For those who already know these tales, the poignant introduction is a window on the creator's mind. Reflecting back after 14 years, Barker writes: I look at these pieces and I don't think the man who wrote them is alive in me anymore.... We are all our own graveyards I believe; we squat amongst the tombs of the people we were. If we're healthy, every day is a celebration, a Day of the Dead, in which we give thanks for the lives that we lived; and if we are neurotic we brood and mourn and wish that the past was still present. Reading these stories over, I feel a little of both. Some of the simple energies that made these words flow through my pen--that made the phrases felicitous and the ideas sing--have gone. I lost their maker a long time ago. These enthusiastic tales are not ashamed of visceral horror, of blood splashing freely across the page: "The Midnight Meat Train," a grisly subway tale that surprises you with one twist after another; "The Yattering and Jack," about a hilarious demon who possesses a Christmas turkey; "In the Hills, the Cities," an unusual example of an original horror premise; "Dread," a harrowing non-supernatural tale about being forced to realize your worst nightmare; "Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament," about a woman who kills men with her mind. Some of the tales are more successful than others, but all are distinguished by strikingly beautiful images of evil and destruction. No horror library is complete without them. --Fiona Webster

    The first ten chapters of ‘Alone’ have also been included for your enjoyment.It is the year 1898, the year of the Spanish-American War, and Sebastian Bandores is aboard a ship, returning home to Spain. After serving his country, he hopes only to be reunited with his wife and young daughter after two years of separation.But someone else is waiting for Sebastian at the port, a vampire. As her obsession with Sebastian grows, so both his mortal life and that of his family is threatened.

    Wealthy cannibals who dine on the discarded limbs of peculiars. A fork-tongued princess. The origins of the first ymbryne. These are but a few of the truly brilliant stories in Tales of the Peculiar—known to hide information about the peculiar world—first introduced by Ransom Riggs in his Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series.Riggs now invites you to share his secrets of peculiar history, with a collection of original stories, as collected and annotated by Millard Nullings, ward of Miss Peregrine and scholar of all things peculiar.

    

    THE OLD DUDE’S TICKER by Stephen King Richard Drogan has been spooked ever since he came back from Nam, but he’s no head case, dig? He just knows the old dude needs to die. THE RICH ARE DIFFERENT by Lisa Morton Even though she made her name revealing the private lives of the rich and famous, Sara Peck has no idea how deep their secrets really go . . . or the price they’ll pay to get what they desire. THE MANICURE by Nell Quinn-Gibney A trip to the nail salon is supposed to be relaxing. But as the demons of the past creep closer with every clip, even the most serene day of pampering can become a nightmare. THE COMFORTING VOICE by Norman Prentiss It’s a little strange how baby Lydia can only be soothed by her grandfather’s unnatural voice, ravaged by throat cancer. The weirdest part? What he’s saying is more disturbing than how he says it. THE SITUATIONS by Joyce Carol Oates There are certain lessons children must learn, rules they must follow, scars they must bear. No lesson is more important than this: Never question Daddy. Or else. THE CORPSE KING by Tim Curran Grave robbers Kierney and Clow keep one step ahead of the law as they ply their ghoulish trade, but there’s no outrunning a far more frightening enemy that hungers for the dead. Praise for the Dark Screams series “A wicked treat [featuring] . . . some of the genre’s best.”—Hellnotes, on Volume One “Five fun-to-read stories by top-notch horror scribes. How can you lose? The answer: you can’t.”—Atomic Fangirl, on Volume Two “If you have not tried the series yet, do yourself a favor and grab a copy of any (or all) of the books for yourself.”—Examiner.com, on Volume Three “Fans of horror of every variety will find something to love in these pages.”—LitReactor, on Volume Four “[Volume Five] runs the gamut from throwback horror to lyrical and heartbreaking tales.”—Publishers Weekly

    The story is available for free on Karen Chance's website.

