Book picks similar to
Horrors Beyond: Tales of Terrifying Realities by William JonesLee Clark Zumpe
horror
anthology
lovecraftian
fiction
Cthulhu Lives! An Eldritch Tribute to H. P. Lovecraft
Salomé JonesPiers Beckley - 2014
Lovecraft was virtually unknown. The power of his stories was too great to contain, however. As the decades slipped by, his dark visions laid down roots in the collective imagination of mankind, and they grew strong. Now Cthulhu is a name known to many and, deep under the seas, Lovecraft's greatest creation becomes restless...This volume brings together seventeen masterful tales of cosmic horror inspired by Lovecraft's work. In his fiction, humanity is a tiny, accidental drop of light and life in the endless darkness of an uncaring universe -– a darkness populated by vast, utterly alien horrors. Our continued survival relies upon our utter obscurity, something that every fresh scientific wonder threatens to shatter.The dazzling stories in Cthulhu Lives! show the disastrous folly of our arrogance. We think ourselves the first masters of Earth, and the greatest, and we are very badly mistaken on both counts. Inside these covers, you'll find a lovingly-curated collection of terrors and nightmares, of catastrophic encounters to wither the body and blight the soul. We humans are inquisitive beings, and there are far worse rewards for curiosity than mere death.The truth is indeed out there -– and it hungers.
Dark Theatres
Benjamin AdamsGreg Stolze - 2001
It presents eight new stories of intrigue and horror set against the backdrop of the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft blended with modern conspiracy theory. Delta Green: Dark Theatres follows two award winning Role Playing Game sourcebooks, a novel and a previous short story anthology.
Haunted Nights
Ellen DatlowPat Cadigan - 2017
In addition to stories about scheming jack-o'-lanterns, vengeful ghosts, otherworldly changelings, disturbingly realistic haunted attractions, masks that cover terrifying faces, murderous urban legends, parties gone bad, cult Halloween movies, and trick or treating in the future, Haunted Nights also offers terrifying and mind-bending explorations of related holidays like All Souls' Day, Dia de los Muertos, and Devil's Night. -With Graveyard Weeds and Wolfbane Seeds- by Seanan McGuire -Dirtmouth- by Stephen Graham Jones--A Small Taste of the Old Countr- by Jonathan Maberry-Wick's End- by Joanna Parypinski -The Seventeen Year Itch- by Garth Nix-A Flicker of Light on Devil's Night- by Kate Jonez-Witch-Hazel- by Jeffrey Ford-Nos Galen Gaeaf- by Kelley Armstrong -We're Never Inviting Amber Again- by S. P. Miskowski-Sisters- by Brian Evenson-All Through the Night- by Elise Forier Edie -A Kingdom of Sugar Skulls and Marigolds- by Eric J. Guignard-The Turn- by Paul Kane-Jack- by Pat Cadigan-Lost in the Dark- by John Langan-The First Lunar Halloween- by John R. Little
Night Shift
Stephen King - 1978
Especially with an anthology that features the classic stories "Children of the Corn," "The Lawnmower Man," "Graveyard Shift," "The Mangler," and "Sometimes They Come Back"-which were all made into hit horror films.From the depths of darkness, where hideous rats defend their empire, to dizzying heights, where a beautiful girl hangs by a hair above a hellish fate, this chilling collection of twenty short stories will plunge readers into the subterranean labyrinth of the most spine-tingling, eerie imagination of our time.Contents:· Introduction · John D. MacDonald · in · Foreword · fw · Jerusalem’s Lot · nv Night Shift, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1978 · Graveyard Shift · ss Cavalier Oct ’70 · Night Surf · ss Cavalier Aug ’74 · I Am the Doorway · ss Cavalier Mar ’71 · The Mangler · nv Cavalier Dec ’72 · The Boogeyman · ss Cavalier Mar ’73 · Gray Matter · ss Cavalier Oct ’73 · Battleground · ss Cavalier Sep ’72 · Trucks · ss Cavalier Jun ’73 · Sometimes They Come Back · nv Cavalier Mar ’74 · Strawberry Spring · ss Ubris Fll ’68; Cavalier Nov ’75 · The Ledge · ss Penthouse Jul ’76 · The Lawnmower Man · ss Cavalier May ’75 · Quitters, Inc. · ss Night Shift, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1978 · I Know What You Need · nv Cosmopolitan Sep ’76 · Children of the Corn · nv Penthouse Mar ’77 · The Last Rung on the Ladder · ss Night Shift, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1978 · The Man Who Loved Flowers · ss Gallery Aug ’77 · One for the Road · ss Maine Mar ’77 · The Woman in the Room · ss Night Shift, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1978Librarian's Note: Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780450042683
The Collected Ghost Stories of E.F. Benson
E.F. Benson - 2001
Tilly's seance --Mrs. Amworth --In the tube --Roderick's story --Reconciliation --Face --Spinach --Bagnell terrace --A tale of an empty house --Naboth's vineyard --Expiation --Home sweet home --"And no bird sings" --Corner house --Corstophine --Temple --Step --Bed by the window --James Lamp --Dance --Hanging of Alfred Wadham --Pirates --Wishing-well --Bath-chair --Monkeys --Christopher comes back --Sanctuary --Thursday evenings --Psychical mallards --Clonmel witch burning.
