100 Hair-Raising Little Horror Stories


Al SarrantonioE.F. Benson - 1993
    F. Benson, H. P. Lovecraft, Fritz Leiber, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Stephen Crane, Charles Dickens, Robert Barr, and many others who know well how to manipulate a reader's emotions. From Washington Irving comes "The Adventure of My Grandfather" and from Saki, "The Cobweb." Bill Pronzini plays a horrifying game of "Peekaboo," while Frances Garfield portrays "The House at Evening" to alarming effect. This unique and very special collection is like a carnival ride of terror that you'll want to go on again and again.

The Eclective: The Haunted Collection


Alan NayesR.G. Porter - 2012
    Edward McNally: Captain Wil has command of his own ship, the respect of his crew, and his wife is expecting their first child. But at sea, the winds always become calm just before the storm breaks.The Smell of Death by Tara West: Maggie's unusual powers bring new threats to her already troubled childhood.Safe by Emma Jameson: In Victorian London, a grave robber makes a nice living off the dead, until he opens the wrong crypt.Soulfully Sweet by Shéa MacLeod: As if helping the living isn’t enough of a pain in her divine hindquarters, Branwen (former goddess of love and beauty) is stuck helping the dead on All Hallow’s Eve.May I Go Play? by Heather Marie Adkins: Micah inherits a southern mansion where ancestors long dead relive their violent deaths. And now, they want company...Blehdward, the Vampire who Couldn't Sparkle by Pj Jones: Blehdward desperately wants to fit in with the cool vamps. If only he could learn how to sparkle.Franscesca by Alan Nayes: Break a promise to a feiticeira and you will live to regret it.Soul Eaters by R.G. Porter: Kaitlyn never believed in the existence of other worlds. Now she's in the middle of one where humans aren't the hunters but the hunted.The Eclective is a group of authors dedicated to the premise that The Story is The Thing, and classifications of genre are mostly a matter for bookshelves. While the following stories share a "Haunting" theme, they might variously be filed as Horror, Paranormal, Fantasy, YA, etc., or anything else. Our idea is that the story itself is more important than whatever label somebody feels like giving it, and by bringing our work together in collections like this one, we hope readers may find a story they might like. Even if it is not in "their" genre.

DemonWars Saga Volume 1: The Demon Awakens - The Demon Spirit - The Demon Apostle


R.A. Salvatore - 2014
    A. Salvatore introduced fantasy readers around the globe to an astonishing new world. As the DemonWars Saga unfolds over these first three books, two intrepid young heroes must confront the dark tides of destiny in an epic search for justice and peace. This eBook bundle includes:  THE DEMON AWAKENSTHE DEMON SPIRITTHE DEMON APOSTLE  A great evil has awakened in the land of Corona: a demon determined to spread death and misery. His goblin armies and fearsome giants ravage the settlements of the frontier, and in the small village of Dundalis their merciless attack leaves behind two shattered orphans: Pony and her lifelong friend Elbryan. Taken in by elves, Elbryan is raised to become a formidable ranger—a fateful role that will lead him into harrowing confrontation.   Meanwhile, on a far-off island, a shower of gemstones falls onto the black sand shores. These heaven-sent stones carry within them an incredible power—the key to all that is good and all that is evil in the world. Now it’s up to one young monk to liberate them from the corrupt monastery that harvests them. Pray that they don’t fall into the wrong, clawed hands.  Praise for the DemonWars Saga  “An enthralling epic adventure story, it introduces memorable characters and an intricate scheme of magic the readers won’t soon forget.”—Terry Brooks, on The Demon Awakens   “A new classic! Wonderfully told! Fans will love it!”—Troy Denning, New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Crucible, on The Demon Awakens  “Absorbing . . . one of the finest books yet in Salvatore’s prolific career.”—Publishers Weekly, on The Demon Spirit  “Unforgettable . . . another rousing and masterful DemonWars adventure . . . a must-read for all fans of Salvatore’s work.”—Realms of Fantasy, on The Demon Apostle

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Seventh Annual Collection


Ellen DatlowMary Ellis - 1994
    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.

Lost Tales


Edgar Allan Poe - 1833
    Then there's a group of tales that Poe acknowledged reading, and that clearly influenced him: tales of premature burial, of a man trapped beneath a great clanging bell, of a doomed girl reborn and doomed again. To describe this book as a "must" for all admirers of Edgar Allen Poe is surely unnecessary: it's so self-evident.

