Previously difficult for readers to discover in its new modes, urban fantasy is represented here in all three of its distinct styles—playful new mythologies, sexy paranormal romances, and gritty urban noir. Whether they feature tattooed demon-hunters, angst-ridden vampires, supernatural gumshoes, or pixelated pixies, these authors—including Patricia Briggs, Neil Gaiman, and Charles de Lint—mash-up traditional fare with pop culture, creating iconic characters, conflicted moralities, and complex settings. The result is starkly original fiction that has broad-based appeal and is immensely entertaining.ContentsIntroduction by Peter S. Beagle Mythic FictionIntroduction: “A Personal Journey Into Mythic Fiction” by Charles de Lint “A Bird That Whistles” by Emma Bull“Make a Joyful Noise” by Charles de Lint“The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories” by Neil Gaiman“On the Road to New Egypt” by Jeffrey Ford“Julie’s Unicorn” by Peter S. BeagleParanormal RomanceIntroduction: “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Urban Fantasy” by Paula Guran “Companions to the Moon” by Charles de Lint“A Haunted House of Her Own” by Kelley Armstrong“She’s My Witch” by Norman Partridge“Kitty’s Zombie New Year” by Carrie Vaughn“Seeing Eye” by Patricia Briggs“Hit” by Bruce McAllister “Boobs” by Suzy McKee Charnas “Farewell, My Zombie” by Francesca Lia BlockNoir FantasyIntroduction: “We Are Not a Club, but We Sometimes Share a Room” by Joe R. Lansdale “The White Man” by Thomas M. Disch“Gestella” by Susan Palwick“The Coldest Girl in Coldtown” by Holly Black“Talking Back to the Moon” by Steven R. Boyett“On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert With Dead Folks” by Joe R. Lansdale“The Bible Repairman” by Tim Powers“Father Dear” by Al Sarrantonio

    In another realm known as Philadelphia, a young woman has just discovered she possesses a treasure of her own…When Breen Kelly was a girl, her father would tell her stories of magical places. Now she’s an anxious twentysomething mired in student debt and working a job she hates. But one day she stumbles upon a shocking discovery: her mother has been hiding an investment account in her name. It has been funded by her long-lost father—and it’s worth nearly four million dollars.This newfound fortune would be life-changing for anyone. But little does Breen know that when she uses some of the money to journey to Ireland, it will unlock mysteries she couldn’t have imagined. Here, she will begin to understand why she kept seeing that silver-haired, elusive man, why she imagined his voice in her head saying Come home, Breen Siobhan. It’s time you came home. Why she dreamed of dragons. And where her true destiny lies—through a portal in Galway that takes her to a land of faeries and mermaids, to a man named Keegan, and to the courage in her own heart that will guide her through a powerful, dangerous destiny…

    Rae Wilder has problems. Supernatural creatures swarm the earth, and humanity is on the brink of extinction. Stalked by a handsome fairy who claims she is like him, demonkind, Rae thinks maybe it was a mistake breaking the rules by going over the Wall into demon territory. Plunged into a world of dark magics, fierce creatures, and ritual sacrifice, she is charged with a guarding a magical amulet. The changes to her mind and body are startling, but rather than accept her purpose she struggles against who she is destined to be. Throw in a big lust for a vampire who can't keep his hands off her, and life starts to get complicated. Rae is forced to make the ultimate choice: to live and die human, or embrace her birth-right and wield magics that could turn her into something wicked, a force of nature nothing can control. BrE.

    When his father devises a plan to bring on the apocalypse, he and his three half-brothers, interdimensional bounty hunters for the Elden Council, are charged with capturing and delivering their father for punishment.Art gallery owner Brynn Meyers has no idea that her ability to read memories embedded in objects and drain people of their life force means she has demon ancestry. Unfortunately for Brynn, she's also the key to raising an ancient zombie army, which puts her on every demon's Most Wanted List.And no one wants her more than Keegan's father.Keegan must protect Brynn from his father by any means necessary, but he'll have to learn to harness the other half of his genetics—the far deadlier, uncontrollable half—when he starts to fall for the one woman standing between him and the vengeance he so desperately seeks. The one woman he'll never be able to resist.

