Book picks similar to
How The West Was Weird: Campfire Tales by Russ Anderson Jr.Matthew P. Mayo
steampunk
weird-west
pulp-magnet
robots
Dream Corridor, Volume 1
Harlan Ellison - 1996
Stories adapted include "The End of the Time of Leinard," "Rat Hater," "Knox," "The Rough Boys," and "Catman," as well as nine others. Also includes five short stories written especially for the series, with a cover by Leo and Diane Dillon.
Mad Amos
Alan Dean Foster - 1996
But when the world gets weird, there's no one who's better to have on your side...Is a renegade dragon harassing the men laying the rails of the great railroad? Are headless Indian spirits driving you from your land? Is that volcano threatening to destroy your settlement? Then Mad Amos is the man for you.Plus, two new, never-before-published stories in the Mad Amos canon:NEITHER A BORROWER BE: When a horse thief sets his sights on stealing Amos' faithful mount Worthless, he gets more than he expects...for Worthless isn't exactly an ordinary horse...THE PURL OF THE PACIFIC: Mad Amos takes to the high seas on a whale of an adventure and thwarts a vengeful South Pacific island shaman at his own game...Ten delightful stories of dragons, jackalopes, snake-oil salesmen, iron horses, and, of course, the incomparable Mad Amos Malone from the incredible imagination of world-class storyteller and bestselling author Alan Dean Foster!
Divinity Temptations
Michelle M. Pillow - 2014
Ariella's KeeperWhen his father threatens to take away his research facility's funding if he doesn't come home, Dr. Sebastjan Walter has no choice but to do so. This isn't just a family reunion. It seems his father has arranged a marriage--Sebastjan's. Seeing his chance to make one last final deal to get his father out of his life, he agrees to marry the off-plane woman. After seeing her, he can't help but think he's made the better bargain.Ariella has been held prisoner by the Medical Supreme since he cured her of a childhood illness. Forced to stay in his home as his ward, she has no choice but to do whatever he wants. When he demands she marry his son, Ariella finds this is one order she might not mind obeying.2. Seducing CeciliaIn a world obsessed with medical advancement, Dr. Gerard Fauchet longs for something more. When he's assigned as the liaison to an off-plane dignitary, he never imagined she'd be so stunningly beautiful, or so damned frustrating. One second she's kissing him, the next she's pretending nothing is between them. The passion is scorching, everything he ever dreamed of having with a woman. He'll make her admit she wants him--or die trying.Dr. Cecilia Markos is keenly aware that she's been shoved through a portal to an alternate reality for one reason--to bring home medical advancements for the betterment of her people. Unfortunately, she only has two months to learn a world's complete medical knowledgebase. It's an impossible task made even more so by the distractingly handsome Gerard who she can't seem to keep her hands or her mind off of.As things heat up between Gerard and Cecilia, the clock is ticking, and the time for seduction is running out.3. Linnea's ArrangementBeautiful, highly intelligent Linnea Nel wants what most women want--a career, love, respect. But coming from a plane where order and all things anti-chaos reign, the untrackable, untraceable and highly rebellious Linnea is considered a threat--to her family, society and her world. When her numerous arrests for reading library books become a public embarrassment to her politically minded sister, Linnea is forced on a dignitary mission to an alternate reality.There are only two classifications of people on plane 187: Doctors and Not Doctors (Sans). Dr. Sam Swift is one of the highest ranking officials on the medical plane, answering only to the Medical Supreme. When the Medical Supreme becomes ill, it's up to him to find a cure. Nowhere in this equation is there room--or time--to fall in love. And then he meets the exquisitely frustrating Sans Linnea Nel.In the midst of the worst outbreak 187's society has faced in decades, two people who never should have met fall in love. How can Linnea stay where she may be in danger? But how can Sam let the love of his life go?Warning: Boxed Set for adults only!
