Working for Bigfoot


Jim Butcher - 2014
    "I Was a Teenage Bigfoot" takes place circa Deadbeat. "Bigfoot on Campus" takes place between Turn Coat and Changes.Chicago wizard-for-hire Harry Dresden is used to mysterious clients with long hair and legs up to here. But when it turns out the long hair covers every square inch of his latest client’s body, and the legs contribute to a nine-foot height, even the redoubtable detective realizes he’s treading new ground. Strength of a River in His Shoulders is one of the legendary forest people, a Bigfoot, and he has a problem that only Harry can solve. His son Irwin is a scion, the child of a supernatural creature and a human. He’s a good kid, but the extraordinary strength of his magical aura has a way of attracting trouble.In the three novellas that make up Working For Bigfoot, collected together for the first time here, readers encounter Dresden at different points in his storied career, and in Irwin’s life. As a middle-schooler, in “B Is for Bigfoot,” Irwin attracts the unwelcome attention of a pair of bullying brothers who are more than they seem, and when Harry steps in, it turns out they have a mystical guardian of their own. At a fancy private high school in “I Was a Teenage Bigfoot,” Harry is called in when Irwin grows ill for the first time, and it’s not just a case of mono. Finally, Irwin is all grown up and has a grown-up’s typical problems as a freshman in college in “Bigfoot on Campus,” or would have if typical included vampires.

Outta the Bag


MaryJanice Davidson - 2010
    In Outta the Bag, Clive Better—the better-than-best plumber in town—attends a speed dating event where—instead of attempting to score phone numbers—he recounts his recent run-in with a freaked-out cat and a sexy-but-psychotic woman that has left him confused, scratched up, and rather aroused.

Sunset Strip


Rick Gualtieri - 2013
    In that time I've walked amongst you - a wolf in sheep's clothing - doing unspeakable things, killing countless people.Now, on the eve of Armageddon, a chance for redemption presents itself. My past has come looking for me, beckoning me back to the city of my rebirth.Those who killed me the first time are intent on finishing the job. I'm outnumbered and outgunned, but they've got another thing coming if they think I'm outclassed.Unspeakable horrors, both old and new, await me in the City of Sin, but in the end they're all going to learn one very painful lesson: Payback is a Bitch.*****Sunset Strip (a tale from the Tome of Bill) is 60k words of paranormal fantasy with attitude by Rick Gualtieri, author of Bill The Vampire and Holier Than Thou.

The Vampire Club


J.R. Rain - 2011
    A man who just might be a vampire.The Vampire Club, a group of misfits who meet regularly in the basement of Western Virginia University’s library, think that they might have found their first documented case of a real vampire. Better yet, the Club thinks that the vampire might still be alive to this day, lying comatose in a hidden grave. And this is good news indeed for a group of vampire lovers.The hunt begins, and as they close in on their immortal prize, they soon realize that they aren't the only ones interested in the vampire; indeed, a powerful group of killers will use whatever means possible to keep the vampire permanently in its grave.The first in a series that features The Vampire Club, a group of lovable, laughable, larcenous college students turned vampire hunters.

Devil in the Dollhouse


Richard Kadrey - 2012
    Sandman Slim, has a new job, but being the new Lucifer in town gives fresh meaning to the word "Hell." Especially when he hears of hideous massacres near a haunted fortress out on Hell's frontier.As far as Stark's concerned, the more dead Hellions, the better, but he still has to prove that no one screws with Sandman Slim. And facing creatures so terrible even Hell does not want them is no cakewalk, even for Lucifer.Includes 13 pages excerpt from Devil Said Bang

Betrayal


Tim Marquitz - 2011
    (Warning: Do not read Betrayal before Resurrection as the story might spoil the end of Resurrection.) Betrayal is a short story told from the viewpoint of Scarlett. It details the events leading up to the third Demon Squad book, At the Gates, out December 1st from Damnation Books.A bonus story, Prohibition Black and Blues is included, featuring Frank "Triggaltheron" Trigg in the Roaring Twenties.

Demons and Other Inconveniences


Dan Dillard - 2010
    "Icky." 5 Stars "Humor and horror and shivers, excellent combination." 5 Stars "Dan Dillard has written a great book, loaded with some creepy short stories." 5 Stars "...this book will snare you in its gloriously wicked clutches and drag you kicking, screaming, and sometimes laughing from one creepy story to the next." -Stalk and Slash "...creative and very entertaining in some cases while truly horrifying in others." 4 Stars Demons are all around us. Hatred, greed, old age, addiction. Some of them are more tangible with claws, fangs and dark intentions. Face your demons before they take over. They're only as frightening as you allow. A collection of short horror stories for grown-ups with non-traditional twists and a bit of dark humor.

