Book picks similar to
Ghosts in Amber by Jeffrey Thomas
horror
dim-shores
weird-fiction
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The Jackal Man
Russell C. Connor - 2009
A beast rarely seen but greatly feared, the Jackal Man has haunted the minds of this sleepy hamlet for ages from the woods to the south. Now a land developer has purchased the area with the intent to build houses, and Frank Stanford has moved into the strange town with his family to oversee the project. He and his punk son Willie will be forced to deal with the truth behind the myth, along with an obsessed cop, a quirky zookeeper, and a sadistic hunter that may be more dangerous than the beast...
This Plague of Days, Season Three
Robert Chazz Chute - 2014
Season One of This Plague of Days was The Siege. Season Two was The Journey. Season Three is The War. Strap in for the zombie saga finale you won't regret and can't forget.Three plagues spread around the earth. The Apocalypse killed billions as new, deadly species were born. Jaimie Spencer, a strange boy from Kansas City, Missouri, is our unlikely champion. Strap in for the most unusual zombie apocalypse you'll ever read.The Walking Dead+ The Stand+ Stranger in a Strange Land= This Plague of DaysA huge adventure packed with humor, twists and suspense, Chute takes us on strange journeys, from humans versus each other and humans versus infected cannibals to exploring the nature of existence amid a war like you've never seen.˃˃˃ A Note to Readers of Seasons One and TwoThis Plague of Days was originally written as a television serial. Seasons One and Two were made available as novels, but also as episodes. Season Three is one big book, less expensive to purchase (and simpler to download) than buying each episode individually week by week. You asked for it, you got it!This Plague of Days, The Omnibus Edition by Robert Chazz Chute, is also available as an ebook.
Year's Best Weird Fiction, Vol. 1
Laird BarronChen Qiufan - 2014
No longer the purview of esoteric readers, weird fiction is enjoying wide popularity. Chiefly derived from early 20th-century pulp fiction, its remit includes ghost stories, the strange and macabre, the supernatural, fantasy, myth, philosophical ontology, ambiguity, and a healthy helping of the outré. At its best, weird fiction is an intersecting of themes and ideas that explore and subvert the Laws of Nature. It is not confined to one genre, but is the most diverse and welcoming of all genres. Hence, in this initial showcase of weird fiction you will discover tales of horror, fantasy, science fiction, the supernatural, and the macabre. Contributing authors include Jeffrey Ford, Sofia Samatar, Joseph S. Pulver Sr, John Langan, Richard Gavin, and W. H. Pugmire.
The Book of Fritz Leiber
Fritz Leiber - 1974
Contents:7 · Foreword · fw 11 · The Spider · ss Rogue Jan ’63 24 · Monsters and Monster Lovers · ar Fantastic Mar ’65 37 · A Hitch in Space · ss Worlds of Tomorrow Aug ’63 48 · Hottest and Coldest Molecules · ar Science Digest Mar ’52 52 · Kindergarten · vi F&SF Apr ’63 55 · Those Wild Alien Words: I · ar * 64 · Crazy Annaoj · ss Galaxy Feb ’68 70 · Debunking the I Machine · ar, 1949 72 · When the Last Gods Die · ss F&SF Dec ’51 79 · King Lear · ar, 1934 85 · Yesterday House · nv Galaxy Aug ’52 115 · After Such Knowledge · ar, 1974 118 · Knight to Move [“Knight’s Move”; Change War] · ss Broadside Dec ’65 128 · Weird World of the Knight [“Topsy-Turvy World of the Knight”] · ar California Chess Review Jan ’60 131 · To Arkham and the Stars · ss The Dark Brotherhood and Other Pieces, Sauk City: Arkham House, 1966 143 · The Whisperer Re-Examined · ar Haunted Dec ’64 148 · Beauty and the Beasts [Fafhrd & Gray Mouser] · vi * 151 · Masters of Mace and Magic · br 157 · Cat’s Cradle · ss *
The Ouroboros Cycle, Book Three: A Long-Awaited Treachery
G.D. Falksen - 2015
And while Doctor Varanus has never found tranquility much to her taste, even she cannot deny that the peace and quiet make for a pleasant diversion following the chaos of her recent adventures in London. Having left the horrors of bloodshed and wellness behind her, Varanus has thrown herself headlong into the study of the Shashavani condition, determined to learn the secrets of their undying power.But all is not as it seems in the House of Shashava. As winter snow covers the Shashavani valley and chokes the mountain passes, sinister events are unfolding in the shadows. Whispers of conspiracy echo through the halls. Soon loyalties will be tested and friendships betrayed. Blood will flow. For upon the frozen steppe, an ancient evil stirs and turns its gaze toward the House of Shashava, hungering for power and revenge.As darkness descends, one question remains:Do you serve the Winter King?