Those Poor, Poor Bastards
Tim Marquitz - 2013
Of all the rotten luck, their world—and the future of the American West—is forever changed when a sudden swarm of zombies invades town on the hunt for some human-sized vittles.THOSE POOR, POOR BASTARDS is the first volume in the all-new Old Western Action-Horror series, "Dead West." What folks are saying..."...the cover blurb describes [it] as 'The Walking Dead and Hell on Wheels collide.' Not having seen the former nor being familiar with the latter, I would describe it as Night of the Living Dead meets H. P. Lovecraft and Dr. Fu Manchu..."—Keith West, Amazing Stories Magazine"Those Poor, Poor Bastards (the authors, as well as the book) prove that zombies and the West were made for each other, and that the undead fiends still have plenty of guts and action to offer."—Lincoln Crisler, author of WILD"Unlike many zombie books in the genre, where you never really understand how the undead have risen from their graves, in 'Dead West' the authors don't mind sharing the zombies' origin. It is a very unique twist that I really enjoyed and comes straight out of American history...a nod I found to be a nice touch."—Tyson Mauermann, Speculative Book Review "If there is a typical zombie fan, then I am probably not it. In fact, this was my first time reading about 'deaduns' and now I'm hooked! The story flowed with ease, the characters were vivid and most parts likeable, even the not-so-pleasant characters gain your respect and empathy towards the end. I loved the fact that it's set in the Wild West rather than modern times or some apocalyptic future. I recommend Dead West to my friends, and am looking forward to book two!"—Sarah Fernandes, Advance Reader"A Rip-Snortin', Ace-High addition to the walking buzzard-food genre. Marquitz, Martin, and Soward have a hit series on their hands!"—Paul Martin, Self-Publisher's Showcase "I'm not a big Weird Western reader. I'm not a big zombie reader. But this first Dead West book is better than just another Weird Western or just another zombie book. The writing is very visceral, raw in a style similar to Chuck Wendig...this is a high octane story [but] what makes this story stand out among the rest is the drama between the human characters."—Ryan Lawler, Amazon Reviewer"Two parts bullets, three parts shambling undead, one part magic. All fast-paced Wild West action. Dead West takes you on a wild ride."—Becca Butcher, Advance Reader
Punktown
Jeffrey Thomas - 2000
You can become a piece of performance art. You might even become a library of sorrows...Table Of Contents: The Reflections Of Ghosts Pink Pills The Flaying Season Union Dick Wakizashi Dissecting The Soul Precious Metal Sisters Of No Mercy Heart for Heart’s Sake The Ballad Of Moosecock Lip Face The Pressman The Palace Of Nothingness The Rusted Gates Of Heaven Immolation Unlimited Daylight The Library Of Sorrows Nom de Guerre The Color Shrain
The Peacock Cloak
Chris Beckett - 2013
In doing so, the book triumphed over a very strong shortlist, including collections by one Booker Prize winner in Anne Enright and two authors who have been Booker shortlisted in Shena Mackay and Ali Smith (the latter a winner of the Whitbread Prize).When announcing the winner, one of the judges – James Walton, journalist and chair of BBC Radio 4’s The Write Stuff – said, “I suspect Chris Beckett winning the Edge Hill Prize will be seen as a surprise in the world of books. In fact, though, it was also a bit of surprise to the judges, none of whom knew they were science fiction fans beforehand.”In 2012 the Sunday Times named Chris’ latest novel Dark Eden the best science fiction novel of the year, and it is currently shortlisted for the BSFA Award in the same category. NewCon Press are delighted to be publishing The Peacock Cloak, the latest collection from one of Britain’s most distinguished and accomplished genre authors. Contains twelve stories (85,000 words) all previously uncollected.
