Includes new stories by Larry Correia and Jim Butcher! Come visit the Old West, the land where gang initiations, ride-by shootings and territory disputes got their start. But these tales aren't the ones your grandpappy spun around a campfire, unless he spoke of soul-sucking ghosts, steam-powered demons, and wayward aliens. Here then are seventeen stories that breathe new life in the Old West. Among them: Larry Correia explores the roots of his best-selling Monster Hunter International series in "Bubba Shackleford's Professional Monster Killers." Jim Butcher reveals the origin of one of the Dresden Files' most popular characters in "A Fistful of Warlocks." And Kevin J. Anderson's Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I., finds himself in a showdown in "High Midnight." Plus stories from Alan Dean Foster, Sarah A. Hoyt, Jody Lynn Nye, Michael A. Stackpole, and many more. This is a new Old West and you ll be lucky to get outta town alive! Contributors: David Boop Larry Correia Jody Lynn Nye Sam Knight Robert E. Vardeman Phil Foglio Nicole Kurtz Michael A. Stackpole Bryan Thomas Schmidt & Ken Scholes Maurice Broaddus Sarah A. Hoyt Alan Dean Foster David Lee Summers Kevin J. Anderson Naomi Brett Rourke Julie Campbell Peter J. Wacks Jim Butcher"

    What will you find within these pages? A photographer stumbles on a wounded troll, and attempts to nurse it back to health. A lonely girl discovers the flames in the family smithy are tied to an ancient portal between worlds. A modern woman excavates something sickening from the shower drain…and falls in love. A peculiar swamp holds restorative powers, for its avian and human inhabitants alike. It Came From the North offers a diverse selection of fifteen fantastical tales from some of Finland's most respected writers, alongside up-and-coming talents who are redefining the rules of contemporary literature. Are you ready for a journey into the uncanny? Then come discover the strangeness lurking in the land of a thousand lakes.

    WeinO for a Fiery Gloom and Thee • (1998) • short story by Brian StablefordPersephone or, Why the Winters Seem to Be Getting Longer • (1998) • short fiction by Wendy FroudPrivate Words • (1998) • novelette by Mark W. TiedemannTaking Loup • (1998) • short story by Bruce GlasscoTastings • (1998) • short story by Neil GaimanThe Eye of the Storm • (1998) • novelette by Kelley EskridgeThe Faerie Cony-Catcher • (1998) • short story by Delia ShermanThe House of Nine Doors • (1998) • short story by Ellen KushnerThe Light That Passes Through You • (1998) • short story by Conrad WilliamsThe Sweet of Bitter Bark and Burning Clove • (1998) • novelette by Doris EganWolfed • (1998) • short story by Tanith Lee

    But with dire consequences.ANGIE by John F.D. Taff - A divorced couple tries to ensure their survival after society collapses. Navigating the treacherous back roads of America, they realize the horror of true devotion.ON THE THRESHOLD by William Meikle - How far is science willing to go to prove we're not alone and possibly find the terrifying dangers that exist beyond the threshold?DOYOSHOTA by Ken Altabef - One by one the residents of a Nevada town are succumbing to the debilitating effects of a strange hum. Many believe it’s a black ops program others are convinced of its far darker origins.THIRD OFFENSE by Gregory L. Norris - In an oppressive society where creativity is banned and advertising is all-pervasive, a factory worker attempts to escape enslavement with horrifying results.METAMORPHOSIS by J. Daniel Stone - Together, a brother and sister discover the unique bond has the ability to affect humanity in the darkest of ways.WE ARE HALE, WE ARE WHOLE by Eric Del Carlo - Global climate change has reshaped the world, and multi-national corporations control every aspect of life. To what horrifying lengths will they go in the struggle to maintain profit?PURE BLOOD AND EVERGREEN by Bracken MacLeod - Victims of ethnic cleansing, two boys share a painful struggle for survival. Their actions start events that leave the lives of everyone they know hanging in a dangerous balance.JOHN, PAUL, XAVIER, IRONSIDE AND GEORGE (BUT NOT VINCENT) by Hugh A.D. Spencer - Earth is under attack by mysterious biomechanical entities. With the end near, one man spends his last days with an enigmatic client who is of great import to those in charge.AND THE HUNTER, HOME FROM THE HILL by Edward Morris - Could it be that accounts of superheroes are actually based in reality? It could be that the old man living down the street is hiding his own dark secrets.BORN BAD by Jonathan Balog - Raised by the church, Lucien harbors a frightening secret that may prove to have dire circumstances for mankind.THE LAST BASTION OF SPACE by Ewan C. Forbes - Privatization has run amok and simple pleasures come at a premium price. For one young couple there is no choice but to turn their minds over to insidious corporate control.EVERY SOUL IS A GRIMOIRE by Allen Griffin - Harvey works for a shadowy government and is responsible for a man with dangerous knowledge. Being near him is blurring his reality and opening the door to terrifying evil.FROM THE EAST by Alice Goldfuss - After global cataclysm, a scientist struggles to determine the cause. Driven by professional convictions, she finds herself in a struggle for the existence of humanity.DECIDING IDENTITY by Paul Williams - Faced with the collision of two worlds, the citizens of each are given the choice to decide who shall live and who shall die.THE LAST ELF by T. Fox Dunham - The fate of humanity rests with a sociopathic concentration camp commander. Having spent a lifetime chasing the enemies of Germany, he finds himself on the verge of his crowning achievement—ultimate extermination.

