S. T. Joshi has written, “Kiernan’s witchery of words creates a mesmerizing effect that we haven’t seen since the days of Lovecraft and Bradbury.”Two Worlds and In Between: The Best of Caitlín R. Kiernan (Volume One) presents a stunning retrospective of the first ten years of her work, a compilation of more than two hundred thousand words of short fiction, including many of her most acclaimed stories, as well as some of the author’s personal favorites, several previously uncollected, hard-to-find pieces, and her sf novella, The Dry Salvages, and a rare collaboration with Poppy Z. Brite. Destined to become the definitive look at the early development of Kiernan’s work, Two Worlds and In Between is a must for fans and collectors alike, as well as an unprecedented introduction to an author who, over the course of her career, has earned the praise of such luminaries as Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub, Charles De Lint, and Clive Barker.

    Tris seeks new allies from among the living - and the dead - as an untested generation of rulers face their first battle. Meanwhile, the legendary Dread are stirring in their burrows after millennia of silence and no one knows what hand wakes them and whom they will serve when they rise.Now, Drayke turns to the Sworn, a nomadic clan of warriors bound to protect the Dread. But even the mighty Sworn do not know what will happen when the Dread awake. All are certain, though, that war is coming to the Winter Kingdoms.THE SWORN is the beginning of a new adventure set in the world of The Chronicles of the Necromancer.

    This study guide includes the following sections: Plot Summary, Chapter Summaries & Analysis, Characters, Objects/Places, Themes, Style, Quotes, and Topics for Discussion.

    Fifteen years later, Ray returns home after a stint in prison; he’s determined to go straight, but he knows he can’t do that without making peace with his old friend.What Ray doesn’t expect is to discover that Jon has just received a mysterious cure–not only is he out of his wheelchair, he seems stronger and faster than… well, pretty much anyone. Worse, his cure has drawn the attention of all sorts of attention: the media are camped out on his block, the police are investigating him for insurance fraud, and weird shadowy figures have begun to draw closer, figures who clearly do not mean to do Jon any good.Can Ray atone for the biggest mistake of his life by protecting his oldest friend? And what terrible price will the world have to pay if he succeeds?

    If you would prefer to read the unedited articles in their old format for free, we have provided a list of the article titles under "chapters" below. Simply go to Wikipedia and use their search form to locate each individual article.)Chapters: The Queen of the Damned, Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, Memnoch the Devil, The Tale of the Body Thief, Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, Those Who Must Be Kept, The Vampire Armand, Blood and Gold, Marius de Romanus, Maharet and Mekare, Pandora, Jessica Miriam Reeves, Khayman, Daniel Molloy, Talamasca Caste, Merrick, Blood Canticle, Vittorio the Vampire, Théâtre des Vampires, Merrick Mayfair, Amel, Blackwood Farm, Mona Mayfair, Avicus, Santiago.

    Unusually intelligent, he's recruited by the Unspeakables and the Death Eaters at a young age. As he grows older, he constantly has to struggle to keep his footing around a manipulative and bored Dark Lord, who fancies mind games and intellectual entertainment.

    Chicago is a rough town, even for the undead. But someone has to clean up the dirty burg, and Jack Flemming is just the vampire for the job. "The Vampire Files, Volume Three" includes two adventures featuring Chicago's very own vampire P.I. as he cleans up the streets, one crook at a time.

    Instead Arlen finds himself alone on a frozen mountainside, carrying a dangerous cargo to Count Brayan’s gold mine, one of the furthest points in the duchy. And One Arm, giant rock demon, hunts him still. Novella.

    Brett’s quintessential fantasy hero. These exciting origin tales follow Arlen as he learns to navigate a world where the elemental forces of evil conjure themselves from the earth each night.Humanity has barely survived a demonic onslaught by using magical wards that protect their cities and homes. Only a handful of mercenaries and explorers risk traveling after the sun sets. Arlen, seeking adventure and fortune, is barely protected by the warded armor upon which he has inscribed intricate defensive runes. From a journey ferrying a wagonload of dynamite to a mountain stronghold, to a dangerous mission to recover desert treasures, Arlen faces friends and enemies with a strong arm and a cunning wit.

    Luckily, violence is what Leo knows best.

    Six tribes battle in the post-apocalyptic Junkyard, a grim world of demons and evil powers that block entrance to the promised land, Nirvana.

