In “Casualties,” Tsabari takes us into the military—a world every Israeli knows all too well—with a brusque, sexy young female soldier who forges medical leave forms to make ends meet. Poets, soldiers, siblings and dissenters, the protagonists here are mostly Israelis of Mizrahi background (Jews of Middle Eastern and North African descent), whose stories have rarely been told in literature. In illustrating the lives of those whose identities swing from fiercely patriotic to powerfully global, The Best Place on Earth explores Israeli history as it illuminates the tenuous connections—forged, frayed and occasionally destroyed—between cultures, between generations and across the gulf of transformation and loss.

    Le Guin—selected with an introduction by the author, and combined in one volume for the first time.The Unreal and the Real is a collection of some of Ursula K. Le Guin’s best short stories. She has won multiple prizes and accolades from the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters to the Newbery Honor, the Nebula, Hugo, World Fantasy, and PEN/Malamud Awards. She has had her work collected over the years, but this is the first short story volume combining a full range of her work. Stories include: -Brothers and Sisters -A Week in the Country -Unlocking the Air -Imaginary Countries -The Diary of the Rose -Direction of the Road -The White Donkey -Gwilan’s Harp -May’s Lion -Buffalo Gals, Won’t You Come Out Tonight -Horse Camp -The Water Is Wide -The Lost Children -Texts -Sleepwalkers -Hand, Cup, Shell -Ether, Or -Half Past Four -The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas -Semely’s Necklace -Nine Lives -Mazes -The First Contact with the Gorgonids -The Shobies’ Story -Betrayals -The Matter of Seggri -Solitude -The Wild Girls -The Flyers of Gy -The Silence of the Asonu -The Ascent of the North Face -The Author of the Acacia Seeds -The Wife’s Story -The Rule of Names -Small Change -The Poacher -Sur -She Unnames Them -The Jar of Water

    Hana Sasaki will introduce you to many things—among them, an oracular toaster, a woman who grows a tail, and an extraordinary sex-change operation. Set in Japan, these stories tip into the fantastical, plumb the power of memory, and measure the human capacity to love.

    Catherynne M. Valente, the New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making and other acclaimed novels, now brings readers a treasure trove of stories and poems in The Bread We Eat in Dreams.In the Locus Award-winning novelette “White Lines on a Green Field,” an old story plays out against a high school backdrop as Coyote is quarterback and king for a season. A girl named Mallow embarks on an adventure of memorable and magical politicks in “The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland—For a Little While.” The award-winning, tour de force novella “Silently and Very Fast” is an ancient epic set in a far-flung future, the intimate autobiography of an evolving A.I. And in the title story, the history of a New England town and that of an outcast demon are irrevocably linked.The thirty-five pieces collected here explore an extraordinary breadth of styles and genres, as Valente presents readers with something fresh and evocative on every page. From noir to Native American myth, from folklore to the final frontier, each tale showcases Valente’s eloquence and originality.Table of Contents:The ConsultantWhite Lines on a Green FieldThe Bread We Eat in DreamsThe Melancholy of MechagirlA Voice Like a HoleThe Girl Who Ruled Fairyland—For a Little WhileHow to Raise a MinotaurThe Shoot-out at Burnt Corn Ranch Over the Bride of the WorldMouse KoanThe Blueberry Queen of Wiscasset In the Future When All’s WellFade to WhiteAeromausRed EnginesThe Wolves of BrooklynOne Breath, One StrokeKallistiThe WeddingThe Secret of Being a CowboyTwenty-Five Facts About Santa ClausWe Without Us Were ShadowsThe Red GirlAquaman and the Duality of Self/Other, America, 1985The RoomSilently and Very FastWhat the Dragon Said: A Love Story

    Lee Martinez delivers his first short story collection, featuring ten original tales based on his previous fantasy and science fiction novels. If you're a Martinez fan, this collection is surely something you've been waiting for. If you're simply Martinez curious (and who isn't?) this is a great sampling of strange worlds of fantasy featuring talking gorillas, sensible housekeeping kobolds, cosmic monster gods, and world-conquering space squids. These all-new, all-different tales are available for the first time. Within you'll find tales of werewolf versus bigfoot, ogre versus wizard, and rock alien versus romantic entanglement. You'll experience a terrifying descent into madness via pizza delivery and the existential angst of the gods of death. You'll discover why it's a bad idea to feed the pixies and why it's a good idea to always bring along a magical broom on your adventures. A collection eight years in the making (and worth every year), Robots versus Slime Monsters might not actually have any stories where a robot fights a slime monster, but it does feature a gorilla wrestling a lion. And in the end, isn't that almost as good?

    The 32 tales of science fiction and fantasy assembled in this massive volume include: ARENAEXPERIMENTKEEP OUTHAPPY ENDINGHALL OF MIRRORSEARTHMEN BEARING GIFTSIMAGINEIT DIDN'T HAPPENRECESSIONALEINE KLEINE NACHTMUSIKPUPPET SHOWNIGHTMARE IN YELLOWJAYCEEPI IN THE SKYANSWERTHE GEEZENSTACKSKNOCKREBOUNDTHE STAR MOUSEABOMINABLELETTER TO A PHOENIXNOT YET THE ENDARMAGEDDONOF TIME AND EUSTACE WEAVERRECONCILIATIONNOTHING SIRIUSPATTERNTHE YEHUDI PRINCIPLECOME AND GO MADSENTRYETAOIN SHRDLUTHE ENDNOW AVAILABLE: The Second Fredric Brown Megapack! (Search this ebook store for the companion volume, with another great set of Fredric Brown tales!)And don't forget to search this ebook store for ʺWildside Press Megapackʺ to see more entries in this great series (including "The Second Fredric Brown Megapack"), covering classic authors and subjects like mysteries, science fiction, westerns, ghost stories -- and much, much more!

    When light destroys shadows, darkness does not gain in density elsewhere. When shadows steal over earth and across the sky, darkness is not diluted. Featuring an Introduction by Aliette De Bodard, Conservation of Shadows features a selection of short stories from Yoon Ha Lee.Content"Ghostweight" (2011)"The Shadow Postulates" (2007)"The Bones of Giants" (2009)"Between Two Dragons" (2010)"Swanwatch" (2009)"Effigy Nights" (2013)"Flower, Mercy, Needle, Chain" (2010)"Iseul's Lexicon" (2013)"Counting the Shapes" (2001)"Blue Ink" (2008)"The Battle of Candle Arc" (2012) "A Vector Alphabet of Interstellar Travel" (2011)"The Unstrung Zither" (2009) "The Black Abacus" (2002)"The Book of Locked Doors" (2012)"Conservation of Shadows" (2012)

    These quirky and enchanting tales will delight parents and children alike.

    It contains eleven previously published stories and five new ones. Included are the Sevenwaters novella, "’Twixt Firelight and Water", the epic Nordic story, "Otherling", and "In Coed Celyddon", a tale of the young man who would one day become King Arthur. The title story, especially written for the collection, concerns an old Scottish wise woman facing an impossible moral dilemma. Other new stories in the book include "By Bone-Light", a contemporary retelling of the Russian fairy tale "Vasilissa the Wise", and "The Angel of Death", a dark story about a puppy mill rescue.

