Book picks similar to
My Favorite Horror Story by Mike BakerRichard Matheson
horror
short-stories
anthologies
anthology
Horror Stories: Classic Tales from Hoffmann to Hodgson
Darryl JonesHerman Melville - 2014
This anthology brings together 29 of the greatest horror stories of the period from 1816 to 1912, from the British, Irish, American, and European traditions. It ranges widely across the sub-genres to encompass authors whose terror-inducing powers remain unsurpassed. The book includes stories by some of the best writers of the century - Hoffmann, Poe, Balzac, Dickens, Hawthorne, Melville, Zola - as well as established genre classics such as M. R. James, Arthur Machen, Bram Stoker, Algernon Blackwood, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and others. It includes rare and little-known pieces by writers such as William Maginn, Francis Marion Crawford, W. F. Harvey, and William Hope Hodgson, and shows the important role played by periodicals in popularizing the horror story. Wherever possible stories are reprinted in their first published form, with background information about their authors and helpful, contextualizing annotation. Darryl Jones's lively introduction discusses horror's literary evolution and its articulation of cultural preoccupations and anxieties. These are stories guaranteed to freeze the blood, revolt the senses, and keep you awake at night: prepare to be terrified!
Unusual Suspects: Stories of Mystery & Fantasy
Dana StabenowJohn Straley - 2008
From video game characters seeking civil rights and a cave dragon loan shark pondering an investment, to Santa Claus's Australian vacation and an enemy of Sam Spade's out for revenge, plus visits to the Nightside and Sookie Stackhouse's hometown, these stories will take readers around the world on a magical mystery tour."Lucky" by Charlaine Harris -- a Sookie Stackhouse short"Bogieman" by Carole Nelson Douglas"Looks are Deceiving" by Micheal A. Stackpole"the House of Seven Spirits" by Sharon Shinn"Glamour" by Mike Doogan"Spellbound" by Donna Andrews"the Duh Vice" by Michael Armstrong"Weight of the World" by John Straley"Illumination" by Laura Anne Gilman"the House" by Laurie R. King"Appetite for Murder" by Simon R. Green -- a Nightside short"A Woman's Work" by Dana Stabenow
The Bone Mother
David Demchuk - 2017
It is said that even the Czarina Anastasia Romanova had received one in her trousseau. The workers come from the three neighboring villages on the border of Romania and Ukraine. Nourished, dressed and educated, they are the envy of all at a time when a famine programmed by Stalin sweeps the countryside and cannibalism rages from city to town to farm. But what is the secret of this factory and why does the Grazyn family protect its employees so scrupulously?The Bone Mother revives the great figures of Slavic mythology on the eve of the Second World War, from rusalka and Baba Yaga--The Bone Mother herself--to the golem. The existence of mortals is intimately linked to that of witches and vampires, in a universe where strigois rub shoulders with mermaids, ghosts and seers...and all are in peril from the Nichni Politsiyi, the Night Police, which wish to eradicate them.
Speaking With the Angel
Nick HornbyRobert Harris - 2000
Some money from each copy of Speaking with the Angel sold will benefit autism education charities around the world, including The Treehouse School in London, where Nick’s son Danny is a student, and the New York Child Learning Institute here in the States. This project is truly a labor of love for Hornby and the other writers involved, many of whom are Nick’s friends.These original first-person narratives come from the most exciting voices in fiction. Melissa Bank gives readers a glimpse into the mind of a modern New Yorker whose still-new relationship is a constant source of surprise in “The Wonder Spot.” In Zadie Smith’s “I’m the Only One,” a young man recalls his strained relationship with his diva-esque sister. Dave Egger’s “After I Was Thrown in the River and Before I Drowned,” is told from the viewpoint of an unfortunate pit bull. Helen Fielding offers up a new twist on I’ve fallen and I can’t get up in “Luckybitch.” And in Nick Hornby’s “NippleJesus,” a bruiser finds out that guarding modern art is far more hazardous than controlling the velvet ropes at a nightclub. Speaking with the Angel also includes stories from Roddy Doyle, Irvine Welsh, Colin Firth, John O’Farrell, Robert Harris, Patrick Marber, and Giles Smith.Twelve completely new stories, written by twelve undeniably imaginative voices. Speaking with the Angel is at turns clever, outrageous, witty, edgy, tender, and wicked. This is what they meant by original.
