Book picks similar to
Hellcats Anthology by Kate PickfordArleigh Jacobs
fantasy
anthologies
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urban-fantasy
Mostly Void, Partially Stars
Joseph Fink - 2016
By the anniversary show a year later, the fanbase had exploded, vaulting the podcast into the #1 spot on iTunes. Since then, its popularity has grown by epic proportions, hitting more than 100 million downloads, and Night Vale has expanded to a successful live multi-cast international touring stage show and a New York Times bestselling novel. Now the first two seasons are available as books, offering an entertaining reading experience and a valuable reference guide to past episodes.Mostly Void, Partially Stars introduces us to Night Vale, a town in the American Southwest where every conspiracy theory is true, and to the strange but friendly people who live there.Mostly Void, Partially Stars features an introduction by creator and co-writer Joseph Fink, a foreword by Cory Doctorow, and behind-the-scenes commentary and guest introductions by performers from the podcast and notable fans, including Cecil Baldwin (Cecil), Dylan Marron (Carlos), and Kevin R. Free (Kevin) among others. Also included is the full script from the first Welcome to Night Vale live show, Condos. Beautiful illustrations by series artist Jessica Hayworth accompany each episode.Mostly Void, Partially Stars is an absolute must-have whether you’re a fan of the podcast or discovering for the first time the wonderful world of Night Vale.
Odd Interlude #1
Dean Koontz - 2012
BUT YOU MIGHT NOT GET OUT. Nestled on a lonely stretch along the Pacific coast, quaint roadside outpost Harmony Corner offers everything a weary traveler needs—a cozy diner, a handy service station, a cluster of cottages . . . and the Harmony family homestead presiding over it all. But when Odd Thomas and company stop to spend the night, they discover that there’s more to this secluded haven than meets the eye—and that between life and death, there is something more frightening than either. Includes a preview of the next thrilling novel in Dean Koontz’s acclaimed Odd Thomas series: Odd Apocalypse! “Koontz gives his character wit, good humor, a familiarity with the dark side of humanity—and moral outrage.”—USA Today “The nice young fry cook with the occult powers is Koontz’s most likable creation . . . candid, upright, amusing and sometimes withering.”—The New York Times “Suspense, tension, and surprising plot twists . . . Characters and the search for meaning, exquisitely crafted, are the soul of his work. . . . One of the master storytellers of this or any age.”—The Tampa Tribune
Hired Killer
Michael Anderle - 2020
"In your case, though, I will be your FBI handler, taking care of you and getting you anything that you need to get the job done."
Special Agent Niki Banks paused, narrowing her eyes at Taylor. "What?" Banks asked. "No lewd remarks about that? Something about handling, or how I'm going to take care of you?""Nah, I thought you would do a better job of it than I ever could," Taylor replied. "Besides, I'm only after empty relationships that have no meaning, where we both go away happy, so there's no need for any handling like that. From you, anyways.""So, what does that make me?"Taylor paused to take a bite from his food, which consisted of some bacon and syrup-covered waffles. "A toxic attitude with delusions of awesomeness in high heels and a need to feel dominant all wrapped up in an attractive gift package that smells like a body that's been left out to rot in the Zoo for a week."Banks' eyebrows shot up. "Excuse you?"Another bite of his food from his plate was taken before he continued. "I'm sorry, do you need me to make it more specific? Here, try this one then. You look like Eva Longoria, except more brawn than brains, probably can't spell Latina and obviously you don't care about showers. Which is okay; the government only wants you for your brawn anyway." Banks narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, I smell like the three cretins you needed me to get rid of for you. Between the stench of fear and gasoline, I guess that does make for a pretty foul smell."Taylor shrugged. "I showered at least."Banks scowled at him. "You're a jackass.""Correction," Taylor said with a grin. "I'm a jackass that can kill - what did you call them? Cryptids. A jackass that can kill Cryptids that's living here in the US, no less. "Oh, great," Banks grumbled. "And here I am, stuck with a Jason Momoa wannabe Cro-Magnon Neanderthal with slightly better dental hygiene and a god-complex." She sighed. "I don't get paid enough for this shit."His name is Taylor McFadden, survivor of 83 trips into the ZOO. Now, he's retired, and yet his country needs his skills to save people in the country he calls home.Can he build a company, put down roots and still bring the pain when the FBI calls?When they tag him as The Cryptid Assassin, they weren't wrong. For monsters that go bump in the night, he is death incarnate.
Go up and click 'Read for Free' or 'Buy Now' and learn how one messed up soldier is America's greatest asset in the ongoing war against the Alien Goop.
NOTE: There is cussing in the book. In fact, there is a LOT of cussing in this book. There are consenting adults having sex (mostly behind closed doors) and a cynical ex-soldier just wanting to build a business in Sin City.