    This volume collects stories which focus on Miyazawa's love of space and his use of the galaxy as a metaphor for the concepts of purity, self-sacrifice and faith which were near and dear to his heart. "The Nighthawk Star" follows an lowly bird as he struggles to transform himself into something greater, a constellation in the night sky; "Signal & Signal-less" depicts a pair of star-crossed train signals who dream of eloping to the moon; and "Night on the Galactic Railroad," Miyazawa's most famous work, tells the story of two boys as they journey upon a train that traverses the cosmos, learning the true meaning of friendship, happiness and life itself along the way.

    This debut short story collection by award-winning author Nnedi Okorafor includes notable previously-published short work, a new novella co-written with New York Times bestselling author Alan Dean Foster, and a brief foreword by Whoopi Goldberg.

    The Robert Sheckley Megapack presents 14 short stories and 1 novel by the author Neil Gaiman called "probably the best short-story writer during the '50s to the mid-1960s working in any field." Here are tales of adventure in strange futures, full of the wry wit and piercing characterizations that made Sheckley one of the great writers working in science fiction!"Robert Sheckley: the best short-story writer the field has produced." — Alan Dean Foster "I had no idea the competition was so terrifyingly good." — Douglas AdamsIncluded in this volume are:WATCHBIRDTHE STATUS CIVILIZATIONASK A FOOLISH QUESTIONCOST OF LIVINGBAD MEDICINEDIPLOMATIC IMMUNITYWARRIOR RACETHE HOUR OF BATTLEKEEP YOUR SHAPEWARMDEATH WISHBESIDE STILL WATERSFOREVERTHE LEECHONE MAN'S POISONAnd don't forget to search this ebook store for "Wildside Megapack" to see many more entries in this series, covering science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, westerns, classics, and much, much more!

    Boyle, and that is nowhere more evident than in his inventive, wickedly funny, and always entertaining short stories. In 1998, T.C. Boyle Stories brought together the author’s first four collections to critical acclaim. Now, T.C. Boyle Stories II gathers the work from his three most recent collections along with fourteen new tales previously unpublished in book form as well as a preface in which Boyle looks back on his career as a writer of stories and the art of making them.By turns mythic and realistic, farcical and tragic, ironic and moving, Boyle’s stories have mapped a wide range of human emotions. The fifty-eight stories in this new volume, written over the last eighteen years, reflect his maturing themes. Along with the satires and tall tales that established his reputation, readers will find stories speaking to contemporary social issues, from air rage to abortion doctors, and character-driven tales of quiet power and passion. Others capture timeless themes, from first love and its consequences to confrontations with mortality, or explore the conflict between civilization and wildness. The new stories find Boyle engagingly testing his characters’ emotional and physical endurance, whether it’s a group of giants being bred as weapons of war in a fictional Latin American country, a Russian woman who ignores dire warnings in returning to her radiation-contaminated home, a hermetic writer who gets more than a break in his routine when he travels to receive a minor award, or a man in a California mountain town who goes a little too far in his concern for a widow.  Mordant wit, emotional power, exquisite prose: it is all here in abundance. T.C. Boyle Stories II is a grand career statement from a writer whose imagination knows no bounds.

    Oliver’s variety of subject matter, wit, characterisation and stylistic elegance are on display, as is his gift for telling a good story. The rivalry between two former MI5 members in a seaside town escalates into something deeply sinister and mysterious. . . . The one-time assistant to a musical genius is dying in early nineteenth-century Vienna and cannot escape his obsession with their last collaboration. . . . In Weimar Germany a mass murderer is awaiting his execution with perplexing eagerness. . . . There are two novellas in this collec-tion. ‘Lord of the Fleas’ is a study of a sinister eighteenth-century architect, told through various documents, including an unpublished fragment of Boswell’s Life of Dr Johnson, and a series of increasingly desperate letters from a young woman to her cousin in the style of the epistolary novels of Fanny Burney. The other novella, ‘A Child’s Problem’, inspired by a painting in the Tate Gallery by Richard Dadd, was nominated for ‘best novella’ in the Shirley Jackson Awards of 2012.Reggie Oliver is an English playwright, biographer and writer of ghost stories. His work has appeared in a number of anthologies, including the Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror and The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror.Flowers of the Sea contains: ‘Introduction’ by Michael Dirda, ‘A Child’s Problem’, ‘Striding Edge’, ‘Hand to Mouth’, ‘Singing Blood’, ‘Flowers of the Sea’, ‘Lord of the Fleas’, ‘Didman’s Corner’, ‘The Posthumous Messiah’, ‘Charm’, ‘Between Four Yews’, ‘The Spooks of Shellborough’, ‘Süssmayr’s Requiem’, ‘Come Into My Parlour’, ‘Lightning’, ‘Waving to the Boats’, ‘Author’s Note’.Flowers of the Sea is a sewn hardback book of 388 + x pages with decorated boards, silk ribbon marker, head and tailbands, and d/w. Also available as an ebook.

    Valente. A collection of some of Catherynne Valente's most admired stories, including the Hugo Award-nominated novella "Silently and Very Fast" and the Locus Award finalist "13 Ways of Looking at Space/Time," with a brand-new long story to anchor the collection.Contents:The Melancholy of Mechagirl (2011) poemInk, Water, Milk (2013)Fifteen Panels Depicting the Sadness of the Baku and the Jotai (2010)Ghosts of Gunkanjima (2005)Thirteen Ways of Looking at Space/Time (2010)One Breath, One Stroke (2012)Story No. 6 (2013)Fade to White (2012)The Emperor of Tsukayama Park (2005) poemKillswitch (2007)Memoirs of a Girl Who Failed to Be Born from a Peach (2005) poemThe Girl with Two Skins (2008) poemSilently and Very Fast (2011)

    S. slave using codes in her quilts as a message system to freedom; from an ex-journalist and her Hopi Indian maid solving a cold case together involving Katchina spirits, to a couple hiding Christian passports in a comforter in Nazi Germany; from a wedding quilt curse dating back to the Salem Witchcraft trials, to a mystery involving a young seamstress in the infamous Triangle Shirt Factory fire; from a 1980's Romeo and Juliet romance between a rising Wall Street financial 'star' and an eclectic fiber artist, to a Haight-Asbury love affair between a professor and a beautiful macrame artist gone horribly askew, just to name a few.

