Here are all the phantoms and ghouls of Japanese folklore: 'rokuro-kubi', whose heads separate from their bodies at night; 'jikininki', or flesh-eating goblins; and terrifying faceless 'mujina' who haunt lonely neighbourhoods. Lafcadio Hearn, a master storyteller, drew on traditional Japanese folklore, infused with memories of his own haunted childhood in Ireland, to create these chilling tales. They are today regarded in Japan as classics in their own right.

    'Red' seems to me to be a masterwork. 'Vampire' is a breathtaking work of virtuosity."—Dennis Etchison, from his Introduction"An impressive debut. These stories are all beautifully written and very, very disturbing."—Fangoria"Richard Christian Matheson's prose is elegant, yet spare. He is undoubtedly the master of the contemporary horror short story. His potent, subtle horror sneaks up on the reader and its echoes linger long after the story has ended."—Ellen Datlow, fiction editor, Omni

    Gripping and unforgettable, here is a spellbinding mix of the mysteries that inhabit our everyday lives–and a mind-bending exploration of what happens when someone vanishes without a trace.Ever since his father disappeared when he was nine years old, Ian Kennedy has had a penchant for stories about missing people–and a knack for finding them. Now he’s a private investigator with an impressive track record. But when a woman enters his London office and asks him to find her lost daughter, Ian faces a case he fears he cannot solve–and one he knows he must.Laura Lensky’s stunning twenty-one-year-old daughter, Peri, has been missing for over two years–a lifetime, under the circumstances. But when Ian learns the details of her disappearance, he discovers eerie parallels to an obscure Celtic myth–and to the haunting case that launched his career, an early success he’s never fully been able to explain. Though Ian suspects Peri may have chosen to vanish, his curiosity leads him to take on the search. Soon he finds himself drawing not only from the mysteries that have preoccupied his adulthood, but from the fables and folklore that pervaded his youth. What follows is a journey that takes Ian and those who care for Peri into the Highlands of Scotland, as the unknowns of the past and present merge in the case–and in their lives. Rich in pathos and steeped in secrets, The Mysteries opens a thought-provoking door from one world into the heart of another, where some of our most perplexing enigmas–and their answers–are startlingly alive.From the Hardcover edition.

    Selfishly, he drags his family with him.Trying to connect with his melancholy son and grieving wife is difficult, but Blake tries his best to hold the strands of his life together while kidding himself that everything is okay. One day, while out looking for treasure in the field outside their new home, Blake and his 10-year old son, Ricky, find something buried in the dirt—an antique picture frame. It changes everything.What Blake first considers a lucky find, soon reveals itself to be something far more sinister. An ancient evil has been released, and it will stop at nothing to complete its mission.

    He is Morpheus, the lord of story. Older than humankind itself, he inhabits -- along with Destiny, Death, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium, his Endless sisters and brothers -- the realm of human consciousness. His powers are myth and nightmare -- inspirations, pleasures, and punishments manifested beneath the blanketing mist of sleep.Surrender to him now.A stunning collection of visions, wonders, horrors, hallucinations, and revelations from Clive Barker, Barbara Hambly, Tad Williams, Gene Wolfe, Nancy A. Collins, and sixteen other incomparable dreamers -- inspired by the groundbreaking, bestselling graphic novel phenomenon by Neil Gaiman.

    But what if a monster isn’t enough? Shadows gather, winter deepens, and Assevan falls farther into the dark. Pitted against monsters and men, Konrad faces deeper challenges. Darker foes. Some can rival even the Malykant’s power. Pushed beyond his endurance, challenged beyond his sanity, at long last Death’s Avenger might need a little help... Konrad Savast returns for another chilling set of adventures in the second volume of the Malykant Mysteries.

    Soon this haggard SS officer will be dispatched to perform the menial but necessary task of locating and assassinating a degenerate Belgian painter.Join "The Dinner Party," where a man stands adrift in a distinctly Borgesian universe, somewhere at the end of time. It could be the Apocalypse or some ghoulish carnival. He's attending a feast at an anonymous mansion while the fall of Babylon is acted out around him, and he struggles to hold on to the faint remnants of his conscience while the world goes up in flames.Turn to a search for "The Primordial Face," in which two expatriates, one of them mute, go diving for a mythological treasure at the bottom of the sea and wind up competing for the love of the obsessive expedition leader's young daughter.And spend "Sunday Evenings at Contessa Pasquali's," where a man and a woman torture each other with indifference and affection and find that love can be born of terrible schemes. With this volume, Robert Girardi illustrates a world that is both beautifully alluring and brilliantly sinister, where souls are lost and won on the simple weight of everyday decisions. Rich with history and irony, vastly entertaining and told in the timeless style of tales, fables, and myths, these meditations on morality remind us of the eternal human condition.From the Hardcover edition.

    He scavenges what he can from what's left over. He is very careful in what he does and where he goes, taking no chances, no unnecessary risks, and weighing every choice... until he decides to visit the hospital at the edge of town, and experiences terror the likes he's never encountered before. A short story of approximately 9500 words, or 29 pages. The first story of the "Mountain Man" series. Contains language and graphic violence. This short story also appears in the horror fiction novella "Cauldron Gristle."If you enjoy this, check out the novels "Mountain Man" and "Safari," the next books in the series.Series order:The Hospital (short story)Mountain ManSafari (Coming in time for Christmas) Hellifax