Lovecraft, the most-fevered mind of 20th century horror and weirdness! These weird tales blend horror, science-fiction and fantasy to weave stories of darkness and terror that will alternately leave you checking dark spaces for hidden horrors and wondering at the nature of reality itself. From the horror/mystery of The Altar in the Hills to the private confessions and revelations of one of mankind's most brilliant minds in Through the Ether, these seven stories bring with them Old Gods, strange twists and interesting characters that will both surprise and delight fans of horror fiction.

    It is the JFK assassination, Area 51, the moon landing, the surveillance state. It is a French spy posing as Abraham Lincoln, it is a video game designed by the CIA, it is "Suicide Mickey." It is Adolf Hitler and it is Elvis Presley. In this short story collection, today's top fiction authors pull back the curtain on the biggest conspiracies of all time. Who really killed JFK? What happened in Roswell, New Mexico? Is Elvis still alive? With stories that run the gamut from touching to thrilling to utterly deranged, Tinfoil will take you on a tour of paranoia you won't soon forget. Twelve short stories, twelve conspiracy theories, twelve twisted rabbit holes.Hold on to your hats.

    Destroyed oil rigs, mysteriously reborn, clamber from the sea and onto the land, driven by an obscure but violent purpose. An anatomy student cuts open a cadaver to discover impossibly intricate designs carved into a corpse's bones—designs clearly present from birth, bearing mute testimony to . . . what?Of such concepts and unforgettable images are made the twenty-eight stories in this collection—many published here for the first time. By turns speculative, satirical, and heart-wrenching, fresh in form and language, and featuring a cast of damaged yet hopeful seekers who come face-to-face with the deep weirdness of the world—and at times the deeper weirdness of themselves—Three Moments of an Explosion is a fitting showcase for one of our most original voices.

    or had not occurred at all? In this stellar collection, twelve of science fiction's most imaginative minds have altered the past to reveal a present of astonishing and startling possibilities...a rare glimpse of what might have been. From a Germany that won the war to a modern exodus from Egypt, from the death of ancient Greece to the true secret of the Soviets, these hold excursions in time depict bizarre new worlds -- oddly familiar, disturbingly different.Summary:Poul Anderson's "In the House of Sorrows" Gregory Benford's "We Could Do Worse"George Alec Effinger's "Everything but Honor"Karen Joy Fowler's "Game Night at the Fox and Goose"Barry N. Malzberg's "All Assassins"James Morrow's "Bible Stories for Adults, No. 31: The Covenant"Larry Niven's "The Return of William Proxmire"Frederick Pohl's "Waiting for the Olympians"Kim Stanley Robinson's "Remaking History"Robert Silverberg's "To the Promised Land"Harry Turtledove's "Counting Potsherds". Also includes one non-allohistorical work by James P. Hogan.

     This captivating new collection of fantastic short fiction is sure to cement her reputation as one of the most original storytellers working in the fantasy and speculative fiction genres today. Whether spinning tales of the mysterious young woman and the dreadful pirate captain Henry Morgan in the original novella “The Maid on the Shore,”or the tiny California beach community assaulted by Lovecraftian terrors in “Calamari Curls,” or the girl menaced by a haunting photograph and a trio of aspiring vampires at the heart of “Portrait, With Flames,” Kage Baker distinguishes herself throughout Dark Mondays as a storyteller extraordinaire, crafting intricately woven plots, compelling characters, and captivating settings filled with convincing detail. As likely to shock and surprise as it is to fill you with a sense of weird wonder and delight, Dark Mondays will entrance you with its inventive prose, astound you with its action, and seduce you with its style. Dark Mondays features five never-before-published stories, including the forty-one-thousand-word pirate novel, “The Maid on the Shore,” which chronicles the lesser known aspects of Captain Henry Morgan’s infamous sacking of Panama City.