The SFWA Grand Masters 1
Frederik Pohl - 1999
Volume One, presenting the first five writers to receive the award, features the fiction of: Robert A. HeinleinJack WilliamsonClifford D. SimakL. Sprague de CampFritz Leiber
Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse
John Joseph AdamsOrson Scott Card - 2008
From the Book of Revelation to The Road Warrior, from A Canticle for Leibowitz to The Road, storytellers have long imagined the end of the world, weaving eschatological tales of catastrophe, chaos, and calamity. In doing so, these visionary authors have addressed one of the most challenging and enduring themes of imaginative fiction: The nature of life in the aftermath of total societal collapse. Gathering together the best post-apocalyptic literature of the last two decades from many of today's most renowned authors of speculative fiction - including George R. R. Martin, Gene Wolfe, Orson Scott Card, Carol Emshwiller, Jonathan Lethem, Octavia E. Butler, and Stephen King - Wastelands explores the scientific, psychological, and philosophical questions of what it means to remain human in the wake of Armageddon. Whether the end of the world comes through nuclear war, ecological disaster, or cosmological cataclysm, these are tales of survivors, in some cases struggling to rebuild the society that was, in others, merely surviving, scrounging for food in depopulated ruins and defending themselves against monsters, mutants, and marauders. Wastelands delves into this bleak landscape, uncovering the raw human emotion and heart-pounding thrills at the genre's core. --back coverContains the following stories:Introduction by John Joseph AdamsThe End of the Whole Mess by Stephen KingSalvage by Orson Scott CardThe People of Sand and Slag by Paolo BacigalupiBread and Bombs by M. RickertHow We Got In Town and Out Again by Jonathan LethemDark, Dark Were the Tunnels by George R. R. MartinWaiting for the Zephyr by Tobias S. BuckellNever Despair by Jack McDevittWhen Sysadmins Ruled the Earth by Cory DoctorowThe Last of the O-Forms by James Van PeltStill Life With Apocalypse by Richard KadreyArtie’s Angels by Catherine WellsJudgment Passed by Jerry OltionMute by Gene WolfeInertia by Nancy KressAnd the Deep Blue Sea by Elizabeth BearSpeech Sounds by Octavia E. ButlerKillers by Carol EmshwillerGinny Sweethips’ Flying Circus by Neal Barrett, Jr.The End of the World as We Know It by Dale BaileyA Song Before Sunset by David GriggEpisode Seven... by John LanganAppendix: For Further Reading
We Are Where the Nightmares Go and Other Stories
C. Robert Cargill - 2018
Robert Cargill returns to the terrain of the Queen of the Dark Things to continue the story of Colby Stevens . . .A Triceratops and an Ankylosaurus join forces to survive a zombie apocalypse that may spell extinction for their kind in "Hell Creek" . . .In a grand old building atop a crack in the world, an Iraq War veteran must serve a one-year term as a punisher of the damned condemned to consume the sins of others in the hope that one day he may find peace in "In a Clean, White Room" (co-authored with Scott Derrickson) . . .In "The Town That Wasn’t Anymore," the village of Pine Hill Bluff loses its inhabitants one at a time as the angry dead return when night falls to steal the souls of the living . . .And in the title story, "We Are Where the Nightmares Go," a little girl crawls through a glowing door beneath her bed and finds herself trapped in a nightmarish wonderland—a crucible of the fragments of children’s bad dreams.These tales and four more are assembled here as testament to Cargill’s mastery of the phantasmagoric, making We Are Where the Nightmares Go and Other Stories a collection of unnerving horror and fantasy will keep you up all night and haunt your waking dreams.
