A village priest, enamored with his God and loyal to his sheep, awakens to find the village on fire. Searching for survivors, he is confronted by a dark creature with sharp teeth and red eyes. With the stab of the demon's fangs, the priest is transformed from a servant of good to an unwilling agent of evil. Present day. Four centuries pass, and Dr. Mark Corescu, that same village priest no longer recalls his origins. Corescu uses his position in the medical community to maintain a mortal facade as he pursues his true calling. Corescu seeks out evil men and women in a ritual he has dubbed the Judging. He condemns and kills them, one a night, feeding his lust on their blood. He feels neither guilt nor remorse. He believes he is serving a Higher Purpose. Artist and equestrian hobbyist Hope Brannen falls for the doctor at first sight. He feels the same, believing that she has been sent by God to aid him in his divine calling. Hope knows deep down he is not an agent of God but rather a real-life vampire. She turns to her seminary-going pal Tony Agricola for advice. As the story's only truly righteous character, Tony recognizes immediately that the doctor has incorrectly discerned the will of God. He agrees to speak to him about the matter, discovering that the doctor has suppressed his past. Slowly the doctor is reminded of his days as a humble village priest, as well as the time he spent in the clutches of the darkest creature imaginable. Steering the vampire down memory lane is difficult and risky but Tony does his best to correct the doctor's faulty theology. At the same time Corescu's perfect world is falling apart. Persevering through dangerous and perilous encounters with the vampire's immortal contemporaries, Tony shows the vampire the error of his ways. But just because his eyes are opened does not necessarily mean that his ways are easily changed.

    Originally included in the Dark-Hunter Collectible Booklet and Dark Hunter Companion .This is the short story that was given away with Unleash the Night about Acheron and his brother Styxx.It can be found in Acheron and Dark Bites.

    But as a new threat to the pureblood vampires emerges, Alexander's ties to the past are forced upon him again, and without warning, he finds himself— disoriented, terrified, and near death—at the door of a stranger.Fear is in the blood.Dr. Sara Donohue is dedicated to removing the traumatic memories of her patients—like those of the stranger at her front door. But what he tells her of his past is too astonishing to believe. Yet she has seen his flesh scarred by the sun and witnessed his inhuman strength. And never before has she felt so connected to a man.Love is eternal...But as their worlds collide, Sara and Alexander are bound by something stronger, as one becomes hunter and the other prey.

    Kara was hoping to use her occult skills to catch a serial killer, but never had she conjured anything like this unearthly beautiful and unspeakably powerful being whose very touch set off exquisite new dimensions of pleasure. But can she enlist his aid in helping her stop a killer who's already claimed the lives'and souls'of thirteen people? And should she? The Symbol Man is a nightmare that the city thought had ended three years ago. Now he's back for an encore and leaving every indication on the flesh of his victims that he, too, is well versed in demonic lore.Kara may be the only cop on Beaulac's small force able to stop the killer, but it is her first homicide case. Yet with Rhyzkahl haunting her dreams, and a handsome yet disapproving FBI agent dogging her waking footsteps, she may be in way over her head...

    When they try to break a drought by calling down a rainstorm, a hellish portal opens and Cooper is ripped from this world, leaving Jessie fighting for her life against a vicious demon that's been unleashed.In the aftermath, Jessie, who knows so little about her own true nature, is branded an outlaw. She must survive by her wits and with the help of her familiar, a ferret named Palimpsest. Stalked by malevolent enemies, Jessie is determined to find out what happened to Cooper. But when she moves heaven and earth to find her man, she'll be shocked by what she discovers—and by what she must ultimately do to save them all.

    Vampires have slinked out of hiding, penning the few human survivors as blood cattle. Young Julia Poe survives the horror. She has dodged the undead since she was eight years old in downtown Los Angeles and has the only untapped vein in the new realm. Now she celebrates her 22nd birthday as a cattle rustler, fighting the vampire factions alongside a gun-toting nun with an even bigger vendetta. Kaleb Sainvire, the master vampire and architect responsible for milking cattle, ' is first on Poe's list. That is, if she isn't taken by his vampiric allure.

    But there hadn't been any trouble out at the lake for years, and Sunshine just needed a spot where she could be alone with her thoughts. Vampires never entered her mind.Until they found her...

