Seething, slavering, and insane, it cringes, not wanting to slip forth from the noxious, bloated belly of its abyssal mother until the most hideous sexual atrocities beckon it from Hell's hot bowels: the dread monstrosity of unfathomable beauty and the most vile horror--revulsion and desire incarnated into one... ...PREGNANT TO BURSTING WITH ABOMINATIONS UNTOLD... Atop the moon-drenched hillock sits the leaning manse, surrounded by ancient graves rich with the bones of witches, and amid the dense cricket-choruses of these ghastly twilight deeps, it stalks, thrashes and prowls, its nipples gorged with evil, its loins a frenzy of Luciferic lust... RITES OF REDNECK PASSAGE... Behold Balls and Dicky (of THE BIGHEAD fame) as they embark on their first sociopathic epiphany teeming with down and dirty redneck whores, occult science, corpse-sex, and scatological gross-out the likes of which would make the BTK Killer faint. These boys think they're bad...but are they bad enough to face-- THE MINOTAURESS Edward Lee's latest novel of irredeemable harder-than-hardcore horror...This edition also contains the story "The Horn-Cranker".

    The Library of America presents for the first time in one volume Steinbeck’s early writings, which expressed his abiding concerns for community, social justice, and the elemental connection between nature and human society. In prose that blends the vernacular and the incantatory, the local and the mythic, these five works chart Steinbeck’s evolution into one of the greatest and most enduring popular of American novelists.The Pastures of Heaven (1932), a collection of interrelated stories, delineates the troubled inner lives and sometimes disastrous fates of families living in a seemingly tranquil California valley. The surface realism of Steinbeck’s first mature work is enriched by hints of uncanny forces at work beneath.“Deep down it’s mine, right to the center of the world,” says Salinas Valley farmer Joseph Wayne about his land in John Steinbeck’s To a God Unknown (1933). A sense of primeval magic dominates the novel as the farmer reverts to pagan nature worship and begins a tortuous journey toward catastrophe and ultimate understanding.Steinbeck’s sympathetic depiction of the raffish paisons of Tortilla Flat (1935), a ramshackle district above Monterey, first won him popular attention. The Flat’s tenderhearted, resourceful, mildly corrupt, over-optimistic characters are a triumph of life-affirming humor.In Dubious Battle (1936) plunges into the political struggle of the 1930s and paints a vigorous fresco of a migrant fruit-pickers’ strike. Anticipating the collective portraiture of The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck poignantly traces the surges and shifts of group behavior.With Of Mice and Men (1937), Steinbeck secured his status as one of the most influential American writers. Lennie and George, itinerant farmhands held together in the face of deprivation only by the frailest of dreams, have long since passed into American mythology. This novel, which Steinbeck called “such a simple little thing,” is now recognized as a masterpiece of concentrated emotional power.

    From the end of a relationship to the meaning behind its title, this anthology continually surprises and subverts, utilizing topics such as alien intelligence, reincarnation, imaginary children, and even conversations with Hitler’s childhood pet. Engaging and diverse, this compendium offers a fascinating perspective on mortality.

    Predator: War! The Predators converge on the seed planet Bunda for the biggest bug hunt yet, each taking position to draw first blood. Machiko, a human who has been inducted into the Predator clan, is forced into a duel in order to claim her rightful place in the upcoming hunt. But when a new group of humans shows up, what began as sport becomes serious business.

    Lovecraft, With Augmentations for Today Accurate and Complete Over Two Dozen Often-Met Creatures Quick-Reference Monster ID Key 27 Evocative Full-Page Paintings 50+ Illustrations and Silhouettes Uniform Presentation of Data Special Size Comparison Charts Habitat, Distribution, and Life Cycle Notes How to Distinguish Similar-Seeming Entities Latest Hyper-Geometric Scholarship Specialized Observer Warnings as Needed Full Bibliography Faithful to Lovecraft

    His powerful dark fantasy, The Physiognomy, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; his novel, The Girl in the Glass, won the Edgar® Award, mystery and crime fiction’s most prestigious prize. Crackpot Palace is Ford’s fourth superb collection of short fiction, and in it, his prodigious talent shines as brightly as ever. Here are twenty tales both strange and wonderful, filled with mad scientists, vampires, lost souls, and Native American secrets, from an author who has been glowingly compared to Kafka, Dante, and Caleb Carr (The Alienist).