Not that Sin City... Las Vegas!
Stories on the Go: 101 Very Short Stories by 101 Authors
Andrew AshlingCherise Kelley - 2014
Hugh Howey launched the idea on Kboards, a forum for Kindle readers, but also the meeting place of an active community of indie writers. The result is this anthology of 101 very short stories by 101 authors. To make it more attractive for you, the reader, we set ourselves a limit of a thousand words. You should be able to read each story in under five minutes — on your desktop computer, laptop, or tablet at home or in the office, but also on your smartphone, on the go, while you are commuting or waiting at a coffee shop for your significant other to arrive. We included as many genres as we could. We hope that maybe, with only five minutes of your time on the line that would otherwise be wasted anyway, you'll be tempted to venture outside your comfort zone and try out some new genres and new authors.
Shadows of the Past
Sharon Shinn - 2021
A woman who receives calls over her cell phone from people who have recently died. A man who suddenly finds strange objects appearing in his life—and just as suddenly disappearing.These characters and more fill the pages of Sharon Shinn’s collection of seven short stories. Romance, mystery, and a little bit of magic follow each of them as they grapple with the past so they can move forward into the future.Chief Executed Officers is never before published. The other six stories have appeared previously in anthologies published 2004 through 2012.The Sorcerer's AssassinIn the House of Seven SpiritsChief Executed OfficersThe Unrhymed Couplets of the UniverseCan You Hear Me Now?The Double-Edged SwordWintermoon Wish
Dead But Not Forgotten: Stories from the World of Sookie Stackhouse
Charlaine Harris - 2014
Written by a killer lineup of authors, including New York Times best-sellers Rachel Caine, MaryJanice Davidson, Jonathan Maberry and Seanan McGuire, and with introductions read by Charlaine herself, Dead but Not Forgotten puts your favorite characters center stage.The stories included in Dead but Not Forgotten are:"Nobody's Business" by Rachel Caine (featuring Kevin Pryor & Kenya Jones)"Tyger, Tyger" by Christopher Golden (featuring Quinn)"The Real Santa Claus" by Leigh Perry (featuring Diantha)"Taproot" by Jeffrey J. Mariotte (featuring Andy Bellefleur)"Knit a Sweater Out of Sky" by Seanan McGuire (featuring Amelia)"Love Story" by Jeanne C. Stein (featuring Adele Hale Stackhouse)"The Million-Dollar Hunt" by Jonathan Maberry (featuring Mustapha Khan)"Borderline Dead" by Nicole Peeler (featuring Desiree Dumas)"Extreme Makeover Vamp Edition" by Leigh Evans (featuring Bev & Todd)"Don't Be Cruel" by Bill Crider (featuring Bubba)"What a Dream I Had" by Nancy Holder (featuring Alcide Herveaux)"Another Dead Fairy" by Miranda James (featuring Claude & Claudia Crane)"The Bat-Signal" by Suzanne McLeod (featuring Luna)"The Sun, The Moon, and The Stars" by Dana Cameron (featuring Pam Ravenscroft)"Widower's Walk" by MaryJanice Davidson (featuring Eric Northman)Dead but Not Forgotten was edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner.©2014 Charlaine Harris, Inc. (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
Hellboy: Oddest Jobs
Christopher Golden - 2008
. .Longtime contributor to the Hellboy mythos Christopher Golden brings together a crew of luminaries including Joe R. Lansdale (Bubba HoTep) and China Miéville (King Rat), crossgenre sensation Barbara Hambly (The Windrose Chronicles), celebrated mystery writer Ken Bruen (The Dramatist), bestselling science fiction and fantasy novelist Tad Williams (Otherland), and a bevy of other skilled storytellers eager to spin a tale or two about the world's greatest paranormal detective, as some of the biggest names in horror, mystery, and fantasy come together to pay homage to Mike Mignola's Hellboy!
Tricknomancy
Michael A. Stackpole - 2010
This collection includes If Vanity Doesn't Kill Me and The Devil Within which have not been previously released or collected with these other stories. Tricknomancy tells the story of Patrick Molloy, a magick-using ex-cop who was busted off the force on trumped up bribery charges. He works as a bouncer in a Gentlemen's Club, Club Flesh, where all the women use magick to conjure dollars out of the patrons' pockets. His only true friend is the coroner; his family hates him with a passion, and the cop who busted him off the force is just itching to find a way to send him to jail. Trick Molloy's world is one in which magick-users are feared and hated. Televangelists make bank on casting them as the devil's tools. Gangsters often use magick more readily than guns. Respectable magickers use their skills for seduction, robbery and murder. No one in power really cares about what befalls the criminal class, which Trick Molloy as the one man smart enough to discover the truth, and tough enough to administer justice.