The Monsters We Forgot: Volume 1
R.C. BowmanLeah Velez - 2019
Within these pages, you’ll find a treasure trove of myths, legends, folktales, urban legends, historical accounts, and stories about horrors, both ancient and modern, that have been hidden, ignored, or forgotten entirely. “The Monsters We Forgot” is a massive anthology of horror stories by an international team of authors ranging from award-winners and bestsellers to visionary newcomers. These stories draw inspiration from the folklore traditions of countries including Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Ireland, Wales, England, Norway, Nigeria, Greece, Poland, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Canada, and the United States, the tales in this three-volume collection range from original folktales and chilling myths to information-age monsters and modern urban legends, and everything in between. Turn on the lights, check the locks, and settle in. You’re about to remember The Monsters We Forgot.
Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories
Roald DahlJonas Lie - 1983
For this superbly disquieting collection, he selected fourteen of his favorite tales by such authors as E.F. Benson, Rosemary Timperley, and Edith WhartonIncludes:"W.S." L.P. Hartley"Harry" Rosemary Timperley"The Corner Shop" Cynthia Asquith"In the Tube" E.F. Benson"Christmas Meeting" Rosemary Timperley"Elias and the Draug" Jonas Lie"Playmates" A.M. Burrage"Ringing the Changes" Robert Aickman"The Telephone" Mary Treadgold"The Ghost of a Hand" J. Sheridan Le Fanu"The Sweeper" A.M. Burrage"Afterward" Edith Wharton"On the Brighton Road" Richard Middleton"The Upper Berth" F. Marion Crawford
The Museum of Horrors
Dennis EtchisonLisa Morton - 2001
Moses by Joyce Carol OatesWorse than Bones by Ramsey CampbellKing of Outer Space by Peter AtkinsPiano Bar Blues by Melanie TemThose Vanished I Recognize by Tom PiccirilliInland, Shoreline by Darren O. GodfreyThe Window by by Joel LaneAuthor, Author by Gordon LinznerHammerhead by Richard LaymonImbroglio by Conrad WilliamsTransorbital Love Probe by Th. MetzgerThe Impressionists in Winter by Susan FryWhose Ghosts These Are by Charles L. GrantPerdido: A Fragment from a Work in Progress by Peter StraubIn Real Life by William F. NolanPound Rots in Fragrant Harbour by Lisa MortonApologia by Robert DevereauxThe Bird Catcher by S.P. Somtow
By Blood We Live
John Joseph AdamsBarbara Hambly - 2008
And yet, there is an attraction, undeniable, to the vampire archetype, whether the pale European count, impeccably dressed and coldly masculine, yet strangely ambiguous, ready to sink his sharp teeth deep into his victims' necks, draining or converting them, or the vamp, the count's feminine counterpart, villain and victim in one, using her wiles and icy sexuality to corrupt man and woman alike... Edited and introduced by acclaimed anthologist John Joseph Adams (Wastelands, The Living Dead), By Blood We Live gathers together the best vampire literature from the preceding three decades, authored by many of today's most renowned writers of fantasy, speculative fiction, and horror.