    From childhood she s been forced to hide her half-dragon mage fighting skills behind a public persona as a healer. Now, with a traitor and his demon threatening the throne of Safehold, Dara has no choice but to turn reluctant warrior and seek help.She strikes a bargain with runaway Elven prince Loren ta Cedric and his sentient, pain-in-the-butt war mare, Hani ena. Loren s not only too handsome for Dara s own good, the powerful empath can see right through to the pain that drives her.Loren can t help but feel Dara s every hurt, physical and emotional. Though his need for her drives him half mad, he must stay his course to see justice done for his people. Even if it means swearing a Life Debt to the distracting mortal.That vow, made in the heat of their parallel quests, carries more power than either of them guessed. The power to bond the unlikely pair as Life Mates. The power to lay bare the fears and desires that could bind them to a single purpose or tear them apart.All the while a demon awaits, ready to destroy all that they hold dear."

    She lives in an old oak tree at the bottom of a garden with the rest of the fairy folk. Never has she known a time when life hasn’t been hard, with many dangers and much adversity. But when she becomes the Hunter of the group and learns to do battle in the outside world, her adventures really take off...Don’t read this book if you’re expecting fairy dust – the last thing Knife is likely to wield is a magic wand...

    Their only means of survival is by picking pockets. One December night, Tiki steals a ring, and sets off a chain of events that could lead to all-out war with the Fey. For the ring is a reservoir that holds a truce between the English royals and the world of the Fey. But there are many who want the ring, including the mysterious Rieker, a handsome pickpocket who has been watching Tiki, and a rebel group of UnSeelie fey who would do anything to break the truce...A delicious blend of urban fantasy and heart-stopping suspense, the story of THE FAERIE RING takes you from the gritty slums of London to the glittering ballrooms of the Royal Palace to the menacing Otherworld - in a spellbinding tale of mystery and suspense where nothing is what it seems...

    Someone put a potion in his goblet on the day of their marriage, and he has paid for it every day since for a thousand years.Although Diana struggles with the physical pull she feels towards him and Azoth's obvious lust for her, one thing is certain: someone sent those monsters after her in the forest, and they still want her dead. Now she must decide if her new and conflicting emotions towards her husband, a man she doesn't know, are worth risking her life.

    A date with a handsome man is the catalyst for events that she thought only happened in fairy tales. Thrust into a world of danger, Isabelle has no idea what is in store for her as the Light and Dark Fae fight over her future.Isabelle Moreno is a young woman working her way through life, finding little time for love and adventure. Until she agrees to a date with a mysterious stranger, only to find out the secrets this man holds are something she could have lived her entire life without knowing. The Dark Fae Luck Eater has found something enticing in Isabelle’s humanity.Bain is an arrogant playboy and an Immortal Light Fae Warrior. He and his four brothers fight for the safety of the human race while remaining something of myth. After weeks of tracking the Dark Fae Luck Eater, Bain comes across yet another victim, Isabelle. Bain has finally found his match in this feisty human as she fights against him and her ever growing attraction to the Immortal who is bound to protect her.

    After arriving, Keelie finds men in tights and women in trailer trash-tight bodices roaming half-drunk, calling each other lady and lord even after closing time! Playacting the Dark Ages is an L.A. girl's worst nightmare. Keelie has a plan to ditch this medieval geekland ASAP, but while she plots, strange things start happening--eerie, yet familiar. When Keelie starts seeing fairies and communicating with trees, she uncovers a secret that links her to a community of elves. As Keelie tries to come to grips with her elfin roots, disaster strikes, and Keelie's identity isn't the only thing that's threatened. One part human determination and one part elfin magic, Keelie Heartwood is a witty new heroine in a world where fantasy and reality mix with extraordinary results.