    More Grimm than Disney, in this collection you’ll find twists on Snow White, Hansel & Gretel, Rumplestilstskin, The Snow Queen, Cinderella, The Pied Piper, Alice in Wonderland, and Red Riding Hood, plus new tales paying homage to the old traditions. Shadows cannot exist without light, however, and you’ll find enough happily-ever-afters to lift your spirits in this anthology full of adventure, dark powers, and ultimately the enduring power of true love.   YARROW, STURDY AND BRIGHT by Devon Monk – Sweet music cannot hide a wicked heart… FAE HORSE by Anthea Sharp – Faerie bargains can grant any desire, but be careful what you wish for. THE QUEEN OF FROST AND DARKNESS by Christine Pope - Her heart is the only thing colder than a Russian winter…. BONES by Yasmine Galenorn - Sometimes, your most cherished dream can turn out to be a nightmare. MAGIC AFTER MIDNIGHT by C. Gockel – The Wicked Stepmother is about to meet her match… DANCE WITH THE DEVIL by Donna Augustine - When the devil makes a deal with a dancer, he gets more than he bargained for. NO GIFT OF WORDS by Annie Bellet - Never steal from a witch... THE GRIM BROTHER by Audrey Faye – Not all walks in the wood end well… BEAUTY INSIDE BEAST by Danielle Monsch - Happily Ever After ain't guaranteed when Once Upon a Time is here. FAESCORNED by Jenna Elizabeth Johnson - The Morrigan, Celtic goddess of war and strife, must relive a painful memory that reminds her of what she can never have. DRAWN TO THE BRINK by Tara Maya - Sajiana's job is to hunt down monsters brought alive from paintings. She never expected to meet one so handsome... or to need his help. THE VARIANCE COURT by Alexia Purdy - Anna, a struggling college student, discovers a mysterious ring that turns her quiet life chaotic when the ring's magic doesn't do what it's told. THE MORRIGAN by Phaedra Weldon – A young man discovers he has leprechaun blood – and is wanted by dark faerie forces. ALICE by Julia Crane - A twisted tale of Alice and Wonderland. Facing madness and an ominous prophecy, Alice chooses to follow her heart despite knowing her world is about to change forever. STILL RED by Sabrina Locke – When the Hunters come, can there be any escape? THE FINAL STRAW by Jennifer Blackstream - To banish a gold-spinning demon, first you must guess his name... THE UNICORN HUNTER by Alethea Kontis – Only Snow White knows what really happened in the forest…

    But in truth, they have continued to prick the imaginations of readers at all ages.Over the years, authors have often borrowed bits and pieces from these stories, grafting them into their own writing, creating literature with both new meaning and age-old significance. In the last few decades or so, they’ve also intentionally retold and reinvented the tales in a variety of ways—delightful or dark, wistful or wicked, sweet or satirical—that forge new trails through the forests of fantastic fiction.This new anthology compiles some of the best modern fairy-tale retellings and reinventions from award-winning and bestselling authors, acclaimed storytellers, and exciting new talents, into an enchanting collection. Explore magical new realms by traveling with us, Beyond the Woods . . .

    Running from duty and heartache . . . running toward freedom and passion . . . running 200 years in time, right into the life of Shannon Whitney. In public, Shannon is a beautiful, wealthy divorcee. But in private, she is a loner, and likely to remain so. For she craves a brave, honorable man unlike any who exists in the 20th century.Destiny's ChildDakota didn't claim to understand men. But she did know that Patrick Devane was stubborn and angry and that he refused to let anyone, including his young daughter, get close. Dakota also knew she had no choice but to accept his reluctant hospitality. And he her bold, audacious company.No woman had ever challenged Patrick so brazenly—while no man had ever seemed so daring and dangerous to Dakota. And no little girl had ever seemed so in need of a family. Now only time would tell if their destiny lay with each other.