Contents:
(Author, title (type, year of first publication, beginning page in print edition))01 - Neil Gaiman, Snow, Glass, Apples (short story, 1995, p3)02 - Anne Rice, The Master of Rampling Gate (novelette, 1984, p13)03 - Harry Turtledove, Under St. Peter's (novelette, 2007, p33)04 - Tad Williams, Child of an Ancient City (novelette, 1988, p43)05 - Michael A. Burstein, Lifeblood (novelette, 2003, p75)06 - Barbara Roden, Endless Night (short story, 2008, p88)07 - Garth Nix, Infestation (novelette, 2008, p106)08 - Carrie Vaughn, Life Is the Teacher (short story, 2008, p120)09 - Nancy Kilpatrick, The Vechi Barbat (short story, 2007, p134)10 - Kristine Kathryn Rusch, The Beautiful, The Damned (short story, 1995, p148) 11 - David Wellington, Pinecones (short story, 2006, p161)12 - Norman Partridge, Do Not Hasten to Bid Me Adieu (novelette, 1994, p165)13 - Sergei Lukyanenko, Foxtrot at High Noon (short story, 2008, p180)14 - Michael Marshall Smith, This Is Now (short story, 2004, p189)15 - Nancy Holder, Blood Gothic (short story, 1985, p199)16 - Jane Yolen, Mama Gone (short story, 1991, p204)17 - Joe Hill, Abraham's Boys (short story, 2004, p209)18 - Tanith Lee, Nunc Dimittis (novelette, 1983, p224)19 - Gabriela Lee, Hunger (short story, 2007, p240)20 - Caitlín R. Kiernan, Ode to Edvard Munch (short story, 2006, p250)21 - L.A. Banks, Finders Keepers (short story, 2008, p256)22 - Brian Stableford, After the Stone Age (short story, 2004, p275)23 - Kevin J. Anderson, Much at Stake (short story, 1991, p286)24 - Elizabeth Bear, House of the Rising Sun (short story, 2005, p297)25 - Lilith Saintcrow, A Stand-Up Dame (short story, 2008, p302)26 - Kelley Armstrong, Twilight (novelette, 2007, p316)27 - Eric Van Lustbader, In Darkness, Angels (novelette, 1983, p333)28 - Barbara Hambly, Sunrise on Running Water (novelette, 2007, p355)29 - Bruce McAllister, Hit (short story, 2008, p372)30 - Ken MacLeod, Undead Again (short story, 2005, p385)31 - Robert J. Sawyer, Peking Man (short story, 1996, p388)32 - Ben Lumley, Necros (short story, 1986, p396)33 - Catherynne M. Valente, Exsanguinations: A Handbook for the Educated Vampire by Anna S. Oppenhagen-Petrescu (short story, 2005, p409)34 - Charles Coleman Finlay, Lucy, In Her Splendor (short story, 2003, p415)35 - John Langan, The Wide, Carnivorous Sky (short story, 2009, p426)36 - Stephen King, One for the Road (short story, 1977, p464)37 - Ross E. Lockhart, For Further Reading (By Blood We Live) (essay, 2008, p477)
The Living Dead
John Joseph AdamsHarlan Ellison - 2008
They have become the monsters that best express the anxieties and fears of the modern west. This collection gathers together zombie works by Stephen King, Harlan Ellison, Robert Silverberg, George R. R. Martin, Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, Joe Hill, Poppy Z. Brite, Laurell K. Hamilton, and Joe R. Lansdale. These brilliant minds, and The Living Dead, cover the many types of zombie fiction. Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.
The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2015
John Joseph AdamsNathan Ballingrud - 2015
G. Wells, and Jules Verne to Ray Bradbury, Ursula K. Le Guin, and William Gibson. In The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy award-winning editor John Joseph Adams delivers a diverse and vibrant collection of stories published in the previous year. Featuring writers with deep science fiction and fantasy backgrounds, along with those who are infusing traditional fiction with speculative elements, these stories uphold a longstanding tradition in both genres—looking at the world and asking, What if . . . ? The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2015 includes Kelly Link, Neil Gaiman, Karen Russell T. C. Boyle, Sofia Samatar, Jo Walton, Cat Rambo Daniel H. Wilson, Seanan McGuire, Jess Rowand others JOE HILL, guest editor, is the New York Times best-selling author of the novels Heart-Shaped Box, Horns, and NOS4A2 and the short story collection 20th Century Ghosts. He is also the writer of the comic book series Locke & Key. JOHN JOSEPH ADAMS, series editor, is the best-selling editor of more than two dozen anthologies, including Brave New Worlds, Wastelands, and The Living Dead. He is also the editor and publisher of the digital magazines Lightspeed and Nightmare and is a producer of Wired’s podcast The Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Weird Detectives: Recent Investigations
