With themes reminiscent of Shirley Jackson, Thomas Ligotti, and Bruno Schulz, but with a strikingly unique vision, Padgett's work explores the mystery of human suffering, the agony of personal existence, and the ghastly means by which someone might achieve salvation from both. A bullied child seeks vengeance within a bed's hollow box spring. A lucid dreamer is haunted by an impossible house. A dummy reveals its own anatomy in 20 simple steps. A stuttering librarian holds the key to a mill town's unspeakable secrets. A commuter's worldview is shattered by two words printed on a cardboard sign. An aspiring ventriloquist spends a little too much time looking at himself in a mirror. And a presence speaks through them all. Contents: Introduction by Matt Cardin The Mindfulness of Horror Practice Murmurs of a Voice Foreknown The Indoor Swamp Origami Dreams 20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism Infusorium Organ Void The Secret of VentriloquismEscape to Thin Mountain

    In this book you'll find two ghost stories and a tale of ancestral demoniac horror. In the big white house on the hill angels are said to appear . . . When the children left the house, their toys remained . . . A confused and vengeful presence occupies the home of a first-time buyer . . .

    Volume 1 features all new and original stories from authors Joe R. Lansdale, John Skipp, Cody Goodfellow, Jeff Strand, J. F. Gonzalez, Stephen Mark Rainey, Nate Southard, Shane McKenzie and (in deluxe hardcover retail editions only) William Meikle. Each story is preceded by a full page/full bleed color illustration by artist Zach McCain. Table of Contents “Santa Explains” by Joe R. Lansdale “The Endless Black of Friday” by Nate Southard “Red Rage” by Stephen Mark Rainey “Pointy Canes” by Jeff Strand “Naughty” by Shane McKenzie “Krampusnacht in Cell Block J” by Cody Goodfellow “The Shittiest Guy in the World (A Christmas Fable)” by John Skipp “Belsnickel” by J. F. Gonzalez “The Color That Stole Christmas” by William Meikle (Deluxe Hardcover Editions Only)

     And that’s just a quarter of the thrills. Edited and compiled by Amazon bestselling author Dan Alatorre, this anthology of scary tales brings together the minds and pens of twenty authors, including bestseller Allison Maruska (The Fourth Descendant), bestselling author Jenifer Ruff (Everett), Lucy Brazier (PorterGirl), J. A. Allen, Juliet Nubel, TA Henry, Ann Marie Andrus, Heather Hackett, Barbara Anne Helberg, Scott Skipper, Joanne R. Larner, Christine Valentor, Adele Marie Park, Curtis Bausse, Annette Robinson, Frank Parker, Eric Daniel Clarke, and Maribel C. Pagan. Perfect for Halloween or any time, these stories will make you think twice before walking alone on the beach at night, reading a diary, or innocently watching a train from your car. Consider yourselves warned. NOTE: Warning! American and British spelling ahead. A few stories words are olde English, too. The story The Death Of Mrs. Billen by Mr. Alatorre is from his novel An Angel On Her Shoulder, used with permission.

    A book put together with the sole purpose of reminding readers what the horror genre is really about. Each author was told they could write about any subject matter they wanted so long as it was set in a world of horror. The only rule they had: No Paranormal Romance. Vampires do not sparkle, werewolves do not date, Witches do not scour Tinder for Virgins and ghosts do not declare their undying love whilst tidying the apartment... This is horror... Featuring work from: Brian Lumley, Adam Nevill, Guy N. Smith Ramsey Campbell, Gary McMahon, Shaun Hutson, J. R Park, Peter McKeirnon, Jim Goforth, Wrath James White, Craig Saunders, Matt Hickman, Sam West, Kit Power, Daniel Marc Chant, Matt Shaw, Adam Millard, Anton Palmer, Clare Riley Whitfield, Jaime Johnesee, Jeff Strand, Andrew Freudenberg, Michael Bray Shane McKenzie.

    There's something horrible in that storm over the ocean. What does "feed the pig" mean? What are those ropes in the sky? Why is Dad acting so funny? In these dark tales you will experience every type of horror imaginable. It is so gruesome, frightening, and demented that only the bravest of readers will make it through these pages.

    Brite, author of Exquisite Corpse and Love in Vein, among others, features anew story, Monday's Special. Poppy contributed story notes as well as the Preface.

    Romero reminds us, “There was a collection of stories called Book of the Dead, in which horror and science-fiction writers came together and wrote short stories about what was happening to other people on that first night (as depicted) in Night of the Living Dead.” Noted authors such as Joe R. Lansdale, Stephen King, Robert R. McCammon, and Douglas E. Winter use their macabre vision to bring us those stories. Forwarded by the Godfather himself, this anthology imbeds itself in the cannon of zombie lore.

    What if the prophecies of Revelation hit today? What sort of craziness and evil would ensue? With this list of excellent authors contributing, it’s sure to be a Hell of a read! Wrath James White Sam West The Sisters of Slaughter Jeff Strand K Trap Jones C Derick Miller Christine Morgan Patrick C. Harrison III John Wayne Comunale Hyäne Sawbones Delphine Quinn James Watts Wile E. Young Chris Miller Mark Deloy Richard Raven

    But what happens where the human world touches the domain of races ancient and alien? Museum curators, surveyors, police officers, archaeologists, mathematicians; from derelict buildings to country houses to the London Underground, another world is just a breath away, around the corner, watching and waiting for you to step into its power. The Private Life of Elder Things is a collection of new Lovecraftian fiction about confronting, discovering and living alongside the creatures of the Mythos.