The Tick People


Carlton Mellick III - 2014
    It is a sad city, the saddest of cities, a place so utterly depressing that even their ales are brewed with the most sorrow-filled tears. They built it on the back of a colossal mountain-sized animal, where its woeful citizens live like human fleas within the hairy, pulsing landscape. And those tasked with keeping the city in a state of constant melancholy are the Stressmen-a team of professional sadness-makers who are perpetually striving to invent new ways of causing absolute misery. But for the Stressman known as Fernando Mendez, creating grief hasn't been so easy as of late. His ideas aren't effective anymore. His treatments are more likely to induce happiness than sadness. And if he wants to get back in the game, he's going to have to relearn the true meaning of despair.Like "James and the Giant Peach" combined with one of David Cronenberg's early body horror films, "The Tick People" is a charming children's fable that quickly devolves into a grotesque sexual nightmare.

The Klarkash-Ton Cycle: Clark Ashton Smith's Cthulhu Mythos Fiction


Clark Ashton Smith - 2008
    Includes The Ghoul, Hunters from Beyond, Ubbo-Sathla, Vulthoom, The Infernal Star, and others. Selected and introduced by Robert M. Price. This book is part of an expanding collection of Cthulhu Mythos horror fiction and related topics. Call of Cthulhu fiction focuses on single entities, concepts, or authors significant to readers and fans of H.P. Lovecraft.

Horrors Next Door 2: Short Scary Stories to play with your mind


Tom Coleman - 2019
    Some of the stories are inspired by true events. Find out which ones inside this scary collection. "The Girl I Married" Jonathan noticed that after marrying Jeanette, she starts acting strange. As if she is not the same girl he dated. Why is she so different and what secrets is she hiding? "I`m Sorry Daddy" After an accident at work, Mr. Williams starts developing unusual symptoms. He is turning into a monster and there is nothing to stop this. "The House Next Door part 2" Jessica decides to find out what happened to her friend Sarah. What new discoveries will she make and will the same fate befall her?

Haunted Legends


Ellen DatlowM.K. Hobson - 2010
    Lansdale, Caitlin Kiernan, Catherynne M. Valente, Kit Reed, Ekaterina Sedia, and thirteen other fine writers to create stories unlike any they've written before. Tales to make readers shiver with fear, jump at noises in the night, keep the lights on. These twenty nightmares, brought together by two renowned editors of the dark fantastic, are delightful visions sure to send shivers down the spines of horror readers.

Regina Puckett's Short Tales of Horror


Regina Puckett - 2012
    Can anything save them when the spirit decides they belong to him? Crying through Plastic Eyes-A messy divorce, a room filled with creepy dolls, and a missing six-year-old all create the perfect storm for a young mother’s worse nightmare. Will Work for Food- You see them everywhere begging for money or food. When an older couple decides to lend a helping hand to a young man and his son, someone gets more than they bargain for. Pieces-A battered woman confesses to the mutilation and death of her husband, but did she really commit this heinous crime? Paying the Hitchhiker-You see a beautiful young woman on the side of the road with her thumb out, asking for a ride. Who should be the most afraid: the hitchhiker or the person picking her up? Inheritance-A confession from Accalia’s grandmother about a curse and an inheritance are just the prologue to seven days of suffering through a living hell.

The Dark Descent


David G. Hartwell - 1987
    Adopted by colleges across the country to be used in literature courses, The Dark Descent showcases some of the finest horror fiction ever written.Contents: Pt. 1 - The Color of EvilThe Reach / Stephen KingEvening Primrose / John CollierThe Ash-Tree / M. R. JamesThe New Mother / Lucy CliffordThere's a Long, Long Trail A-winding / Russell KirkThe Call of Cthulhu / H. P. LovecraftThe Summer People / Shirley JacksonThe Whimper of Whipped Dogs / Harlan EllisonYoung Goodman Brown / Nathaniel HawthorneMr. Justice Harbottle / J. Sheridan Le FanuThe Crowd / Ray BradburyThe Autopsy / Michael SheaJohn Charrington's Wedding / E. NesbitSticks / Karl Edward WagnerLarger Than Oneself / Robert AickmanBelsen Express / Fritz LeiberYours Truly, Jack the Ripper / Robert BlochIf Damon Comes / Charles L. GrantVandy, Vandy / Manly Wade WellmanPt. 2 - The Medusa in the ShieldThe Swords / Robert AickmanThe Roaches / Thomas M. DischBright Segment / Theodore SturgeonDread / Clive BarkerThe Fall of the House of Usher / Edgar Allan PoeThe Monkey / Stephen KingWithin the Walls of Tyre / Michael BishopThe Rats in the Walls / H. P. LovecraftSchalken the Painter / J. Sheridan Le FanuThe Yellow Wallpaper / Charlotte Perkins GilmanA Rose for Emily / William FaulknerHow Love Came to Professor Guildea / Robert HichensBorn of Man and Woman / Richard MathesonMy Dear Emily / Joanna RussYou Can Go Now / Dennis EtchisonThe Rocking-Horse Winner / D. H. LawrenceThree Days / Tanith LeeGood Country People / Flannery O'ConnorMackintosh Willy / Ramsey CampbellThe Jolly Corner / Henry JamesPt. 3 - A Fabulous Formless Darkness Smoke Ghost / Fritz LeiberSeven American Nights / Gene WolfeThe Signal-Man / Charles DickensCrouch End / Stephen KingNight-Side / Joyce Carol OatesSeaton's Aunt / Walter de la MareClara Militch / Ivan TurgenevThe Repairer of Reputations / Robert W. ChambersThe Beckoning Fair One / Oliver OnionsWhat Was It? / Fitz-James O'BrienThe Beautiful Stranger / Shirley JacksonThe Damned Thing / Ambrose BierceAfterward / Edith WhartonThe Willows / Algernon BlackwoodThe Asian Shore / Thomas M. DischThe Hospice / Robert AickmanA Little Something for Us Tempunauts / Philip K. Dick

