See far-flung worlds, they said. Meet interesting creatures, and kill them all. Soldiers fighting aliens in unforgiving landscapes, where every breath could be their last. Featuring stories by Weston Ochse, Mike Resnick, and others. From near-future to far-future, featuring some of the best writers working in the field today.

    A creak, almost too light to be heard…was it the shifting of an old house, or footsteps down the hallway? Breathe softly, and strain to hear through the silence. That breeze against your neck might be a draught, or an open window. Slip into the pages of SPINE and you’ll be persuaded to leave the lights on and door firmly bolted. From Steven Jenkins, bestselling author of FOURTEEN DAYS and BURN THE DEAD, this horror collection of eight stories go beyond the realm of terror to an entirely different kind of creepiness. Beneath innocent appearances lurk twisted minds and scary monsters, from soft scratches behind the wall, to the paranoia of walking through a crowd and knowing that every single eye is locked on you. In this world, voices lure lost souls to the cliff’s edge and illicit drugs offer glimpses of things few should see. Scientists tamper with the afterlife, and the strange happenings at a nursing home are not what they first seem. So don’t let that groan from the closet fool you. The monster is hiding right where you least expect it. “If you love scary campfire stories of ghosts, demonology, and all things that go bump in the night, then you’ll love this horror collection by author Steven Jenkins.” COLIN DAVIES – Director/Producer of BAFTA winning BBC’s The Coal-House.

    Authors include John Bruni, Garry Bushell, Ramsey Campbell, Randy Chandler, Tim Curran, Ralph Greco, Jr., C.J. Henderson, Z.F. Kilgore,Sean Logan, Graham Masterton, Angel Leigh McCoy, C. Dennis Moore, Stefan Pearson, Brian Rosenberger, and Jeffrey Thomas.Witness the history of a sexually rapacious zombie . . . A starving soldier descends into insatiable ghoulism . . . A concentration camp SS guard gets a taste of his own medicine . . . Recycling takes on a whole new grisly meaning when a man obsessed with going green discovers a regenerative serum . . . A man buys his alcoholic mother a bottle of tequila-with the wrong kind of worm . . . An occult detective moves to a town in the Pine Barrens and discovers its sinister past-and his own . . . A tenant gets revenge on a self-centered landlord-with irritating results . . . A fisherman discovers his rival's secret of always getting the biggest catch . . . and much more!The fisherman / Brian Rosenberger --Fungoid / Randy Chandler --Tenant's rights / Sean Logan --Again / Ramsey Campbell --Maggots / Tim Curran --Going green / Stefan Pearson --Coquettrice / Angel Leigh McCoy --The fear in the waiting / C.J. Henderson --The worm / John Bruni --Sepsis / Graham Masterton --What you wish for / Garry Bushell --The devil lives in Jersey / Z.F. Kilgore --Rat king / Jeffrey Thomas --The caterpillar / C. Dennis Moore --"Poor Brother Ed" or the man who visited / Ralph Greco, Jr.

    Please be advised that all emergency exits have been locked for this special nostalgia-curdled premiere of death. From crinkling celluloid to ferocious flesh—from the silver screen to your hammering heart—behold as a swarm of werewolves, serial killers, Satanists, Elder Gods, aliens, ghosts, and unclassifiable monsters are loosed upon your auditorium. Relax, and allow our ushers to help with your buckets of popcorn—and blood; your ticket stubs—and severed limbs; your comfort candy—and body bags. Kick back and scream as you settle into a fate worse than Hell. Tonight's director's cut is guaranteed to slash you apart.Edited by Joshua ViolaProduced in collaboration with the Colorado Festival of HorrorCover art by AJ Nazzaro and Joshua ViolaStory art by Xander SmithHeader art by Aaron LovettContents:FOREWORDBret and Jeanni SmithINTRODUCTIONPaul CampionALIEN PARASITES FROM OUTER SPACEWarren HammondRETURN OF THE ALIEN PARASITES FROM OUTER SPACEAngie HodappNEGATIVE CREEPAlvaro Zinos-AmaroHELLULOIDDayton Ward and Kevin DilmoreRISE, YE VERMIN!Betty RocksteadyTHE CRONENBERG CONCERTOKeith FerrellCREATURE FEATUREGary JonasINVISIBLEMario AcevedoSCREEN HAUNTOrrin GreyTHE DEVIL'S REELSean Eads and Joshua ViolaON THE ROCKSK. Nicole DavisCOMING ATTRACTIONSStephen Graham JonesLATE SLEEPERSSteve Rasnic TemSPECIAL MAKEUPKevin J. Anderson

    The Halloween Collection showcases spooky reads from nine very different authors. Whether you enjoy light or dark paranormal, YA or adult-themed genres, there’s bound to be a story to suit your tastes. Thanks for reading!