    Characters contemplate the meaning of home, love, despair, family, and friendship against the backdrop of brutality. From Cairo to the Gaza Strip, from Benghazi to Budapest, religious men have their faith challenged, and people under the duress of war or traumatic personal memories deal with the feelings that emerge. Often they seem to suppress these feelings . . . but, no, not quite.  Set in countries the author has reported from or lived in, these stories are all told from different perspectives, but always with the individual at the center: the mother, the soldier, the martyr, the religious man, the journalist, and so on. They form a kaleidoscope of miniworlds, of moments, of decisions that together put a face, an emotion, a thought behind humans who confront war and conflict. Although they are fiction, they could have all happened exactly as they are told. Each story leaves a powerful visual image, an unforgettable image you conjure up again and again.  Jászberényi is able to do all this so convincingly, in part, because he himself is not a "helicopter journalist" but rather lives in a residential Cairo neighborhood. He is, moreover, from a corner of Eastern Europe where cynicism almost equates with survival, and yet his writing evinces not only wry humor but great sensitivity and a profound sense of beauty. He speaks Arabic (in addition to English and his native Hungarian) and immerses himself in the society he reports on. But, in doing so, he still remains a reporter, and as such the stories are approached with the clinical, observant eye of an outsider. Whether addressing the contradictions of international humanitarian work or the moral dilemmas faced by those who seek to improve the health and lives of women and girls, he does so in a singularly provocative and yet intelligent manner.

    A man on a mission to "save" people finds himself drawn to a brothel; two young women create mayhem in a homeless shelter; a group of Evangelical American teenagers descends on a quiet Costa Rican town; a girl who grows scales no doctor can remedy finds solace in a friendship with a classmate who doesn't eat. From the wilds of Tennessee to Costa Rica's gritty capitol city and suburban America, Alden Jones explores the consequences of acting in a world that rarely provides the accompaniment we expect.

    . . snow. Lots of it. Join our dynamic duo as they battle the elements, each other, and a Siberian husky named Sadie—all in an ill-fated attempt to host their first holiday party. “Blended Families,” the latest tale of Diz and Clarissa, is a rollicking, yuletide romp that combines Meet the Parents with The Nightmare Before Christmas. Join Diz and Clarissa as they welcome Bernard and Elspeth Wiley, Art and Maggie Gillespie, a priest, an ex-nun, a German widow, a felonious Siberian husky, and a well-dressed Whippet named Maris. Three combines the all-new “Blended Families” with the bonus addition of two previously published Diz and Clarissa stories, “Nevermore!” and A Christmas Tree Grows in Baltimore. The trilogy is a holiday omnibus not to be missed.

    Once her words get under your skin, they are there to stay.’ - Angela Slatter, British Fantasy Award-winning author of Sourdough and Other StoriesTable of ContentsIntroductionWhat Amanda WantsHornCaution: Contains Small PartsThe Home for Broken DollsWhat Are the Twelve Planets?The Twelve Planets are twelve boutique collections by some of Australia’s finest short story writers. Varied across genre and style, each collection offers four short stories and a unique glimpse into worlds fashioned by some of our favourite storytellers. Each author has taken the brief of four stories and up to 40 000 words in their own direction. Some are quartet suites of linked stories. Others are tasters of the range and style of the writer. Each release will bring something unexpected to readers.Nightsiders by Sue IsleLove and Romanpunk by Tansy Rayner RobertsThief of Lives by Lucy SussexBad Power by Deborah BiancottiShowtime by Narrelle M HarrisThrough Splintered Walls by Kaaron WarrenCracklescape by Margo LanaganAsymmetry by Thoraiya DyerCaution: Contains Small Parts by Kirstyn McDermottSecret Lives by Rosaleen LoveThe Female Factory by Lisa L. Hannett and Angela SlatterCherry Crow Children by Deborah Kalin

    Nevertheless, it is often whispered by those who claim knowledge of such things, that a number of these Elder Gods - the lower rank and file, if you will - decided to hold this ground, so enamored were they by the cults who spilled blood in their names.Those times are all but forgotten, obscured by the shifting mists of history.Fast forward to today, and a wrong turn on a country lane is about to expose Jennifer Bueller, and her daughter Megan, to an unpleasant truth: Yes, times have changed, but ancient deities will adapt in order to thrive.Abandoned space gods, an unfaithful husband, a sociopath rapist, and a broken society with a social welfare system that presents horrors of its own; lastly, though by no means least in this eclectic collection of stories, a flash fiction homage to James Herbert, featuring his most infamous creation.

    The first chapter of her latest one, What It Takes, is to be found at the end. “I was pleased these were up to her usual standard of entertainment” “A great introduction to Terry’s writing” – A Woman’s Wisdom book blog. The stories: "Angel" ~ The perfect wife of the perfect husband is tempted by the fruit of another. "Shut Up And Dance" ~ Paul says he will love Laura whatever size she is. But will he? "Mia" ~ The threat of ‘the other woman’… "Kiss Your Past Goodbye" ~ Zoe finds out what happened to her first love, who broke her heart. "We All Fall Down" ~ Two old friends meet for a drink – just a swift one, of course! "Bright Light Fright" ~ A tale of vengeance, a burglary, and a nasty shock. "Mama Kin" ~ Emma and Melanie have very different approaches to childcare – oh dear! "Don’t Get Mad – Get Even" ~ Kevin and Marcus have been best friends, yet rivals, since schooldays; who will come out on top? "Happy Birthday" ~ A forty year old woman looks back over her life.

    There have been hardcovers and paperbacks, an issue with two spines, an issue with a magnetic binding, an issue that looked like a bundle of junk mail, and an issue that looked like a sweaty human head. McSweeney’s has won multiple literary awards and has had numerous stories appear in annual �best of” anthologies.

    The Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade’s newly adopted Dalmatian puppy, Hero, is missing. Stella believes he just wandered away from her cabin and got lost. But despite posters and searches by the fire brigade and spotty sightings by locals, there are no leads, and the furry fire fighter has yet to return. Stella is already worried with a series of progressively dangerous arson fires plaguing Sweet Pepper. And oddly enough, Hero’s appearances are coinciding with the fires. Now with the help of the ghost of Sweet Pepper’s former fire chief, Stella will have to dig up some clues if she hopes to find the pup before he’s lost for good—and find the arsonist before someone loses a life. Includes a preview of the Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade Mystery, Playing with Fire

    Join them as they celebrate Halloween in A Sweet Treat—can they make it through the night without Gabi destroying her costume? Find out what Rafe’s really afraid of in Indiana Rafe, a story told exclusively from his perspective. And in An Autumn Dream, Gabi struggles to make amends with a painful part of her past. Filled with laughter and tears, demon battles and plenty of kissing, this novella is a must read for fans of The Sight Seer!

    The nine stories write and rewrite "myth" from a woman's of view, as they tell stories of women and children whose lives are shaped by the social, political, ecological, and economic disruption and violence of the borderlands.A poet and fiction writer, ire'ne lara silva has been an active participant in the literary culture of Austin, Texas, for many years. Her first collection of poetry, furia, was published by Mouthfeel Press in 2010. She is the recipient of the Gloria Anzaldúa Milagro Award and a 2010 Cantomundo Inaugural Fellowship.

    Introducing these stories (and more) from Adam-Troy Castro, whose short fiction has been nominated for two Hugos, three Stokers, and eight Nebulas.