Modern Classics of Science Fiction


Gardner DozoisUrsula K. Le Guin - 1991
    Long years from now the stories here may still touch someone, cause that person to blink, and put the book down for a second, and stare off through the hallow air, and shirver in wonder." Contents 1 • Preface (The Legend Book of Science Fiction) • (1991) • essay by Gardner Dozois7 • The Country of the Kind • (1956) • shortstory by Damon Knight22 • Aristotle and the Gun • (1958) • novelette by L. Sprague de Camp59 • The Other Celia • (1957) • shortstory by Theodore Sturgeon78 • Casey Agonistes • (1958) • shortstory by Richard McKenna [as by Richard M. McKenna ]90 • Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons • [The Instrumentality of Mankind] • (1961) • novelette by Cordwainer Smith116 • The Moon Moth • (1961) • novelette by Jack Vance157 • The Golden Horn • [Tales of a Darkening World] • (1962) • novelette by Edgar Pangborn196 • The Lady Margaret • [Pavane] • (1966) • novelette by Keith Roberts (aka The Lady Anne)238 • This Moment of the Storm • (1966) • novelette by Roger Zelazny273 • Narrow Valley • (1966) • shortstory by R. A. Lafferty287 • Driftglass • (1967) • shortstory by Samuel R. Delany309 • The Worm That Flies • (1968) • shortstory by Brian W. Aldiss331 • The Fifth Head of Cerberus • (1972) • novella by Gene Wolfe397 • Nobody's Home • (1972) • shortstory by Joanna Russ416 • Her Smoke Rose Up Forever • (1974) • novelette by James Tiptree, Jr.437 • The Barrow • (1976) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le Guin447 • Particle Theory • (1977) • shortstory by Edward Bryant472 • The Ugly Chickens • (1980) • novelette by Howard Waldrop499 • Going Under • (1981) • novelette by Jack Dann [as by Jack M. Dann ]521 • Salvador • (1984) • shortstory by Lucius Shepard543 • Pretty Boy Crossover • (1986) • shortstory by Pat Cadigan557 • The Pure Product • (1986) • novelette by John Kessel580 • The Winter Market • (1985) • novelette by William Gibson603 • Chance • (1986) • novelette by Connie Willis637 • The Edge of the World • (1989) • shortstory by Michael Swanwick654 • Dori Bangs • (1989) • shortstory by Bruce Sterling671 • Afterword (The Legend Book of Science Fiction) • (1991) • essay by Gardner Dozois

Dinosaur Tales


Ray BradburyDavid Wiesner - 1983
    In This Elegantly Designed and Illustrated Book, Bradbury Presents All of His Dinosaur Stories in One Volume! "I have an idea that Bradbury's work would have given Edgar Allan Poe a peculiar satisfaction to have written them himself." -Somerset Maugham

The Mammoth Book of Modern Ghost Stories


Peter HainingElizabeth Bowen - 2007
    Wodehouse, John Steinbeck, and Ian Rankin

Black Vulmea's Vengeance


Robert E. Howard - 1976
    All three are tales of pirates, yet all three are distinctively Howard. Interwoven with the pirate swash and buckle are glimpses of lost dead cities protected in bizarre ways, of devil-haunted caves, and weird revenge.This volume includes "Swords of the Red Brotherhood", previously unpublished, the longest and best of Howard's non-Conan pirate stories, an exciting departure from the normal pirate yarn."The Isle of Pirate's Doom" and "Black Vulmea's Vengeance" fill out this oversized volume.