Shivers
Richard ChizmarDouglas Clegg - 2002
Silva, Graham Masterton, Jay Bonansinga, and many others! Featuring both original dark fiction and rare reprints, SHIVERS is available only as a beautiful perfect-bound trade paperback!Table of Contents:Fodder - Brian Keene & Tim LebbonIce Box - Jay BonansingaThe Hand of Glory - Simon ClarkHermanoes De El Noche - Bentley LittleWalking With the Ghosts of Pier 13 - Brian Freeman265 and Heaven - Douglas CleggThe Sailor Home from the Sea - John PelanThis Is the End; My Only Friend, The End - David B. SilvaWhite-Out - Peter Crowther & Simon ConwayThe Holding Cell - Jack KetchumThe Wager - Thomas F. MonteleoneAlways Traveling, Never Arriving - Robert MorrishThat Extra Mile - David Niall Wilson & Brian A. HopkinsBleed With Me: A Brackard's Point Story - Geoff CooperThe Green Face - Al SarrantonioTender Tigers - Nancy A. CollinsSpin Cycle - David G. BarnettThrowing Caution to the Wind... - Kelly LaymonPortrait of a Sociopath - Edward LeeThe Sympathy Society - Graham Masterton
That Which Should Not Be
Brett J. Talley - 2011
From the faculty to the students, the fascination with other-worldly legends and objects runs rampant. So, when Carter Weston’s professor Dr. Thayerson asks him to search a nearby village for a book that is believed to control the inhuman forces that rule the Earth, Incendium Maleficarum, The Inferno of the Witch, the student doesn’t hesitate to begin the quest.Weston’s journey takes an unexpected turn, however, when he ventures into a tavern in the small town of Anchorhead. Rather than passing the evening as a solitary patron, Weston joins four men who regale him with stories of their personal experiences with forces both preternatural and damned. Two stories hit close to home as they tie the tellers directly to Weston’s current mission.His unanticipated role as passive listener proves fortuitous, and Weston fulfills his goal. Bringing the book back to Miskatonic, though, proves to be a grave mistake. Quickly, Weston realizes he has played a role in potentially opening the gate between the netherworld and the world of Man. Reversing the course of events means forgetting all he thought he knew about Miskatonic and his professor and embracing an unknown beyond his wildest imagination.
