A woman is left struggling to survive after a bear attack leaves her alone in the wilderness. A writer desperately tries to complete his book while being harassed by a relentless spirit. A poem of warning from a traveling salesman. A young boy disappears after hearing his mother calling to him from the woods and returns later that night acting strangely. This horror anthology features both supernatural and realistic situations that will make you double-check your locks at night. Before you tell yourself that these 15 original stories are just made up, rest assured knowing that one of them is inspired by true events.

    Scott Wolven is such a talent, and his raw, blistering tales of hard-bitten convicts, dodgy informers, and men running from the law make for "the most exciting, authentic collection of short stories I have read in years," says George Pelecanos. Brooding, edgy, and sometimes violent, Controlled Burn's loosely linked stories are each in some way a distillation of hard time -- spent either in prison, the backwoods of Vermont, or the badlands of the American West. Peopled by boxers, drunks, truck drivers, murderers, bounty hunters, drifters traveling under assumed names, and men whose luck ran out a thousand miles ago, these stories feel hard-won from life, and if they are moody and stark, so too are they filled with human longing. Controlled Burn is divided into two sections: "The Northeast Kingdom" and "The Fugitive West." In each, Scott Wolven reveals a broken world where there is no bottom left to hit. In the haunting "Outside Work Detail," convicts stoically dig graves for their fellow prisoners yet reserve their deepest grief for the senseless death of a deer. "Crank" introduces Red Green, a maniacally brilliant addict who brews his own crystal meth in a backwoods lab, and whose high-energy antics inspire both cautious admiration and mortal fear in his business associates. In "Ball Lightning Reported," Red Green's ultimate fate is revealed. In "Atomic Supernova," a revenge-obsessed sheriff deputizes a known cop-killer to help him hunt down a counterfeiter and drug lord. The unexpectedly tender and heartbreaking "The Copper Kings" concerns a father facing the dark truth behind his son's disappearance. And in "Vigilance," a hunted man struggles to escape his past, always yearning for an honorable yet perhaps unreachable future. Powered by a spare, ruminative prose style that recalls the best of Denis Johnson and Thom Jones, Controlled Burn is an unforgettable debut.

    Whether the stories are familiar to readers or discovered for the first time, readers will revel in Edgar Allan Poe’s classic tales, and how they’ve been brought to life in 13 unique and unforgettable ways.Contributors include Kendare Blake (reimagining “Metzengerstein”), Rin Chupeco (“The Murders in the Rue Morge”), Lamar Giles (“The Oval Portrait”), Tessa Gratton (“Annabel Lee”), Tiffany D. Jackson (“The Cask of Amontillado”), Stephanie Kuehn (“The Tell-Tale Heart”), Emily Lloyd-Jones (“The Purloined Letter”), Hillary Monahan (“The Masque of the Red Death”), Marieke Nijkamp (“Hop-Frog”), Caleb Roehrig (“The Pit and the Pendulum”), and Fran Wilde (“The Fall of the House of Usher”).

     Hit the road with this anthology of trucking horror fiction!

    Was it an accident or something more sinister?If you like short stories, try this free collection, from the best selling crime, thriller and mystery author Wendy Cartmell. It's an excellent introduction to the best-selling Sgt Major Crane crime thriller series, perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott and Robert Dugoni.What readers are saying about No Mercy"Excellent read from a slick pacey writer - leaves you wanting more!" Andrew ButlerCartmell Rocks! This collection of short stories showcases Wendy Cartmell's fresh style and engaging prose. She presents a variety of situations of people caught in intriguing circumstances. The author delivers a twist to many of her stories in this collection.Ed Benjamin Author

