During his trip, he has a one-night stand with a young Japanese woman, Miki Someya. But Miki latches onto him. She follows him—stalks him—through the streets of Tokyo, professing her love and begging for his. Adam manages to avoid her, but he loses control of himself when she confronts him and threatens to follow him home to tell his wife about their affair.In a fit of drunken rage, Adam attacks her. He beats her black and blue, then he carves a smile on her face with a pair of shears. Afraid and ashamed, he flees the country and escapes prosecution.But years later, when children start vanishing in his city and the only suspect is a woman with a scarred face, he suspects his past has followed him home...Inspired by a classic urban legend, Jon Athan, the author of Lovesick and Maneater, brings you a disturbing new vision of sadistic romance.WARNING: This novel contains graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.

    A blizzard rages outside their home, but it’s far colder inside. Their marriage is falling apart, the love they once shared gone, in its place only bitter resentment. As the night wears on, strange things start to happen in their house—bad things. If they can work together, they might find a way to survive until morning…but only if they don’t open the Winter Box.

    R. James is best remembered for his ghost stories which are widely regarded as among the finest in English literature. One of James' most important achievements was to redefine the ghost story for the new century by dispensing with many of the formal gothic trappings of his predecessors, and replacing them with more realistic contemporary settings.According to James, a story must "put the reader into the position of saying to himself: 'If I'm not careful, something of this kind may happen to me!'"

    She is a mystery. As Social Worker Debbie Gillan pieces together the puzzle of the child's identity, she discovers the child had disappeared two years earlier along with a twin sister. She also discovers HANNAHWHERE, an alternate world that is both a haven and a prison.... Life altering trauma becomes the key to unraveling the truth about the children, about Hannahwhere...and about Debbie herself. Truths that could either save them or destroy them all. “HANNAHWHERE is a revelation. This constantly surprising novel has some very dark moments, but John McIlveen's clean, clear prose carries you through them and back into the light of the good, decent people who fuel this story with their desperate efforts to do the right thing. Hannah herself is a joy. If she were up for adoption, I'd be the first in line.” -- F. Paul Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of COLD CITY “HANNAHWHERE by John McIlveen is everything a book should be--filled with unforgettable characters, fast-paced, and a page-turner. I loved it!” -- Heather Graham, New York Times bestselling author of LET THE DEAD SLEEP "From the very first line of HANNAHWHERE, you know you're in good hands. John McIlveen raises a compelling new voice with a story that is at once playful and frightening, thrilling and heartbreaking. Highly recommended." -- Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of ROT & RUIN and FIRE & ASH "John McIlveen's HANNAHWHERE is a thrilling, emotionally complex paranormal mystery. The little girls at the center of the story will touch your heart and unsettle you, all at the same time. A wonderful first novel from an exciting new voice in genre fiction." -- Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of SNOWBLIND "Love it, love it, LOVE IT!" -- Rick Hautala, bestselling author of THE DEMON'S WIFE"John McIlveen's HANNAHWHERE easily and often defies genre, weaving in mystery, darkness, humor and horror with a cast of living, breathing characters that it's far too easy to fall in love with. I am in awe of his talents." -- James A. Moore, author of the SEVEN FORGES series.“HANNAHWHERE is a unique piece of fiction. Full of compelling characters and original concepts, it transcends any notions of genre. The reader’s need to encounter a beautifully realized story rendered in clear, precise prose is fulfilled here with stunning clarity. John McIlveen is a talent who has a brilliant future as a novelist.” -- Thomas F. Monteleone, four-time Bram Stoker Award-winner

    Never open your story with a corpse. It's a cliché. If you do it to be ironic, I'll throw your manuscript in your face."Greta didn't set out to solve a murder. But if the first thing you see when you come home after a long day at a lousy job is your own dead body, it can make even the most cynical non-starter in 1994 Seattle take an interest. Refusing to believe her dead eyes, the one-time theater editor at the city's least noteworthy periodical - now a bitter ghost haunting the streets and busways of the Emerald City - will happily break every rule of crime fiction to tell her story and prove she didn't die a lame-ass, suicidal Cobain imitator. If Greta manages to figure out who really killed her, in the process? That's just an extra shot in her overpriced espresso.Hauntingly scary, darkly funny, and occasionally nostalgic, I Wish I Was Like You is one vengeful spirit's look at a city learning to embrace narcissism and the dead inhabitants who will always call it home.

    Nineteen tales from Michael Swanwick's best short fiction of the past decade are gathered here for the first time, including the 1999 Hugo Award-nominated "Radiant Doors" and "Wild Minds" and that year's Hugo winning story, "The Very Pulse of the Machine." The collection also features "The Raggle Taggle Gypsy-O," written especially for this volume.Contents"A User’s Guide to Michael Swanwick" by Bruce Sterling“Ancient Engines”“Ice Age”“In Concert”“Microcosmic Dog”“Midnight Express”“Mother Grasshopper”“North of Diddy-Wah-Diddy”“Radiant Doors”“Radio Waves”“Riding the Giganotosaur”“Scherzo the Tyrannosaur”“The Changeling’s Tale”“The Dead”"The Mask”“The Raggle Taggle Gypsy-O”“The Very Pulse of the Machine”“The Wisdom of the Old Earth”“Walking Out”“Wild Minds”

    Searching these sinister stacks you will find:A church picnic at a haunted reservoir where only a twelve year-old boy is aware that something waits in the water…A burnt-out teacher that finds a friend… in his cancer…The secret to surviving the zombie apocalypse…An inoculation for Lycanthropy which may be more horrible than the disease…Young lovers that, on the eve of World War II, partake of a most forbidden fruit…A haunted carnival ride which delivers its passengers into the unexpected…21 tales of night terror, night madness, nightmares, night woe and night wonder…Welcome to The Night LibraryBe warned: The late fees are killer!