    First Betsy Taylor loses her job, then she's killed in a car accident.  But what really bites is that she can't seem to stay dead.  And now her new friends have the ridiculous idea that Betsy is the prophesied vampire queen, and they want her help in overthrowing the most obnoxious power-hungry vampire in five centuries.

    and we don't sparkle. Serena’s not your typical vamp. She drinks holy water for breakfast, and her boss runs the Vatican. However, life isn’t all rainbows and unicorns. Her relationship is in the crapper, and she’s asking herself the age-old question… “Should I stay or should I go?” Change is hard, especially for an immortal. For three centuries, two things have been constant – Nicholai and her job. Working as an assassin for one of the most influential forces in history has its perks, but business is slow. That all changes when Nicholai's human descendant is murdered, and he's the prime suspect. As the body count rises, Serena and Nicholai are forced to work together to find the real killer before it's too late. The problem is…the more they discover, the more they’re convinced the murderer is their commander. Worse still, proving him guilty could lead to a rebellion. On the bright side, there’s nothing like a war to put the spark back in a 300-year-old marriage. You'll adore this urban fantasy series, because everyone loves a tale of redemption and second chances. **Previously published as Feast of Reverence**

    She doesn’t expect to fall in love with the handsome Gavin Devereaux and plummet into the world of Amaranth, a place of exile for reformed vampires.Wrestling to escape a deadly ex-boyfriend while giving Gavin a chance, Camille is confronted with decisions that threaten not only her life, but the lives of her inhuman friends she has come to love. Entangled in her friends’ quest for freedom, she dives into their realm and faces the threats of Amaranth’s ruler—the mother of all vampires—and her own inner demons.Now Camille must decide whether she will derail her life and make the ultimate sacrifice for the monsters that interrupted her bumpy path back to sanity—what she still wants so desperately—or escape with Gavin before it’s too late for both of them.

    So do the personal demons... although she doesn't know it, Megan is the only human without a demon on her shoulder! Megan and her allies -- a demon lover who both protects and seduces her with devilish intensity, a witch with poor social skills, and three cockney guard demons -- have to deal not only with the personal demons, but a soul-sucker, ghosts of Megan's past, and a reporter who threatens to destroy Megan's career!

    Also includes 20th Century Vampire (A Dark Season Prequel). Total word count is around 180,000 words, approximately 700 to 800 pages of a printed book.Sophie Hart's relationship with Patrick, the last vampire, continues to take a series of dark twists and turns. But this time, there's the life of a child at stake. A mysterious stranger named Nimrod offers to help Sophie, but can he be trusted? Meanwhile, an ancient prophecy says that Patrick will eventually kill Sophie. Determined to fight that prophecy, Patrick risks unleashing dark forces from a war that end centuries ago.Along the way, there are giant spiders, genetically-engineered killers, desperate ghosts and former vampires, plus a sequel to The Civil Dead from the first series in which the Tenderlings show their true powers.From modern-day Dedston to the trenches of the First World War, and from an ancient ballroom filled with spiders to the bottom of a haunted well, this volume collects together the 8 books from Dark Season's second series, plus the prequel volume 20th Century Vampire.This volume contains all 8 books in the second series, plus the prequel:Book 0: 20th Century Vampire (A Dark Season Prequel)Book 1: NimrodBook 2: Shy PeopleBook 3: The Ghost of the Girl in the WellBook 4: TenderlingBook 5: ShelleyBook 6: Spider, SpiderBook 7: Fangs OutBook 8: The Death of Sophie HartPlease note: This book contains violence, swearing and sexual scenes. Also, the end of the whole book finishes on something of a cliffhanger, which will be resolved when the next Dark Season book comes out in November 2012.

    This graphic novella tells the story of Elena’s “becoming” a werewolf—that dark period from the time Clay bites her through her escape to Toronto.

    Peppered with familiar characters from Victorian history and fiction, the novel follows vampire Geneviève Dieudonné and Charles Beauregard of the Diogenes Club as they strive to solve the mystery of the Ripper murders. Anno Dracula is a rich and panoramic tale, combining horror, politics, mystery and romance to create a unique and compelling alternate history. Acclaimed novelist Kim Newman explores the darkest depths of a reinvented Victorian London. This brand-new edition of the bestselling novel contains unique bonus material, including a new afterword from Kim Newman, annotations, articles and alternate endings to the original novel.

    Then came a final blow no one could have expected: all the world’s corpses rising up to make more.Born into this bleak and bloody landscape, twelve-year-old Julie struggles to hold on to hope as she and her parents drive across the wastelands of America, a nightmarish road trip in search of a new home.Hungry, lost, and scared, sixteen-year-old Nora finds herself her brother’s sole guardian after her parents abandon them in the not-quite-empty ruins of Seattle.And in the darkness of a forest, a dead man opens his eyes. Who is he? What is he? With no clues beyond a red tie and the letter “R,” he must unravel the grim mystery of his existence—right after he learns how to think, how to walk, and how to satisfy the monster howling in his belly. The New Hunger is a glimpse of the past and a path to an astonishing future…