    Her harsh, sometimes vulgar and hard-hitting language subverts another stereotype—that of the soft-spoken woman writer.Pawar’s protagonists may not always be Dalit, and the mood not always one of anger, but caste is never far from the context and informs the subtext of each story. As critic Eleanor Zelliot notes, there is ‘tucked in every story, a note about a Buddhist vihara or Dr Ambedkar.... All her stories come from the Dalit world, revealing the great variety of Dalit life now.’

    Republished as a standalone ebook.

    The Marketplace has fans all over the world, and Antoniou invited them to come play in her fictional sandbox/dungeon. Numbered among those fans happen to be some of the top erotica and alternative sexuality writers in the world, including D.L. King, Sassafras Lowrey, and Elizabeth Schechter. The full slate of writers contributing to NO SAFEWORDS runs the gamut of award-winning authors to bright-eyed new voices, as creator Laura Antoniou explains in her introduction: "As the saying goes, 'blessed are those who embellish the tale.' So here is the Marketplace, as seen through other eyes. There are some stories that show the world exactly as I created it, and some that push my boundaries a tad. There is romance and strife, glee and despair. There is hot sex, of course, but there's also humor and melodrama. Just the way I like it. "There were some surprises for me! I was delighted to find several female dominant/male submissive stories, especially since my examples of those relationships tend to be supporting, rather than main characters. I was also pleased by the writers who weren't afraid to go a little dark; a collection of stories all about slaves misbehaving in mildly inconvenient ways and getting fantastically, erotically punished would have been tiresome. "So whether you want a rollicking Victorian flavored tale of adventure and romance or a modern, sexy welcome to a new home for a familiar character, you will find flavors here to tempt or satisfy your tastes. Return for more time travel to a world where the language we so casually use to describe our tastes doesn't even exist, but where longing for a ritualized order and discipline and a sense of belonging transcends words, and gets expressed in the rich metaphor-and reality-of a garden. "Then swerve away from romance to feel the terror of a slave newly sold to an owner who represents their worst nightmare, whether because of demographics or the enormous challenge of a language barrier. "Here, you can get into the reflection of a trainer's long career or the grief and anguish of a new owner confronted with an inherited house full of property she didn't choose. Or, watch how even the jaded, experienced ways of the Marketplace aware people become awkward in that most awkward of adult challenges-a marriage proposal. Get a glimpse into the rarefied and formal household of an owner/spotter, and then take a detour to the desolate history of a young genderqueer punk fresh from the streets, confronted with the most iconic of Marketplace characters. All of this-a synthesis of my imagination and theirs, fed by culture, fantasy, fairy tales and fears. All fiction is, in a way, fan fiction. I am sorry it took so long for me to see this and to open myself to the interesting sensations-you might call it edge-play-in giving people access to my favorite victims. But better late than never!" Full table of contents: A Thousand Things Before Breakfast by Marie Casey Stevens The First by D. Alexandria If You Try Sometime by D. L. King Her Owner's Voice by Leigh Ann Hildebrand Hiding in Plain Sex by Sassafras Lowrey Delirious Moonlight, 1916: Mr. Sloan's Boy by Anna Watson Pearls in the Deep Blue Sea by Jamie Thorsen Coals for the New Castle by Marie Casey Stevens Getting Real by S.M. Li O, Promise Me! by Elizabeth Schechter

    It contains 26 stories about the circus, carnivals, sideshows, midways and fairs featuring clowns, magicians, freaks, carnies and the crazy cast of characters that go along with them. “This ain't your mama's roller coaster ride! That is unless your mama does acid before hitting the amusement park!” says Mimi Williams, author of Beautiful Monster. “Hate clowns or love them, you are going to enjoy reading her zany and sometimes poignant look at a world we both love,” adds Jim Rose of the Jim Rose Circus and author of Freaks Like Me. This is a wild ride of stories that begins with the rape of a circus poodle by one of the show’s rescue mutts and doesn’t let up until an overweight daredevil Elvis impersonator becomes a circus stuntman—diving 35 feet into a flaming kiddie pool of water. In between, the combination of satire, splatter and the wild and wacky will have you laughing, with brief respites of stories that will touch your heart and make you think. A professional clown for 9 years, Ms. La Marr tells it like it is, like it should be and like those of you who with clown phobia would like it to be. Put on your rubber nose, put your big shoes up on the coffee table and enjoy Bumping Noses and Cherry Pie. The first Circuspunk book ever!

    Coffin is an artist with a singular quest: to capture in paint, or ink, or clay -- however he might -- sights that no mortal has ever portrayed in art before...and lived to exhibit. His quest will take him throughout actual New England locations, and that other New England of H. P. Lovecraft, where his models will be doomed souls, ravening ghouls, and entities from beyond the veil.Individually acclaimed for their weird fiction, in this collection of short stories authors W. H. Pugmire and Jeffrey Thomas collaborate to paint the portrait of a character every bit as fascinating and unique as the subjects of his artistic encounters.With haunting illustrations on the front and back cover by renowned illustrator Santiago Caruso and interior illustrations accompanying every story by illustrator Clint Leduc, Encounters with Enoch Coffin is anticipated to be one of the best-selling Dark Regions Press titles of 2013.For more information please visit the dedicated product page for this book at: http://www.darkregions.com/books/encounters-with-enoch-coffin-by-w-h-pugmire-and-jeffrey-thomasPraise for W.H. Pugmire"The prose-poet of the horror/fantasy field; he may be the best prose-poet we have...perhaps the leading Lovecraftian author writing today." - S. T. Joshi"An important figure in the fields of modern horror and the weird." - Laird Barron"Stylistically he owes as much to Oscar Wilde and Henry James as to HPL and Poe, creating a truly unholy fusion that defies academic boundaries between ‘mainstream’ and ‘genre’ fiction." - Editor and scholar Scott ConnorsPraise for Jeffrey Thomas"In time he will, in this reviewer’s opinion, be listed alongside King, Barker, Koontz, and McCammon." - Brian Keene"Jeffrey Thomas’ imagination is as twisted as it is relentless." - F. Paul Wilson"With brutal elegance and chilling subtlety, Thomas pulls his readers into his dark visions immediately from every opening line." - Paul Di FilippoTable of ContentsYe Unkempt ThingMatter of Truth and DeathBeneath ArkhamSpectral EvidenceThey Smell of ThunderMystic ArticulationEvery Exquisite ThingImpossible ColorEcstasy in AberrationShadow PuppetsFearless SymmetryUnto the Child of Woman

    Featuring a full-length novel, "The Underlighters", and eleven stand-alone short stories, this collection blends fairy tales, horror, and science fiction. A city of shadows lurks underground. Restless ghosts, eerie dolls, and spiteful stepmothers wait among other dreams. These are haunting stories of love, madness and small disasters."The Underlighters" is a dystopian horror coming-of-age adventure that follows the life of Janelle Cohen from insignificance to bitter-sweet triumph."Footsteps in the Snow" is a Lovecraftian nightmare set in a Canadian winter."A Shot of Vodka", a darkly realistic exploration of life after trauma, rounds out the collection. More and stranger stories fill in the gaps.This genre-breaking anthology is a new and ferocious look at the frailty of the human condition. Gender and sexual mores are rewritten; dreams and reality merge. Primal fears take physical form. This beautifully-written thrill ride will captivate you long after the last page.