    When, in his rambling, he stumbles upon the remote city of Stagwater, he finds love, temptation, and treachery. He fights against men, demons, and his own nature to battle the sinister forces threatening the city. But Chuggie? All he wants is a boat.

    With a steadily-growing fan-base, the five members looked forward to a promising career in the music industry. And then things went to hell. Soon after a strange sighting, the Bloodtones' lead singer, Bekka, finds herself capable of the impossible and in mortal danger from otherworldly forces that catch even the non-human members of the band off guard. With their rock-solid future rapidly crumbling before their eyes, the Bloodtones find themselves struggling for not only their music... but their very lives.

    Magic and myth collide in Peter S. Beagle’s “The Woman Who Married the Man in the Moon.” When two children bring home a wandering magician named Schmendrick, their mother and the stranger spin stories all night...stories that hide and reveal remarkable truths. Jonathan L. Howard has written several stories and novels featuring Johannes Cabal, necromancer extraordinaire. But in the tale “House of Gears,” Cabal’s expertise in the dark arts offers little help when he faces down a mad scientist with a thirst for immortality. Music boxes and robotic dogs are the vestiges of a long tradition of mechanical wonders. Hunting unicorns is a lucrative business for the right team of hunter and bait. In Carrie Vaughn’s “The Hunter’s Ode to His Bait,” one hunter and his maiden assistant decide to wrap up their careers in a dangerous quest for the ultimate unicorn.

    Her best friend, Keats, is her only confidante when she is faced with an apparent stalker who claims that Alexis' entire life is built around a lie. Alexis is suddenly thrown into a whirlwind world of danger and secret agendas, of demigods and deities. When a brutal, self-righteous god decides that Alexis is his best hope for retrieving an ancient artifact, she finds herself on the self-discovery journey of a lifetime - tracking a killer and a kidnapper - and facing conniving and dangerous foes along the way. She will have to come to grips with who she truly is and just what she might be capable of if she is to survive long enough to save the one person in the world for whom she cares most. Ancient Greek mythology comes to life in this unique coming-of-age tale that spans the globe and the heart of a girl who only wants to be normal. But, just what is normal in a world like this?

    God accepts the bet. "If I win," Lucifer said, "You will uncreate man." "If you lose," God warned him, "then you will become a man." “No matter how this ends," Lucifer vowed, "I will always love You." "And I will always love you, Lucifer." And so it began …

    It's a city in a world of darkness, black magic and creatures of the night . . . a city where demonic entities serve the needs of any witch or magicman who can open a doorway into their domain. This is my city. This is my world.With a special dowsing rod, I can detect the ectoplasmic residue of any supernatural presence or demonic entity and sense the vestiges of odylic power and vile sorcery used in the commission of crimes. I hunt anyone and anything that poses a threat to the people of my city. My name's Dorgo. Folks call me the Dowser.From infernal depths where lost souls mutate into hell-spawned devils, from the other side of the veil that separates the earthly from the unearthly, from an ancient land whose borders cross into other dimensions, "Mad Shadows-The Weird Tales of Dorgo the Dowser," will transport you to a world where sentient shadows, vengeful vampires, malevolent puppets, and raging werewolves haunt the night . . . a world where life is cheap and souls are always up for sale.

    If you'd like to start from the beginning, please search for Just One Taste, which is also free and contains the first half of book one, Vampire Vacation.Book Description:Vivian thinks she can control every aspect of a deadly game with her usual manipulations… but what if she can’t? Seven vampires and seven werewolves pay to hunt a supernatural criminal across the cold, vast grounds of an Alaskan resort. The one to catch her, and live through the encounter, will increase their power by feasting on hers.The tiny vampire they track is more than she appears, however. To escape a fate of twelve years in silver chains, she'll do anything to survive the weeklong excursion. This time, the darkness holds more than just the stinging bite of the Arctic—it holds death.Journey along, in this next installment of The V V Inn series, for a wild ride as the tale is told through the eyes of all the new seethe members.Warning! This book contains some explicit sex scenes and is not intended for readers under 18.

    Bluegrass Symphony deals with cowboys and fallow fields, shapeshifters and rednecks, superstitions and realities in harsh prairie country-and a whole bunch of other things thrown in the mix. In her introduction, Ann Vandermeer writes, "These stories are about more than people just trying to get something from one another. These stories are about power and redemption, transformation, and sacrifice."