    The individual copyright date for each story ranges from 1925 to 1987."The Queen of Sheba’s Nightmare" by Bertrand Russell "The Brazen Locked Room" by Isaac Asimov "Sir Dominick’s Bargain" by Sheridan LeFanu "Tapestry" by C. H. Sherman "Seven Come Heaven?" by Diane Wnorowska "The Temptation of Harringay" by H.G. Wells "The Tenancy of Mr. Eex" by Paula Volsky "The Demon Lover" by Anonymous "The Imitation Demon" by Robert Kuttner "Just a Little Thing" by Joan Vander Putten "The Devil’s Wager" by William Makepeace Thackeray "Rachaela" by Poul Anderson"Hell-Bent" by Ford McCormack "Damned Funny" by Marvin Kaye "Me, Tree" by Morgan Llywelyn "Enoch" by Robert Bloch "Catmagic" by M. Lucie Chin "The Hound" by H. P. Lovecraft "The Princess and Her Future" by Tanith Lee "Novel of the White Powder" by Arthur Machen "The Celery Stalk in the Cellar" by Saralee Terry "The Vampire Cat of Nabeshima" by Bernhardt J. Hurwood "Caliban’s Revenge" by Darrell Schweitzer "The Trilling Princess" by Jessica Amanda Salmonson "The Graveyard Rats" by Henry Kuttner "Daddy" by Earl Godwin "The Well-Meaning Mayor" by Leslie Charteris "A Madman" by Maurice Level "The Devilish Rat" by Edward Page Mitchell "Rokuro-Kubi" by Lafcadio Hearn "The Burial of the Rats" by Bram Stoker "High-Tech Insolence" by Russell Baker "Ulalume" by Edgar Allan Poe "Boogie Man" by Tappan King "The Maze and the Monster" by Edward D. Hoch "Father Meuron’s Tale" by Robert Hugh Benson "The Philosophy of Sebastian Trump or, the Art of Outrage" by William E. Kotzwinkle and Robert Shiarella "Don Juan’s Final Night" by Edmond Rostand "A Friend in Need" by W. Somerset Maugham "Armageddon" by Fredric Brown"Secret Worship" by Algernon Blackwood"Devil in the Drain" by Daniel Manus Pinkwater"I Am Returning" by Ray Russell"The Shadow Watchers" by Dick Baldwin"The Demons" by Robert Sheckley"A Ballad of Hell" by John Davidson"The Generous Gambler" by Charles Pierre Baudelaire"A Midnight Visitor" by John Kendrick Bangs"Markheim" by Robert Louis Stevenson"Lost Soul" by Jay Sheckley"The Last Demon" by Isaac Bashevis Singer"Influencing The Hell Out Of Time And Teresa Golowitz" by Parke Godwin

    Most often the realm of male authors writing about male vampires, over the last century the genre has seen a refreshing swing toward authors of both sexes exploring the other side of the vampiric gender—the women of the night.The sixteen stories collected within these pages are among the very best of their kind, from many of the best fantasy and horror authors writing today. From an encounter with a predatory spouse in a New England storm to a continuation of the Dracula story featuring a completely different tale of love, longing and loss, these stories explore both what it is to be female, human—and vampire, and often all at the same time.The selected stories include: "One for the Road" by Stephen King. The regulars at Tookey’s Bar know better than to wander around Jerusalem’s Lot—especially at night. But when a husband needs help during a snowstorm, they travel into the heart of the blizzard ... and an encounter with pure evil. <?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O /> "Sister Death" by Jane Yolen. Even the heart of a millennia-old vampire who accompanies the Angel of Death on his appointed rounds can be swayed by the yearning look of a young child. "Queen of the Night" by Gene Wolfe. The lady in white came for the boy in the dead of night, spiriting him away to her dark castle, wherehe would experience such things that would change his life forever... "Do Not Hasten to Bid Me Adieu" by Norman Partridge. The real story of what happened after the events of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula is told against the vast, wild Texas frontier, as one of Dracula’s hunters returns home to claim everything that is his ... including his one true love.  With stories by:Stephen King    *      Neil Gaiman    *     Eric Van Lustbader    *     Philip K. Dick    *   Nina Kiriki Hoffman    *     Kristine Kathryn Rusch     *     Nancy Holder    *    Tanith Lee    *    Gene Wolfe    *    P. D. Cacek    *    Jane Yolen    *    Susan Shwartz    *   Tanya Huff    *    Esther M. Friesner    *    Roxanne Longstreet    *    Norman Partridge

    Enter the twisted world of the New York Times bestselling Asylum series with these three spine-tingling novellas starring supporting characters from the novels, available in a print bind-up for the first time.In The Scarlets, Cal is drawn into New Hampshire College’s twisted secret society—one with a deadly initiation.In The Bone Artists, Oliver tries to make a little extra money for college by working for a seedy organization that traffics in human bones.In The Warden, a young nurse starts a new job at the Brookline asylum, but soon becomes suspicious of its unorthodox procedures.…Be careful where you go digging in history. Sometimes the past is better off buried.This edition also includes a bonus sneak peek at Escape from Asylum, a prequel to the mind-bending novel that started it all.

