He insists in sending Mark off in style...in the company of a hooker. It's supposed to be the last hoorah of a single man before being condemned to a life of marriage, but that all changes when the hooker scams them. Mark's world unravels and a dark side he never knew he possessed spills out.The REPREHENSIBLE ACTS series feature stories without heroes or happy endings in some cases. These stories feature characters that lose their way and may never find their way back. You can't condone their actions, but perhaps you can have sympathy for their damaged souls. You might find these stories unpalatable, but then again, you're meant to. Don't judge. No one is immune to committing a reprehensible act.

    Suitable for ages 4 to 8 years, this work is illustrated so that the child easily understands the story.

    Without a decent payday in months, she's close to calling it quits, and if she doesn’t come through, her reputation — and the prospect of more customers — will be ruined.Between an insolent spell book, an old friend too sick to run her favorite tavern and a new guy in town who is the object of every maiden’s desire, Gretchen scrambles to keep everyone happy.Trip trap, trip trap, this troll packs a mighty punch.A potion cocktail has unintended side effects with massive ramifications and Gretchen has no idea how she did it. If she doesn’t fix it, she’ll be forced to hang up her witches hat and serve drinks for the rest of her days.Check out these hilarious high fantasy with stories each month for a new spin on a classic tale.

    Wick, D.D. Roy, Jean Cross, Tess Oliver, Laura Keysor, KJ Hannah Greenberg, & Chris Eboch

    V. Larson! This 60,000 word book is an Anthology of short stories. Most are Science Fiction mixed with Horror. Others might be called Dark Fantasy... Many have been published previously in various magazines.The Barrier – What does it take to go faster than light?Symptoms of Godhood – How far can you modify a body and still call the results human?Discharged – A long war and an even longer stay in an automated hospital.Teeth at Bedtime – Technology follows us everywhere.The Insect Requirement – Great sacrifices are required for Earth’s early colonists.Blind Eyes – If we can design our own children, how far will we go?TA96 – Do our genes belong to us?Zundra’s Movies – A future where video is created with the mind, and insanity is fun to watch.Pinball – A young man builds his own watchdog.Love Aboard the Kamadeva – A love triangle between two desperate souls and a digital mirage.Starplay – A window into the universe becomes a door.The One-Way Gang – Leaving Earth is easy, but you can never come back.Rusted Metal – What has spent the last century in the basement?Lunar Lotto – Death comes instantly to outlaws in vacuum.The Rollers – Crime has been mostly eliminated by removing all forms of cash... Mostly.

    The stories recounts the life of times of the hero Domrudhar in colonial India. The protagonist Domrudhar is portrayed as a dishonest man who rises from a lowly shop-assistant to a land owner.

    While these epic figures lead armies and shape the futures of their nations, other powerful individuals, no less skilled, forge their own destinies in steam and steel.Called to Battle is a collection of stories focused on the Iron Kingdoms’ unsung heroes, its skilled mercenaries, and even the horrifying villains who haunt its darker reaches. Track a target through the frozen north with Kell Bailoch, a deadly sharpshooter who kills for the highest bidder; Hunt Down a group of corrupted human magic users with Narn, a merciless Iosan mage hunter; uncover a sinister sabotage plot with Arlan Strangewayes, Cygnar's premier arcane mechanik; and endure a terrifying journey into the mind of General Gerlak Slaughterborn, a monstrous blighted trollkin with a penchant for devouring his enemies whole and screaming. These stories draw you deeper into the wartorn landscape of western Immoren and the Iron Kingdoms, where heroes, villains, and those somewhere in between find themselves Called to Battle.

     A Rip in Time (Book #7) The Crosses are back in book 7 of the Out of Time Series. An old enemy returns threatening to destroy not just Simon and Elizabeth but the timeline itself. To keep that from happening, they travel back to 1888 London to find Jack the Ripper…and save his life. If he dies, the timeline changes, everything they know and their lives together, will be lost. But they soon discover the only thing harder than saving a monster is finding him. A Time of Shadows (Book #8) It's been a few months since Simon and Elizabeth returned from their adventure in 1888 London. Jack is back with them and all is as it should be, until a knock on the door changes that. A visitor from the future turns their world upside-down. Unable to return her to her time, they go to the Council for help, only to discover there are bigger problems afoot. All of the watches have been shut down until a dangerous and secret weapon--a watch that can change any point in time--can be found. Too powerful for anyone to possess, it was hidden. But now the secret's out, and the mysterious Shadow Council will do anything to get their hands on it. Simon, Elizabeth and Jack race to find it before the Shadow Council does or it will be the end of...everything. Voyage in Time (Book #9) Simon and Elizabeth are sent by the Council to 1912 England to make sure scientist Niels Bohr survives long enough to attend a secret meeting. But as tensions in Europe rise and the makings of World War loom on the horizon, they're not the only ones concerned with Bohr's meeting. And not everyone wants him to make it. Keeping Bohr alive is hard enough, but when he books passage on the Titanic, their task might just be impossible. Forced to follow him onto the ship, they must face mysterious assassins, dangers at every turn and survive one of the most infamous disasters in history. Don't miss the next adventure: Revolution in Time (Book #10) http://a.co/6jyVuVD