    Cruelly treated, and with no hope of freedom, her only escape is into the stories of her Grecian mother's home town of Eresos, as told to her by Melissa, a fellow-slave and her mother's dearest friend.Aulus, a brave young Roman soldier, is banished from Rome and escapes to his own villa in the Italian countryside. There he is faced by a life-threatening misfortune, is saved by the enchanting young Chloe, and falls in love with her, despite the fact that she is a slave.This historically accurate book is a captivating story of adventure, love, Chloe's struggle with the anger and hatred she feels toward her father, and the forgiveness she learns that cleanses her soul.

    Here, along with the usual monsters - vampires, werewolves, ghouls, and some of Dr Frankenstein's more freakish creations - you'll find other, less familiar ones. You'll meet the frightening Fly-by-Night, the hideous shaddy, the horrible mock, and the dreaded shadmock, perhaps the most terrible of all. When Donald McCloud offers a starving man a meal, he unexpectedly discovers that the man is a vampire - and he's the main course! Accompanying the vampire, Eramus, to The Monster Club, Donald encounters a whole host of strange monsters, who, in a series of five linked stories, recount to Donald their monstrous exploits. But as Donald is regaled with these tales of monsters and their unfortunate human victims, it gradually dawns on him that as the only human in a club full of bloodthirsty monsters, he might be in a bit of a predicament. . . . First published as a paperback original in 1976, R. Chetwynd-Hayes's "The Monster Club" was adapted for a 1981 film starring Vincent Price, John Carradine and Donald Pleasence, and both book and film have gone on to become cult classics. Told in a wry, tongue-in-cheek style, the tales in "The Monster Club" are simultaneously horrific, comical, and curiously moving. This edition is the first in more than twenty years and features a new introduction by Stephen Jones and a reproduction of John Bolton's painting from the comic book adaptation of the film.

    Sometimes set in the contemporary or historical world, sometimes pure fantasy or an imagined "history," these are striking, fresh, finely crafted works that demonstrate the best the short story form has to offer. Among the authors included are Delia Sherman, Peter Beagle, Greer Gilman, Paul Di Filippo, Jeffrey Ford, Gregory Maguire, and Lucius Shepard.

    Librarian's Note: An alternate cover for this ASIN can be found hereThe perfect getaway...The perfect place to hide...Hocking Hills, Ohio is an oasis for campers, hikers, nature enthusiasts, and for those who just want to get away and lose themselves in the wild.And as long as you follow your guide's advice and stay within the permitted areas, you can expect to survive the night.Because deep within the dark woods, something insidious awaits, something few have ever seen, something ancient, unknowable, and insatiable.If you go down to these woods today, you won't live to see the sunrise...A brand new novella from the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of THE TURTLE BOY and KIN.

    Nothing is sacred. Someone, somewhere, knows your deepest, darkest secrets. Are your intentions noble when you open up your laptop? Because the living aren't the only ones watching, the dead are too.So next time you go surfing the darknet, beware.And if you get an email from ‘dead.com’, whatever you do, don’t open it...Because those snuff films might be the last thing you ever see.Extreme horror from Sam West.

    One day, she is drawn helplessly into the parking lot of a warehouse. She knows somehow that her daughter, Holly, is being held in the building, and she has an overwhelming need to rescue her. But what Willy knows is impossible, for her daughter is dead. On the same day, author Timothy Underhill, who has been struggling with a new book about a troubled young woman, is confronted with the ghost of his nine-year-old sister, April. Soon after, he begins to receive eerie, fragmented e-mails that he finally realizes are from people he knew in his youth-people now dead. Like his sister, they want urgently to tell him something. When Willy and Timothy meet, the frightening parallels between Willy's tragic loss and the story in Tim's manuscript suggest that they must join forces to confront the evils surrounding them.

    In this case, an entire cult is involved.Winner, 1992 Nebula Award and 1993 Hugo Award, Best Short Story."At the Rialto": A look at a scientific conference held in Chaos Central, and an attempt to explain the link among quantum physics, mid-life romance, and the Frederick's of Hollywood bra museum.Winner, 1989 Nebula Award, Best Short Story."Death on the Nile": The story of a vacation to Egypt gone seriously wrong.Winner, 1994 Hugo Award, Best Short Story."Why the World Didn't End Last Tuesday": Armageddon by committee."Close Encounter": Yes, everyone hates hospitals. They're just hating them for the wrong reasons.

    This groundbreaking anthology inaugurates an exciting new annual tradition—a giant collection of the greatest fantasy and supernatural stories published in 1987.