Ominous Realities: The Anthology of Dark Speculative Horrors
Anthony RiveraBracken MacLeod - 2013
But with dire consequences.ANGIE by John F.D. Taff - A divorced couple tries to ensure their survival after society collapses. Navigating the treacherous back roads of America, they realize the horror of true devotion.ON THE THRESHOLD by William Meikle - How far is science willing to go to prove we're not alone and possibly find the terrifying dangers that exist beyond the threshold?DOYOSHOTA by Ken Altabef - One by one the residents of a Nevada town are succumbing to the debilitating effects of a strange hum. Many believe it’s a black ops program others are convinced of its far darker origins.THIRD OFFENSE by Gregory L. Norris - In an oppressive society where creativity is banned and advertising is all-pervasive, a factory worker attempts to escape enslavement with horrifying results.METAMORPHOSIS by J. Daniel Stone - Together, a brother and sister discover the unique bond has the ability to affect humanity in the darkest of ways.WE ARE HALE, WE ARE WHOLE by Eric Del Carlo - Global climate change has reshaped the world, and multi-national corporations control every aspect of life. To what horrifying lengths will they go in the struggle to maintain profit?PURE BLOOD AND EVERGREEN by Bracken MacLeod - Victims of ethnic cleansing, two boys share a painful struggle for survival. Their actions start events that leave the lives of everyone they know hanging in a dangerous balance.JOHN, PAUL, XAVIER, IRONSIDE AND GEORGE (BUT NOT VINCENT) by Hugh A.D. Spencer - Earth is under attack by mysterious biomechanical entities. With the end near, one man spends his last days with an enigmatic client who is of great import to those in charge.AND THE HUNTER, HOME FROM THE HILL by Edward Morris - Could it be that accounts of superheroes are actually based in reality? It could be that the old man living down the street is hiding his own dark secrets.BORN BAD by Jonathan Balog - Raised by the church, Lucien harbors a frightening secret that may prove to have dire circumstances for mankind.THE LAST BASTION OF SPACE by Ewan C. Forbes - Privatization has run amok and simple pleasures come at a premium price. For one young couple there is no choice but to turn their minds over to insidious corporate control.EVERY SOUL IS A GRIMOIRE by Allen Griffin - Harvey works for a shadowy government and is responsible for a man with dangerous knowledge. Being near him is blurring his reality and opening the door to terrifying evil.FROM THE EAST by Alice Goldfuss - After global cataclysm, a scientist struggles to determine the cause. Driven by professional convictions, she finds herself in a struggle for the existence of humanity.DECIDING IDENTITY by Paul Williams - Faced with the collision of two worlds, the citizens of each are given the choice to decide who shall live and who shall die.THE LAST ELF by T. Fox Dunham - The fate of humanity rests with a sociopathic concentration camp commander. Having spent a lifetime chasing the enemies of Germany, he finds himself on the verge of his crowning achievement—ultimate extermination.
Dreams in Black Static: Eight Stories
Ambrose Ibsen - 2020
After watching it, one of them vanishes...A heart transplant recipient gets much more than he bargained for when he digs into his donor's sinister past...Mourning the death of their son, a young couple is plunged into madness after encountering something otherworldly in the wilderness...DREAMS IN BLACK STATIC is a collection of eight terrifying stories by Ambrose Ibsen, author of The Haunting of Beacon Hill and Asylum. The tales included are:"Me and Mr. Ray" **"Decatur Road" **"Dreams in Black Static" **"Distortional Addict" **"Trim" **"Subterrane Dream" **"Orchard""The Uncanny" **** = Appearing in print for the first time
The Tales from the Miskatonic University Library
Darrell Schweitzer - 2017
Lovecraft and his successors. Here in the library, under lock and key, are some of the world’s most dangerous books, most famously the dreaded Necronomicon of the mad Arab, Abdul Alhazred. There was a notably unpleasant incident in the late 1920s, when a certain Wilbur Whateley tried to steal that particular volume, and met a hideous fate. Fortunately, that time at least, the head librarian and his colleagues were able to save the Earth from the dreadful danger of the Dunwich Horror. How safe are Miskatonic’s security precautions and what has perhaps disappeared from, or appeared in the collection since? What other creepy, maddening, extra-dimensional, or even sentient tomes reside on those forbidden shelves? What strange events have taken place among the stacks? Is there an inter-library loan system? Who, or what, comes after miscreants who fail to return books on time? In the modern, digital age, what would happen if some of the content escaped over the Internet? Are some of the books, or all of them, little more than slowly ticking time bombs? And what, dare we ask, can be found in the Cooking Section? If you learn all the secrets of the Miskatonic University Library, will you go mad—or just wish you had? A feast of bibliographical horrors by Don Webb, Adrian Cole, Dirk Flinthart, Harry Turtledove, P.D. Cacek, Will Murray, A.C. Wise, Marilyn Mattie Brahen, Douglas Wynne, Alex Shvartsman, James Van Pelt, Robert M. Price, and Darrell Schweitzer. If you learn all the secrets of the Miskatonic University Library, will you go mad—or just wish you had?