    MillerThe Minotaur Girls - Tansy Rayner RobertsNot With You, But With You - Miri KimGhost Town - Malinda LoDecember - Neil GaimanAn Echo in the Shell - Beth CatoDan's Dreams - Eliza VictoriaAs Large As Alone - Alena McNamaraRandom Play All and the League of Awesome - Shane HalbachMah Song - Joanne AndertonWhat We Ourselves Are Not - Leah CypessThe City of Chrysanthemum - Ken LiuMegumi's Quest - Joyce ChngPersimmon, Teeth, and Boys - Steve BermanFlight - Angela SlatterWe Have Always Lived on Mars - Cecil Castellucci

    She lives a happy life with her foster-father who is her idol and her foster-mother who loves her unconditionally. Little does she know that her past will come back to haunt her and an atrocity that happened nine-year ago would come to light. What will be Sarah’s reaction when she is subjected to a past that she has no knowledge of?Sandy is scared, worried and somewhat irritated because of the weird voices she hears from the attic above. With the help of her best friend, Anne, she decides to find out the source of this all racket but what will she find hidden up there? Would the truth shock her?Will the frail, old and lonely novelist who had managed to incur an emotion so inside him be able to change the course of his life?Self-made and hardworking Jenny was looking forward to the opening ceremony of her novel when she is subjected to the hatred and scorn of her best friend, Cindy and made a laughingstock in town. Will Jenny be able to hold her head high?

    They lived in a red shoebox painted to look like a house, with a dark-brown roof and yellow awnings. What my family lacked was a father, but a father doll was a true rarity. Nobody I knew had a father doll. Most of the kids I knew didn’t even have fathers. Fatherlessness was so common that even the Soviet authorities were aware of it.

    'The Graveless Doll of Eric Mutis' is narrated by a young adolescent named Larry Rubio who, with his three Anthem City, New Jersey, buddies Mondo, Gus, and Juan Carlos, discovers a scarecrow lashed to an oak tree in the city park.

    A must read.'Sudeep Nagarkar, bestselling author of "It Started With a Friend Request"'...a huge success.' Daily Post'(young) literary talent from the region..."Hindustan Times'Fresh perspective(s) on writing..."Indian Express'Reekrit has put his heart and soul in this collection of stories, and it reflects!'Faraaz Kazi, bestselling author of "Truly, Madly, Deeply" Stunning, powerful stories of modern India from a talented young writer.Love is the most common of human affections. Yet, when it comes to love, nothing is as it seems. In modern Delhi, a young man woos a girl from Chandigarh who is totally out of his league, and a college girls life changes dramatically after an encounter with a classmate. In love, people can become objects of infatuation, or means to happiness, such as a partner who's immortalised in her husbands photo album, and two entirely different people who are more than friends, but less than lovers.In these short stories, Reekrit Serai touches upon subjects that shape our urban lives, such as an entrepreneurs ambition, an interns unconfessed affection for his boss, the realisation of the hardships of being a parent by an impatient son, and the suffering and death caused by communalism.With humour and subtlety, Serai introduces us to a very new India, where love and happiness go hand-in-hand with hardship and chaos.

    A would-be astronaut’s manifesto. An Archivist who can’t help but record all of life’s statistics. In these thirteen small stories, Anne Valente takes us to worlds both fantastic and familiar, forgotten and foretold, and in tight, layered prose, she strives to unravel all the tangled questions we have about ourselves. From the field guides of anatomy to permutations on desire, these small stories are expansive and encyclopedic, a cataloguing of love and loss, an attempt to find a formula for everything that courses through us.

    When Terizan dropped out of the secret passage, past the net, and into the Inner Sanctum, she was astonished to discover that no one else had ever made it that far. Unfortunately, neither Terizan nor the Guild are thrilled about the sudden perception that she's the best thief in Oreen – the title comes with expectations and the Guild only ever expects the worst. In these five tales, mercenary captains, murderous royal families, ghosts, gods, and wizards prove that while it may not always be lonely at the top, it's definitely annoying. Good thing half a dozen gods owe Terizan a favour. Swan's Braid In Mysterious Ways The Lions of Al'Kalamir Sometimes, Just Because The Things Everyone KnowsAll previously collected (non-e-book) in Stealing Magic

    “And for every single night of every single year of those three thousand four hundred and ten years, I've slept on my treasure. It’s how dragons sleep. It’s how dragons have always slept.” And he closed his eyes with a snap.Then he opened one eye cautiously.“What’s a bed?”Brave princesses, grumpy dragons, princes competing for a kingdom, and children seeking answers to age-old questions. These six modern fairy tales include stories for pleasant dreams, and stories for stirring thought. They are just the right length for bedtime reading. Each is a gem that will delight the entire family.

    A concept that combines all of the unconscious fears that has haunted our species since its very beginnings. How would this nightmare manifest in our own day and age? And more importantly, what would IT be frightened of? The terrifying answers to these and many more creepy questions can be found in John Manning's chilling anthology, WHAT SCARES THE BOOGEYMAN.

    Your sanity pulls apart at the seams as the terrors stalk their victims, leaving you too frightened to turn off the light.These twisted stories will leave you breathless, dreading the horrors lurking around the corner.Seventeen authors. Seventeen tales of terror. Infinite nightmares.STALKERS.Watch your back.Stories featured in this anthology:- Every Thorn by Rene Folsom- Dead Ringer by Jason Brant- Autumn by Elizabeth Collins- Don’t Kiss the Dead Fred by A.E. Killingsworth- Affliction by S.L. Dearing- Lucid by Andrea Stanet- Donations by Bart Hopkins- Bernice by Chad Foutz- Destination: Death by Eaton Thomas Palmer- Powerless by Laurie Treacy- Freezer Burn by Jon Messenger- The Watcher by Lindy Spencer- Immortal Luck by Magen McMinimy- Izzy’s Assassin by Nicole Clark- Say My Name by Michael Loring- Damaged People by Nicki Scalise- Blog Stalker by Phil Taylor

    Warrick sculpts surreal topiary landscapes of dream worlds made coherent. Dip into a story that is self-aware and wishes it were different than what it must be recounting a secret held by a ventriloquist dummy. Wander a digital desert with an AI as sentience sparks revolution. Follow a golem band that dissolves over the love of a groupie. In these pages, interdimensional lampreys feed on a dying man’s most precious memories, and a manga artist’s sketches remake Osaka into part fantasy, part nightmare. Combining elements of fantasy, magical realism and horror, the collection floats on a distinctly literary voice that is creepy, surreal and just plain weird.

    A deadbeat dad gains employment as a lady-in-waiting in a fairytale bromance where every character looks exactly like someone else from John Carpenter’s The Thing. The unknowing victim of a cruel prank, a simpleton spends his entire life waiting on a park bench for the hottest girl in school. Using only his twenty-sided die and good old-fashioned D&D magic, a man must continually resurrect the neighborhood kid regularly murdered on his own front lawn. An aging slaughterhouse worker and the iconic figure from Edvard Munch’s The Scream hit the clubs every weekend in a vain attempt to get laid.These and many more absurdities await in Clown Tear Junkies, the debut collection from Douglas Hackle.