    Nick Garret is flypaper for females, and he likes it that way. Women stick for a while, and when it's over they fly away. So does he. Then one rain-slick night a young woman steps in front of his pickup truck, and his jaded, cynical life takes a sharp swerve toward trouble. Calliope did the only thing she could think to get Nick to steer his truck-and his life-in a new direction. Banished from the Fae realm for granting a wish gone bad, her punishment is an impossible task; redeem the unredeemable Nick Garret. If she fails to help him pair three couples in everlasting bliss, he's doomed to never experience real love. And she will share his fate - as a mortal. Nick can't decide if this charming, exasperating woman is a dream come true, or a saucy, sexy nightmare sent to drive him insane. Yet something about her makes him want to rise to her challenge. He-ll do anything to make her stick around a while. Besides, how much trouble can one half-naked, seemingly wingless faerie be? Warning: This title contains sensual love scenes, mischievous Fae, removable wings and hot men in tool belts.

    Little does Tal know the “helpless” female he’s come to save is the key to peace on his war-torn world…or that he’ll long to touch her, take her, make her his.Unaware of her royal roots or alien origins, Charlotte spends her first thirty years on Earth. Then Tal bursts into her life with all the subtlety of a thunder storm. He’s rude, arrogant, and easily the most desirable man she’s ever encountered. With a ruthless madman hot on their heels, they can’t afford to be distracted by the attraction rapidly growing between them, but the emotions are too powerful to ignore.Note: This book was originally published by Loose ID and was then re-edited/re-published by Cerridwen Press, both time under the same title.

    Hidden from the fairy court to protect him from his father’s rivals, he longs to go home.After her grandmother’s death, Lydia Callaway must get the contents of the house she inherited valued. That means letting a stranger paw through her grandmother’s things. But Caspian is not what she expected. He’s interested in the history, not just the scandals that still linger in whispers. While Lydia laughs off the rumors of a ghost, Caspian doesn’t.Caspian knows the creature bumping around the house is a banished fairy determined to find a way home to Annwyn and cause trouble. Caspian and Lydia are thrown into a conspiracy to bring down Caspian’s father. They must fight the banished fairy and her allies together. But the deeper Lydia is drawn into Caspian’s world the more danger she is in. When the Hunter of Annwyn summons Caspian to Court he may be lost to her forever.

    Dora’s only goal for the London Season this year is to stay quiet and avoid upsetting her cousin’s chances at a husband… but when the Lord Sorcier of England learns of her condition, she finds herself drawn ever more deeply into the tumultuous concerns of magicians and faeries.Lord Elias Wilder is handsome, strange, and utterly uncouth—but gossip says that he regularly performs three impossible things before breakfast, and he is willing to help Dora restore her missing half. If Dora’s reputation can survive both her ongoing curse and her sudden connection with the least-liked man in all of high society, then she may yet reclaim her normal place in the world… but the longer Dora spends with Elias Wilder, the more she begins to suspect that one may indeed fall in love, even with only half a soul.

    She is obsessed with finding a cure for the bad boyfriend plague. Worse yet, she’s in denial about her weird abilities and terrified of her mysterious stalker who causes the earth to quake violently with the snap of his finger.With her two best friends, Aria enters her first semester of college armed with a “no more men” pact in an effort to demagnetize the sleaze balls. Unfortunately, the agreement proves difficult when she meets Liam, a charming foreign exchange student, on the first day of school. Aria quickly discovers that Liam is not only Mr. Perfect, but he also somehow ignites her supernatural side. Upon the invitation of her dream guy, Aria travels to Ireland through the study abroad program, dragging her friends along with her. But her world of euphoric bliss quickly comes crashing down as she uncovers the truth about her past, revealing who she really is and what she was born to do.