McCammon, Graham Masterton, Harlan Ellison, Ramsey Campbell and other masters of the macabre take readers into their private world of fear, fantasy, and fatal attraction--in 24 tales of dread and debauchery, riveting stories of sex and terror . . . the fresh fusion that is fast becoming America's obsession.

    Enter worlds that are at once fanciful and familiar, where fact and fiction meld in a provocative landscape of infinite possibilities. . . .Contents xi • What Is Alternate History? • (1998) • essay by Shelly Shapiro1 • Must and Shall • (1995) • novelette by Harry Turtledove44 • An Outpost of the Empire • [Roma Eterna] • (1991) • novelette by Robert Silverberg71 • We Could Do Worse • (1988) • shortstory by Gregory Benford80 • Over There • [Teddy Roosevelt] • (1991) • novelette by Mike Resnick112 • Ink from the New Moon • (1992) • shortstory by A. A. Attanasio130 • Southpaw • (1993) • shortstory by Bruce McAllister147 • The West Is Red • (1994) • novelette by Greg Costikyan181 • The Forest of Time • (1987) • novella by Michael F. Flynn [as by Michael Flynn ]251 • Aristotle and the Gun • (1958) • novelette by L. Sprague de Camp299 • How I Lost the Second World War and Helped Turn Back the German Invasion • (1973) • shortstory by Gene Wolfe

    Witness the exploits of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, Elvis, Liz, Di, Tricky Dicky and Bill Clinton!

    From The Wizard of Oz to The Dark Tower, from Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass to C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, there is a rich tradition of this kind of fiction, but never before have the best parallel world stories and portal fantasies been collected in a single volume—until now.

    Morlan, Robert Silverberg, Michael Swanwick, Jane Yolen, and many others. Supplementing the stories are the editors' invaluable overviews of the year in fantastic fiction, Edward Bryant's witty roundup of the year's fantasy films, and a long list of Honorable Mentions-all of which adds up to an invaluable reference source, and a font of fabulous reading.

    As the robotic revolution continues to creep into our lives, it brings with it an impending sense of doom. What horrifying scenarios might unfold if our technology were to go awry? From self-aware robotic toys to intelligent machines violently malfunctioning, this anthology brings to life the half-formed questions and fears we all have about the increasing presence of robots in our lives. With contributions from a mix of bestselling, award-winning, and up-and-coming writers, and including a rare story by “the father of artificial intelligence,” Dr. John McCarthy, Robot Uprisings meticulously describes the exhilarating and terrifying near-future in which humans can only survive by being cleverer than the rebellious machines they have created.

    What if the nukes had flown that day over Cuba? What if Caesar had survived? Imagine the Tunguska meteor with a different outcome. What if there was a true story behind HG Wells' most famous tale? See the world as it might have been if China discovered the New World first. And what if all of this was never meant to be and dinosaurs ruled the Earth?Authors Jessica Holmes, Daniel M. Bensen, Terri Pray, Rob Edwards, Maria Haskins, Cathbad Maponus, Leo McBride, and collaborators Brent A. Harris and Ricardo Victoria show us the world that might have been - if the butterfly's wings had fluttered a different way, if the world changed between heartbeats, if a moment of decision saw another choice.This is the fourth anthology from Inklings Press, aiming to provide a platform for new and upcoming authors and to open the door onto different worlds.

    Vollmann's growing reputation as the American writer whose books tower over the work of his contemporaries by virtue of their enormous range, huge ambition, stylistic daring, wide learning, audacious innovation, and sardonic wit (Washington Post Book World). All these qualities are in evidence in this collection in which the character of the writer and that of some of his intimates - both real and imaginary - surface and resurface in a series of extraordinary situations and encounters. Two astonishing stories frame this collection. The first, The Ghost of Magnetism, tells about a young man leaving San Francisco to become a sort of literary hobo living on his freeze-dried memories. The last, The Grave of Lost Stories, describes the death of Poe in a fungus-encrusted tomb somewhere deep in the earth. Here is the colorful and disreputable group of people familiar to us from Vollmann's earlier fiction - pimps, tramps, pornographers, witch doctors and massage-parlor girls. Within these stories, Vollmann gives us one of the most searching, bizarre, and subversive views of America today.

    Kornbluth The Fall of Frenchy Steiner/ Hilary BaileyThrough road no whither/ Greg Bear Weihnachtsabend/ Keith Roberts Thor meets Captain America/ David BrinMoon of ice/ Brad Linaweaver Reichs-peace/ Shelia Finch Never meet again/ Algis BudrysDo ye hear the children weeping?/ Howard GoldsmithEnemy transmissions/ Tom Shippey Valhalla/ Gregory Benford

    But nothing endures forever. The smoldering embers of liberty have burst into flame again. It is time for a new beginning.Contents:· The Innocent Eye: An Introduction by Henry Kuttner· If This Goes On - originally published in Astounding Science Fiction February 1940· Coventry - originally published in Astounding Science Fiction July 1940 · Misfit - originally published in Astounding Science Fiction November 1939 · Concerning Stories Never Written: Postscript by Robert A. Heinlein

    Satisfy your curiosity. Surrender to wonder. Witness as the finest talents of our time bring you tales of the strangeness at the edges of existence.Featuring: Clive Barker, John Langan, Neil Gaiman, Ramsey Campbell, Lisa Morton, Brian Kirk, Hal Bodner, Stephanie M. Wytovich, Erinn Kemper, John F.D. Taff, Patrick Freivald, Lucy Snyder, Brian Hodge, Kristi DeMeester, Christopher Coake, Sarah Read, and Richard Thomas. With a foreword by Josh Malerman.

    Written with the biting wit and penetrating insight that are his trademarks, this new collection is exciting and essential reading.

    Written by Warren Ellis, this collection features a host of one and two-page pieces from comics' finest artists illustrating excerpts from the Word columns of crazed outlaw journalist Spider Jerusalem.

    . . Science fiction’s most illustrious and visionary authors hold forth the ultimate alternate history collection. Here you’ll experience mind-bending tales that challenge your views of the past, present, and future, including:• "The Lucky Strike": When The Lucky Strike is chosen over The Enola Gay to drop the first atomic bomb, fate takes an unexpected turn in Kim Stanley Robinson’s gripping tale.• "Bring the Jubilee": Ward Moore’s novella masterpiece offers a rebel victory at Gettysburg which changes the course of the Civil War . . . and all of American history.• "Through Road No Wither": After Hitler’s victory in World War II, two Nazi officers confront their destiny in Greg Bear’s apocalyptic vision of the future.• "All the Myriad Ways": Murder or suicide, Ambrose Harmon’s death leads the police down an infinite number of pathways in Larry Niven’s brilliant and defining tale of alternatives and consequences.• "Mozart in Mirrorshades": Bruce Sterling and Lewis Shiner explore a terrifying era as the future crashes into the past–with disastrous results.. . . as well as works by Poul Anderson • Gregory Benford • Jack L. Chalker • Nicholas A. DiChario • Brad Linaweaver • William Sanders • Susan Shwartz • Allen Steele • and Harry Turtledove himself!The definitive collection: fourteen seminal alternate history tales drawing readers into a universe of dramatic possibility and endless wonder.

    That single tragedy set off a whole series of events, resulting in the Spanish Armada's defeat of England and subsequent demise of Protestantism. Now it's the 20th century, and the Church of Rome reigns supreme. People live a pastoral existence of guilds and farming, with technology held back to the level of the steam locomotive and primitive radio. Still, science cannot be held back forever...a revolution is building.