    Grandmamma did, too, back when she could still think straight. Hell, everybody in the poverty and crime-ridden Oak knew to stay away from it.But when a drug deal goes bad, and Mike is left penniless and desperate, he and his younger brother, James, do the unthinkable. In the dead of night, they sneak onto the unkempt property in search of rumored treasures. Beneath the thick shadow cast by the deserted home, they find what they are looking for.But brothers get greedy. Enticed by the promise of enough riches to get them out of the doomed neighborhood, the pair enters the house.And soon discover that the truth can be much worse than legend.

    But he is desperate to return to the Old Kingdom, and at last has the chance.All he has to do is spend a weekend in a country house as a favour for his Uncle Edward, Chief Minister of Ancelstierre. That seems easy enough, till he discovers that the house holds many secrets, and the worst of them is a relic of the Old Kingdom, too far from the Wall for any spark of its magical life to reignite.Unless someone finds a way to unleash its power....

    A town founded by fae escaping the Old World. A town both part of the world and cut off from it. A town that a young woman will run to, fleeing her past, only to discover that her past extends further than she ever imagined, into the distant history of Cainville itself.Collected in this volume are the stories of the town’s past, of the people and the fae she will eventually meet.Collection Contents:1) The Screams of DragonsA child tormented by visions of fae castles and fierce dragons.2) Devil May CareA hobgoblin who tries in vain to avoid his role in an ancient prophecy.3) Gabriel’s GargoylesA boy, the product of that prophecy, who wants only a Solstice gift for his aunt.4) Bad PublicityA writer who discovers all publicity is not really good publicity after all.5) The Orange CatAn orange cat who won’t quite stay dead.6) Matagot – brand-new for this collectionAnother cat with more than his nine lives, one continually reborn to right an ancient wrong.7) The Lady of the LakeAnd, finally, a story of Olivia herself, the young woman who ran there, now running away, searching for something she can’t quite find.

    But before Odd’s destiny is revealed, this exclusive eBook short story looks back — way back — to where it all began for Odd Thomas and Stormy Llewellyn, two souls who are destined to be together forever. Amid the dizzying rides, tantalizing games of chance, and fanciful attractions of a state fair, two teenage sweethearts on the cusp of life and love’s pleasures find their way to a shadowy carnival tent brimming with curiosities. There, from the bizarre and enthralling Gypsy Mummy, a mechanized merchant of dreams and prognosticator of tomorrows, the young couple learns what fate promises for them. But fate, for Odd Thomas and Stormy Llewellyn, is something altogether different: full of dark corners, sharp edges, and things no seer or soothsayer could ever anticipate. And for Odd Thomas, a gallant fry cook from a sleepy California desert town, the future beckons—to listen to unquiet spirits, pursue unsettling mysteries, and learn shocking truths . . . for a purpose far greater than himself.

    Laird Barron’s fourth collection gathers a dozen stories set against the backdrops of the Alaskan wilderness, far-future dystopias, and giallo-fueled nightmare vistas.All hell breaks loose in a massive apartment complex when a modern day Jack the Ripper strikes under cover of a blizzard; a woman, famous for surviving a massacre, hits the road to flee the limelight and finds her misadventures have only begun; while tracking a missing B-movie actor, a team of man hunters crashes in the Yukon Delta and soon realize the Arctic is another name for hell; an atomic-powered cyborg war dog loyally assists his master in the overthrow of a far-future dystopian empire; following an occult initiation ritual, a man is stalked by a psychopathic sorority girl and her team of horrifically disfigured henchmen; a rich lunatic invites several high school classmates to his mansion for a night of sex, drugs, and CIA-funded black ops experiments; and other glimpses into occulted realities a razor’s slice beyond our own.

