The unnamed protagonist of the story has an irrational hatred of John Claverhouse, the moon-face man. He hates really everything about him: his face, his laugh, his entire life, and when he finds out that Claverhouse engages in illegal fishing with dynamite, he works out a scheme to kill him while making it look like an accident...The Leopard Man's Story is a short mystery story about the ingenious murder of "King" Wallace, a fearless lion-tamer as told by the "Leopard Man", a saddened leopard trainer who bears visible scars on his arms and whose personality diametrically opposes his daring profession.Other stories included are: Local Color, Amateur Night, The Minions of Midas, The Shadow and the Flash, All Gold Canyon, and Planchette.

    Now, a familiar posse runs the town called Marigold and its mining community with their sharp and newly deputized claws. After finding out that this shot of evil has infected her life again and now rules everyone still left on the mountain, she quickly begins to search for the root source of its existence, before it poisons the people and the land itself forever.

    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)

    Haunted, a collection of sixteen tales that range from classic ghost stories to portrayals of chilling psychological terror, raises the genre to the level of fine literature - complex, multi-layered, and gripping fiction that is very scary indeed. In the title story, "Haunted, " the pubescent Melissa and her best friend, the sexually precocious Mary Lou, ignore "no trespassing" signs to explore forbidden houses. But the deserted Minton farm is one place where they should not have gone, and years later Melissa is tormented by her memories of its malevolence...and the murder of Mary Lou. In the novella, "The Model, " a sexual threat seems to underlie the interaction between young Sybil Blake and "Mr. Starr, " who asks her to be his model, but the truth about her own identity, and his, shows that the danger is lurking in a different part of the heart. The "Accursed Inhabitants of the House of Bly, " a macabre reworking of Henry James's "The Turn of the Screw, " resurrects the evil of Miss Jessel and Quint, who are up to their old tricks with the children, Miles and Flora, but with new, perverse, and brilliant revelations. The tales in this collection plunge the reader into nightmare worlds where violence slips in unexpectedly, where reality turns into a funhouse mirror, and where American culture goes awry in shocking, provocative ways. Joyce Carol Oates is a master storyteller of the dark side. She writes with skillfully controlled prose, tightly woven plots, and deep psychological insight that m her fictional horror worthy to set alongside the stories of Edgar Allan Poe - and far above all the rest.Haunted --The doll --The bingo master --The white cat --The model --Extenuating circumstances --Don't you trust me --The guilty party --The premonition --Phase change --Poor Bibi --Thanksgiving --Blind --The radio astronomer --Accursed inhabitants of the House of Bly --Martyrdom

    But the success they’ve found in their careers has taken them on different paths, and maybe it’s time to go their separate ways.   But before they do, a friend advises them to spend one last weekend together, at the very least so they can agree on who gets the dog. When a ferry strike leaves Teague and Joanna stranded together at their beloved beach cottage, it promises to be the most awkward weekend ever. Or the perfect chance to fall for each other all over again . . .

    "Why don't you get out of that wet coat and into a dry martini?"

    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.

    The Black Cat; The Fall of the House of Usher, The Raven; The Tell Tale Heart, The Masque of the Red Death, the Premature Burial and six others that are a shuddering delight to read and listen to. Turn off the lights, settle down and hear these stories read to you as only LibriVox readers can perform them. (Summary by Phil Chenevert)THE TELL-TALE HEART.THE FACTS IN THE CASE OF M. VALDEMARTHE BLACK CAT.THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHERTHE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH.THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO.THE PREMATURE BURIALBERENICELIGEIAHOP-FROGTHE RAVENTHE PIT AND THE PENDULUM

     A suspicious husband sets out to discover what his wife really does late at night in her shop. A man starts a new job guarding the entrance to a pier at night. An abandoned house hides a sinister – and disgusting – secret in its basement. A young girl waits for a message from her dead mother, and then she finds something stranger in the freezer. The Butcher's Husband and Other Stories features the new short stories The Butcher's Husband, Tongue, The Pier and The Butcher's Husband II, as well as revised versions of The Seagull and A Perfect Death, and a new novella titled Larry.

    But his reason for choosing this career was even less common, perhaps even unique. This story was first published in BEDLAM'S EDGE, Aug 2005.

    An irresistible chance to read something new by your all-time favorite author - or to discover an amazing writer you've been missing up to now!There are nine short stories in this amazing, shiny pink book; in order they are Cathy Cassidy, Jacqueline Wilson, Louise Rennison, Cathy Hopkins, Meg Cabot, Karen McCombie, Lisa Clark, Joanna Nadin and Sarra Manning.

    H. Lawrence wrote, “Nathaniel knew disagreeable things in his inner soul. He was careful to send them out in disguise.” By means of artfully crafted and compelling tales, Hawthorne explored the destinies and concerns of early American settlers and citizens. In several of the stories in this collection, characters who hold themselves apart from their fellow man fall prey to the corroding desires of lust for perfection. Then they unwittingly commit evils—against themselves and others—in the name of pride. Edgar Allan Poe noted of Hawthorne’s writing: “Every word tells, and there is not a word which does not tell.”

    

    Snyder's latest collection features a spellbinding mix of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. Her stories will carry you away to the sinister heart of the Deep South, the mind-bending reaches of outer space, and the terrifying desolation of Carcosa.As the follow-up to the Bram Stoker Award winning collection Soft Apocalypses, this book's darkly imaginative tales inexorably draw the reader in. Whether you're a connoisseur of Lovecraftian and King in Yellow fiction or a fan of adventures through time and space, crossing this collection's event horizon will open your mind to unearthly enchantments.

    A VERY SMART KID IS KIDNAPPED, HIS PARENTS KILLED AND SENT TO A PLACE CALLED "THE INSTITUTE." THE EXPERIENCES OF HIM AND OTHER SMART KIDS ARE DESCRIBED.