Reviews "A wonderful collection of tales that range from creepy to silly to haunting. ...Gammell's drawings add just the right touch..." -- John Scieszka, Entertinment Weekly"Guaranteed to make your teeth chatter and your spine tingle." -- School Library Journal"Read these if you dare." -- The New York Times

    Henry Prize stories collection has offered an exciting selection of the best stories published in hundreds of literary magazines every year. Such classic works of American literature as Ernest Hemingway’s The Killers (1927); William Faulkner’s Barn Burning (1939); Carson McCuller’s A Tree. A Rock. A Cloud (1943); Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery (1949); J.D. Salinger’s For Esme with Love and Squalor (1963); John Cheever’s The Country Husband (1956) ; and Flannery O’Conner’s Everything that Rises Must Converge (1963) all were O. Henry Prize stories. An accomplished new series editor--novelist and short story writer Laura Furman--has read more than a thousand stories to identify the 20 winners, each one a pleasure to read today, each one a potential classic. The O. Henry Prize Stories 2003 also contains brief essays from each of the three distinguished judges on their favorite story, and comments from the prize-winning writers on what inspired their stories. There is nothing like the ever rich, surprising, and original O. Henry collection for enjoying the contemporary short story.The Thing in the Forest A. S. Byatt The Shell Collector Anthony Doerr Burn Your Maps Robyn Jay Leff Lush Bradford Morrow God’s Goodness Marjorie Kemper Bleed Blue in Indonesia Adam Desnoyers The Story Edith Pearlman Swept Away T. Coraghessan Boyle Meanwhile Ann Harleman Three Days. A Month. More. Douglas Light The High Road Joan Silber Election Eve Evan S. Connell Irish Girl Tim Johnston What Went Wrong Tim O’Brien The American Embassy Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Kissing William Kittredge Sacred Statues William Trevor Two Words Molly Giles Fathers Alice Munro Train Dreams Denis Johnson

    The eleven stories in this volume are drawn from Dahl's popular adult short stories and were chosen for their quirky, twisted, and haunting plots -- sure to please Dahl teenage fans.Contents vii • Introduction (Skin and Other Stories) • (2000) • essay by Wendy Cooling1 • Skin • non-genre • (1952) • short story by Roald Dahl22 • Lamb to the Slaughter • non-genre • (1953) • short story by Roald Dahl35 • The Sound Machine • (1949) • short story by Roald Dahl53 • An African Story • (1946) • short story by Roald Dahl71 • Galloping Foxley • non-genre • (1953) • short story by Roald Dahl90 • The Wish • (1948) • short story by Roald Dahl95 • The Surgeon • non-genre • (1988) • novelette by Roald Dahl129 • Dip in the Pool • non-genre • (1952) • short story by Roald Dahl144 • The Champion of the World • non-genre • (1959) • novelette by Roald Dahl179 • Beware of the Dog • non-genre • (1944) • short story by Roald Dahl195 • My Lady Love, My Dove • non-genre • (1952) • short story by Roald Dahl

    She edits books from her small apartment. She occasionally goes out to the local diner for a tuna melt. She enjoys living in Worcester. It's where the Worcester Lunch Car Company made diners from 1906 to 1957. And now she gets to enjoy one in all its vintage glory. But her quiet, predictable evening at the diner is disturbed when four restaurant workers come in complaining about a theft. And her inquisitive mind soon notices something ... * * * Diner Deeds Done Dirt Cheap is the first book in the Diner Short Story Mysteries series. These short stories are about 15-20 pages each and feature authentic diners around Massachusetts. Author Lisa Shea goes to each diner personally to write up its sights, sounds, and aromas. That way you, the reader, can take a virtual vacation to these historic locations! Visit Lisa's webpages to see photos and write-ups of the diners. All of the Diner Mystery series contain no violence, no swearing, and no intimacy, so they are suitable for teens and up. You can read the books one-by-one as they are released, or you can wait for the boxed sets to be published once the series gets enough books in it. It's your choice! I try to write them right after I visit, so that's why there are sometimes gaps in the release schedule. It's not always easy to get to a diner when they're open! A portion of all proceeds benefits battered women's shelters.