Short Shockers: Collection One
Peter James - 2013
Funny, sad, but always shocking, each tale carries a twist that will haunt readers for days after they turn the final page . . .This 25,000 word collection, available exclusively in this ebook edition, includes:12 Bolingbroke Avenue (First published in 1998)Number Thirteen (First published in 2010)Just Two Clicks (First published in 2004)Dead on the Hour (First published in 2006)Virtually Alive (First published in 1997)Meet Me at the Crematorium (First published in 2009)Venice Aphrodisiac (First published in 2011)Time Rich (First published in 2013)Christmas is for the Kids (First published in 1993)
The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories
Michael CoxWilliam Fryer Harvey - 1918
Responding to people's overwhelming attraction to anything frightening, this marvelous anthology of some of the very best English ghost stories combines a serious literary purpose with the simple intention of arousing a pleasurable fear of the doings of the dead. As the first volume to present the full range and vitality of the ghost fiction tradition, this selection of forty-two stories, written between 1829 and 1968, demonstrates the tradition's historical development, as well as its major themes and characteristics. Though the genre reached its peak in the nineteenth century, it enjoyed a second flowering between the two World Wars and even now still attracts dedicated practitioners and readers. The anthology includes stories by Walter Scott, M. R. James, Bram Stoker, Rudyard Kipling, Edith Wharton, Somerset Maugham, T. H. White, and many others. Stressing the important contribution women writers have made to the genre, the collection also offers eight stories by women, ranging from Amelia Edward's "The Phantom Ghost" (1864) to Elizabeth Bowen's "Hand in Glove" (1952).The tapestried chamber / Walter Scott --The phantom coach / Amelia B. Edwards --Squire Toby's will / J.S. Le Fanu --The shadow in the corner / M.E. Braddon --The upper berth / F. Marion Crawford --A wicked voice / Vernon Lee --The judge's house / Bram Stoker --Man-size in marble / E. Nesbit --The roll-call of the reef / Arthur Quiller-Couch --The friends of the friends / Henry James --The red room / H.G. Wells --The monkey's paw / W.W. Jacobs --The lost ghost / Mary E. Wilkins --"Oh, whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad" / M.R. James --The empty house / Algernon Blackwood --The cigarette case / Oliver Onions --Rose Rose / Barry Pain --The confession of Charles Linkworth / E.F. Benson --On the Brighton Road / Richard Middleton --Bone to his bone / E.G. Swain --The true history of Anthony Ffryar / Arthur Gray --The Taipan / W. Somerset Maugham --The victim / May Sinclair --A visitor from down under / L.P. Hartley --Fullcircle / John Buchan --The clock / W.F. Harvey --Old man's beard / H. Russell Wakefield --Mr Jones / Edith Wharton --Smee / A.M. Burrage --The little ghost / Hugh Walpole --Ahoy, sailor boy! / A.E. Coppard --The hollow man / Thomas Burke --Et in sempiternum pereant / Charles Williams --Bosworth summit pound / L.T.C. Rolt --An encounter in the mist / A.N.L. Munby --Hand in glove / Elizabeth Bowen --A story of Don Juan / V.S. Pritchett --Cushi / Charistopher Woodforde --Bad company / Walter de la Mare --The bottle of 1912 / Simon Raven --The Cicerones / Robert Aickman --Soft voices at Passenham / T.H. White
The Mammoth Book of Cthulhu
Paula GuranNorman Partridge - 2016
P. Lovecraft from authors who do not merely imitate, but reimagine, re-energize, and renew his concepts in ways relevant to today's readers. Fresh new fiction that explores our modern fears and nightmares. From the depths of R'lyeh to the heights of the Mountains of Madness, some of today's best weird fiction writers -- both established award-winning authors and exciting new voices -- THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF CTHULHU collects tales of cosmic horror that traverse terrain created by Lovecraft and create new eldritch geographies to explore . . . With stories by: Laird Barron, Nadia Bulkin, Amanda Downum, Ruthanna Emrys, Richard Gavin, Lois H. Gresh, Lisa L. Hannett, Brian Hodge, CaitlÃR. Kiernan, John Langan, Yoon Ha Lee, Usman T. Malik, Helen Marshall, Silvia Moreno, Norman Partridge, W. H. Pugmire, Veronica Schanoes, Michael Shea, John Shirley, Simon Strantzas, Sandra McDonald, Damien Angelica Walters, Don Webb, Michael Wehunt, and A.C. Wise
The Mammoth Book of Vampire Stories by Women
Stephen JonesLisa Tuttle - 2001