Tales Out of Innsmouth: New Stories of the Children of Dagon
Robert M. PriceScott David Aniolowski - 2008
An air of mystery and fear looms...waiting. Now you can return to Innsmouth in this second collection of short stories about the children of Dagon. Visit the undersea city of Y'ha-nthlei and discover the secrets of Father Dagon in this collection of stories. This anthology includes ten new tales and three classic reprints concerning the shunned town of Innsmouth.Contents:The One That Got Away by Robert M. PriceThe Weird Shadow Over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft and John GlasbyUnderstudy by Gary MyersThe Doom That Came to Innsmouth by Brian McNaughtonReturn to Y'ha-nthlei by John GlasbyThe Old Ones' Signs by Pierre ComtoisFleas of the Dragon by C.J. HendersonMail Order Bride by Ann K. SchwaderThe Idol by Scott David AniolowskiThe Guardian of the Pit by Franklyn SearightTrust Me by Stanley C. SargentJust a Tad Beyond Innsmouth by Stanley C. SargentThe Deep End by Gregory LuceIt Was the Day of the Deep One by Peter Cannon
Haunted: Tales of the Grotesque
Joyce Carol Oates - 1994
Haunted, a collection of sixteen tales that range from classic ghost stories to portrayals of chilling psychological terror, raises the genre to the level of fine literature - complex, multi-layered, and gripping fiction that is very scary indeed. In the title story, "Haunted, " the pubescent Melissa and her best friend, the sexually precocious Mary Lou, ignore "no trespassing" signs to explore forbidden houses. But the deserted Minton farm is one place where they should not have gone, and years later Melissa is tormented by her memories of its malevolence...and the murder of Mary Lou. In the novella, "The Model, " a sexual threat seems to underlie the interaction between young Sybil Blake and "Mr. Starr, " who asks her to be his model, but the truth about her own identity, and his, shows that the danger is lurking in a different part of the heart. The "Accursed Inhabitants of the House of Bly, " a macabre reworking of Henry James's "The Turn of the Screw, " resurrects the evil of Miss Jessel and Quint, who are up to their old tricks with the children, Miles and Flora, but with new, perverse, and brilliant revelations. The tales in this collection plunge the reader into nightmare worlds where violence slips in unexpectedly, where reality turns into a funhouse mirror, and where American culture goes awry in shocking, provocative ways. Joyce Carol Oates is a master storyteller of the dark side. She writes with skillfully controlled prose, tightly woven plots, and deep psychological insight that m her fictional horror worthy to set alongside the stories of Edgar Allan Poe - and far above all the rest.Haunted --The doll --The bingo master --The white cat --The model --Extenuating circumstances --Don't you trust me --The guilty party --The premonition --Phase change --Poor Bibi --Thanksgiving --Blind --The radio astronomer --Accursed inhabitants of the House of Bly --Martyrdom
In Ghostly Company
Amyas Northcote - 1997
The silent group by the fire once more broke forth into wild gesticulations and cries, Stella prostrated herself, the Form on the altar grew clearer and with a cry of horror Mr Fowke turned away and rushed madly across the moor'. Amyas Northcote's In Ghostly Company is a rare and splendid collection of strange and disturbing tales from the golden age of ghost stories. His style is akin to that of the master of the genre M.R. James: it is measured and insidiously suggestive, producing unnerving chills rather than shocks and gasps. Northcote's tales make the reader unsettled and uneasy. This is partly due to the fact that the hauntings or strange occurrences take place in natural or mundane surroundings - surroundings familiar to the reader but never before thought of as unusual or threatening. Long out of print, this book remains an enthralling and chilling read.
Balzac's War: A Tale of Veniss Underground
Jeff VanderMeer - 2011
A terrible secret discovered in a ruined city. Earth is no longer ruled by humans, but by the species they uplifted. Creatures called fleshdogs are their emissaries, and humanity must fight this implacable enemy or face extinction. Balzac must confront monsters and more trying to find his lover. And when he does find her, will the price be too great? This novella is part of Jeff VanderMeer’s cycle of far-future stories, which culminated with the critically acclaimed novel Veniss Underground. As an added bonus, this e-book also includes two extras: an incomplete story set during the same time period as “Balzac’s War” and VanderMeer’s original afterword to the UK edition of Veniss Underground, shedding light on the original creator of the creatures that take center stage in “Balzac’s War.”