    Some of these have previously been published, some have not.Stories Included: Intellectual Property, The Broken Dead, Death at the Pass, Death and Dignity, A Second Chance, The Summer of ‘79, The Commuter, Less Than 20/20, At the Walls of Sinnlos, Personality Pirate, Character is What You Are, The Message, The Undying Lands, Just Like the Rain, Artificial Stupidity, Fire and Flesh, The Invisible Assassin.

    Hot-tempered and with nerves of steel, she can raise the dead like nobodys business. But one rainy Monday morning, everything goes straight to Hell. The Devil hires Dante to eliminate a renegade demon: Vardimal Santino. In return, he will let her live. Its an offer she cant refuse. Theres just one catch. How do you kill something that cant die?

    He casts a spell to make her love him again, opening a gateway through which Lilith, mother of demons, enters their lives. ​Lilith serves no man. Instead she seduces Star, assuring her that there is no shame in love, only completion. Thus begins a strange and terrible love triangle that leads them to Scotland and the Cairngorm mountains. ​An LGBT love story full of horror and dark fantasy - be careful what you wish for. ​Winner of HFA's Horror Author of the Year, Fear Venture's Author of the Year (2014), Best Horror Release by The Three Bookateers (2014) and nominated for the Commonwealth Book Prize. Starblood is the first book in a series - Psychonaut, Black Sun, and Ribbons continue Star, Satori and Lilith's stories. ​A graphic novel based on this award-winning novel is also available, illustrated by Anna Prashkovich.

    They probably hate you, too.‘There are two kinds of people with lawyers on tap, Mr Grey. The powerful and the corrupt.’‘Thank you.’‘For implying you’re powerful?’‘For imagining those are two different groups.’From Crawford Award nominee Deborah Biancotti comes this sinister short story suite, a pocketbook police procedural, set in a world where the victories are only relative, and the defeats are absolute. Bad Power celebrates the worst kind of powers both supernatural and otherwise, in the interlinked tales of five people — and how far they’ll go.If you like Haven and Heroes, you’ll love Bad Power.

    The odds are against Mouch-he's locked up in Talsom Mental Asylum; his only friends are a sock puppet and his shadow. Worst of all, he suffers from amnesia; his earliest memory is of being found alone in a mall wearing nothing but a pair of polka-dotted boxer shorts, a pair of fluffy white bunny slippers, and a hat made from a newspaper.... and covered in a generous amount of blood. When an elderly gentleman visits him and reveals that Mouch is not crazy but is actually a psychic, Mouch does what any rational person would do-he runs for the door. Once outside of Talsom, Mouch soon finds himself thrust into a battle against a sinister movement of dark psychics who threaten to destroy the entire psychic community.

    All Rights Reserved.

Additional material was adapted from ShadowCatboy's Torment LP on the Something Awful forums.

Also containing parts adapted from the Rhyss Hess edition.Editing and revision by Logan Stromberg."

    When her dreams clash with her reality, she finds herself thrown into an unknown world filled with monsters and magic. Not knowing who her enemies or allies are, she turns to those she was raised to despise for help.

    Hot-tempered and with nerves of steel, she can raise the dead like nobodys business. But one rainy Monday morning, everything goes straight to Hell. The Devil hires Dante to eliminate a renegade demon: Vardimal Santino. In return, he will let her live. Its an offer she cant refuse. Theres just one catch. How do you kill something that cant die?

    The curse of his chains was a heavy one, and there were many a time in which he found the weight of said chains to be unbearable. So this must be perfectly understood: Marley was without hope. Marley’s lot was indeed a sad one. Misery was his meat, and despair was his drink. Nothing of the earth was his except for the cold fingers of the grave. And it was there that Marley would never retreat. The grave was death! Marley had no powers such as those given to other earth-bound spirits. He was a wraith – a wanderer. However, upon saving the soul of a dear friend, he was given a haunting. In this haunting, Marley’s powers could not be equaled. However, one foot off the haunting’s property, and his soul would find itself in endless damnation. Marley found himself trapped, staring out a window, into an ever-changing world. A world he would never again become a part of. A world of love, laughter, sorrow, and pain, he would always be a stranger to. Waiting and waiting. Hoping to prove himself worthy.

    Russell B Farr collects 32 stories of horror and dark fantasy that acknowledge the undead as ineradicable members of Australian society.

