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

    But no longer.You hold in your hands a volume of wonders -- magical tales of trolls and ogres, of bewitched princesses and kingdoms accursed, penned by some of the most acclaimed fantasists of our day. But these are not bedtime stories designed to usher an innocent child gently into a realm of dreams. These are stories that bite -- lush and erotic, often dark and disturbing mystical journeys through a phantasmagoric landscape of distinctly adult sensibilities... where there is no such thing as "happily ever after." The "Snow White, Blood Red" Collection #1. Snow White, Blood Red #2. Black Thorn, White Rose #3. Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears #4. Black Swan, White Raven #5. Silver Birch, Blood Moon #6. Black Heart, Ivory Bones

    The king decides his daughters must be kept safe at all costs, and for the girls, those costs include their lessons, their possessions, and most importantly, their freedom. But the sisters, especially the eldest, Princess Frida, will not bend to this fate. She still has one possession her father cannot take: the power of her imagination. And so, with little but wits and ingenuity to rely on, Frida and her sisters begin their fight to be allowed to live on their own terms.The Restless Girls is a sparkling whirl of a fairy tale--one that doesn't need a prince to save the day, and instead is full of brave, resourceful, clever young women.

     Except it wasn't flu, and death gave them back.Seventeen-year-old Ella copes the best she can; caring for her war-injured father, scrubbing the floors, and slaying the undead that attack the locals. Vermin they're called, like rats they spread pestilence with their bite. Ella's world collides with another when she nearly decapitates a handsome stranger, who is very much alive.Seth deMage, the new Duke of Leithfield, has returned to his ancestral home with a mission from the War Office -- to control the plague of vermin in rural Somerset. He needs help; he just didn't expect to find it in a katana-wielding scullery maid.Working alongside Seth blurs the line between their positions, and Ella glimpses a future she never dreamed was possible. But in overstepping society's boundaries, Ella could lose everything - home, head and her heart...

    Her fairy godmother comes to the rescue, but her help comes with conditions. As a fairy godmother, the only assistance she can offer deals with (you guessed it) fairy tales. To win a second chance at life, Leah must play out the tale of The Little Mermaid.Armed with a mermaid tail and nothing else (not even a voice!), she has one month to make a nobleman fall in love with her, or else she'll die permanently. But the nobleman she must seduce is a hard, fierce warlord who thinks she's a spy and the mistress of his enemy.Can she win him over before the thirty days are up? Or is she in danger of losing her heart as well as her life?

    Howard is one of the most famous and influential pulp authors of the twentieth century. Though largely known as the man who invented the sword-and-sorcery genre-and for his iconic hero Conan the Cimmerian-Howard also wrote horror tales, desert adventures, detective yarns, epic poetry, and more. This spectacular volume, gorgeously illustrated by Jim and Ruth Keegan, includes some of his best and most popular works.Inside, readers will discover (or rediscover) such gems as "The Shadow Kingdom," featuring Kull of Atlantis and considered by many to be the first sword-and-sorcery story; "The Fightin'est Pair," part of one of Howard's most successful series, chronicling the travails of Steve Costigan, a merchant seaman with fists of steel and a head of wood; "The Grey God Passes," a haunting tale about the passing of an age, told against the backdrop of Irish history and legend; "Worms of the Earth," a brooding narrative featuring Bran Mak Morn, about which H. P. Lovecraft said, "Few readers will ever forget the hideous and compelling power of [this] macabre masterpiece"; a historical poem relating a momentous battle between Cimbri and the legions of Rome; and "Sharp's Gun Serenade," one of the last and funniest of the Breckinridge Elkins tales.These thrilling, eerie, compelling, swashbuckling stories and poems have been restored to their original form, presented just as the author intended. There is little doubt that after more than seven decades the voice of Robert E. Howard continues to resonate with readers around the world.

    . . .So begins this dark, unusual retelling of the story of Snow White by the writer reviewers have called “the Angela Carter of the fantasy field”—a whole novel based on a beloved story, turning it into a dark and sensual drama full of myth and magic.Arpazia is the aging queen who paces the halls of a warlord’s palace. Cold as winter, she has only one passion—for the mysterious hunter who courts the outlawed old gods of the woodland. Coira is the princess raised in the shadow of her mother’s hatred. Avoided by both her parents and half forgotten by her father’s court, she grows into womanhood alone . . . until the mirror speaks, and blood is spilled, and the forest claims her.The tragic myth of the goddess Demeter and her daughter, Persephone, stolen by the king of the underworld, is woven together with the tale of Snow White to create a powerful story of mothers and daughters and the blood that binds them together, for good or ill. Black queen. White maid. Royal huntsman. Seven little folk who live in the forest. Come inside, sit by the fire, and listen to this fairy tale as you’ve never heard it told before. Once upon a time there was a mirror, and a girl as white as snow. . . .