    The stories are: The Beckoning Fair One, Phantas, Rooum, Benlian, Io, The Accident, The Cigarette Case, & Hic Jacket.Excerpt: ...off!" he ordered me. "I'll send for you again when I want you!" He thrust me out. "An asylum, Mr. Benlian," I thought as I crossed the yard, "is the place for you!" You see, I didn't know him then, and that he wasn't to be judged as an ordinary man is. Just you wait till you see.... And straight away, I found myself vowing that I'd have nothing more to do with him. I found myself resolving that, as if I were making up my mind not to smoke or drink-and (I don't know why) with a similar sense that I was depriving myself of something. But, somehow, I forgot, and within a month he'd been in several times to see me, and once or twice had fetched me in to see his statue. In two months I was in an extraordinary state of mind about him. I was familiar with him in a way, but at the same time I didn't know one scrap more about him. Because I'm a fool (oh, yes, I know quite well, now, what I am) you'll think I'm talking folly if I even begin to tell you what sort of a man he was. I don't mean just his knowledge (though I think he knew everything-sciences, languages, and all that) for it was far more than that. Somehow, when he was there, he had me all restless and uneasy; and when he wasn't there I was (there's only the one word for it) jealous-as jealous as if he'd been a girl! Even yet I can't make it out.... And he knew how unsettled he'd got me; and I'll tell you how I found that out. Straight out one night, when he was sitting up in my place, he asked me: "Do you like me, Pudgie?" (I forgot to say that I'd told him they used to call me Pudgie at home, because I was little and fat; it was odd, the number of things I told him that I wouldn't have told anybody else.) "Do you like me, Pudgie?" he said. As for my answer, I don't know how it spurted out. I was much more surprised than he was, for I really didn't intend it. It was for all the world as if somebody else was talking with my mouth. "I loathe and adore you!" it came; and then I looked round,...

    Here before you lie several tales involving bone collectors, pagan witches, werewolves, skeletal bison, and cloned children. It is up to you to decipher between fact and fiction as the author has woven historical facts into his narratives. With his debut horror collection, Cheyenne & Arapaho author Shane Hawk explores themes of family, grief, loneliness, and identity through the lens of indigenous life.Early copies of this book were 104 pages.New copies of this book are 140 pages.I increased font and line spacing to give the book enough space for spine text so people can enjoy it on their shelves.Pages aren't important, though, what matters is word count:This work has 21k~ words.

    Discover—if you dare—shockingly twisted tales of the human body that make The Twilight Zone seem like a children's show. In Body Shocks, you will find twenty-nine chilling tales from storytelling masters including Carmen Maria Machado, Richard Kadrey, Seanan McGuire, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Tananarive Due, Cassandra Khaw, Christopher Fowler, and many more.The most terrifying thing that you can possibly imagine is your own body in the hands of a monster. Or worse, in the hands of another human being.In these 29 tales of body horror selected by World Horror Grandmaster Ellen Datlow, you'll find the unthinkable, the shocking, and more: a couture designer preparing for an exquisitely grotesque runway show; a vengeful son seeking the parent who bred him as plasma donor; a celebrity-kink brothel that inflicts plastic surgery on sex workers; and organ-harvesting doctors who dissect a living man without anesthetic.Table of Contents: The Travellers Stay by Ray CluleyToother by Terry DowlingPainlessness by Kirstyn McDermottYou Go Where It Takes You by Nathan BallingrudA Positive by Kaaron WarrenLa Beauté sans verte by Genevieve ValentineSubsumption by Lucy TaylorSpar by Kij JohnsonIt Was the Heat by Pat CadiganAtwater by Cody GoodfellowThe Transfer by Edward BryantWelcome to Mengele’s by Simon BestwickBlack Neurology: A Love Story by Richard KadreyCuckoo by Angela SlatterCinereous by Livia LlewellynThe Truth That Lies Under Skin and Meat by Cassandra KhawNatural Skin by Alyssa WongThe Lake by Tananarive DueI’m Always Here by Richard Christian MathesonThe Look by Christopher FowlerThe Old Women Who Were Skinned by Carmen Maria MachadoSpores by Seanan McGuireSweet Subtleties by Lisa L. HannettElegy For a Suicide by Caitlín R. KiernanSkin City by Gemma FilesA True Friend by Brian EvensonWhat I Found in the Shed by Tom JohnstoneFabulous Beasts by Priya SharmaTissue Ablation and Variant Regeneration: A Case Report by Michael Blumlein

    He's not sure who put him there or why, he just knows that he needs to escape.WELCOME TO PARADISE (August) - A young woman with psychic powers and her three friends become stranded in a town where the people won't let them leave.VOODOO ASSASSIN (September) - A woman seeking revenge for the death of her sister finds her answer in a strange assassin.THE SPIRIT OF HALLOWEEN (October) - Three friends try to outdo each other with frights on Halloween night.RATTRAP (November) - A young couple believes they have rats in the walls of their house - but their pest problem is much worse than they ever imagined.THE VENDING MACHINE (December) - Nine year old Sammy discovers a broken vending machine that seems to grant his wishes, but he must be very careful what he wishes for.

    Featuring seven reprints, a brand new story "The Toll", an introduction, and rounded out by the author's recommended reading and viewing lists, DEAD LEAVES makes for the perfect autumnal read.