    For the special edition slipcase please go here.You know the drill by now. The 2020 Short Story Advent Calendar is a deluxe box set of individually bound short stories from some of the best writers in North America. This year's slipcase is a thing of beauty, too, with electric-yellow lining and spot-glossed lettering. It also comes wrapped in two rubber bands to keep those booklets snug in their beds.

    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!

    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.

    Uncanny and unexpected creatures appear from behind bushes, rise from beneath the seas, or manifest from seasonal storms to pursue the objects of their attention—with amorous or sinister intent—relentlessly.From the gentle tones of a storyteller’s cadences to the terror of a blood sacrifice, tales of favorite characters from Marr’s Wicked Lovely novels mix with accounts of new characters for readers to fall in love with...or to fear.Lush, seductive, and chilling, Melissa Marr’s stories revel in the unseen magic that infuses the world as we know it.Table of Contents:"Where Nightmares Walk""Winter's Kiss" (Fairy Tales)"Transition" (Vampires)"Love Struck" (Selchies)"Old Habits" (WL World)"Stopping Time" (WL World)"The Art of Waiting""Flesh for Comfort""The Sleeping Girl and the Summer King" (WL World-ish, the short story that started the series)"Cotton Candy Skies" (WL World)"Unexpected Family" (WL World)"Merely Mortal" (WL World)

    Our insatiable desire for greatness is shadowed only by our overwhelming hatred for complacency. Whether for fame or fortune, aware of it or not, we strive for the highest rung only for our grasp to instantly crave the next ladder. Yet still we reach, for the void must always be filled. Seventeen-year-old Alrin Turner lives in a place where power is everything, and pursuing it is the only thing that seems to ebb the burning desire. Each person is born with three numbers on their hand that show the might of their strength, magic and intellect, so seeing the full extent of one’s power is as simple as glancing in the mirror. In a world teeming with such illustrious competition, qualities like kindness and humility are in short supply, and Alrin knows it all too well. He cares nothing of power and holds firm to the belief that there is more to life than what is found on your hand, despite the relentless insults he receives for it. While hunting in the woods with his brother, a selfless act forces Alrin off the edge of a cliff only for him to stop feet above the ground by a flash of brilliant light and a mysterious symbol that appears over his hand. The source of this power intrigues a sudden benefactor, who takes Alrin under his wing to train him in his magic guild—an honor never before given to someone so insignificant. When mighty warriors start to appear in his town, Alrin not only learns that the power that saved him has been sought out for thousands of years, but like it or not, he has fallen into a story much larger than himself. Everyone he loves is either taken or cursed and Alrin is faced with an impossible task: delve deeper into the realm of power to unlock the riddle of the void and save his family, yet somehow cling to the part of himself that was worthy of power at the start.

    This is a communal effort by the Pushcart Press staff, contributing editors, and hundreds of small presses. For this edition distinguished poets Julie Sheehan and Tom Sleigh served as poetry editors. The result is an introduction to a literary world that few readers have access to, where much of today's important new writing is published, far from the commercial influence of the conglomerates. In reviewing last year's edition, Donna Seaman of Booklist commented: "A brimming, vibrant anthology-the perfect introduction to new writers and adventurous new work by established writers . . . extraordinary in its range of voices and subjects. Here is literature to have and to hold." The Pushcart Prize has been chosen for the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement recognition by the National Book Critics Circle and the Writers for Writers award from Poets Writers / Barnes Noble.

    With her father unable to do his night watchman rounds, Kate does all she can to help her family survive. But when Andrew Pitt comes into her life, everything changes. True happiness seems to be on the horizon for Kate as she and Andrew make plans to marry. Then tragedy strikes and Kate takes the only course she can to protect the people who depend on her. With her future looking hopeless, Kate must find a way to escape – and to get back the man she loves.