Paula GuranDana Cameron - 2013
Occult detectives. Ghost hunters. Monster fighters. Humans who unravel uncanny crimes and solve psychic puzzles; sleuths with supernatural powers of their own who provide services far beyond those normal gumshoes, shamuses, and Sherlocks can. When vampires, werewolves, and things that go "bump" in the night are part of your world, criminals can be as inhuman as the crimes they commit, and magic can seep into the mundane - those who solve the mysteries, bring justice, or even save the world itself, might utter spells, wield wands as well as firearms, or simply use their powers of deduction. Some of the best tales of the last decade from top authors of the 21st century's most popular genres take you down mean streets and into strange crime scenes in this fantastic compilation.Contents (alphabetical by author):“Cryptic Coloration” by Elizabeth Bear“The Key” by Ilsa J. Blick“Mortal Bait” Richard Bowes“Star of David” by Patricia Briggs“Love Hurts” by Jim Butcher“Swing Shift” by Dana Cameron“The Necromancer’s Apprentice” by Lillian Stewart Carl“Sherlock Holmes and the Diving Bell” by Simon Clark“The Adakian Eagle” by Bradley Denton“Hecate’s Golden Eye” by P.N. Elrod“The Case of Death and Honey” by Neil Gaiman“The Nightside, Needless to Say” by Simon R. Green“Deal Breaker” by Justin Gustainis“Death by Dahlia” by Charlaine Harris“See Me” by Tanya Huff“Signatures of the Dead” by Faith Hunter“The Maltese Unicorn” by Caitlín R. Kiernan“The Case of the Stalking Shadow” by Joe R. Lansdale“Like a Part of the Family” by Jonathan Maberry“The Beast of Glamis” by William Meikle“Fox Tails” by Richard Parks“Imposters” by Sarah Monette“Defining Shadows” by Carrie Vaughn
Miscreations: Gods, Monstrosities & Other Horrors
Doug MuranoJoanna Parypinski - 2020
Vicious beasts stalk our twisted pasts. Lost souls haunt our deepest regrets. They are the blood on our hands. They are the obsessions in our heads. They are the vengeance in our hearts. They are the chilling shadows in the night. They are Miscreations: Gods, Monstrosities & Other Horrors. Edited by Bram Stoker Award-winning editors Doug Murano and Michael Bailey. Featuring a foreword by Alma Katsu, and illustrations throughout by HagCult.Contents: * Foreword (Miscreations: Gods, Monstrosities & Other Horrors) • essay by Alma Katsu * A Heart Arrythmia Creeping Into a Dark Room / short fiction by Michael Wehunt * Matryoshka / short fiction by Joanna Parypinski * Butcher's Blend / short fiction by Brian Hodge * Operations Other Than War / short fiction by Nadia Bulkin * One Day of Inside/Out / short fiction by Linda D. Addison * One Last Transformation / short fiction by Josh Malerman * Brains / short fiction by Ramsey Campbell * You Are My Neighbor / short fiction by Max Booth, III * The Vodyanoy / short fiction by Christina Sng * Imperfect Clay / short fiction by Lisa Morton * Spectral Evidence (2017) / short story by Victor LaValle * Ode to Joad the Toad [Antiquity] / short fiction by Laird Barron * Only Bruises Are Permanent / short fiction by Scott Edelman * My Knowing Glance / short fiction by Lucy A. Snyder * Paper Doll Hyperplane / short fiction by R. B. Payne * Not Eradicated in You / short fiction by Bracken MacLeod * Resurrection Points (2014) / novelette by Usman T. Malik * The Old Gods of Light / short fiction by Christina Sng * Sounds Caught in Cobwebs / short fiction by M. E. Bronstein * Umbra Sum / short fiction by Kristi DeMeester * A Benediction of Corpses / short fiction by Stephanie M. Wytovich * The Making of Asylum Ophelia / short fiction by Mercedes M. Yardley * Frankenstein's Daughter / short fiction by Theodora Goss .