    One is the main course of dinner, another the porn star contracted to copulate in space for a reality TV show. They become futuristic ant farms, get knocked up by the star high school quarterback and have secret abortions, use parakeets to reverse amputations, make love to garden gnomes, go into air conditioning ducts to confront their mother’s ghost, and do so in settings that range from Hell to the local white-supremacist bowling alley.

    There is an openness to experiment and pushing boundaries, combined with the classic desire to read about spaceships and dragons, future technology and ancient magic, and the places where they intersect. Contemporary science fiction and fantasy looks to accomplish the same goal as ever—to illuminate what it means to be human. With a diverse selection of stories chosen by series editor John Joseph Adams and Diana Gabaldon, The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2020 explores the ever-expanding and changing world of SFF today.

    They are the fearful images that have stalked humanity's nightmares for centuries, supernatural creatures that feast on flesh and haunt the soul, macabre and uncanny beings that frighten and fascinate the imagination.Vampires, Zombies, Werewolves, and Ghosts collects classic stories from literary masters inspired by folklore and mythology who dared to explore the darker side of human nature and crafted tales that defied convention, stirred up controversy, and gave life to a storytelling genre that has endured for generations.

     Gingerbread houses, caroling carolers, brightly trimmed trees, big family dinners, pristine snowfalls-the familiar pleasures of the season. But what better pleasure is there than a good holiday story? So open this winter solstice sampler and indulge in fully festive fantasies, nightmares before Christmas, and stunning space-age celebrations. These stories will warm hearts and minds like a blazing Yule log. Fantastic Holiday Stories by Kevin J. Anderson, Mercedes Lackey, Mike Resnick, Kristine Rusch, Jonathan Maberry, Eric James Stone, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Quincy J. Allen, Ken Scholes, Sam Knight, David Boop, Heather Graham, Brad R. Torgersen, and Patricia Briggs.

    Here are some of the very best short stories and novellas by today's finest exponents of horror fiction—including Kim Newman, Neil Gaiman, Paul McAuley, Glen Hirshberg, Ramsey Campbell and Tanith Lee. The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 16 also contains the most comprehensive overview of horror around the world during the year, lists of useful contact addresses and a fascinating necrology. It is the one book that is required reading for every fan of macabre fiction.Contents:AcknowledgementsIntroduction: Horror in 2004 by Stephen JonesForbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Nameless House of the Night of Dread Desire by Neil GaimanLilies by Iain RowanBreaking Up by Ramsey Campbell"The King", in: Yellow by Brian KeeneA Trick of the Dark by Tina RathThe Mutable Borders of Love by Leslie WhatFlour White and Spindle Thin by L. H. Maynard and M. P. N. SimsTighter by Christa FaustRestraint by Stephen GallagherIsrabel by Tanith LeeThe Growlimb by Michael SheaThis Is Now by Michael Marshall SmithRemnants by Tim LebbonSafety Clowns by Glen HirshbergThe Devil of Delery Street by Poppy Z. BriteApocalypse Now, Voyager by Jay RussellStone Animals by Kelly LinkSoho Golem by Kim NewmanSpells for Halloween: An Acrostic by Dale BaileyMy Death by Lisa TuttleThe Problem of Susan by Neil GaimanNecrology: 2004 (essay) by Stephen Jones and Kim NewmanUseful Addresses (essay) by Stephen Jones