It Came From Anomaly Flats
Clayton Smith - 2016
P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe." Ghosts, murderers, monsters, and more lurk within the pages of It Came from Anomaly Flats!"Scary as hell!""Creepy and brilliant.""A true resurrection of classic American horror writing!""Another triumph!"The oddest little town in the Midwest has a thousand demented stories to tell...some of them are horrifying enough to send shivers down the strongest of spines. There’s the tale of a man whose utter fear of germs sends him plummeting to the depths of depravity, and the victims he takes with him; the story of a couple escaping Missouri to fulfill their California dreams who take an innocent detour and find themselves trapped in the most unexpected of nightmares instead; the legend of a demonic creature who thrives on human flesh, which may be more reality than fiction. In this first collected volume of chill-inducing stories from everyone’s favorite transdimensional town, you’ll find reason enough to question your own sanity, even as you try to reassure yourself that things like this only happen in stories.Don’t they? Welcome to Anomaly Flats.How loud can you scream?
One Buck Horror: Volume One
Christopher Hawkins - 2011
Here's what you'll find in this issue:"Jenny's House" is a great place to play, but an unexpected playmate makes for a dark session of show-and-tell.Three kids seek to steal from a traveling carnival and get more than they bargained for in "A Lullaby for Caliban"In "The Last Nephew", Nephew yearns to be free of Uncle's depredations, but when Uncle leaves his pocket watch behind one night, it gives him the key to his escape.Crossing "The Cornfield" is harrowing on the best of winter nights, but this night, Jack turns to see eyes in the darkness, and knows that something is following him...In "The Ginger Men", mother is baking a special ingredient into a treat for father, an ingredient that gives her pie dough a life of its own. Featuring stories by Ada Hoffmann, Julie Jansen, Mark Onspaugh, Mike Trier, and Elizabeth Twist.Be sure to check out the other volumes in this ongoing anthology series, and watch for new volumes coming soon!
The Doom That Came to Dunwich: Weird Mysteries of the Cthulhu Mythos
Richard A. Lupoff - 2017
Think of what you’ve just read.” Lovecraftian stories are the bread and butter of the true horror fan. During his lifetime, Lovecraft himself encouraged other writers to develop stories in the vein we now call Lovecraftian: horror, based around the idea that Earth had been colonized by malign aliens in the remote past, long before mankind arose and became civilized, who eventually became worshipped and feared as evil Gods by their human servitors. Eventually these aliens had been “banished” to another dimensional limbo by a benign Elder Race, but might one day return to reclaim the Earth “when the stars are right.” That deep seated unease threads through this collection of Richard. A Lupoff's short stories that seem to share a common universe. Praise for Richard A. Lupoff: "Lupoff writes with intelligence, humour, wisdom, and a zest for life." - Joe Gorges, author of Hammett. Richard A. Lupoff began his writing career as a print and broadcast journalist while attending university. After earning his degree he served twice in the United States Army, first as an enlisted man, then as an officer. Following military service he worked for twelve years in the computer industry, while also serving as a guest lecturer at universities including the University of California (Berkeley) and Stanford University. As author and editor he has written more than fifty volumes, ranging from science fiction, mystery, fantasy, horror, and mainstream fiction to the evolution of cartooning and comics. He is a past winner of the Hugo Award, and a finalist for the Nebula and Oscar Awards. He has achieved the rare distinction of being represented in “Best of the Year” anthologies in three fields: science fiction, mystery, and horror.