P. Lovecraft, this stylish new collection of adventure stories fizzes with wit and invention. They can be enjoyed separately, but read them in one sitting and the pieces fit horribly together into a larger and more terrible nightmare. †These tales constitute David Hambling’s initial foray into the realm of Lovecraftian fiction. The fertility of imagination, the crisp character delineations, and the smooth-flowing prose that we find in these seven tales leave us wishing for more of the same, and Hambling will no doubt oblige in the coming years. For now, we can sit back and relish a brace of stories that not only evoke the shade of the dreamer from Providence, but which that dreamer himself would have enjoyed to the full. —S. T. Joshi(from his foreword)

    Star ship Raptor One carries a crew of humans and feline humanoids. The Narovian felines can and have interbred with humans during all that time. Many felines have found their true mates among the Earthers. Immediately on recognition, the felines give off pheromones that cause their true mates to desire them sexually so intensely that they must mate almost immediately. Once Narovians started finding their meomee or true mates there a savvy businessman found away to profit from it. The Narovian Genetic Matchmaking Agency has set up shop on Earth, under the guise of genetic testing for ancestral origins and genetic markers for disease. This brings a new set of challenges to the crew of Raptor One under feline Captain Dargan Merrek as they protect Earth from alien hostiles amid sexy encounters with true mates. NO cliff hanger

    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.

    Misplaced trust. Pure evil.After reading these 9 chilling tales this Halloween, how many times will you soothe yourself in the dark thinking "there are no monsters"?

     The Billionaire Dragon Shifter's Mate A BBW in search of adventure + a dragon shifter in search of a mate + a mishap on a mountainside = one sparkling and sexy story! Curvy Cara Linley left her boring life in Iowa in search of adventure, but she only found loneliness in new and different places. She thinks there's no fairy tales left for a girl like her-- until she gets stranded on a mountainside, and a gorgeous hero comes to her rescue. Billionaire dragon shifter Gus Gray has all the treasure a dragon could desire, but even his hoard of glittering gold has lost its shine, with no mate to share it with. Can an ordinary princess and a lonely dragon find their happily ever after? Beauty and the Billionaire Dragon Shifter A BBW who's new in town + a dragon shifter who's new to being human + a very confused dog named Mouse = one sexy fairy tale romance! Curvy science teacher Becca Stafford has just moved to Gray's Hollow for a new job. Over tea with the mayor's wife, she soon learns the town's biggest secret--it's the home of two dragon shifters, the mayor and his brother Ilie. As soon as she meets Ilie, without so much as a true love's kiss, he transforms into a gorgeous (and naked) man. Billionaire dragon shifter Ilie Gray has lived as a dragon since he was a child. His mother always told him that someday he would meet a woman worth turning human for, but he never thought it would happen when he recognized his mate in a single glance. He also never thought that changing into a human might cost him the friendship of his dog Mouse. Becca seems happy with his human form, but can she love a man who still sometimes wants to be a beast? The Billionaire Dragon Shifter's Christmas A curvy newlywed wife + a dragon shifter mayor + a small town Christmas celebration = one snowy, sexy holiday romance! Cara Gray, formerly Cara Linley, is settling into life as the wife of a small town mayor who also happens to be a dragon shifter. She has just one problem: her first Christmas with her new husband. What do you give the billionaire dragon who already has everything--including your heart? Gus Gray is the happiest of dragons: he has his mate, his hoard, and even a little dragonet on the way. But Christmas is coming, and he needs to give Cara a gift that a human will love. Can a dragon learn that there are things worth more than gold? Choosing the Billionaire Dragon Shifters A BBW in a small town + twin dragon shifters in need of a mate to share + the most hotly contested mayoral election Gray's Hollow has ever seen = one sexy story that's a win/win/win! Hannah Cole has been the Deputy Mayor of Gray's Hollow for four years, and with the current mayor stepping down, she's about to get a new boss. Twin dragon shifters Radu and Sorin Gray are coming back to town after years away. When Hannah finally meets the twins for the first time she's stunned to realize that she's destined for both of them, but it makes for an easy choice! Sorin Gray first recognized his mate four years ago, when he saw a spirited and full-figured redhead running for mayor against his brother. She lost the election, but Sorin knew Hannah was meant for him--but he thought that meant his twin brother Radu was out in the cold. When they find out Hannah is meant for them both, it seems like their happily ever after is a sure thing--until Hannah finds out Sorin and Radu have been holding back, and she wonders if destiny leaves her any room to choose.