From classic stories of the undead by writers like Edith Nesbit, Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman, and Mary Elizabeth Braddon to the work of such acclaimed contemporary authors as Poppy Z. Brite, Nancy Kilpatrick, Tanith Lee, Caitlin R. Kiernan, and Pat Cadigan, this terrifying and tantalizing volume turns the conventions of vampire fiction on their head and inside out as it refashions, and revamps, Bram Stoker's urbane Count Dracula in smart, modern, sexy terms. Original and inventive, the tales in this anthology offer a wide and varied range of undead heroines and doomed heroes, from the tormented good to the unspeakably evil. At large among them in the gardens of literature's longest night are Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Byronic vampire Saint-Germain, Nancy A. Collins's "Vampire King of the Goth Chicks," Tanya Huff's vampiric detective Vicki Nelson, and Freda Warrington's age-old lovers Karl and Charlotte. In all, the quest continuesfor blood to drink, for souls to steal, for life among the undead.CONTENTSIntroduction: My Life Among The Undead by Ingrid PittThe Master Of Rampling Gate by Anne RiceHomewrecker by Poppy Z. BriteWhen Gretchen Was Human by Mary A. TurzilloThe Vengeaful Spirit of Lake Nepeakea by Tanya HuffLa Diente by Nancy KilpatrickMiss Massingberd and the Vampire by Tina RathThe Raven Bound by Freda WarringtonVampire King of the Goth Chicks by Nancy A. CollinsJust His Type by Storm ConstantinePrince Of Flowers by Elizabeth HandService Rendered by Louise CooperAftermath by Janet BerlinerOne Among Millions by Yvonne NavarroLuella Miller by Mary E. Wilkins-FreemanSangre by Lisa TuttleA Question of Patronage by Chelsea Quinn YarbroHisako San by Ingrid PittButternut and Blood by Kathryn PtacekSleeping Cities by Wendy WebbThe Haunted House by E. NesbitTurkish Delight by Roberta LannesVenus Rising on Water by Tanith LeeYear Zero by Gemma FilesGood Lady Ducayne by Mary Elizabeth BraddonLunch At Charon's by Melanie TemForever, Amen by Elizabeth MassieNight Laughter by Ellen KushnerBootleg by Christa FaustOutfangthief by Gala BlauMy Brother's Keeper by Pat CadiganSo Runs The World Away by Caitlin R. KiernanA North Light by Gwyneth JonesJack by Connie WillisVampyr by Jane Yolen
Corpse Cold: New American Folklore
John Brhel - 2017
Tales of everyday people caught up in indomitable situations. Dread-inducing moments with an air of plausibility—while you hope to god they aren’t actually true. Urban legends, modern folklore, or creepypasta. Whatever you call them, they represent shards of our deepest anxieties as individuals, as a society.Corpse Cold: New American Folklore evokes the spirit of the campfire tales you heard as a kid. This 20-story anthology offers refreshing, mature reinterpretations of time-tested stories, and wholly original legends that explore the twisted labyrinth of modern myth. Each tale is brought to life and made all the more unsettling by the striking, grisly illustrations of artist Chad Wehrle.
Scars and Other Distinguishing Marks
Richard Christian Matheson - 1987
'Red' seems to me to be a masterwork. 'Vampire' is a breathtaking work of virtuosity."—Dennis Etchison, from his Introduction"An impressive debut. These stories are all beautifully written and very, very disturbing."—Fangoria"Richard Christian Matheson's prose is elegant, yet spare. He is undoubtedly the master of the contemporary horror short story. His potent, subtle horror sneaks up on the reader and its echoes linger long after the story has ended."—Ellen Datlow, fiction editor, Omni
The Best of the Best Horror of the Year: Ten Years of Essential Short Horror Fiction
Ellen DatlowPeter Straub - 2018
Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. In this anniversary edition, Datlow brings back her favorite stories of the series’ last decade in a special edition encompassing highlights from each edition of the work.Encompassed in the pages of The Best Horror of the Year have been such illustrious writers as:Neil Gaiman Kim Stanley Robinson Stephen King Linda Nagata Laird Barron Margo Lanagan And many others With each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. But this light creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year chronicles these shifting shadows. It is a catalog of terror, fear, and unpleasantness as articulated by today’s most challenging and exciting writers. And in this anniversary edition, we share the most important stories which have been covered in the last decade of horror writing.
Burnt Black Suns
Simon Strantzas - 2014
The nine stories in this volume exhibit Strantzas’s wide range in theme and subject matter, from the Lovecraftian “Thistle’s Find” to the Robert W. Chambers homage “Beyond the Banks of the River Seine.” But Strantzas’s imagination, while drawing upon the best weird fiction of the past, ventures into new territory in such works as “On Ice,” a grim novella of arctic horror; “One Last Bloom,” a grisly account of a scientific experiment gone hideously awry; and the title story, an emotionally wrenching account of terror and loss in the baked Mexican desert. With this volume, Strantzas lays claim to be discussed in the company of Caitlín R. Kiernan and Laird Barron as one of the premier weird fictionists of our time.Cover artwork by Santiago Caruso