    In "Seeing Eye" by Patricia Briggs, a blind witch helps sexy werewolf Tom Franklin find his missing brother—and helps him in more ways than either of them ever suspected. And in Jim Butcher's "Last Call," wizard Harry Dresden takes on the darkest of dark powers—the ones who dare to mess with this favorite beer.For anyone who's ever wondered what lies beyond the limits of reality, who's imagined the secret spaces where witches wield fearsome magic, come and drink deep. Let yourself fall under the spell of this bewitching collection of short stories!

    No longer relegated to the fringes of literature, this explosive collection of the world’s best apocalyptic writers brings the inventors of alien invasions, devastating meteors, doomsday scenarios, and all-out nuclear war back to the bookstores with a bang.The best writers of the early 1900s were the first to flood New York with tidal waves, destroy Illinois with alien invaders, paralyze Washington with meteors, and lay waste to the Midwest with nuclear fallout. Now collected for the first time ever in one apocalyptic volume are those early doomsday writers and their contemporaries, including Neil Gaiman, Orson Scott Card, Lucius Shepard, Robert Sheckley, Norman Spinrad, Arthur C. Clarke, William F. Nolan, Poul Anderson, Fredric Brown, Lester del Rey, and more. Relive these childhood classics or discover them here for the first time. Each story details the eerie political, social, and environmental destruction of our world.

    Martin is a giant in the field of fantasy literature and one of the most exciting storytellers of our time. Now he delivers a rare treat for readers: a compendium of his shorter works, collected into two stunning volumes, that offer fascinating insight into his journey from young writer to award-winning master.Gathered here in Volume I are the very best of George R.R. Martin's early works, including never-before-published fan pieces, his Hugo, Nebula, and Bram Stoker Award-winning stories plus the original novella The Ice Dragon, from which Martin's New York Times bestselling children's book of the same title originated. A dazzling array that features extensive author commentary, Dreamsongs, Volume I, is the perfect collection for both Martin devotees and a new generation of fans.Contents:- Introduction by Gardner Dozois One: A Four-Color Fanboy (2003)- Only Kids Are Afraid of the Dark (1967)- The Fortress (2003)- And Death His Legacy (2003)Two: The Filthy Pro (2003)- The Hero (1971)- The Exit to San Breta (1972)- The Second Kind of Loneliness (1972)- With Morning Comes Mistfall (1973)Three: The Light of Distant Stars (2003)- A Song for Lya (1974)- The Stone City (1977)- This Tower of Ashes (1976)- And Seven Times Never Kill Man (1975)- Bitterblooms (1977)- The Way of Cross and Dragon (1979)Four: The Heirs of Turtle Castle (2003)- The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr (1976)- The Ice Dragon (1980)- In the Lost Lands (1982)Five: Hybrids and Horrors (2003)- Meathouse Man (1976)- Remembering Melody (1981)- Sandkings (1979)- Nightflyers (1980)- The Monkey Treatment (1983)- The Pear-Shaped Man (1987)

    Lansdale, Caitlin Kiernan, Catherynne M. Valente, Kit Reed, Ekaterina Sedia, and thirteen other fine writers to create stories unlike any they've written before. Tales to make readers shiver with fear, jump at noises in the night, keep the lights on. These twenty nightmares, brought together by two renowned editors of the dark fantastic, are delightful visions sure to send shivers down the spines of horror readers.

    The Dover Thrift Edition:"The Country of the Blind" (1904)"The Star" (1897)"The New Accelerator" (1901)"The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes" (1895)"Under the Knife" (1896)"The Queer Story of Brownlow's Newspaper" (1932)

    Aliens on Mars angry humans forget their planet.