    They were told by their mothers and grandmothers and the wise women of the clan as they spun and wove and stirred their pots and made their potions. The heroines of these old tales set out on a difficult road of trials to discover their true destiny. And, contrary to popular opinion, marrying a prince was not the only goal. These ancient tales of wonder and adventure are about learning to be strong, brave, kind and true-hearted, and trusting in yourself to change the world for the better.Meet the brave young women from tales of yore …Vasilisa who must try to outwit the fearsome witch Baba-Yaga.Katie Crackernuts who sets out to save her sister from dark magic.Flora, the gardener’s daughter, who marries a giant serpent to save a prince.Fairer-Than-A-Fairy, a princess who is kidnapped by an evil one-eyed enchantress.Lullala, in love with a prince cursed to be a lion by day and a man by night.Rosemary, a Scottish lass whose baby is stolen by the wicked faery folk of the Sidhe.Ursula, a princess replaced by a walking, talking automaton.These are not your usual passive princesses, waiting forlornly for their prince to come …

    Through the gates of the eastern mountains pass only the gods, the dead, and the heroes of legend. Mere mortals do not go farther than the tombs lining the roads of the Middle Desert.Except for the daughters of the Bandit Queen of the Oclaresh, that is. The lord of the Blue Wind took their youngest sister. When Pali and Arzu discover that there is something gravely wrong, they decide that the gods work through the hands of men, that justice binds everyone—god, man, djinn, or demon—and that they are not afraid of the road east.

    The pieces come in the wake of a stroke Gilb suffered at his home in Austin, Texas, in 2009, and a majority of the stories were written over many months of recovery. The result is a powerful and triumphant collection that tackles common themes of mortality and identity and describes the American experience in a raw, authentic vernacular unique to Gilb.These ten stories take readers throughout the American West and Southwest, from Los Angeles and Albuquerque to El Paso and Austin. Gilb covers territory familiar to some of his earlier work—a mother and son’s relationship in Southern California in the story ‘Uncle Rock’ or a character looking to shed his mixed up past in ‘The Last Time I Saw Junior’—while dealing with themes of mortality and limitation that have arisen during his own illness. Confronting issues of masculinity, sexuality, and mortality, Gilb has recovered and produced what may be his most extraordinary achievement to date.

    Seduced by her kindness and beauty, Gretel grows closer to her, while Hans becomes ever more suspicious of her motives. Torn between her brother and a woman she has just met, Gretel soon learns she must make a choice between long held loyalty and newfound love.‘Gretel: A Fairytale Retold’ is a six chapter novella of over 12,400 words. Retold as a fast paced, lesbian love story, this novella contains some explicit passages.

    Nowhere are these qualities more ingeniously brought together than in the works of short fiction she wrote throughout her life.Published to coincide with the centennial of her birth, The Complete Stories of Leonora Carrington collects for the first time all of her stories, including several never before seen in print. With a startling range of styles, subjects, and even languages (several of the stories are translated from French or Spanish), The Complete Stories captures the genius and irrepressible spirit of an amazing artist’s life.

    A wily cat, a strange romance, detestable daughters: the great American poet Marianne Moore retells three stories originally written by Charles Perrault to amuse the niece of Louis XIV.Modern readers may be surprised to find that the prince does not wake Sleeping Beauty with a kiss - the more he cares, the less willing he is to intrude - and that his mother is descended from ogres.Characterised by vivid imagery, uncluttered prose, inventive alliteration and a sly sceptic's wit, Moore's versions do more than tell a tale: 'Having seen a problem solved,' she writes, each one leaves 'a pattern of order in the mind.'Bringing together past, present and future in our ninetieth year, Faber Stories is a celebratory compendium of collectable work.

    Spaceship- Piper in the Woods- The Infinites- The Preserving Machine- Expendable- The Variable Man- The Indefatigable Frog- The Crystal Crypt- The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford- The Builder- Meddler- Paycheck- The Great C- Out in the Garden- The King of the Elves- Colony- Prize Ship- Nanny

    Just as fairy-tale magic can transform a loved one into a swan, the contributors to this book have transformed traditional fairy tales and legends into stories that are completely original, yet still tantalizingly familiar.The stories include a Rapunzel whose most confining prison is her loneliness; a contemporary rendering of the Green Man myth; two different versions of Red Riding Hood; a tale that grew out of a Celtic folk song; Sleeping Beauty's experience of her enchantment; two works inspired by the Arabian Nights; and more.FAIRY TALES TOLD BYBruce CovilleGregory FrostNeil GaimanNina Kiriki HoffmanKathe KojaTanith LeeLois MetzgerChristopher RoweWill ShetterlyMidori SnyderKatherine VazJane YolenPat York