    It’s the long drop off the short pier and the wrong man and the wrong woman in perfect misalliance. It’s the nightmare of flawed souls with big dreams and the precise how and why of the all-time sure thing that goes bad.” Offering the best examples of literary sure things gone bad, this collection ensures that nowhere else can readers find a darker, more thorough distillation of American noir fiction.James Ellroy and Otto Penzler, series editor of the annual The Best American Mystery Stories, mined one hundred years of writing—1910–2010—to find this treasure trove of thirty-nine stories. From noir’s twenties-era infancy come gems like James M. Cain’s “Pastorale,” and its post-war heyday boasts giants like Mickey Spillane and Evan Hunter. Packing an undeniable punch, diverse contemporary incarnations include Elmore Leonard, Patricia Highsmith, Joyce Carol Oates, Dennis Lehane, and William Gay, with many page-turners appearing in the last decade.

    Martin is a giant in the field of fantasy literature and one of the most exciting storytellers of our time. Now he delivers a rare treat for readers: a compendium of his shorter works, collected into two stunning volumes, that offer fascinating insight into his journey from young writer to award-winning master.Gathered here in Volume I are the very best of George R.R. Martin's early works, including never-before-published fan pieces, his Hugo, Nebula, and Bram Stoker Award-winning stories plus the original novella The Ice Dragon, from which Martin's New York Times bestselling children's book of the same title originated. A dazzling array that features extensive author commentary, Dreamsongs, Volume I, is the perfect collection for both Martin devotees and a new generation of fans.Contents:- Introduction by Gardner Dozois One: A Four-Color Fanboy (2003)- Only Kids Are Afraid of the Dark (1967)- The Fortress (2003)- And Death His Legacy (2003)Two: The Filthy Pro (2003)- The Hero (1971)- The Exit to San Breta (1972)- The Second Kind of Loneliness (1972)- With Morning Comes Mistfall (1973)Three: The Light of Distant Stars (2003)- A Song for Lya (1974)- The Stone City (1977)- This Tower of Ashes (1976)- And Seven Times Never Kill Man (1975)- Bitterblooms (1977)- The Way of Cross and Dragon (1979)Four: The Heirs of Turtle Castle (2003)- The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr (1976)- The Ice Dragon (1980)- In the Lost Lands (1982)Five: Hybrids and Horrors (2003)- Meathouse Man (1976)- Remembering Melody (1981)- Sandkings (1979)- Nightflyers (1980)- The Monkey Treatment (1983)- The Pear-Shaped Man (1987)

    LovecraftNew Tales of Terror!What would happen if Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's peerless detective, Sherlock Holmes, and his allies were to find themselves faced with Lovecraftian mysteries whose solutions lay not only beyond the grasp of logic, but beyond sanity itself. In this collection of original tales, twenty of today's cutting-edge writers provide answers to that burning question.Contributors include Neil Gaiman, Brian Stableford, Poppy Z. Bright, Barbara Hambly, Steve Perry, and Caitlin R. Kierman. These and other masters of horror, mystery, fantasy and science fiction spin dark tales within a terrifyingly surreal universe.Includes the Hugo Award-winning story A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman.Cover design: David StevensonCover Illustration: John Jude Palencar

    Chesterton, Catherine L. Pirkis, Silas K. Hocking, others.Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - The Adventure of the Copper Beeches Arthur Morrison - The Case of the Lost Foreigner Catherine L. Pirkis - The Ghost of Fountain Lane Rudyard Kipling - The Return of Imray Headon Hill - The Divination of the Zagury Capsules Baroness Orczy - The York Mystery George R. Sims - The Haverstock Hill Murder R. Austin Freeman - The Dead Hand L. T. Meade and Robert Eustace - Mr. Bovey’s Unexpected Will Silas K. Hocking - A Perverted Genius G. K. Chesterton - The Eye of Apollo Robert W. Chambers - The Purple Emperor Jacques Futrelle - The Tragedy of the Life Raft E. and H. Heron - The Story of Baelbrow

    With sherry, mince pies and Christmas carols, the festivities are going well. But events take a turn when the choirmaster is found dead in the parlour. Which of the guests could possibly commit murder at Christmas time? With everyone detained at the vicarage, elderly sleuths Churchill and Pemberley find themselves in all the wrong places at all the wrong times. Inspector Mappin is certain they’re his suspects and the vicar is convinced too. How can the two old ladies prove their innocence? With the net closing in, the detective duo must find the culprit to avoid spending Christmas in Compton Poppleford's police cells. Christmas Calamity at the Vicarage is a novella for fans of light-hearted mysteries and sharp-witted elderly sleuths. Books in the main Churchill & Pemberley cozy mystery series: Book 1: Tragedy at Piddleton Hotel Book 2: Murder in Cold Mud Book 3: Puzzle in Poppleford Wood