    Elrod's picked 15 of her favorite short works for this multi-genre collection spanning 15 years of publication.Also included is a never before published VAMPIRE FILES story, featuring her urban fantasy vampire PI, Jack Fleming!Each story has been polished afresh for this anthology, with pages of new material added.More information -- and previews of the stories! -- may be found at her website vampwriter-dot-com.Titles:1. A Night at the (Horse) Opera (Vampire Files, Fleming)2. The Breath of Bast (Vampire Files), Ecsott)3. Bossman (Original mystery, no vamps)4. Slaughter (Vampire Files, Fleming & Gordy)5. The Devil's Mark (Original historical vampire)6. You'll Catch Your Death (Vampire Files)7. Izzy's Shoe-In (Historical mystery introducing Izzy DeLeon, fearless girl reporter)8. The Quick Way Down (Vampire Files, Fleming and Gordy)9. The Scottish Ploy (Original romance/mystery)10. Grave-Robbed (Vampire Files, Fleming)11. The Company You Keep (Vampire Files, Gabriel Kroun)12. Death in Dover (Jonathan Barrett before he got vamped, historical mystery)13. Drawing Dead (ALL NEW VAMPIRE FILES, Fleming)14. King of Shreds and Patches (Hamlet from a different point of view, mystery)15. Fugitive (Science fiction/space opera)16. BONUS STORY! The Wind Breathes Cold (Quincey Morris: Vampire)

    Some live boring. Some even die boring. Fred managed to do all three, and when he woke up as a vampire, he did so as a boring one. Timid, socially awkward, and plagued by self-esteem issues, Fred has never been the adventurous sort.One fateful night – different from the night he died, which was more inconvenient than fateful – Fred reconnects with an old friend at his high school reunion. This rekindled relationship sets off a chain of events thrusting him right into the chaos that is the parahuman world, a world with chipper zombies, truck driver wereponies, maniacal necromancers, ancient dragons, and now one undead accountant trying his best to “survive.” Because even after it’s over, life can still be a downright bloody mess.

    What's the seating plan when rival clans of werewolves and vampires meet under the same roof? How can a couple in the throes of love overcome traps set by feuding relatives---who are experts at voodoo? Will you have a good marriage if your high-seas wedding is held on a cursed ship? How do you deal with a wedding singer who's just a little too good at impersonating Elvis? Shape-shifters, wizards, and magic, oh my!"The Wedding of Wylda Serene" / Esther Friesner"All Shook Up" /P.N. Elrod"Tacky" / Charlaine Harris"A Hard Day's Night-Searcher" / Sherrilyn Kenyon"Something Borrowed" / Jim Butcher"Spellbound" / L.A. Banks"Dead Man's Chest" / Rachel Caine"Charmed by the Moon" / Lori Handeland"...Or Forever Hold Your Peace" / Susan Krinard

    "New York Times "bestselling authors Gregory Maguire, Garth Nix, Susan Beth Pfeffer, Carrie Ryan, Beth Revis, and Jane Yolen are among the many popular and award-winning storytellers lending their talents to this original and spellbinding anthology. Introduction by Genevieve ValentineThe SegmentAfter the Cure by Carrie RyanValedictorian by N. K. JemisinVisiting Nelson by Katherine LangrishAll I Know of Freedom by Carol EmshwillerThe Other Elder by Beth RevisThe Great Game at the End of the World by Matthew KresselReunion by Susan Beth PfefferBlood Drive by Jeffrey FordReality Girl by Richard BowesHow Th’irth Wint Rong by Hapless Joey @ Homeskool.guv by Richard BowesRust with Wings by Steven GouldFaint Heart by Sarah Rees BrennanThe Easthound by Nalo HopkinsonGray by Jane YolenBefore by Carolyn DunnFake Plastic Trees by Caitlín R. KiernanYou Won’t Feel a Thing by Garth NixThe Marker by Cecil Castellucci

    Some of the stories are inspired by true events and some are inspired by ideas of my dear readers! Find out which ones inside this scary collection."BABYSITTER"Rachel was just a regular teenager living a normal life, when the new, rich family moved into town. They had 2 children and were looking for a babysitter. She thought it would be a nice way to get some money. What was in store for her, however, was a bloody and shocking night to remember."DARK SIDE"Selene and Damien seemed like a normal couple, but Damien started to act weirdly and spent a lot of time in his price room where he did his job. Damien was an artist and needed his private area. What was Damien actually doing in his private room was more terrifying than Selene could ever have imagined."THE CURSE OF HERNANDEZ"A newly married couple found the perfect home to call their own. While cleaning out the upstairs attic the husband discovers an old suitcase. Upon opening, they find the remains of documents and papers with their last name on them- Hernandez. Strange, but they decided to ignore it and throw the suitcase away. They should have never done this because that is when strange things started to happen.

