The Rage


Richard Murray - 2019
    They have a hunger, a burning desire to taste of the flesh of others and their bite carries an infection, a virus that will send those who are bitten, crazy. Those infected lose everything that makes them human, leaving them with just an urge for violence, for lust, for hunger and an unquenchable rage! In the city of Leeds, Sarah, a young nurse, sees first-hand, the effects of this infection as it sweeps through the city, filling the emergency room with injured people. Unable to do more than bandage their wounds and send them home, she doesn’t realise how bad things are about to become. Not far away, Jack, finds himself thrust into the role of leader as his tower block is quarantined by the military when martial law descends on the city. With little food and a community in terror, he has to hold things together and find a way to survive as the city dies around him. This is the first book of a new series that begins as the world ends.

Stephen King


Christine Dougherty - 2012
    everyone has gone home hours ago.As Harold prepares to close up the office, he receives an email from someone claiming to be Stephen King.

Yours Truly, Jack The Ripper


Robert Bloch - 1943
    10.

To Serve Man


Damon Knight - 1950
    It's interesting to compare the original short story version to the Rod Serling screenplay. 1951 Retro Hugo Award Winner

Zombie City: Episode 1


M.F. Soriano - 2013
    Welcome to Zombie City. Hipsters. Shane hates them. They dress like artists, but they think like yuppies. They drive up the cost of living in San Francisco, making it nearly impossible for people like Shane to survive. And now they're starting to act really weird, moaning and shuffling and trying to bite…

Spalding's Scary Shorts


Nick Spalding - 2010
    Keating the vampire used to love the stories that humans would write about his species. They had endlessly amused him.Madeline De Martine had changed all that though. From terrifying, bloodthirsty creatures of the night... to maudlin, effeminate idiots obsessed with adolescent American girls, De Martine's blockbuster romances had irrevocably ruined the image of the vampire as far as Keating was concerned.So tonight he's paying the multi-millionaire writer a visit to offer some constructive feedback, and show her the error of her ways... Dogs Of War Giving interactive gameplay a whole new meaning. Disaster... Epic. Huge. Unmitigated. Disaster. Zack Hampton's beloved Gamestation console has just committed electronic suicide - right in the middle of a hectic multiplayer Dogs Of War game.Where the hell is he supposed to find another one the week before Christmas? All the shops have sold out! Imagine Zack's delight when he stumbles on a quaint Christmas shop, run by the enigmatic Mister Fix... and discovers a unique 'special edition' Gamestation on sale for a bargain price. Following a very strange conversation with the old shopkeeper, Zack buys the console and rushes home to rejoin the online mayhem as quickly as possible. This Gamestation is very special though, and Zack is about to take part in a game of Dogs Of War he is never going to forget. I, Zombie A story of the thinking dead. 'My name is Jim Monroe and I am a zombie. My natural life on this planet has ceased and I've been re-animated to stalk the world as a pale, grotesque imitation of my former self. I'm different from my undead brethren though... I'm a zombie with a brain. This is the short, shocking story of how I came to be this way.'Spine Slaughter When hedgehogs attack! On a warm summer's day, the village of Wincing On Thames is attacked by the most unlikely of blood thirsty monsters.Hoards of deadly hedgehogs are on the loose, with a taste for human flesh. Can hockey stick wielding Jason, Scab the punk and their friends survive the onslaught? And what turned these normally placid little animals into creatures from the darkest of nightmares?

The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2016


John Joseph AdamsMaria Dahvana Headley - 2016
    Valente, Dexter Palmer and others KAREN JOY FOWLER, guest editor, is the author of six novels and four short story collections, including We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves. She is the winner of the 2014 PEN/Faulkner Award, a finalist for the Man Booker Prize, and has won numerous Nebula and World Fantasy awards. JOHN JOSEPH ADAMS, series editor, is the best-selling editor of more than two dozen anthologies, including Brave New Worlds and Wastelands. He is the editor and publisher of the digital magazines Lightspeed and Nightmare and is the editor of John Joseph Adams Books, a new science fiction/fantasy novel imprint from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.Table of Contents:"Meet Me in Iram" by Sofia Samatar"The Game of Smash and Recovery" by Kelly Link"Interesting Facts" by Adam Johnson"Planet Lion" by Catherynne M. Valente"The Apartment Dweller’s Bestiary" by Kij Johnson"By Degrees and Dilatory Time" by S.L. Huang"The Mushroom Queen" by Liz Ziemska"The Daydreamer by Proxy" by Dexter Palmer"Tea Time" by Rachel Swirsky"Headshot" by Julian Mortimer Smith"The Duniazát" by Salman Rushdie"No Placeholder for You, My Love" by Nick Wolven"The Thirteen Mercies" by Maria Dahvana Headley"Lightning Jack’s Last Ride" by Dale Bailey"Things You Can Buy for a Penny" by Will Kaufman"Rat Catcher’s Yellows" by Charlie Jane Anders"The Heat of Us: Notes Toward an Oral History" by Sam J. Miller"Three Bodies at Mitanni" by Seth Dickinson"Ambiguity Machines: an Examination" by Vandana Singh"The Great Silence" by Ted Chiang