Strange Eons
Robert Bloch - 1978
But both are real.... — In the world of today and the near future, three people inexorably linked by a common interest in the work of H. P. Lovecraft, discover: — that the legendary creatures he created in his fantasies have hideous counterparts in reality... that his fiction is incredible fact... that his message is a warning...Bloch was a protège of H. P. Lovecraft, and, at the age of fifteen, the youngest member of the "Lovecraft Circle." This book, based on Lovecraftian themes, is his homage to the man.Of all the Lovecraft pastiches, Strange Eons most emphatically takes the bleak implications of his mythos to their logical conclusion.Cover Art by David Hada
The Dead of Night: The Ghost Stories of Oliver Onions
Oliver Onions - 2010
His stories are powerfully charged explorations of psychical violence, their effects heightened by detailed character studies graced with a powerful poetic elegance. In simple terms Oliver Onions goes for the cerebral rather than the jugular. However, make no mistake, his ghost stories achieve the desired effect. They draw you in, enmeshing you in their unnerving and disturbing narratives.This collection contains such masterpieces as The Rosewood Door, The Ascending Dream, The Painted Face and The Beckoning Fair One, a story which both Algernon Blackwood and H. P. Lovecraft regarded as one of the most effective and subtle ghost stories in all literature. Long out of print, these classic tales are a treasure trove of nightmarish gems.
Borderlands
Thomas F. MonteleoneEd Gorman - 1990
Borderlands is about breaking the mold and pushing the genre and its finest writers to the edge. Hailed as the anthology series of the 90s, Borderlands will remind you that horror can indeed be horrific. Read about a farmer who disdains his wife for a giant potato...women's clothing made from fetal tissue..an executive who slowly slips into the reality he sells...and more.CONTENTS'Introduction' -- Thomas F. Monteleone"The Calling" -- David B. Silva"Scartaris, June 28th" -- Harlan Ellison"Glass Eyes" -- Nancy Holder"The Grass of Remembrance" -- John DeChancie"On the Nightmare Express" -- Francis J. Malozzo"The Pounding Room" -- Bentley Little"Peeling It Off" -- Darrell Schweitzer"The Raw and the Cooked" -- Michael Green"His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood" -- Poppy Z. Brite"Oh What a Swell Guy Am I" -- Jeffrey Osier"Delia and the Dinner Party" -- John Shirley"Suicide Note" -- Lee Moler"Stillborn" -- Nina Kiriki Hoffman"Ladder" -- T.E.D. Klein"Muscae Volitantes" -- Chet Williamson"The Man in the Long Black Sedan" -- Ed Gorman"His Frozen Heart" -- Jack Hunter Daves Jr."Evelyn Grace" -- Thomas Tessier"By The Light of the Silvery Moon" -- Les Daniels"A Younger Woman" -- John Maclay"But You'll Never Follow Me" -- Karl Edward Wagner"Stephen" -- Elizabeth Massie"Alexandra" -- Charles L. Grant"The Good Book" -- G. Wayne Miller"By Bizarre Hands" -- Joe R. Lansdale
The Innsmouth Cycle: The Taint of the Deep Ones
Robert M. PriceDave Carson - 1997
/ My journey to your depths begins tonight / To serve immortal till the stars turn right."These lines from a poem by Ann K. Schwader are the coda for this fine collection of tales about H.P. Lovecraft's Innsmouth--that decadent, smugly rotting New England town where half-human creatures with forbidding batrachian faces follow the arcane practices of the Esoteric Order of Dagon. In his erudite and witty introduction, Robert M. Price calls Innsmouth "the most effective, most evocative ... example of Lovecraft's full-blown alien civilizations." The Innsmouth Cycle includes 13 stories and 3 poems, including the three tales by Lord Dunsany, Robert W. Chambers, and Irvin S. Cobb that inspired Lovecraft's "The Shadow over Innsmouth." This collection is planned as the first of a pair, the second half of which will be Tales of Innsmouth, containing (according to Price) all new works of "fishy fiction."A fun detail: this book is "respectfully dedicated to Ben Chapman, the Creature from the Black Lagoon." --Fiona Webster
What You Make It
Michael Marshall Smith - 1999
The first piece of fiction Smith ever wrote – a short story called The Man Who Drew Cats – won the World Fantasy award. It’s included here along with many others, some unpublished, which show the incredible versatility of one of the most exciting writers working in Britain today. The collection is stuffed with surreal, disturbing gems including:‘When God Lived in Kentish Town’ Someone comes up to you when you’re quietly eating your stir-fried rice in a great Chinese take away, and tells you: ‘I’ve found God’. You try to ignore them, right? But what if they have, and what if He works in a drab old electrical store on Kentish Town Road and he’s not getting many customers?‘Diet Hell’ Some people will do anything to fit into their old jeans.‘Save As…’ What if you could back up your life? Save it up to a certain point and return to it when things went horribly wrong?‘Everybody Goes’ An idyllic childhood day from a long, hot summer. The kind you want to last for ever. All good things must come to an end, mustn’t they?
Ana Kai Tangata: Tales of the Outer the Other the Damned and the Doomed
Scott Nicolay - 2014
"A sprawling treatise of the macabre" in short stories, novelettes, and novellas.