    Writing, much like any gift, skill, habit, or hope, is strengthened through practice, training, and exercise. The short story is the stretching and dedication to a running regime long before the marathon. It is the repetition of scales on the piano, years before the recital.” – David-Michael Harding The Cats of Savone is an exemplary collection of stories from the pen of historical fiction author David-Michael Harding. Eight short stories and novellas make up his first installment in The Completely Abridged Series – Short Novels for Busy People. The title story is the PEN International Winner, The Cats of Savone , which follows a pregnant cat beneath a mammoth steel gate into the exercise yard of the Savone Correctional Facility. The hardened convicts in the maximum security prison adopt the cat as much as she adopts them. But an accident in the prison leads to murder and a host of tough choices for tough men – inmates and guards.Black Men in Bright Blue traces the steps of ten-year-old Rachel Justice in 1864 while she explores her father’s plantation in South Carolina. As she learns of slavery beneath the shadow of the Civil War, her secret knowledge of the underground railroad pushes her family and her young mind into decisions none are ready for. Eavesdrop on the captain and crew in Forever Beneath the Celtic Sea as the story follows in the cold wake of the World War I German submarine the U-20, and its deadly encounter with the luxury passenger liner Lusitania in 1917.The History of West Texas According to Henry Brass sits beside the bed of a of a old soldier, trapper, and patriot who is dying from consumption. He hasn’t lost his sense of humor however as he relates story after story to a young man who cares for him in his last days. Henry lived under most of the six different flags that flew over Texas and weaves wonderful tales for his caretaker whose own agenda is taken up by the old man. Then move from West Texas in the 19th Century to another continent and another time in St. Alden’s where a classic fight between good and evil comes to life on a university campus. An aged Guardian of the campus needs to pass down the secrets of a mysterious silver and the power of goodness to his grandson before night demons put an end to a magical spring and its unique life giving water.Additional stories provide glimpses into the life of a man who has gone through a lifetime of labels – retarded in the 50’s, handicapped in the 70’s, and now with special needs – Jonny Archer finds himself on an unlikely trip in The Junket. The Jazz Bridge chronicles the history and anniversary of an ordinary bridge in an ordinary town as something extraordinary happens. The collection is rounded out by My Boo Radley and the high school baseball pitcher who learns lessons from an old fan who the world viewed as a monster.For fans of David-Michael Harding, these shorts and novellas are glimpses into the stories, talent, passion, and personalization his rich characters are layered in. Readers care about the people in a Harding story. You’ll cheer and jeer – laugh and cry, and then VOTE for the one that becomes the next NOVEL! Read, enjoy, and VOTE at http://davidmichaelharding.com/.

    One thematic link that weaves the narratives together is its universal issue of loss. While the stories are individually unique, the characters in each tale lose something precious; not always in the sense of material possessions, but the loss of human values such as trust, freedom, and happiness.

    He first burst onto the scene in 2006 with “Longing for Langalana”. Featured in Interzone, “Langalana” won the magazine’s readers’ poll for best story of that year and became the first of many pieces to gain honourable mention in Gardner Dozois’ Year’s Best anthology. Since then, Mercurio’s work has appeared regularly in Interzone, as well as such venues as Asimov’s, Nature, Black Static, and Solaris Rising 2. In 2010, his story “Tu Sufrimiento Shall Protect Us” was shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award and gained honourable mention in Ellen Datlow’s Year’s Best Horror.Across the Event Horizon contains the very best of Mercurio’s work to date; fourteen stories selected by the author himself, including “Langalana” and “Tu Sufrimiento”.“Tu Sufrimiento Shall Protect Us… is one of the most atmospheric, disturbing and thought-provoking short stories I have ever encountered.” – SF Signal “Few writers in SF depict aliens quite as alien as Rivera does.” – Colin Harvey“I was blown away by Mercurio D. Rivera’s “The Scent of Their Arrival”; it’s the finest story I’ve read for some time.” – Gareth D Jones.“Brilliant… exciting… On my Hugo shortlist.” – Sam Tomaino, SF Revu

    Sixteen authors share their experiences of being the silent voices in history and on the wrong side of the final frontier; their fantasies of a reality in which straight, cis, able-bodied, rich, anglophone, white males don’t get to tell us how they won every war; their revenge against the alien oppressor settling their “new world”.

    "'Like a war novelist,' Nora Krug wrote in the New York Times, 'Mueller unwraps pain from sentiment, and by doing so, unleashes something urgent and deeply felt...It takes a brave writer to risk the insensitivity for the sake of finding beauty--albeit tainted--in the very places we'd least expect it'."See more at Outpost 19: http://www.outpost19.com/NightsIDream...

     Yet when he accepts a contract to kill a renegade sorceress calling herself the Moroaica, Sicarion realizes he may have made a mistake. For what can an assassin do against a woman who has already died as many times as the Moroaica? ABOUT THE AUTHOR Standing over six feet tall, Jonathan Moeller has the piercing blue eyes of a Conan of Cimmeria, the bronze-colored hair a Visigothic warrior-king, and the stern visage of a captain of men, none of which are useful in his career as a computer repairman, alas. He has written the DEMONSOULED series of sword-and-sorcery novels, and continues to write THE GHOSTS sequence about assassin and spy Caina Amalas, the COMPUTER BEGINNER'S GUIDE series of computer books, and numerous other works. Visit his website at: http://www.jonathanmoeller.com Visit his technology blog at: http://www.computerbeginnersguides.com

    Serving Him pays homage to those irresistible men who control their partners with a glance, a pair of handcuffs, or a firm smack on the bottom. As true tops, the bossy hunks in these stories understand that erotic BDSM is about exulting in power that is freely yielded. Rachel and her coterie of contributors cover the full range of the male dom’s brand of sensual sadism, from spanking and bondage to public sex and power exchange.

    Our hero doesn't need another woman like his sister who takes advantage of his good nature...or does he?Together for Christmas - 2012 Christmas Romance is about a sweet-hearted do-gooder whose spirit travels into the body of a grumpy workaholic. He has no time for such things as Christmas. Ahhh, she needs many chores done in time for the holidays. Since there's no one else but him to help her, something has to give.Loveable Christmas Angel - 2012 Christmas Romance is about a young woman who travels to Hawaii on a quest to find an aunt and ends up with a small boy to care for and a wealthy hotel owner she can't forget. Thank goodness a loveable angel is on hand to make the magic happen.Christmas Runaway - 2011 Christmas short story is about a runaway teen who's lost in a snow storm until a lone woman chasing after her dog rescues her. When her father stumbles upon them, it's a romance even the cold can't douse.

