"It'll be great.""No, it won't," I said, although I'd lost this fight hours ago, and I knew it."It'll be brilliant," said Vic, for the hundredth time. "Girls! Girls! Girls!" He grinned with white teeth.

    Its scientists had achieved the impossible: a gateway to a new world. Theirs was to be the greatest discovery in the history of mankind, but they had no idea what they were about to unleash.With their breakthrough comes disease and now it is out and ravaging the human population. The only hope is a cure and the only cure is genetic resistance: an uninfected person amongst the billions dead.In the chaos of destruction there is only one person that can save the human race.But will they find her in time?

    Hilarity does not ensue when an ancient soul-sucker shows up to drain the local nerd population of vitality and life energy.If you've ever wondered who would win in a knock-down, drag out fistfight between Jimmy Black and Greg Knightwood, here's your chance to find out!This Black Knight Short Story is about 6,000 words, or roughly 20 pages long.

    MooreRed Dirt by Mira GrantBlack Water by Weston OchseInstinct by Bryan Thomas Schmidt and G.P. CharlesNo Guns at the Bar by Aaron RosenbergStrange Harvest by Jon McGoranNo Business at All by Javier Grillo-MarxuachGanbatte by Keith R.A. DeCandidoWhite Flame on Sunday by James Ray TuckWet Tuesday by David FarlandPrince of Peace by Jeremy RobinsonRookie by Joe McKinneyThree Times by Jennifer Campbell-HicksPsych Eval by Larry CorreiaCrash Course by Dana FredstiAtoll by Jonathan Maberry©2017, 2017 Jonathan Maberry and Bryan Thomas Schmidt; foreword copyright by Tony Eldridge (P)2017 Macmillan Audio

    Coming to, he realizes he’s hypothermic—shivering cold—trapped inside a stasis tube, shrouded in darkness. Escaping his capsule, he lights a lantern, only to discover the locker containing his heating supplies is empty. Freezing to death now, he reflects on the last memory of his pregnant wife, beside him still, suspended in a tube. Just as Connor slips out of consciousness, two strangers arrive...Another gripping, wholly absorbing chapter of the bestselling Wayward Pines series, Jordan Crouch’s Exit Vertigo explores the dangerous netherworld existence of caretakers who emerge from stasis every two decades to ensure the facility that houses all that remains of mankind continues to function. While others hibernate, Connor and a select team of maintenance workers stumble through the Ark’s darkened hallways, racing against time in search for a clue to an apocalypse no one can remember.

    TELBAT is Book One of the LAST DAWN SERIES, a Christian Post-apocalyptic, End Times Novel.Twenty years have passed since the Meridia Virus ravaged America. Cities have burned and civilization has crumbled. One hundred million have died, leaving behind a suspicious, selfish populace in small settlements across the scarred landscape.But out of the charred ruins of San Diego, Levi Caspertein emerges. For twenty years, he’s grown up in the shadow of his heroic father, Titus. Now, Levi must respond on his own to a disturbing communication he receives from New York. An old friend, Jenna Dowler, is in trouble.With bold faith, Levi sets off on foot to the east, crossing desert wasteland into the Plains Zone where travelers are sooner shot than welcomed. Behind him, a rogue military general—who wants COIL’s stockpiled weaponry—is chasing him. But Levi won’t be hindered unnecessarily from his trek east, even with his mother and cousin in tow, and he stands courageously for Jesus Christ.At every town and resupply stop, Levi is thrust into fresh misery, violence, and strife. Each person who joins him is put at risk, but every enemy who stands against him must look down his barrel of determination to care first for the afflicted. He is a Caspertein. He is a Christian. And America desperately needs a symbol of hope—a new dawn—in her smoking ruin.The needs are intense and God's people are ready, but evil has never been more brutal . . .

    Dystopian short story.