Anything can be Dangerous
Matt Hults - 2011
The stories include:Anything can be Dangerous ~ the simple things in life can kill.Through the Valley of Death ~ a dark vampire story that will make you remember fear. The Finger ~ zombie literature has never been so extraordinary.Feeding Frenzy ~ lunchtime in a place called Hell. Husk ~ this is what people are saying about Husk:“Matt Hults delivers a crackling, creepy tale. A fast-paced read with a generous body count, ‘Husk’ will make your skin crawl.”—Scott Nicholson, Bestselling author of They Hunger“Remember the first time you read Joe Lansdale’s The Drive-In, or Freezer Burn? Remember how exhilarated you felt as you tore through the pages as Lansdale kept knocking your jaw to the floor with his endless inventiveness, unexpected belly-laughs, and those even more unexpected moments of terror and pathos? Miss that feeling of being completely at the mercy of a writer’s imagination and boundless energy for his subject? Fret no more, friends—you now have Matt Hults’s Husk. This sucker is the real thing, an in-your-face, rollicking, scary, funny, and unexpectedly poignant potpourri of a horror story, an unabashed and unapologetic throwback to the early pulps infused with a vindictive modern-day sensibility that will have your head spinning and your mouth hanging open. It doesn’t get any more fun than this.”—Gary A. Braunbeck, winner of the Bram Stoker Award and International Horror Guild Award, author of Coffin County and Destinations Unknown“Suspenseful and gruesome, with just the right leavening of hopefulness and nod-wink humor.”—Dr. Kim Paffenroth, Bram Stoker Award Winner for Dying to Live.“Husk is wild, bloody, scary, action-packed, and entertaining as hell. Matt Hults seems to be having a blast telling his tale, and I had a blast going along for the ride. Great fun!”—Jeff Strand, Bram Stoker Nominated Author of PRESSURE"'Husk' is a chilling and relentless tale that will make you want to check your closets, lock your windows and keep an eye in your review mirror...but don't think that'll save you!"––Fran Friel, Bram Stoker Nominated Author of Mama's Boy“Husk is violent, intense and terrifying. The characters are as real as you and I, and every triumph is rapturous while every death is harrowing. Matt Hults proves himself as a master of the genre with his striking debut novel. It will leave you feeling skinned alive and dying for more.”—Joel A. Sutherland, Bram Stoker Nominated Author of Frozen Blood“I have come across some pretty mind-blowing demons on paper, on the big screen, and especially in my mind. But the ‘Husk’ Matt Hults created in this his first novel breaks all my thresholds for fear, and believe me I have built some pretty sound barriers in my time.”—Giovanna Lagana, author of With Black & White Comes the Grey
Love in Vein: Twenty Original Tales of Vampiric Erotica
Poppy Z. BriteDouglas Clegg - 1994
Brite.The classic horror tale is about fear. But in the last few years a new literature of the macabre has arisen, one that goes deeper than horror, beyond fear, to explore our darkest, most intimate hungers. The ones even lovers are forbidden to share.Acclaimed dark fantasy author Poppy Z. Brite has brought together this genre's most powerful and seductive authors in an original collection of vampiric erotica, a shameless celebration of unspeakable intimacies. It is not for everyone.But neither is the night.
Nightmares: A New Decade of Modern Horror
Ellen DatlowNicholas Royle - 2016
An antique bookseller and a mob enforcer join forces to retrieve the Atlas of Hell. Postapocalyptic survivors cannot decide which is worse: demon women haunting the skies or maddened extremists patrolling the earth.In this chilling twenty-first-century companion to the cult classic Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror, Ellen Datlow again proves herself the most masterful editor of the genre. She has mined the breadth and depth of ten years of terror, collecting superlative works of established masters and scene-stealing newcomers alike.Introduction / Ellen Datlow --Shallaballah / Mark Samuels --Sob in the silence / Gene Wolfe --Our turn too will one day come / Brian Hodge --Dead sea fruit / Kaaron Warren --Closet dreams / Lisa Tuttle --Spectral evidence / Gemma Files --Hushabye / Simon Bestwick --Very low-flying aircraft / Nicholas Royle --The Goosle / Margo Lanagan --The clay party / Steve Duffy --Strappado / Laird Barron --Lonegan's luck / Stephen Graham Jones --Mr. Pigsny / Reggie Oliver --At night, when the demons come / Ray Cluley --Was she wicked? Was she good? / M. Rickert --The shallows / John Langan --Little pig / Anna Taborska --Omphalos / Livia Llewellyn --How we escaped our certain fate / Dan Chaon --That tiny flutter of the heart I used to call love / Robert Shearman --Interstate love song (Murder ballad no. 8) / Caitlín R. Kiernan --Shay Corsham Worsted / Garth Nix --The atlas of Hell / Nathan Ballingrud --Ambitious boys like you / Richard Kadrey