Dusty's Diary: One Frustrated Man's Zombie Apocalypse Story


Bobby Adair - 2015
    I watched all those movies. I read all those books. In most of those, the hero of the story kills all the zombies, drives a sweet car, has plenty to eat, and always seems to get laid by the end. Yeah. Whatever.I gotta be straight with you about why I wrote this journal and it comes down to one thing, the apocalypse kinda sucks. It doesn’t meet my expectations at all. And I honestly have to tell you, I was looking forward to it. I mean, I really was. It’s not that I don’t like people. I do. But holy crap, I was so tired of all the crap I had to put up with back in the old days, paying a mortgage, high interest rates on my credit cards, high cholesterol, thinning hair and a thickening midsection. I was tired of dealing with jerk-off drivers during rush hour and I was tired of my ex wife yammering at me on the phone until my brain turned to jelly. I was tired of things always getting more expensive and my paycheck always staying the same. I guess from back in all of that, a zombie apocalypse looked like a pretty good future to me.Well, here’s my story. Read it. Let me know what you think.

Machine of Death: A Collection of Stories About People Who Know How They Will Die


Ryan NorthArryn Diaz - 2010
    It didn't give you the date and it didn't give you specifics. It just spat out a sliver of paper upon which were printed, in careful block letters, the words DROWNED or CANCER or OLD AGE or CHOKED ON A HANDFUL OF POPCORN. It let people know how they were going to die." Machine of Death tells thirty-four different stories about people who know how they will die. Prepare to have your tears jerked, your spine tingled, your funny bone tickled, your mind blown, your pulse quickened, or your heart warmed. Or better yet, simply prepare to be surprised. Because even when people do have perfect knowledge of the future, there's no telling exactly how things will turn out. Featuring stories by: * Randall Munroe* Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw* Tom Francis* Camille Alexa* Erin McKean* James L. Sutter* Douglas J. Lane* and many others.Featuring illustrations by: * Kate Beaton* Kazu Kibuishi* Aaron Diaz* Jeffrey Brown* Scott C.* Roger Langridge* Karl Kerschl* Cameron Stewart* and many others

The Pear Shaped Man


George R.R. Martin - 1991
    Jessie meets hers when she and her friend Angela move into their new apartment--he lives in the rotten-smelling basement apartment--wet lips, whiny voice, eating Cheez Doodles with warm Coke. He's always waiting for her, inviting her down to his apartment ... he has 'things' to show her. When Jessie's obsession with this repulsive man turns to paranoia, it takes over more than just her life. Locus Poll Award Nominee, World Fantasy Award Nominee, Bram Stoker Award Winner

20 Minutes To Go Viral


Daniel Hurst - 2020
    Something that threatens the whole of humanity. Something is going viral. 20 Minutes. 20 People. 20 stories that will make you want to stay inside and never greet another human being again. This is a short novella about a viral outbreak in a small town in the Lake District and shows how quickly disease can spread amongst the population. This isn't the Coronavirus. But it's just as scary. Humans. Viruses. Panic. Fear. There goes the countryside...

Nightshade & Damnations


Gerald Kersh - 1968
    J. Gahagan] · ss Courier Spr ’38 77 · The Ape and the Mystery [“The Mysterious Mona Lisa Smile”] · ss The Saturday Evening Post Jun 26 ’48 89 · The King Who Collected Clocks [“Royal Impostor”] · nv The Saturday Evening Post May 3 ’47 117 · Bone for Debunkers [“The Karmesin Affair”; Karmesin] · ss The Saturday Evening Post Dec 15 ’62 133 · A Lucky Day for the Boar · ss Playboy Oct ’62 143 · Voices in the Dust of Annan · ss The Saturday Evening Post Sep 13 ’47 161 · Whatever Happened to Corporal Cuckoo? · nv The Brighton Monster, London: Heinemann, 1953; Star Science Fiction Stories #3, ed. Frederik Pohl, Ballantine, 1954

The Last Conversation


Paul Tremblay - 2019
    All you have is the disconnected voice of an attentive caretaker. Dr. Kuhn is there to help you—physically, emotionally, and psychologically. She’ll help you remember everything. She’ll make sure you reclaim your lost identity. Now answer one question: Are you sure you want to?Paul Tremblay’s The Last Conversationis part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.

It's a Good Life


Jerome Bixby - 1953
    It's a party all the townspeople will remember...always!Voted as one of the greatest stories by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, the story was also adapted into a classic Twilight Zone episode.

Just Another Day at the Office


Jay Bonansinga - 2012
    In this exciting story that takes place between The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor and The Walking Dead: The Road to Woodbury, Philip unleashes his full fury on the previous leaders of the small walled-off town. This one-man-army, a man on his way to becoming the fearsome Governor who will eventually go up against Rick Grimes and company, single-handedly takes on all foes, both zombie and human alike.This story was originally published in issue 1 of The Walking Dead magazine.