    That's odd, thinks Jane. The pretty blonde, daughter of an old friend of Jane’s, had always been reliable before and a great nanny to boot. Jane feels a sense of obligation to her old friend and calls Ivy. Truth be told, Ivy was the reason she hired Marlene in the first place. But Ivy has no idea where Marlene is. Jane wonders. If something’s happened to Marlene, she should notify the police. But when she does, the police figure Marlene has run away. No one else cares. What happened to Marlene? Never one to settle, Jane starts to snoop. SLEUTH FOR THE TRUTH Juggling book deals, rival agents, and a rocky romance with an author too handsome for his own good, Jane uncovers that Marlene had a secret life—including some erotic videos, a boyfriend with violent tendencies (as well as a police record), and an off-again, on-again flirtation with a mystery man. Jane finds out nothing about him, which makes her want to track him even more. But it’s Jane’s trusted tortie Winky who uncovers the critical clue. It is the last key which makes all the puzzle pieces fit. As Jane and Winky get to the bottom of who the real killer is, they try desperately to get the police to make their move before the killer strikes again—this time, with Jane as the next victim. BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from HANGING HANNAH by Evan Marshall. REVIEWS OF MISSING MARLENE 3.46 average rating, 123 ratings, 8 reviews, added by 239 people, 73 to-reads, 86% of people like it—Goodreads 3.9 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)—Amazon ***** Five Stars “The nanny is missing and hardly no one cares. Starting reading this last night and couldn't put it down. It is one of the best mystery books that I have ever read. The book started out nice, put picked up steam. This story has everything. A missing nanny, murder, sex, friends, lovers and family. It is hard to tell too much about the story without giving away the twist of the ending that I never saw coming.”—T Toms, Amazon customer “A very fast and fun read.” Lennie Alickman “The Jane and Winky series is as cozy as a kitten – with tiny sharp claws.”—Jill Churchill "MISSING MARLENE is fast-paced fun. The characters are engaging and the twist at the end took me by surprise."—Laurien Berenson "Jane Stuart, the heroine, is a Miss Marple for the millennium!"—Kensington Publishing ”Miss Marple Lite!”--Kirkus Reviews ABOUT THE AUTHOR Evan Marshall is owner of The Evan Marshall Agency an independent literary agency specializing in fiction and author of The Marshall Plan® For Novel Writing, the international bestseller on novel writing technique now in its 20th anniversary edition. He is the author of 10 commercially published mysteries including the series Manhattan Mysteries and Jane and Winky Suburban Sleuths, named “Miss Marple Lite” by Kirkus Reviews. His books appeal to fans of Janet Evanovich, Lilian Jackson Braun, Agatha Christie and Alexander McCall Smith. You can reach him at evan@evanmarshallagency.com.

    And the deafening music blaring from next door is not helping. Shane furiously bangs on the neighbour's door, ready to let rip. But Francine just happens to be a twenty-two-year-old woman who will not be argued with... and Shane is about to find out that life can really imitate art.So begins the first tale in this terrifying collection of short stories—a delicious cornucopia of homicidal maniacs, vampires and lust-crazed teenagers—that showcase the macabre genius of Richard Laymon.

    Perfect for fans of Alvin Schwartz and anyone who relishes a good creepy read-alone or read-aloud story. Features an introduction and commentary by the curators, and illustrations and decorations throughout.

    Ghosts, ghouls, incubi: all have one thing in common. They know Booth for one of their own . . .

    The founding and early members were amongst the most famous and best loved figures in the golden age - Agatha Christie, G. K. Chesteron, Dorothy Sayers, John Dickson Carr (the only American ever to be a member) among others - and membership remains by invitation only.      Now to celebrate the impending seventy-fifth anniversary of The Detection Club, its members have produced The Detection Collection - a collection of eleven new stories from the best and the brightest in the British crime field. This original volume includes never-before-published stories from Lindsey Davis, P.D. James, Robert Barnard, Colin Dexter, John Harvey, Reginald Hill, Peter Lovesey, and others, as well as an introduction and history of the Detection Club from the current Club president Simon Brett.  This outstanding collection is a true must-have volume for mystery lovers around the world.

    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.