In "Mercury Rain" a soldier fighting a new enemy learns the importance of holding on to his memories. "Blackwater," the title story of the collection, is an homage to Stephen King's short story, "Graveyard Shift," and it tells the tale of Paul Hawkins, a mine worker who disturbs something terrifying in the Blackwater Hills of Durham, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1976.

    Handle with extreme caution. Exposure to its contents can cause severe damage to one’s health. When you’re forty-five, getting divorced, and disillusioned from years of soul-sucking work in corporate America, there isn’t much to look forward to. With his personal life just as deep in the dumps as his professional life, Mike Ashbrook figures a janitorial job would be somehow fitting, but what he finds is a different kind of clean-up service. Now Mike is wrist-deep in human waste. As a crime-scene cleaner, when the police are done, his job is just beginning. His biggest problem now, besides wiping up blood, guts, and other nastiness, is his new co-worker, Sage. She’s young, beautiful, and the only other employee who doesn’t quit after a week. She may also be totally insane. Sage is not just an enigma—she’s toxic. Toxic Love is a darkly comic and erotic nightmare from the master of blood-soaked horror, Kristopher Triana. Throughout this tale of perversion, gore, necrophilia and even some mobsters, Triana pens powerful characters who will move you just as deeply as they’ll repulse you. This Valentine’s Day, get toxic! What have you got to lose? After all, you know what they say: No Guts, No Glory Hole!

    Featuring a rare story by Anne Rice, a classic chiller by Edith Wharton, and song lyrics by Sting, this eclectic and original collection of vampire stories covers the gamut of genres, from the dark pleasures of Shakespeare to the twilight terrors of Rod Serling.

    Short Sentence was launched in 2012 by Bloomsbury Publishing, in association with the Writers' and Artists' Yearbook. Following a short story written by one of Bloomsbury's brilliant crime authors, competitors were challenged to take up the same theme and write of a dastardly deed using 1000 words or less. This is Bloomsbury's collection of the winning entries in parallel with the five brilliant authors, Parker Bilal, Conor Fitzgerald, Anne Zouroudi, Thomas Mogford and James Runcie.

    In the spirit of that iconic, timeless show, these mysterious and gripping narratives explore parallel worlds, faraway planets, dystopian societies, and unsettling reality.•A toddler shifts through parallel worlds, changing into different versions of herself. What would a mother do for her daughter?•A chef finds an alternate food source on a remote world. When the new chef arrives, will he be forced to reveal a horrific secret?•A twelve-year-old Earth girl is randomly chosen to rule the galaxy. Why are galactic administrators so desperate to stop her?•Humanity is on trial, annihilation at stake. Can an underdog alien lawyer save us?•Time seems to stand still as a young boy bikes with his troubled friend. Is the friend causing this phenomenon—and what if he doesn’t stop it?Explore space and time—and confront humanity’s deepest fears—with Ten Tales of a Dark Tomorrow.

    . . and the flies. They had no idea why anybody would want to live there, but then they met Greg Lupescu, the new kid who had moved in. He looked strange, his father was never around, and he had this creepy butler named Karl. Soon, however, he became their close friend.SOMETHING IS KILLING PEOPLEFirst, a young boy goes missing . . .Soon after, the boy's abusive deadbeat father is slaughtered . . .And his grieving mother burns to death in an unnatural fire . . .People are dying all over Bristol, Massachusetts and the boys are beginning to realize that it all started when the Lupescus moved to town.SOMETIMES YOU CAN'T FIGHT YOUR DESTINYBen and little sister Eve can sense that a dark storm looms on the horizon threatening to engulf Bristol, and at its center stands his new friend. Can they all help Greg resist the sinister forces against him, or in the end will he choose to succumb and embrace an Eternal Darkness?

    Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels thrilller series (Whiskey Sour, Bloody Mary, Rusty Nail, Dirty Martini, Fuzzy Navel, Cherry Bomb, Shaken, Stirred, Rum Runner, Last Call) offers a gigantic 180,000 word collection of sixty-five previously published short stories from the thriller, horror, and comedy genres, including many from his award-winning series.Stories to make you laugh, scream, cringe, think, scratch your head, and roll your eyes. This collection has something to please every type of Kindle reader, and is an inexpensive way to get introduced to the author and his work.Contents include:INTRODUCTION by JA KonrathJACK DANIELS AND FRIENDSOn the Rocks - Jack Daniels solves a locked room mysteryWhelp Wanted - Harry McGlade becomes a dognapperStreet Music - Phineas Troutt hunts a prostituteThe One That Got Away - The Gingerbread Man's last victimWith a Twist - Jack Daniels solves an impossible crimeEpitaph - Phineas Troutt avenges a deathTaken to the Cleaners - Harry McGlade goofs offBody Shots - Jack Daniels at a school shootingSuffer - Phineas Troutt as a hitmanOverproof - Jack Daniels discovers what is stopping trafficBereavement - Phineas Troutt as hitmanPot Shot - Herb Benedict gets shot atLast Request - Phineas Troutt meets his matchPlanter's Punch - Jack Daniels meets Tom Schreck's Duffy DomborwskiTruck Stop - Jack Daniels meets Taylor from AFRAID and Donaldson from SERIALCRIME STORIESThe Big Guys - flash fictionThe Agreement - very nasty noirA Fistful of Cozy - a satire of the cozy genreCleansing - a crime of biblical proportionsLying Eyes - solve it yourselfPerfect Plan - solve it yourselfPiece of Cake - solve it yourselfAnimal Attraction - solve it yourselfBasketcase - hardboiled horrorUrgent Reply Needed - how to deal with spammersBlaine's Deal - parody of hardboiled noirThe Confession - horrific noirHORROR STORIESFinicky Eater - nuclear holocaust and cannibalsThe Screaming - Van Helsing livesMr. Pull Ups - body modification horrorThe Shed - some losers find the door to hellThem's Good Eats - rednecks vs. aliensFirst Time - a tender coming of age storyForgiveness - the genesis of evilRedux - ghost story noirThe Bag - what's in the bag?Careful, He Bites - lyncanthrope flash fictionSymbios - sci-fi horrorA Matter of Taste - zombie flash fictionEmbrace - gothic fictionTrailer Sucks - gross out goreMarkey - psychological horrorPunishment Room - horrific suspenseShapeshifter's Anonymous - funny paranormalSERIAL - with Blake CrouchDear Diary - a dip into madnessThe Eagle - early horrorA Sound of Blunder - with F. Paul WilsonFUNNY STUFFLight Drizzle - parody of hitman storiesMr. Spaceman - science fiction satireDon't Press That Button! - essay on James BondPiranha Pool - comedy about writingWell Balanced Meal - gross out humorA Newbie's Guide to Thrillerfest - essay on writing conventionsInspector Oxnard - parody of mysteriesAppalachian Lullaby - radioactive monkeysOne Night Only - humorous sto