    Then Firebirds Rising. Now there is Firebirds Soaring, the third anthology of original stories by some of today?s finest writers of fantasy and science fiction. These authors, including Nancy Farmer (The Sea of Trolls), Ellen Klages (The Green Glass Sea), Margo Lanagan (Black Juice), and Jane Yolen (The Devil?s Arithmetic), have brought new worlds and Old Magic to life in nineteen remarkable pieces of short fiction. Mike Dringenberg, co-creator of Sandman with Neil Gaiman, contributes decorative vignettes. Firebirds Soaring?like Firebirds and Firebirds Rising?sets the standard for short fiction for teenagers and adult fans of the genre.

    Donaldson, Peter S. Beagle, Andrew Nortong, Terry Pratchett, Robert Silverberg, Judith Tarr, Gregory Benford, Jane Yolen, Poul and Karen Anderson, Mike Resnick, Emma Bull, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, John Brunner, Harrr Turtledove, Dennis L. McKiernan, Karen Haber, Barry M. Malzberg, and Charles de Lint contribute to a dazzling anthology that captures the spirit and originality of Tolkien's great work.The millions whose lives have been touched by J.R.R. Tolkien will find the same primal storytelling magic here, undiluted and running ever on.

    Parker, Tessa Gratton, Heidi Heilig, Julie Murphy, Mark Oshiro, Rebecca Roanhorse, Laura Ruby, Victoria “V. E.” Schwab, and Kayla Whaley.

    Recommended reading lists and selected poetry complete the volume.Contents: * Summation 1988: Fantasy by Terri Windling * Summation 1988: Horror by Ellen Datlow * Horror and Fantasy on the Screen by Edward Bryant * Obituaries * Death is Different by Lisa Goldstein * The Tale of the Rose and the Nightingale (And What Came of It) by Gene Wolfe * It Was the Heat by Pat Cadigan * The Cutter by Edward Bryant * The Freezer Jesus by John DuFresne * Voices of the Kill by Thomas M. Disch * Secretly by Ruth Roston * The Devil's Rose by Tanith Lee * Wempires by Daniel Pinkwater * Scatter My Ashes by Greg Egan * Unfinished Portrait of the King of Pain by Van Gogh by Ian McDonald * Shoo Fly by Richard Matheson * The Thing Itself by Michael Blumlein * The Soft Whisper of Midnight Snow by Charles de Lint * Roman Games by Ann Gay * The Princess, the Cat, and the Unicorn by Patricia C. Wrede * The Book and Its Contents by Robert Kelly * The Great God Pan by M. John Harrison * Lost Bodies by Ian Watson * Two Minutes Forty-Five Seconds by Dan Simmons * Preflash by John M. Ford * Life of Buddha by Lucius Shepard * Appointment With Eddie by Charles Beaumont * Fragments of Papyrus from the Temple of the Older Gods by William Kotzwinkle * Spillage by Nancy Kress * Snowman by Charles L. Grant * The Scar by Dennis Etchison * Laiken Langstrand by Gwyneth Jones * The Last Poem About the Snow Queen and Pinocchio by Sandra M. Gilbert * Game in the Pope's Head by Gene Wolfe * Playing the Game by Ramsey Campbell * Faces by F. Paul Wilson * Snowfall by Jessie Thompson * Seal-Self by Sara Maitland * No Hearts, No Flowers by Barry N. Malzberg * The Boy Who Drew Unicorns by Jane Yolen * The Darling by Scott Bradfield * Night They Missed the Horror Show by Joe R. Lansdale * Your Story by Rick DeMarinis * Winter Solstice - Camelot Station by John M. Ford * The Boy Who Hooked the Sun by Gene Wolfe * Clem's Dream by Joan Aiken * Love In Vain by Lewis Shiner * In the Darkened Hours by Bruce Boston * A Golden Net for Silver Fishes by Ru Emerson * Dancing Among Ghosts by Jim Aikin * Honorable Mentions: 1988