    Their honeymoon plans go puff as India announces a nationwide lockdown.Months after living under the pressures of joint family, social distancing rules, and work-from-home stress, they get an opportunity to venture out. Viraj plans a trip to the inviting Green Villa for an intimate weekend getaway. But something is lurking beneath the surface.Will it pan out to be the exciting honeymoon that Viraj thinks they desperately need?What is Jhanak scared about?Who is the girl in the Green Villa?Key highlights of the story:• Fast-paced narration• Non-linear storytelling• Interesting twists and turns• Flavours of the supernatural• Imminent dread, doom, and deceit

    There’s something in his bag. Something silver and glistening, sparkling with hopes and dreams of a bright and beautiful future. The only thing standing between him and his soon to be fiancée Emma is his arduous, mind-numbing drive home. But something isn’t right. His phone, his hearing, the music, the traffic; everything just seems off and out of sync, and Riley can’t quite put his finger on it.All he has to do is keep his eyes on the road…All he has to do is take it slow…In this brooding and deeply moving short story by Jack Harding, buckle up and settle down for a journey that will stir your senses and pull on your heart strings, keeping you guessing right until the end of the road.

    When a mysterious blast goes off in a small college town, triggering a blizzard, the few survivors must decide whether to stay or leave and face the monsters who came with the snow.

    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.

     Its companion series – Alt.Chronicles, The Illustrated Chronicles and Chronicle Worlds – are similarly ground-breaking in their coverage of less mainstream tropes such as alternative history and shared universes. Created by award-winning author Samuel Peralta, and edited by some of the most-respected editors in the genre, each volume brings together work from visionary new voices and from the grandmasters of modern science fiction and fantasy. This Future Chronicles Special Edition volume is a compendium of stories selected from the Chronicles’ standalone titles, and includes five new stories, never before published, from some of today’s best writers in speculative fiction.

    This collection will whisk you from Christmas season in steampunk London to Yule celebrations with the coven to Hanukkah celebrations with a supernatural twist. Battle Krampus, ghosts, vampires, demons, and a hell of an eggnog hangover in this special collection of paranormal, horror, urban fantasy, and steampunk holiday tales.PEPPERMINT AND PENTACLES: A Steampunk Christmas Fairy Tale by Melanie KarsakHELL'S SILVER BELLS by Margo Bond CollinsA HARKER CHRISTMAS by Erin HayesPOINSETTIAS and POLTERGEISTS: A Southern Stones Short by Blaire EdensHEARTLESS IN NEW ORLEANS by Pauline CreedenALL IS BRIGHT by Jayne FuryMISTLETOE AND MONSTERS by Katie HayozTHAT OLD FAMILIAR FEELING by S. K. Gregory'TWAS THE NIGHT by Evan WintersHOLIDAY MAGIC by Carrie L. WellsFESTIVAL OF GASLIGHTS by Bokerah BrumleyTHE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST by Anna AlbergucciDAWN by T.K. BradleyTHE TOWN IN THE MOUNTAIN by Angelique Archer & J. MillsEGGNOG & EXORCISM by Deb Christie & Margo Bond CollinsHIGH TIDE HOLIDAY by Ella Malone

    Taff's highly-anticipated epic supernatural thriller, The Fearing, begins with Book One: Fire & Rain where humanity faces a series of catastrophes spawned by a worldwide event that unleashes all of mankind's greatest fears.In the American high desert, vacationers returning from a road trip are thrust into a heart-stopping flight from death as they try to avoid a cataclysmic end. In rural Missouri, the lives of a group of high school students are destroyed after their small town is devastated and they're forced to confront the end of everything they've ever known.And on the eastern seaboard, there's someone else. An enigmatic man who thrives on despair and embraces all fear. A man with his own dark and sinister goals. Someone who wants to ensure humanity goes out with the biggest bang possible.

    There is no night where it waits. Only the riddle of which terrible dream will set it loose. It beheaded mercy to take possession of that place. It feasts on darkness from the minds of men. No one has ever seen its eyeless face. When it sleeps we know a few moments of peace. But when it breathes again we go down in fire and mate with jackals. It knows our fear. It has our number. It waited for our coming and it will abide long after we have become congealed smoke. It has never heard music, and shows its fangs when we panic. It is the beast of our savage past, hungering today, and waiting patiently for the mortal meal of all our golden tomorrows. It lies waiting."--Harlan Ellison15 stories by Harlan EllisonContents "Introduction: The Waves in Rio" "The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World" "Along the Scenic Route" "Phoenix" "Asleep: With Still Hands" "Santa Claus vs. S.P.I.D.E.R." "Try a Dull Knife" "The Pitll Pawob Division" "The Place With No Name" "White on White" "Run for the Stars" "Are You Listening?" "S.R.O." "Worlds to Kill" "Shattered Like a Glass Goblin" "A Boy and His Dog"