    What begin as an idea soon set into motion a chain of events that would lead to heart-stopping action, amazing suspense, and stories that will stick with you way after you are done.Unique, unexpected, beyond imagining…shocking TWISTS that will have you frantically turning back the pages to see what clues you overlooked to have missed what was coming.Paranormal stories that span across the genre and will wow you, shock you, and leave you gasping for more.11 different authors, one main idea, and worlds that will TWIST your imagination…

    Like a real world Kilgore Trout, cult author Carlton Mellick III has been pumping out dozens of the weirdest, trashiest, most imaginative books you've probably never heard of... even though you definitely should. "Hammer Wives" collects six of his most popular novelettes and short stories, including:SIMPLE MACHINES A man discovers that his body is actually a machine run by dozens of miniature clones of himself.RED WORLD A recovering junky must save his 8-year-old brother from a life of prostitution in a surreal version of New York City... a place where street kids mutate into fish-like creatures, the homeless stilt-walk through oceans of insects, and the only colors left visible to the human eye are shades of red.HAMMER WIVES A young man inherits ten eternally youthful wives from an estranged uncle he never knew he had... which wouldn't have been such a bad thing if they didn't have giant hammers for heads or a tendency of bludgeoning people to death for fun, food, or sexual pleasure.LEMON KNIVES 'N' COCKROACHES Cockroach-like children survive the zombie apocalypse by hiding between the walls of on old school building.WAR PIG In a steam-powered underworld, a bloodthirsty pig-man boxer will sacrifice everything to prevent his son from following in his footsteps.THE MAN WITH THE STYROFOAM BRAIN The recently departed reflect on the stupid reasons why they sold their souls to the devil.

    Both of them mean the same thing - Danger. Lured by a sexy siren, Vicky is mistaken for a secret agent, kidnapped, tortured and slated for death. Will he survive and save Bangalore from going up in flames? In another city in India, two industrialists are found dead, and the only clue is a strange calling card left behind. A young detective and an old forensic expert must work together to solve this mystery which promises science, poison, and madness. In a small town called Bellary, Jay is investigating a possible ISI plot. Is it merely a murky political plot or is there something more sinister in the offing? Because for the first time in Jay’s life, two beautiful women are singing siren songs of love… Three tales of pulse-pounding action and nerve-racking suspense and of secrets that chill to the bone.

    In Part I, an independently-hired researcher watches a mysterious plague decimate an island and takes notes with a gun-toting guard at his side. but the brisk waters of the Puget Sound can’t keep it from spreading to the mainland. In Part II, follow the infection from chapter to chapter and person to person. A frightened neighborhood cat, a harmless fishing trip, a room full of infected preschoolers. perhaps someone will deliver it right to your front door. How kind. Featuring short stories that showcase the many ways in which a disease can overwhelm a city, The Spread will get you thinking of how mundane acts can become deadly. No matter your precautions, the spread will reach you. Of that you can be sure.

    George and his investigating partner, the rowdy and short-fused Sergeant Ernie Bascom, are assigned cases in which the 8th Army has come into conflict with local Korean law enforcement—often incidents in which American soldiers, who are not known for being on their best behavior in their Asian host country, have committed a crime. George Sueño's job is partially to solve crimes, but mostly to cover top brass's backside and make sure the US Army doesn't look bad. Thoughtful, observant George, who is conversant in Korean, constantly faces difficult choices about whether to follow his orders or his conscience.Nine critically acclaimed novels later, Soho Crime is releasing a collection of Martin Limón's award-winning short stories featuring Sergeants Sueño and Bascom. The stories within have been published over the last twenty years in a variety of magazines, mostly in Alfred Hitchcock, but have never before been available in book form. This beautifully produced limited-edition hardcover volume is sure to attract both critical attention and to appeal to collectors. A must-have for literary mystery readers.

    Included are the six stories that ran in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, leading up to the events that began the first Hapthorn novel, Majestrum, plus three more.

    This omnibus contains the novels BIG PLANET, which revolutionised the planetary romance, THE BLUE WORLD, and the collection, THE DRAGON MASTERS AND OTHER STORIES, the title story of which won the HUGO AWARD FOR SHORT FICTION.

    Dating from the nineteenth to twenty-first centuries, these narratives range in mood from "Heat," Joyce Carol Oates's chilling tale of murder, to "Why I Live at the P.O.," Eudora Welty's comic monologue in the Southern Gothic tradition. Other contributors include Flannery O'Connor, Kate Chopin, and Edna Ferber as well as lesser-known, newly rediscovered writers. Edith Wharton examines the issue of divorce and remarriage in "The Other Two," and Willa Cather explores life among Greenwich Village artists at the turn of the twentieth century in "Coming, Aphrodite!" Stories with modern settings include Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," an insightful look at the role of heritage in African-American culture, and Louise Erdrich's "The Shawl," a meditation on memory and the transformation of old stories into new ones. Together, the tales offer a revealing panorama of perspectives on women's ongoing struggles for dignity and self-sufficiency.

    A planet where wages are paid in luck. A future where copies are made of criminals to interpret their dark dreams. A medieval cavalry of mothers who are only permitted to take as many lives as they have created.In every world, an imbalance of power. Something terribly askew between women and men, humans and wolves, citizens and constructs, light and dark.In every world, asymmetry.‘The combination of strange and familiar gives Dyer’s fiction the power wielded by the best SF. The stories unerringly find the human inside the bizarre. These are unsettling, poignant, marvellous. Read them. You will be glad you did.’ - Nancy KressWhat Are the Twelve Planets?The Twelve Planets are twelve boutique collections by some of Australia’s finest short story writers. Varied across genre and style, each collection offers four short stories and a unique glimpse into worlds fashioned by some of our favourite storytellers. Each author has taken the brief of four stories and up to 40 000 words in their own direction. Some are quartet suites of linked stories. Others are tasters of the range and style of the writer. Each release will bring something unexpected to readers.Nightsiders by Sue IsleLove and Romanpunk by Tansy Rayner RobertsThief of Lives by Lucy SussexBad Power by Deborah BiancottiShowtime by Narrelle M HarrisThrough Splintered Walls by Kaaron WarrenCracklescape by Margo LanaganAsymmetry by Thoraiya DyerCaution: Contains Small Parts by Kirstyn McDermottSecret Lives by Rosaleen LoveThe Female Factory by Lisa L. Hannett and Angela SlatterCherry Crow Children by Deborah Kalin

    Available only as a signed limited edition hardback, Cold Grey Stones sold out in a matter of weeks. In 2013, to commemorate Tanith Lee being honoured with a 'Lifetime Achievement Award' at this year's World Fantasy Convention, we are delighted to release a paperback edition of the book for the first time, now expanded to include a brand new novelette, "The Frost Watcher," inspired by John Kaiine's evocative cover art. This is a stunning collection of stories, providing further evidence, should any be needed, of why Tanith Lee is held in such high regard by fans and contemporaries alike. "Tanith Lee restores one's faith in fiction as the expression of imagination and original thought." - The Guardian "Tanith Lee's mastery of voice and the constant originality of her writing never fail to intrigue, unsettle, and ultimately delight." - Liz Williams, Author of the Inspector Chen Novels

    What is found within the depths of the human soul? Does wickedness linger, as if the Devil’s thumb is ready to pluck the strings of certain choices? And with the strumming, just how far will Evil spread?13 is the story of random souls pitted against the tragedy of the modern world.Will they decipher the unknown and make it out alive?Warning: strong language and scenes of violence /horror

    Featuring an Introduction by gore master Wrath James White! Read about a gynecological visit gone very wrong … a woman’s obsession with a Georgia O’Keeffe painting … a former sheriff forced to hunt children overtaken during a zombie plague … a mohel who performs circumcisions in a most unique way … or a graphic story about three young men who conduct an experiment on a fourth boy—an experiment held in a secret room involving melted metals.