    A pet shop employee’s innocent date with a customer quickly turns disturbing rather than delightful. She and her family hold a centuries-old secret, and they want him to stay with them forever . . .

    though I did leave out some of the original "diary" entries that appeared on an earlier version of the Morganville website, simply because they were just scenes and not stories, and were generally really short snippets. This is all short fiction, and it's been carefully organized into the timeline, so you can read from the earliest adventures (some of which belong to vampires) all the way through some post-Daylighters goodies.MIDNIGHT BITES includes a total of more than 50,000 words of brand new content, which makes me very happy indeed (and I hope will also make you happy, too). From stories featuring our favorite bunny-slipper-wearing mad scientist to a mystery solved by police chief Hannah Moses, I think you'll find this is a diverse group of stories that will shine a little more light in the murkiest corners of Morganville.

    But beneath her empire's seemingly idyllic surface lies a hidden secret. Whispers of an inept crown Prince are growing ever louder--intensified by the five year anniversary of the soulbond initiations.Amidst scandalous whispers, Ciardis finds herself chosen to train for the Companions Guild. She leaves her home and sets off on a personal journey to become a Court Companion. A position she'd never thought possible for a lowly servant to obtain, she must prove that she has the skills to attract a Patron.But she must master those skills quickly. If the legends are true, only Ciardis can harness the power to raise a Prince in an Imperial Court sworn to bring him down.Sworn To TransferEighteen-year-old companion trainee Ciardis Weathervane has won the friendship of the royal heir and saved his claim to the throne. Yet her interference in the inheritance rights leaves more harm done than good. The Ameles Forest lies unprotected and it's inhabitants are dying.As humans begin to die in gruesome deaths, the Emperor dispatches the royal heir to the forests with the solution to the kith concerns.With enemies closing ranks in Sandrin, Ciardis can little afford to leave the city's nest of vipers to take on a new task. But she's given no choice when her loyalty to the crown and courts are called into question.To keep the Companions' Guild happy and the favor of the Imperial Court, Ciardis will be tested in frightening new ways, especially when she's faced with an obstacle that could risk the lives of her friends and the family she never thought she had.Sworn To ConflictCiardis Weathervane fought for the living dead and won. But worse than taking on a mass murderer, was her discovery that she had been deceived by her friends. Now she needs to not only fight a war in the North and survive, but also decide where she stands in the midst of competing sides.A threat to all she holds dear lies in the North and her heart is not the only thing she might lose. A massive army awaits in the mountain pass, surging closer to the gates of the southern lands. Nothing the Algardis army has done so far has dissuaded their march forward and Ciardis finds out that her powers to enhance are needed now more than ever.As she faces her greatest fears on the battlefields and her heart is torn between her love of Sebastian and loyalty to her family, Ciardis must choose her fate carefully. For in her path, lies the destiny of the empire.GET ALL THREE BESTSELLING NOVELS in one Digital Box Set.

    Here are over 20 stories and short novels by the masters of gore, including Ramsey Campbell, Dennis Etchison, F. Paul Wilson, Brian Lumley, Tanith Lee and John Kaine. This classic Mammoth title features new and previously uncollected stories from some of the biggest and brightest names on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as classics from acknowledged masters.The contents include:Fruiting Bodies by Brian LumleyNeedle Song by Charles L. GrantTurbo-Satan by Christopher FowlerTalking In The Dark by Dennis EtchisonThe Circus by Sydney J. BoundsFoet by F. Paul WilsonThe Candle In The Skull by Basil CopperThe Chimney by Ramsey CampbellDark Wings by Phyllis EisensteinReflection Of Evil by Graham MastertonMirror Of The Night by E.C. TubbMaypole by Brian MooneyUnder The Crust by Terry LamsleyTir Nan Og by Lisa TuttleA Living Legend by R. Chetwynd-HayesWake-Up Call by David J. SchowThe Fourth Seal by Karl Edward WagnerUnlocked by Tanith Lee & John KaiineClosing Time by Neil GaimanIt Was The Heat by Pat CadiganFodder by Tim Lebbon & Brian KeeneOpen Doors by Michael Marshall SmithAndromeda Among The Stones by Caitlín R. KiernanFlowers On Their Bridles, Hooves In The Air by Glen HirshbergAmerikanski Dead At The Moscow Morgue Or: Children Of Marx And Coca–Cola by Kim NewmanAmong The Wolves by David Case