    Lovecraft, the most-fevered mind of 20th century horror and weirdness! These weird tales blend horror, science-fiction and fantasy to weave stories of darkness and terror that will alternately leave you checking dark spaces for hidden horrors and wondering at the nature of reality itself. From the horror/mystery of The Altar in the Hills to the private confessions and revelations of one of mankind's most brilliant minds in Through the Ether, these seven stories bring with them Old Gods, strange twists and interesting characters that will both surprise and delight fans of horror fiction.

    

    Anacondas, piranha, giant crocodiles/alligators/lizards, mutated bears near nuclear power stations, prehistoric sharks. All featured heavily in books and films of the 70s and 80s, when bio-horror was at its modern peak. This anthology of military-bio-horror stories takes you back to those classic days. Think Greg McLean’s Rogue, Lake Placid, Eight-legged Freaks, Anaconda, Meg, Prophecy, Deep Blue Sea, and other films/books where people (in this case soldiers) are fighting against mutated or ultra-dangerous animals. Join some of the best writers working today, along with some SNAFU favourites, for an unnaturally good time. TOC: 1. Here There Be Monsters - Dave Beynon 2. Unborn - Justin Bell 3. The Weavers in Darkness - James A. Moore & Charles R. Rutledge 4. Kill Team Kill - Justin A Coates 5. Restless - Lee Murray 6. A Hole in the World - Tim Lebbon & Christopher Golden 7. Cargo - B. Michael Radburn 8. Vermin - Richard Lee Byers 9. The Valley of Death - David W. Amendola 10. Venom - Michael McBride

    A slim, sinister text called The King in Yellow drove those who read it to madness. Despite suppression by anxious authorities, it spread through global culture, and history itself, like a virus. Now the contagion bears hideous fruit.New Tales of the Yellow Sign expands the classic horror mythos of weird tales pioneer and Lovecraft precursor Robert W. Chambers into new vistas of unease and imagination. Over the course of eight troubling stories, writer and visionary game designer Robin D. Laws lures you into diseased timelines, impossible pasts, and the all-too-terrifying present.Sterilize your suicide chamber, harken to the remorseless clicking of your black box, and whistle for the monstrous creature that lives in your basement. The pallid mask awaits.

    His memory has been slipping, and he worries that soon he won’t remember her at all.When he finds a vintage cigar box hidden in June’s old dresser, he begins to obsess over the odd collection of knick-knacks contained inside it — but his journey to remember the past will take a horrifying turn for the worse.

    And when his nemesis Proserpine comes up from the bowels of Hell to ask for a favour, he has no choice other to help. Which is why the supernatural detective finds himself going up against The Undead, and putting his own life on the line. The Undead is a fast-paced supernatural story about 13,000 words long. Stephen Leather is one of the UK's most successful thriller writers, an ebook and Sunday Times bestseller and author of the critically acclaimed Dan “Spider’ Shepherd series and the Jack Nightingale supernatural detective novels.

    Available in deluxe hardcover edition, paperback, and eBook.  Jason Blum invited an impressive group of authors, filmmakers, and screenwriters to envision a city of their choosing . . . and to let their demons run wild.     Taken together, the provocative stories in The Blumhouse Book of Nightmares: The Haunted City create the unforgettable cityscape of a new world of horror. Disturbing, suspenseful, devious, and entertaining, each tale showcases an innovative voice featured in a definitive collection that could only come from Jason Blum.

    These stories are enthralling, expertly constructed, and very very powerful. Some will put a lump in your throat. Some will have you squirming. Some might be so intense and disturbing that they leave you no choice but to put it aside for awhile, catch your breath, and finish when you've worked up the guts.This is fiction that does far more than "entertain," and it goes far beyond what we expect when we read "horror." No haunted houses here, no pitchfork-wielding devils with horns on their heads. The only monsters are the very worst kind: humans.Table of Contents:Introduction by Edward LeeGorilla in My RoomThe Western DeadBullyListenPolaroidsSquirrely Shirley (with Lucky McKee)Group of ThirtyWinter ChildCow (with Lucky McKee)The Transformed MouseThe Right ThingAwakeThat MomentOldiesSeconds