But after an enormous explosion at the facility, people in town start turning up dead...and in pieces.Something is loose in Hope Valley. Something big...and fast...and hungry. It has a lot of legs, a nasty disposition and a big appetite. This is one spider you can’t step on.

    From the #1 international bestselling author in Horror, Men's Adventure, Hard Boiled Mystery, and Police Procedurals comes a Texas Chainsaw Massacre-style horror short story...Supper

    No one in Holly Brook, IL has forgotten the horror that unfolded on Christmas Eve all those year ago, and now, as a terrifying blizzard descends upon the small isolated town, and teens begin disappearing one by one, it looks as if that gruesome night was just the beginning.

    She lives with no name.She has never left her room.All she has ever known is pain and abuse.Until now.Today, she will breathe fresh air for the first time, feel sunshine against her skin and even witness human kindness.But she has a point to make - a bleak, violent point - and when she meets her neighbour, Serenity, she finds the perfect pupil.Forced to endure a lesson distilled from a nightmarish existence, Serenity must face unflinching evil, witness the unspeakable, and question her most deeply-held views, until at last she has no choice but to fight for her family's survival.

    We staked out our territory and nailed this to the wall to guide us: YEAR'S BEST HARDEST HORROR Not your mama's best-of horror annual. This stuff comes from the edge of the abyss, stories you read at your own risk because you feel the abyss looking right back into you through the tainted lens of each twisted tale. Some of the stories you'll find here are loaded with very graphic descriptions of violence, sex and depravities, while others may contain only one shocking moment of brutality. In others, the hardcore aspect may be less graphic and subtler than you might expect. Some of these quieter tales offer the reader some time to recover from the more disturbing ones preceding. Most of the stories collected here are from small and specialty press anthologies, with a few from periodicals, like the prestigious Splatterpunk Zine in the UK and Thuglit here in the US. Bizarro is also represented with a couple of tales from the unlikely anthology Blood For You: A Literary Tribute To GG Allin from Weirdpunk Books. (If you're not familiar with the late GG Allin, you can find snippets from some of his outrageous and obscene punk shows online, which will increase your appreciation of those two tales.) So for now, forget about that neighbor you suspect is a serial killer, don't worry about the drunk driver that could take you out on your next trip to the store, push those troubling news stories to the back of your mind and immerse yourself in the imaginary horrors at hand. But don't be surprised if you sense something dark staring back at you from between the lines. That is to be expected when you enter these forbidding realms. With any luck, you may find something useful to help you survive the approaching Apocalypse. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction: The Year That Was "Worth the Having" by Michael Paul Gonzalez "Awakening" by Jeff Strand "Readings Off The Charts" by Adam Cesare "Reborn" by The Behrg "What's Worst" by David James Keaton "Dead End" by Kristopher Triana "What You Wish For" by Lilith Morgan "King Shits" by Charles Austin Muir "Cleanup On Aisle 3" by Adam Howe "Bath Salt Fetus" by George Palacious "Bored With Brutality" by MP Johnson "Exposed" by Monica J. O'Rourke "Eleanor" by Jason Parent "The Scavengers" by Tony Knighton "The Most Important Miracle" by Scott Emerson "Hungry For Control" by Clare de Lune "Clarissa" by Robert Essig & Jack Bantry "Where The Sun Don't Shine" by Pete Kahle "Blackbird Lullaby" by George Cotronis

    From Victorian era spirits returning to claim what is rightfully theirs, to haunted dolls that continue to send chills down their visitors' spines, Ghosts of Key West beautifully captures the true spirit of Florida's second oldest city. Ghosts of cigar makers, pirates, wreckers and voodoo practitioners all await you. While their ghostly journeys continue through time, yours is just about to begin.Ghosts of Key West author David L. Sloan founded Key West's original ghost tour and is the leading authority on the island's hauntings.

    Phil thinks he loses their pursuer, but when they reach their remote home the pickup truck is right behind them again. Megan, Phil and Cathy's fourteen-year-old daughter, steps onto the front porch to see what's happening. Phil tells Megan to go back inside, and as he calls the police the truck turns around and leaves. The police arrive, but there isn't much they can do because Phil doesn't have the truck's license plate number or a description of the driver. The stalker knows where Phil, Cathy, and Megan live now, and over the next few days the terror escalates: Phil treats a mysterious patient with violent tendencies who issues a threatening warning; Phil is haunted by nightmares, and Cathy hears him murmuring strange things in his sleep; soon Cathy discovers clues that lead her to believe that Phil may know who their stalker is and why he has chosen them. Dark things are beginning to turn up from Phil's past . . . . . . and their stalker is just getting started.

    No one is sure if this “Camp Slaughter” place is real or not. But a group of college kids renting out a cabin deep in the woods of Pennsylvania will soon realize the truth. They’ll realize the danger, too. Or rather, the cannibal out in the woods will bring the danger to them…

    MAXWELL PRINCE brings his signature style of one-shot storytelling to the world of clowns—and he’s invited SOME OF THE COMIC INDUSTRY’S BEST ARTISTS to join him for the ride.HAHA is a genre-jumping, throat-lumping look at the sad, scary, hilarious life of those who get paid to play the fool—but these ain’t your typical jokers.With issues drawn by VANESA DEL REY (REDLANDS), GABRIEL WALTA (Vision), ROGER LANGRIDGE (Thor), and more, HAHA peeks under the big top, over the rainbow, and even inside a balloon to tell a wide-ranging slew of stories about “funny” men and women, proving that some things are so sad you just have to laugh.

    Two young couples are on a lazy Mexican vacation–sun-drenched days, drunken nights, making friends with fellow tourists. When the brother of one of those friends disappears, they decide to venture into the jungle to look for him. What started out as a fun day-trip slowly spirals into a nightmare when they find an ancient ruins site . . . and the terrifying presence that lurks there.