    A man finds his remote cabin being terrorized by a woman who only says the same three words over and over... Billions of miles from Earth, a computer must make a difficult decision about a spaceship's last surviving crew-member... As she struggles to look after her dying daughter, a mother notices strange noises in the house... In the ruins of a planet ravaged by alien invasion, a young girl must decide whether to fight, or to simply try to stay alive... After moving into a new house with her parents, young Cally Taylor realizes that perhaps one of the previous occupants never left... On a remote mountain road, a woman comes face to face with a dead, frozen woman in a wrecked car... The Vampire of Downing Street and Other Ghost Stories contains the new stories The Vampire of Downing Street, The Decision, Pets, Frozen Charlotte, When Ghosts Dream and Let Me In, as well as a revised version of Tenderling.

    GreenLovely - John StraleyThe Price - Anne BishopFairy Dust - Charlaine HarrisThe Judgement - Anne PerryThe Sorcerer's Assassin - Sharon ShinnThe Boy Who Chased Seagulls - Michael ArmstrongPalimpsest - Laura Anne GilmanThe Death of Clickclickwhistle - Mike DOoganCairene Dawn - Jay CaselbergJustice is a Two-edged Sword - Dana StabenowAbout the Authors

    Parker, Tessa Gratton, Heidi Heilig, Julie Murphy, Mark Oshiro, Rebecca Roanhorse, Laura Ruby, Victoria “V. E.” Schwab, and Kayla Whaley.

    He’s in love with his work colleague Melanie and his only friend Gary is a conspiracy theory nut. His life is going nowhere until he has a Near Death Experience - though Death thinks of it as a Near Dave Experience. He discovers gifts he never knew he possessed and a world he never dreamed existed. A world where the Grim Reaper is a hard drinking, grumpy Billy Joel fan and the undead are bored, lonely and dangerous. This box set contains the first 3 stories in the How To Be Dead series: How To Be Dead Paper Cuts Old Haunts They tell the story of Death and his office staff protecting humanity from ghosts, zombies, vampires and medium-sized apocalypses. After a nice cup of tea and a biscuit. “Dave Turner is a funny man and ‘How To Be Dead’ is a brilliant read.” “If Neil Gaiman and Simon Pegg sat down to write a story together they might come up with something like this.” “Hilarious and unexpectedly moving.” “Laugh out loud funny… It’s been a while since an author has made me laugh more than Pratchett does.”

    Imagine a drug that flips the valleys and makes them peaks, too. You react now to an event based not on the pleasure or pain that it brings, but solely on the intensity of the emotion created. Pain brings pleasure, grief gives joy, horror renders ecstasy.Now give this drug to a soldier. Tell them to kill. Not in the historically acceptable murder of war, but in a systematic corporate strategy--of xenocide.They will kill. And they will revel in it.Welcome to the world of Scream.Jason Trelayne is a Screamer, a soldier forced to take part in the destruction of entire races. But when Trelayne falls in love with a beautiful Scream Angel, an alien who produces the addictive drug, he sets off a chain of events that pits him and a small group of followers against an empire.An award winning novelette of rebellion, love, and an unlikely hero."A dark and powerful story with a first line that sets the tone for what is to come: 'They stopped beating Trelayne when they saw that he enjoyed it.' (A++)" --Fantasy Book Critic"A visceral work. A true pearl of the fantastic literature. Breath-taking." --Café de Ontem"...the book's most skillfully crafted story...quickly becomes one that holds the reader's attention until the very end." --SpecFicWorld"...remind me of the reasons I love the author's writing: his characterization, attention to detail and recurring themes of love, faith and redemption." --SF Crowsnest Reviews"The story has so many layers that I'm still sorting them out. And like an onion, I'm not sure if I'll ever find the final layer." --Tangent Online"One of those rare ideas that seems at once so perfect and so natural that someone must have come up with it before; but if someone has, I haven't heard about it, and regardless Smith exploits the potential of the idea extraordinarily well here." --Strange Horizons