    #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris edits and contributes an all-new story-set in her Sookie Stackhouse universe-to this anthology from the Mystery Writers of America. Other authors include: Steve Brewer Dana Cameron Max Allan Collins and Mickey Spillane Barbara D'Amato Brendan DuBois Terrie Farley Moran Jack Fredrickson Parnell Hall Carolyn Hart S. W. Hubbard Toni L. P. Kelner Lou Kemp William Kent Kreuger Harley Jane Kozak Margaret Mahon Martin Meyers Jeffrey Somers Elaine Viets Mike Wiecek

    The cat is not only dead, but it appears to be some kind of improbable mutant: a cat with wings. The cat initially complicates Joe’s life as he hides it from his family, but he soon learns that more may be at stake than he realized. Little does he know, a battle for good and evil, between Heaven and Hell, is about to be fought in his garage.A RADIOACTIVE MONKEYThat bartender you really like, well, she just whipped up a potent cocktail called a “Radioactive Monkey.” Would you drink it? (Hint: you shouldn’t.) Jonny Stoops, however, decided to take the plunge. (Hint: it doesn't end well.)PRODUCT PLACEMENTImagine one morning you wake up and you discover that the world is now home to products you don’t recognize but everyone else does. Flix candy bars? Jack Kenny whiskey? Burrito Hut? Donnie’s never heard of these brands, but those around him say such products are beloved and have been here for years. Donnie’s quest to discover the truth – and prove he’s not nuts – reveals a marketing and advertising scheme not of this dimension.THIS GUY"Every day, I catch him before he makes it to the China Skillet... I drag him into the alleyway, and I beat him with a tire iron. Sometimes, I stab him with a kitchen knife. I do this every day. I think it's starting to affect me." Every day is the same for the protagonist: get up, drive to work, and on the way there, beat some zombie to death. Next day? Zombie’s back. It would take a toll on one’s sanity, wouldn’t it?MISTER MHU’S PUSSY SHOWNolan seeks untold pleasures, but never finds them: not until now, when he becomes swiftly obsessed with Tasanee, a Bangkok dancer at a hole-in-the-wall club. He is driven to pursue her at any cost, but what he finds at the end of his obsession is not pleasure, but pain.LETHE AND MNEMOSYNEOld age wreaks havoc on the body and mind, and in this flash fiction that has been never more apparent than when a senile old man’s children exhort him to remember the means by which he controlled the giant chicken wreaking havoc back home.THE AUCTIONBenjamin’s father shows his son the secret behind his job: he is a buyer and seller of very forbidden things, magical things, objects of a fantastical purview. He takes his son to “The Auction,” a place where anything can be bought and sold: mythological creatures, insane machines, haunted and horrific artifacts. Benjamin is lead astray by a religious man with pious words but sinister intent. When Benjamin encounters a sickly mermaid on the auction block, can the boy step in and avert disaster?BEWARE OF OWNERA short story of how father teaches son: Dad teaches the boy that you don’t need to beware of a dog, but you damn well better beware of owner.DO-OVERS AND TAKE-BACKSTaye and Beau are two characters from two different worlds: the first a boy in the city projects, the second a rich man with a hollow life and an estranged family. But a bizarre figure steps in as catalyst – an inhuman “Rag-Man” appears and draws connections between the two characters that could not have existed before.

    P. Lovecraft, Peter Straub, and Thomas Ligotti. His stories have garnered critical acclaim and have been reprinted in numerous year’s best anthologies and nominated for multiple awards, including the Crawford, International Horror Guild, Shirley Jackson, Theodore Sturgeon, and World Fantasy awards. His debut collection, The Imago Sequence and Other Stories, was the inaugural winner of the Shirley Jackson Award.He returns with his second collection, Occultation. Pitting ordinary men and women against a carnivorous, chaotic cosmos, Occultation’s nine tales of terror (two published here for the first time) were nominated for just as many Shirley Jackson awards, winning for the novella “Mysterium Tremendum” and the collection as a whole. Occultation brings more of the spine-chillingly sublime cosmic horror Laird Barron’s fans have come to expect. Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.