    Elrod's picked 15 of her favorite short works for this multi-genre collection spanning 15 years of publication.Also included is a never before published VAMPIRE FILES story, featuring her urban fantasy vampire PI, Jack Fleming!Each story has been polished afresh for this anthology, with pages of new material added.More information -- and previews of the stories! -- may be found at her website vampwriter-dot-com.Titles:1. A Night at the (Horse) Opera (Vampire Files, Fleming)2. The Breath of Bast (Vampire Files), Ecsott)3. Bossman (Original mystery, no vamps)4. Slaughter (Vampire Files, Fleming & Gordy)5. The Devil's Mark (Original historical vampire)6. You'll Catch Your Death (Vampire Files)7. Izzy's Shoe-In (Historical mystery introducing Izzy DeLeon, fearless girl reporter)8. The Quick Way Down (Vampire Files, Fleming and Gordy)9. The Scottish Ploy (Original romance/mystery)10. Grave-Robbed (Vampire Files, Fleming)11. The Company You Keep (Vampire Files, Gabriel Kroun)12. Death in Dover (Jonathan Barrett before he got vamped, historical mystery)13. Drawing Dead (ALL NEW VAMPIRE FILES, Fleming)14. King of Shreds and Patches (Hamlet from a different point of view, mystery)15. Fugitive (Science fiction/space opera)16. BONUS STORY! The Wind Breathes Cold (Quincey Morris: Vampire)

    Content on being alone and broke in his crusade, Gavin meets a young girl, Solstice, with vampire powers and none of the drawbacks.Torn between his hate for vampires and his love for human life, Gavin decides to protect Solstice, something that he is supposed to detest the most, with the agreement of protection in exchange for information on those spreading vampirism, both go on a personal crusade to end the infection. However, there is more to Solstice than she lets on as Gavin's humanity and faith come into question.Solstice is the first entry of a four-part series, aptly named, The Solstice Chronicles.

    They were calling him, the Rootless, because he wasn't a member of the Tribe, although he was almost like them. He traveled alone, with no clear plan and a voice in his head that was always there, a remnant of a distant and forgotten past.This story is set in the same universe as the Living Sword Chronicles2nd Edition

    The council is unhappy with Chase and what he has done. Humans are never to be made aware of their existence. She begged for his life but that made no sway in their decision to punish Chase. Now Sarah has a worse feat. She has been invited to a Masquerade by one of the most powerful Vampire ever created. He wants her dead and she can’t figure out why. Victoria and Draven prepare her for the event that she cannot run from. Erick the mystery man who seems to be saving her life recently also tries to help her against a sinister vampire named Ambrose. There is shocking news about Chase’s return and Sarah is devastated that she may not survive this masquerade. The pressure is on and now it’s not just her life she has to worry about anymore…

    All he knows is hunting your dreams and dragging them into the Dark.He’s not ready for his life to get complicated. He’s not ready to be dragged into his best friend’s schemes to make dreams so terrifying they break people. He’s not ready to love, or to be loved, or to meet someone who makes him happy.He’s definitely not ready for those to be three different girls.He’s not ready to grow up.When he does, one thing will stay the same. He’ll stay an artist, and he’ll paint your dreams with fear until they’re beautiful.

    Soulbearer Moradiel recounts his duties while collecting his latest assignment, nurse Ariel. Tragic accident--seems simple. But in the RN's final moments asleep at the wheel of her speeding car, stirrings grip Moradiel's angelic heart. Stirrings so forbidden that to simply give voice to them is to risk expulsion from his Heavenly abode.Out of time and faced with the most difficult decision in his eternal existence, Moradiel finds himself torn between saving the only woman he's ever loved or throwing the balance between Heaven and Hell into chaos. Duty or desire? Moradiel must choose . . .

    Twelve intricate, dark tales of bittersweet madness, twisted desire, and souls in crisis explore the deepest realms of the human, and not so human, condition.

    On the mean streets of an urban jungle, winos and the homeless face human predators galore --but a much more dangerous one is the well-dressed, courtly gentleman who happens to be a vampire.

    (Some are related to the Diary of the Displaced series) Includes - The Fisherman It’s Quiet Here Rudy The Exhibition Thrown Away At Last, Goodbye The Dreamer The Footprints on Charleston Way Thing on the Road The Dutch Doll It Comes in Tubes The Last to Fall

    But he wanders too far, over the borders to a Faerie land that could only exist in Appalachia.Faerie-napping, cold knives, underground oppressors, horror stories, and unwilling affections threaten to suck him forever into their desolate Company Town. If they do, he’ll lose himself in every way possible.You might escape the fae, but you can never go home. Not really.