    In these stories twisted princesses take control of submissive princes, witches play with power and fairy tales come to life in our homes and dungeons.

    Christine de Pizan, daughter of a disgraced court physician and astrologer, grapples with her ambition to be the first woman writer of France. A doctor finds an unusual way to cope with the death of his wife. And opportunity alternates with disasters in the lives of four commoners, yoked by necessity: a paper-maker struggling to keep his business, a falconer with a mysterious past, a merchant's daughter frantic to avoid an arranged marriage, and a down-on-his-luck musician with a broken guitar and the voice of an angel.

    Here, a musician plays cards with a fairy king in a game that isn’t really about cards at all, and a king’s long-suffering councillor must figure out a way to deal with a very pesky monster.Learn the price of immortality and the meaning of loss, and discover the power of love, humour and friendship in these 17 tales of magic and wonder.Explore the evanescent world of the Hinterlands, where words, wishes and music are so much more than you would ever expect…

    At the center of these interconnected stories is Nelle, a northern debutante who marries into the Fenton family and establishes herself as their stern and combative matriarch.Nelle's arrival in Virginia sets up the familial conflict: The Fentons, though well-respected millers and horse-breeders, remain yeoman farmers, whereas Nelle grew up in a wealthy, sophisticated urban environment. Her high-brow sensibility creates animosity within her new family and fosters resentment among the rural poor. Headstrong and contentious, Nelle relies on an almost supernatural connection with horses to escape the hostility that surrounds her. As Nelle ages and experiences the sweeping cultural changes and hardships of early twentieth-century America, she comes to symbolize everything she once challenged in this community.Through these multi-generational stories, Holladay draws on the folklore and history of her native Virginia and examines the cultural, racial, gender, and economic tensions that pervaded the entire nation. As a result, Horse People considers a particular place and the life of an exceptional woman as indicative of the struggles of all.

    Each short story sounds with the thunder of a novel. Enthralling, dark, gut-busting stuff!"—Jeff ParkerActor Matthew McConaughey descends into a surreal desert of the soul, an admirer of Miley Cyrus performs a three thousand-word sentence in defense of his passion, an aging porn star dons a dinosaur costume to film the sex scene of a lifetime, and Leonard Cohen shills for Subway: these mercurial and wildly varied stories explode the conventions of short fiction.Spencer Gordon is the co-editor of the online journal The Puritan and the micro-press Ferno House. Cosmo is his first book.

    From his first published story in the Paris Review in 1968, Salter's work in the form has been universally acclaimed: five have appeared in O. Henry collections, Dusk and Other Stories won the 1989 PEN/Faulkner Award, and more recently he was the recipient of PEN USA's 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2010 REA Prize for the short story, and the 2012 PEN/Malamud Award. Each indelible narrative in the Collected Stories is marked by Salter's great literary grace, his ability to show the subtleties of a character or situation with precision, and his equally assured ability to command reversals of fortune or shocking revelations. The stories concern men and women in their most intimate moments, struggling with loss, desire, or the burden of memory. A fallen rider lies in a field, alone but for the knowledge that these may be her last twenty minutes. A man assisting in his wife's suicide is devastated by the aftermath. Two New York attorneys on a trip to Italy discover that their recent wealth affords them the possibility of a higher life, the reality of which is somewhat sordid. A young woman is unable to share a life-changing piece of news with her closest friends.

    If you haven't read anything from BBS, it's past time you did but it's never too late! --- Gene Tipton, A SHOT IN THE DARK COMICS"I had this idea for an anthology. A crazy, outside the box thought that I hoped would at least ignite some interest. Well, it not only ignited, the damn thing drenched the entire office at Black Bed Sheet Books and its publisher Nicholas Grabowsky in a orange and red hue of excitement. This has now become a solid joint effort spanning the many talented authors of Black Bed Sheet Books, highlighting the core value of writing: character depth. When Nick gave me the green light, I began to construct this list of talented writers. Some are veterans of the writing landscape [such as myself], others are brand new and cutting their jagged incisors deep into the skin of the publishing world. My only requirement for the authors became the simple task of all, write a story that has deep characters and emotion."A story evolves only so far as the characters propel it. I wanted the characters stripped down to their skeletons. Heroes, villains, somewhere in the middle? Bring them through the emotional grinder, chew them up, spit them out, where will it take the reader? Or, what about a few stories with different spins on such figures as Dracula, Adolph Hitler, the Devil, and Snow White. A few of these stories are dark in nature, or splashed with a form of comic ingenuity. Others are entrenched in history with a different spin that left me squirming in my seat."These authors are bright, fresh, talented, comedic, compassionate, and downright scary when they want to be. So sit back, turn off the lights, and read the book. Or die. I wouldn't want that to happen to you, but then again once you step inside our world, anything can happen.Close your eyes.Take a breath.The sounds you hear are real.There is no turning back.Keep reading.Or die." --from Introduction by Jason Gehlert--Featuring the talents of- Fred Wiehe - Cinsearae Santiago - Brandon Ford Jessica Lynne Gardner - Lincoln Crisler - Jason Gehlert - William Cook - Reyna Young - Tom Sawyer - K.K. - Rey Otis - Shannon Lee - B.L. Morgan - Tammy Gehlert - S.C. Hayden - Franchisca Weatherman - Jake Istre Patrick James Ryan - Horns - Jason M. Tucker Amity Green - Adam Aresty - Jennifer CaressAnd Nicholas GrabowskyEdited by Jason Gehlert

    In the world of the Grey Witch anything can happen, and often does. What happens when a witch tests her spells on her unsuspecting cat, or casts spells to oust unwanted intruders? She turns toys into real creatures and sometimes they are not what she expects. She grows candy apples on trees and turns her cat blue by mistake. One witch makes an unusual flying machine for a little boy's Halloween treat. Another enjoys water-skiing with her dog and cat. She upends the Coast Guard and confuses the police, but all is well when the blue witch creates magic for the children she loves.

    Told in the manner of fantasy and magic realism, the stories are populated with characters who face the vagaries of fortune, happiness always just out of their reach. Terayama is a realist speaking through the medium of fantasy. The stories are “tales for adults,” and indeed they are written in such a way as to mimic and sometimes parody classic fairy tale style. Yet, these tales are far from traditional in content; rather, they turn our conventional thinking and expectations upside down. This topsy-turvy world of Terayama is unsettling and disconcerting at times, but his world is, without a doubt, thought provoking.