They're Made Out of Meat


Terry Bisson - 1991
    Here’s the correct version, as published in Omni, 1990." -- Terry Bisson

Dead Man


Domino Finn - 2015
    Sounds kinda cool, doesn't it? It was, right until I woke up half dead in a dumpster.Did I say half dead? Because I meant 100% dead. Full on. I don't do things halfway.So here I am, alive for some reason, just another sunny day in Miami. It's a perfect paradise, except I'm into something bad. Wanted by police, drenched in the stink of dark magic, nether creatures coming out of the woodwork, and don't get me started on the Haitian voodoo gang. Trust me, it's all fun and games until there's a zombie pit bull on your tail.I'm Cisco Suarez: necromancer, shadow charmer, black magic outlaw, and totally screwed.

The Eyes Have It


Philip K. Dick - 1953
    As yet, I haven't done anything about it; I can't think of anything to do. I wrote to the Government, and they sent back a pamphlet on the repair and maintenance of frame houses. Anyhow, the whole thing is known; I'm not the first to discover it. Maybe it's even under control.

Fat Vampire


Johnny B. Truant - 2012
    And when Maurice turns Reginald to save his life, it's just Reginald's own further bad luck that he wakes up to discover he's become the slowest, weakest, most out-of-shape vampire ever born, doomed to "heal" to his corpulent self for all of eternity.As Reginald struggles with the downsides of being a fat vampire -- too slow to catch people to feed on, mocked by those he tries to glamour, assaulted by his intended prey and left for undead -- he discovers in himself rare powers that few vampires have… and just in time too, because the Vampire Council might just want his head for being an inferior representative of their race. Fat Vampire is the story of an unlikely hero who, after having an imperfect eternity shoved into his grease-stained hands, must learn to turn the afterlife's lemons into tasty lemon danishes.

Secret Santa


Sierra Dean - 2011
    " "Secret McQueen, book 2.5"It's the most wonderful time of the year. The season for mistletoe, Christmas lights...and a killing spree. When Secret's friend, Detective Mercedes Castilla, asks for help to solve a series of murders longer than a string of lights, Secret resigns herself to the fact her holidays will be anything but peaceful. It seems someone is killing New Yorkers in an unusually gruesome way, and as the bodies pile up faster than presents under the tree, the police are no closer to finding the killer than Secret is to finding the perfect present for one of her boyfriends, Lucas. Tracking down a monster in Manhattan the week before Christmas is almost as difficult as shopping for her ever-expanding collection of loved ones. When tragedy strikes close to home, Secret must do everything in her power to put an end to the horror in time for Santa to come down the chimney. Warning: Contains a less than merry McQueen with a sword and a reason to use it; a festive new use for mistletoe; and a promise that will haunt Secret like the Ghost of Christmas Future.

Blood Blade


Marcus Pelegrimas - 2009
    . .There is a world you don't know about, inhabited by supernatural creatures of darkness—vampires, werewolves, and all manner of savage, impossible beasts that live for terror and slaughter and blood. They are all around us but you cannot see them, for knowledge of their presence—so close and so hungry—would surely drive any ordinary human insane.But for centuries a special breed of hunter has kept the monsters at bay, preventing them from breaking through the increasingly fragile barriers protecting our mortal realm.These guardians are called skinners.But beware . . . for there are very few of them left.

Cursed


J.A. Cipriano - 2016
    Not why I woke up in a dumpster. Not why my right arm is as black as pitch and covered in glowing red tattoos, and certainly not why a vicious death cult is after me.Actually, that last part isn't true. I know why the death cult is after me. It's because I saved that damned girl from them. I didn't know who she was at the time, but I'd have done it anyway. I just don't like it when girls get beat up, call me old fashioned.Still, I can tell she's hiding something behind those devilish eyes, and if I want to find out what it is, I'll have to help her.My name is Mac Brennan. I have no memory, and I'm a werewolf-hunting, hellfire-flinging version of Faust himself.*Book 2: Marked (ASIN: B01D04ULFQ) is on sale for only $3.99!*

Blood Call


Lilith Saintcrow - 2015
    She's seen her brother's dead body, witnessed the shooting of innocent civilians, and been shot at herself. Now she has nowhere to turn—and only one person she can possibly call.Since Anna dumped him, it seems waiting is all Josiah Wolfe has done. Now, she's calling, and she needs his help—or rather, the "talents" she once ran away from. As a liquidation agent, Josiah knows everything about getting out of tough situations. He'll get whatever she's carrying to the proper authorities, then settle down to making sure she doesn't leave him again.But the story Anna's stumbled into is far bigger than even Josiah suspects. Anna wants to survive, Josiah wants Anna back, and the powerful people chasing her want the only thing worth killing for—immortality. An ancient evil has been trapped, a woman is in danger, and the world is going to see just how far a liquidation agent will go...