Kolchak: The Night Stalker Chronicles
Joe GentileMark Dawidziak - 2005
For the first time ever, a monster collection of 26 new original Kolchak short fiction stories by noted authors from comics, horror fiction, and film! With the advent of the new Kolchak ABC TV show, Moonstone proudly announces new contemporary prose adventures of the original Kolchak, TV's first and foremost paranormal investigator! Plus all kinds of other cool stuff, like tales from Kolchak's untold past, monster huntings, noir thrillers, and even horror stories of more cerebral type!
Steampunk (Steampunk, #1)
Jeff VanderMeerJoseph E. Lake - 2008
Blaylock"The Giving Mouth" by Ian R. MacLeod "A Sun in the Attic" by Mary Gentle "The God-Clown is Near" by Jay Lake"The Steam Man of the Prairie and the Dark Rider Get Down: A Dime Novel" by Joe R. Lansdale"The Selene Gardening Society" by Molly Brown"Seventy-Two Letters" by Ted Chiang"The Martian Agent, A Planetary Romance" by Michael Chabon"Victoria" by Paul Di Filippo"Reflected Light" by Rachel E. Pollock"Minutes of the Last Meeting" by Stepan Chapman"Excerpt from the Third and Last Volume of Tribes of the Pacific Coast" by Neal Stephenson"The Steam-Driven Time Machine: A Pop Culture Survey" by Rick Klaw"The Essential Sequential Steampunk: A Modest Survey of the Genre within the Comic Book Medium" by Bill Baker
The Gambit
Rysa Walker - 2016
Convinced that he can create a better future than random chance and human blunder, Saul's main challenge is circumventing the system's safeguards--and he thinks he's found the perfect opening move. This short story was originally published in The Time Travel Chronicles.
Gothic!: Ten Original Dark Tales
Deborah NoyesM.T. Anderson - 2004
. . a serial killer who defies death . . . a house with a violent mind of its own and another that holds a grotesque secret within its peeling walls. Here are witches who feast on faces, changeling rites of passage, a venerable vampire contemplating his end, and a fanged brat who drains the patience of a bumbling teenage boy. Here too are a flamboyant young novelist in search of a subject more compelling than his own eerie existence and the daughter of a sorcerer fighting to free her lover — and her will — from sinister bonds. Enter the world of GOTHIC!, a celebration of the literary form made famous by such writers as Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe. With chilling stories by: Joan Aiken M. T. Anderson Neil Gaiman Caitlín R. Kiernan Gregory Maguire Garth Nix Celia Rees Janni Lee Simner Vivian Vande Velde Barry Yourgrau
Inked
Karen Chance - 2010
This captivating tattoo theme surrounds each author's popular characters and worlds: Karen Chance's war mage Lia de Croissets, Marjorie M. Liu's demon-hunter Maxine Kiss, Yasmine Galenorn's Otherworld Intelligence Agency operative Camille D'Artigo, and Eileen Wilk's Lupi world.
Welcome to the Funhouse
Kelly Brocklehurst - 2021
With twelve grisly stories of coming-of-age terror, carnival cruelty and fairground frights, this collection brings together the best and most exciting talents in the horror community. Roll up! with the following stories:"Mirrors" by Robin Grieve"Candy Apple Smiles" by Christopher Robertson"The Cyclone Sisters' Travelling Circus" by Angela Sylvaine"Anna and Abby" by L. Pine"The Prop" by Nikki R. Leigh"The Viperess of Las Cruces" by C.W. Blackwell"The Golden Tickets" by Roxie Voorhees"Dance With Us" by Kelly Brocklehurst"No Strings" by Jamie Stewart"Family Outing" by Briana Morgan"Mirrored" by Dave Musson"Smile at All the Good Times We Had" by Spencer HamiltonWith a foreword from the editors.
The Grass Monkey and Other Dark Tales
Scott Langrel - 2012
It's not a nice place to visit, and an even worse place to live. Evil dwells in the mountains and lakes surrounding the town. Creatures more ancient than the Appalachian Mountains themselves lurk in the shadows and prey on the unsuspecting.Consisting of three short stories and a novella, The Grass Monkey and Other Dark Tales takes the reader on a terrifying tour of Shallow Springs:A family moves to the Springs from the city, only to discover that their new, peaceful surroundings are nothing but a deception...A telephone lineman, out in a bitter winter storm, must fight demons--both his own, and the ones stalking him in the snowy woods...A group of loggers set out to harass a tree-hugging environmentalist and instead find an ancient horror...A paranormal "handler" returns home to Shallow Springs to help a woman who is being stalked by a creature as intelligent as it is evil...Welcome to Shallow Springs. Sit back. Stay a while. But you might want to be on your way before the sun sets.