    Something that threatens the whole of humanity. Something is going viral. 20 Minutes. 20 People. 20 stories that will make you want to stay inside and never greet another human being again. This is a short novella about a viral outbreak in a small town in the Lake District and shows how quickly disease can spread amongst the population. This isn't the Coronavirus. But it's just as scary. Humans. Viruses. Panic. Fear. There goes the countryside...

    A novelist with more than 25 books written, he has also written more than 50 short stories, and many of these are collected in the books The Nightmare Chronicles, Wild Things, and this collection, Night Asylum. He is currently writing several short stories and novelettes toward a new collection of short fiction to come in 2013.Look for other books by Douglas Clegg:The Children’s HourGoat DancePurityDark of the EyeThe WordsWild ThingsNightmare HouseBad KarmaRed AngelNight CageMischiefThe InfiniteThe AbandonedThe NecromancerIsisThe Hour Before DarkYou Come When I Call YouNaomiThe Nightmare ChroniclesThe Machinery of NightBreederThe Attraction

    Read them by a bonfire on a chilly autumn night, or under a blanket by candle light. Whatever you do, don't look behind you. Hayride The Schultz family's outing to an apple orchard goes terribly awry on the hayride from Hell. Hat Man Graduate student Bernice is plagued by night terrors. As the horrible visions begin to invade her waking hours, she must fight for her sanity...and her safety. A Good Samaritan Newlyweds Jake and Rita Wechsler take a journey down winding country roads in the Hudson River Valley, where danger lurks at every turn. Into the Abyss A group of young girls decide to play with a Ouija board and discover that it might be more than just a board game. Walking After Midnight When childhood friends Teddy and Joseph decide to revisit one of their old childhood haunts, the old town cemetery, they stumble upon true evil and must rely on each other to survive. Trick & Treat Halloween enthusiast Shelley decorates and buys candy for the big night, hoping for lots of Trick-or-Treaters, but she quickly learns the meaning of the phrase "Be careful what you wish for."

    But sometimes, inhabitants of the dark arrive with the desire to disturb proceedings. Dark Celebrations is a collection of twelve short stories... and the holidays will never be the same.

    Fragments of conversations, snapshots of memories were all she could scramble together.But, suddenly, none of it mattered.A stranger.A warning.And the hunt is on.Now Sal and her friends are in a battle like no other. Death and terror lurk around every corner. Can they defy the odds and live to fight another day?Or will they fall like so many before?Is it all a nightmare or is it for real? One thing is for sure, it’s relentless.

    A locked front door is to an adult what a duvet it is to a child. Once the key is turned in the lock, and once the child is safely snuggled under the duvet, the monsters are kept at bay.Except they’re not. A closed door won’t keep out the boogeymen… And a blanket won’t keep away the monsters. The safety of our cosy homes is a lie. There are bad people out there, who want to do bad things to you in the dead of night, and a locked door isn’t going to stop them. There are bad things already lurking IN our homes; monsters that live in the shadows and in closets, just waiting for you to close your eyes at night.From the real to the supernatural, this collection of stories, held together with a wraparound story, explores all manners of evil that can invade our homes at night.Lock your doors, bolt your windows and sleep with the light on, because THEY are coming to get you….

    Michael Bray delivers twelve tales of mind-bending terror from the dark reaches of the human psyche.

    To get away and relax with friends, forget everything happened, get her life back on track.A stop to seek shelter from a passing storm changes everything. With the weather too intense to continue travel, they pull their Jeep up to the only home around in hopes that the farmhouse's owner would let them rest awhile until the tornado warning passes and the winds and rain have settled. But when the owner of the property answers the door with a shotgun aimed to fire and orders them inside, Samantha can only watch, unseen, as her friends are taken inside to meet an unknown fate.As the only hope for her friends getting out alive, Samantha must figure out what to do, and do it soon. The storm is only getting worse.CALM BEFORE THE STORM is a suspense thriller, a fast-paced journey of horror for a dark and stormy night.

    During long summer days, the residents barely have a care. They almost never have to worry about the rise of a bloodthirsty demon who wants to feast on their flesh and enslave their immortal souls. Almost never. "Another brilliant tale from Ike Hamill." Scary and fun, Accidental Evil will grip you with a bloody fist until the astonishing conclusion. Join Ricky as he battles the evil that descends on his home town. This year, the tourists won't be taking home trinkets and fond memories. They might not be going home at all.

    They narrowly escape his pursuit, and Trent is left feeling more hopeless than ever, thinking that if that had been the end of his life, he would have died totally and completely alone.  Crystal, meanwhile, is a young woman who's quickly grown jaded with the opposite sex. She's sworn them off for what must be the dozenth time, determined to keep her focus on her developing career as a lawyer. When Trent comes into the bar where she's working one night and sweeps her off her feet, however, she might just have to rethink her pledge to celibacy...  The two of them spend a night together and quickly become enamored with one another, and both feel happier than they have in a very long time. But Crystal begins to wonder whether she may just be another flavor of the month for Trent...  Will the billionaire's past end up coming back to haunt them both, in a very big way?