    Now he lives a threadbare existence, unsure whether he's going insane or just witnessing the workings of a deeper world. When a desperate man asks for B's help to journey to the underworld to save his lost love, B agrees... but the ordeal becomes more personal than he expected.This is the first story featuring Bradley, who became a major character in Pratt's series of urban fantasy novels about sorcerer Marla Mason.

    It’s one of the best stories I’ve ever critiqued in my years of teaching writing workshops.”—A.C. Crispin“a beautiful story—touching without being sentimental, with characters that come believably to life.”—Victoria Strauss“the beauty of the language carries one along...It is difficult to write a thoughtful story that features a terminal disease without melodrama, and Eugie Foster achieves it with style.”—E. Sedia, TangentTHE BUNNY OF VENGEANCE AND THE BEAR OF DEATH:“a profoundly strange supernatural look at the morality of revenge.”—Nick Gevers, Locus“the story is emotionally effective and, impressively, given its subject matter, makes its point through character and story rather than cold rhetoric.”—Ben Payne, Tangent

    For the full edition, including both part 1 and 2 of The Starbirth Assignment, see The Starbirth Assignment: Shifter.Lock Harford is exposed to an unknown drug as a teenager in South America. Its unique effects draw the attention of British intelligence, who undertake Lock’s development. He has the ability to move his body through a different dimension using the power of thought. His enhanced senses detect living beings as energy pulses, making him invaluable to military and intelligence organisations. They employ him to work alongside elite taskforces, taking passengers using teleportation, ‘Shifting’ in and lifting operatives out of hostile situations. Lock’s handlers are put on red alert when a similar drug, Starbirth, appears in the United States and Britain sold as an illegal 'high'. Distribution spreads across the world and the results of a Starbirth pandemic are feared as criminal and insane teleporters (Shifters) wreak havoc. Lock and a small unit of covert operatives are given the task of finding the source of Starbirth and shutting it down, but their efforts are hindered by corrupt, ruthless people with their own agendas. Lock is joined in his quest by the powerful, infuriating and immensely likeable Jimmy Mackenzie, a Special Air Service trooper whose life is changed forever by events out of their control.In this first book in the Starbirth series, Jackie Johnson develops a brutal mix of suspense, humanity, command and action with a subtle vein of humour that keeps the reader rooting for Harford’s team. These books are crafted to stay with the reader long after the story is finished, a rare ability in these days of bubble gum fiction, and Starbirth sits confidently alongside the best Sci-fi thrillers. Her ability to merge Sci-fi and Special Forces intrigue are second to none. In true Lock Harford style, she infiltrates this Man’s World with impressive success.The series continues in the third book, The Shifter Dimension.

    When a dead man walks into his office to solve the mystery of his own murder, will our hero be able to track down the hard truths that no one wants found? Along the way Zack must confront thugs, corrupt cops, ghosts, undead mobsters, angels, devils, and his ex-wife. But he won't have to do it alone; he'll get help from his partner – a half-goblin bruiser with a secret, and a slacker street-warlock whose involvement in the case is a bit of a mystery in and of itself.

    Their contact has been murdered, and only by joining Inspector Takeda and the serving girl Kazuko do the foreigners have any chance of finding the murderer and finishing their mission. But as the body count rises, and the mysterious tattooed gangs of Minkai begin to turn on each other, both men may find themselves seriously out of their depth.From fan-favorite writer Dave Gross, author of the Pathfinder Tales novels Prince of Wolves, Master of Devils, and Queen of Thorns, comes a brand new Radovan and Jeggare mystery set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

    Every police force has an Inspector Monde though they try to deny it. When the blood chills and the hairs on the back of the neck rise they send for him and don't look too closely at what he does. For the Inspector does not particularly believe in the Law but will fight for Justice to his last breath.

    But a fun night of drinking turns bizarre when Belial introduces Dahlia to Lucien and the rest of her friends, men who are exceedingly rich, in short supply of morals, overflowing with violent tendencies, and interested in everything about her. Dahlia is charmed by her new friends, but something about them seems strangely familiar and it should. Lucien is Lucifer Morningstar, his friends are fallen angels, and Dahlia is no ordinary woman; she is the very reason they were tossed out of Heaven. She is the reincarnated spirit of Lucifer's equal and former lover, the imprisoned Primangel Ladriam. Within her, lies the power to restart and win the war against Heaven, but first she needs to survive dating the devil.Rated MatureHumor-Adventure-Paranormal RomanceWord-count: 130,000