    SpaceshipPiper in the Woods

    Perchance to Dream contains a selection of Beaumont’s finest stories, including five that he later adapted for Twilight Zone episodes.Beaumont dreamed up fantasies so vast and varied they burst through the walls of whatever box might contain them. Supernatural, horror, noir, science fiction, fantasy, pulp, and more: all were equally at home in his wondrous mind. These are stories where lions stalk the plains, classic cars rove the streets, and spacecraft hover just overhead. Here roam musicians, magicians, vampires, monsters, toreros, extraterrestrials, androids, and perhaps even the Devil himself. With dizzying feats of master storytelling and joyously eccentric humor, Beaumont transformed his nightmares and reveries into impeccably crafted stories that leave themselves indelibly stamped upon the walls of the mind. In Beaumont’s hands, nothing is impossible: it all seems plausible, even likely.

    The original ISBN is 1523255277, COLLECTING THREE OF LUKE SMITHERD'S BOOKS; HOLD ON UNTIL YOUR FINGERS BREAK, THE MAN ON TABLE TEN, AND MY NAME IS MISTER GRIEF, PLUS EXCLUSIVE BONUS STORY THE CRASH, UNAVAILABLE ANYWHERE ELSE!Luke Smitherd is bringing his unique brand of strange storytelling once again, delivered here in an omnibus edition that collects four of his weirdest and darkest tales:MY NAME IS MISTER GRIEF: what if you could get rid of your pain immediately? What price would you be prepared to pay?HOLD ON UNTIL YOUR FINGERS BREAK: a hangover, a forgotten night out, old men screaming in the street, and a mystery with a terrible, terrible answer ...THE MAN ON TABLE TEN: he has a story to tell you. One that he has kept secret for decades. But now, the man on table ten can take no more, and the knowledge - as well as the burden - is now yours.EXCLUSIVE story, THE CRASH: if you put a dent in someone's car, the consequences can be far greater - and more strange - than you expect.

    Over time he has learned to accept his confinement. After all, it is no more than he deserves given the heinous nature of his previous crimes. However, when a new member of the nursing staff begins taking an interest in Tommy, he learns things previously kept from him: Like why he is being permanently dosed with meds. How, and why, his parents really died. And is it just a coincidence his earlier crimes occurred at the time of a full moon? Nurse Jenny informs Tommy about the true nature of his world: Secret Government cabals, and their plans for a New World Order; the murder of his parents, and facing up to the reality of his life as a werewolf. Then, when she thinks he is ready, she tells him the biggest secret of all: Nurse Jenny has a way out of Broad-lands. But, as is often the case, nothing comes without a price. What is the real motivation for her aiding Tommy's escape? A tale of horror that unfolds beneath the light of a full moon.

    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

    From dark fantasy and pure suspense to classic horror tales of vampires and zombies, 999 showcases the extraordinary scope of fantastical fright fiction. The stories in this anthology are a relentless tour de force of fear, which will haunt you, terrify you, and keep the adrenaline rushing all through the night.Amerikanski dead at the Moscow morgue / Kim Newman --The ruins of contracoeur / Joyce Carol Oates --The owl and the pussycat / Thomas M. Disch --The road virus heads north / Stephen King --Keepsakes and treasures: a love story / Neil Gaiman --Growing things / T.E.D. Klein --Good Friday / F. Paul Wilson --Excerpts from the records of the New Zodiac and the diaries of Henry Watson Fairfax / Chet Williamson --An exaltation of termagants / Eric Von Lustbader --Itinerary / Tim Powers --Catfish gal blues / Nancy A. Collins --The entertainment / Ramsey Campell --ICU / Edward Lee --The shadow, the darkness / Thomas Ligotti --Rio Grande Gothic / David Morrell --Des Saucisses, Sans doute / Peter Schneider --Angie / Ed Gorman --The ropy thing / Al Sarrantonio --The tree is my hat / Gene Wolfe --Styx and bones / Edward Bryant --Hemophage / Steven Spurill --The book of irrational numbers / Michael Marshall Smith --Mad dog summer / Joe R. Lansdale --The Theater / Bentley Little --Rehearsals / Thomas F. Monteleone --Darkness / Dennis L. McKiernan --Elsewhere / William Peter Blatty

    Jekyll and Mr. Hyde --The Suicide Club --The bottle imp --The body-snatcher --Olalla.