    These stories are enthralling, expertly constructed, and very very powerful. Some will put a lump in your throat. Some will have you squirming. Some might be so intense and disturbing that they leave you no choice but to put it aside for awhile, catch your breath, and finish when you've worked up the guts.This is fiction that does far more than "entertain," and it goes far beyond what we expect when we read "horror." No haunted houses here, no pitchfork-wielding devils with horns on their heads. The only monsters are the very worst kind: humans.Table of Contents:Introduction by Edward LeeGorilla in My RoomThe Western DeadBullyListenPolaroidsSquirrely Shirley (with Lucky McKee)Group of ThirtyWinter ChildCow (with Lucky McKee)The Transformed MouseThe Right ThingAwakeThat MomentOldiesSeconds

    Dragonsdawn and Renegades of Pern are the ninth and tenth novels in her celebrated Dragonriders of Pern series. In Dragonsdawn, the beautiful planet Pern seems a paradise to its new colonists—until deadly spores fall like silver threads from the sky, devouring everything in their path. In Renegades of Pern, having lost their hold, Aramina’s family fears both outlaws and the dreaded Threadfall.“Few are better at mixing elements of high fantasy and hard science fiction…” —The New York Times Book Review

    DramaFull LengthCast: 3 men, 1 woman: 4 totalSetting: EXTERIORTHE STORY: Tracing the legacy of war through three generations of a Puerto Rican family, the play focuses on nineteen-year-old Elliot, a recently anointed hometown hero who returns from Iraq with a leg injury and a difficult question: Will he go back to war a second time? While on leave, Elliot learns the stories of his father and grandfather who served in Korea and Vietnam before him.

    The secrets of the core of the earth. Dreams of other people’s lives. A girl who goes mad in the darkness. Monsters in Bavaria. A generational spaceship where night doesn’t exist. And other mysteries and oddities. The contributors to the enthralling collection are: Sarah Rees Brennan, Tessa Gratton, Rachel Hawkins, Christine Johnson, Valerie Kemp, Malinda Lo, Myra McEntire, Saundra Mitchell, Sarah Ockler, Jackson Pearce, Aprilynne Pike, Dia Reeves, Beth Revis, Carrie Ryan, Jon Skovron, Courtney Summers, and Kate Espy, winner of the Defy the Dark new author contest.

    Even weirder, the murder resembles a scene from an episode of her old TV show, Star Cop, a live-action children's show about a kid detective.As Chondra starts to investigate, she stumbles upon a bizarre cult that worships celebrities as eternal effigies. And these cult members aren't just worshiping--they're also ritually sacrificing anyone who defies their veneration of the beautiful and famous. Chondra's probe takes her on a terrifying tour of burial mounds across the world, from Stonehenge to the Nazca Lines of Peru. But what is the link between the cult, Chondra's hometown, and her own bloodline? Will Chondra become the hero detective she played as a child...or is she in fact the cult's unwitting messiah?Written by rising star Tim Seeley (BATMAN ETERNAL, GRAYSON, Revival) and illustrated by Marley Zarcone (Black Circle, MADAME XANADU), EFFIGY is a twisted murder mystery and conspiracy tale that examines celebrity, godhood, and the price of fame.Collects EFFIGY #1-6.

    Emmanuelle is the Fallen archivist of House Silverspires, and only wants a quiet life with her books. But when Selene, the latest student of Lucifer Morningstar, walks into the library, Emmanuelle finds herself drawn in an adventure to steal from another House. It's a thrilling and dangerous task, but the most dangerous thing about it might just be Selene herself--aloof and resourceful, and unexpectedly attractive... Set in the universe of the critically acclaimed The House of Shattered Wings.

    But Lois didn't care. Lois cared only about Science. Behavioral Science. Even when the kids at school taunted her, Lois didn't care. Even though her parents were disturbed by her, and her little brother worshiped her--Lois didn't care. And when her father suffered a stroke and her mother began drinking, strong, implacable Lois was in complete control.Now her scientific curiosity could have full expression. If she could control the behavior of laboratory animals, imagine what she could do with...people.

    at $7 billion a bounty! What starts as a vendetta could become a lucrative business for Boxer... if he can live past day one!Duane Swierczynski and Simon Gane launch this ultimate action-movie blockbuster, ushering in a new era of monster battles!

    She’s watched as, each summer, the tight-knit small village braces for the invasion of vacationers seeking refuge from city life. But this year, a new kind of visitor arrives in Port Isley, bringing something most unexpected.Soon after the season begins, a teenage girl’s mutilated body is found in a local park. The police declare it a random act of violence, but Amanda’s not so sure…because how can she explain that she had a premonition of the crime just hours before it happened? Or that the neighbors she’s known forever inexplicably are beginning to change…into lustful, violent shadows of themselves? Amanda knows something’s not right. And she knows it has something to do with the sinister stranger who’s come to town. But can she uncover his dark secret in time to stop him—and in time to save the souls of Port Isley?