Here you’ll discover the dangers of walking the boulevards dreamed up by Harlan Ellison … the dark side of wishes granted by Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Djinn Number Seven … the wry twists of Rick Norwood’s wordplay … the sinister shadows lurking behind H. P. Lovecraft’s wonders … and the blood-curdling terror of feeding time at James Gunn’s zoo.This superb collection of the best short short works by outstanding contemporary writers packs an infinite amount of entertainment into these 100 small masterpieces of fantasy fiction… and takes you beyond the limits of time and space to savor the suspense, the shivers, the supernatural fun of every eerie, unforgettable one.Contents: Introduction: The widest field / Isaac Asimov — The Abraham Lincoln murder case / Rick Norwood — A dozen of everything / Marion Zimmer Bradley — The anatomy lesson / Scott Sanders — And I alone am escaped to tell thee / Roger Zelazny — Angelica / Jane Yolen — Apocryphal fragment / Edward Wellen — A prophecy of monsters / Clark Ashton Smith — At the bureau / Steve Rasnic Tem — Aunt Agatha / Doris Pitkin Buck — The Boulevard of Broken Dreams / Harlan Ellison — But not the herald / Roger Zelazny — Chained / Barry N. Malzberg — Chalk talk / Edward Wellen — Climacteric / Avram Davidson — The contest / Robert J. Sawyer — Controlled experiment / Rick Conley — The curse of Hooligan’s Bar / Charles E. Fritch — The Dark Ones / Richard Christian Matheson — Dead call / William F. Nolan — Deadline / Mel Gilden — Deal with the D.E.V.I.L. / Theodore R. Cogswell — The devil finds work / Mack Reynolds — Devlin’s dream / George Clayton Johnson — Displaced person / Eric Frank Russell — Echoes / Lawrence C. Connolly — Ex oblivione / H. P. Lovecraft — Farewell party / Richard Wilson — Feeding time / James Gunn — Final version / John Morressy — Five minutes early / Robert Sheckley — Freedom / Rick Norwood — Garage sale / Janet Fox — Getting back to before it began / Raylyn Moore — The giveaway / Steve Rasnic Tem — Give her hell / Donald A. Wollheim — God’s nose / Damon Knight — The good husband / Evelyn E. Smith — The handler / Damon Knight — The haters / Donald A. Wollheim — The house / Andre Maurois — How Georges Duchamps discovered a plot to take over the world / Alexei Panshin — The human angle / William Tenn — The importance of being important / Calvin W. Demmon — Interview with a gentleman farmer / Bruce Boston — Judgment Day / Jack C. Haldeman II — Just one more / Edward D. Hoch — The lady and the merman / Jane Yolen — The last unicorns / Edward D. Hoch — The last wizard / Avram Davidson — Letters from camp / Al Sarrantonio — L is for loup-garou / Harlan Ellison — Love filter / Gregg Chamberlain — The maiden’s sacrifice / Edward D. Hoch — Malice aforethought / Donald A Wollheim — The man who sold rope to the gnoles / Margaret St. Clair — Miranda-Escobedo / James Sallies — Mr. Wilde’s second chance / Joanna Russ — Mortimer Snodgrass Turtle / Jack C. Haldeman Ii — Mouse-kitty / Rick Norwood — Naturally / Fredric Brown — Night visions / Jack Dann — Once upon a unicorn / F. M. Busby — $1.98 / Arthur Porges — Opening a vein / Bill Pronzini, Barry N. Malzberg — The Other / Katherine Maclean — The other one / Rick Norwood — The Other Train Phenomenon / Richard Bowker — The painters are coming today / Steve Rasnic Tem — Paranoid fantasy #1 / Lawrence Watt-Evans — Perchance to dream / Katherine Maclean — Personality problem / Joe R. Lansdale — Pharaoh’s revenge / C. Bruce Hunter — Pick-up for Olympus / Edgar Pangborn — The poor / Steve Rasnic Tem — Prayer war / Jonathan V. Post — The prophecy / Bill Pronzini — The rag thing / Donald A. Wollheim — The recording / Gene Wolfe — Red carpet treatment / Robert Lipsyte — The sacrifice / Gardner Dozois — Santa’s tenth reindeer / Gordon Van Gelder — The second short-shortest fantasy ever published / Barry N. Malzberg — Sleep / Steve Rasnic Tem — Some days are like that / Bruce J. Balfour — Temporarily at liberty / Lawrence Goldman — The thing that stared / Richard Wilson — Thinking the unthinkable / Will Creveling — The third wish / Rick Norwood — Those three wishes / Judith Gorog — Thus I refute / Terry Carr — The toe / Phyllis Ann Karr — Tommy’s Christmas / John R. Little — The tower bird / Jane Yolen — Vernon’s dragon / John Gregory Betancourt — Voodoo / Fredric Brown — Weather prediction / Evelyn E. Smith — Who rides with Santa Anna? / Edward D. Hoch — Wisher takes all / William F. Temple — The world where wishes worked / Stephen Goldin — Your soul comes C.O.D. / Mack Reynolds

    In this text Margaret Weis has gathered together a collection of twenty fantasy stories by top authors including Ray Bradbury, Katherine Kurtz and Jack Vance.

    Our most imaginative literary minds have been devoured by these incredible creatures and produced exciting, insightful, and unflinching new works of zombie fiction. We've again dug up the best stories published in the last few years and compiled them into an anthology to feed your insatiable hunger….©2014 Paula Guran (P)2014 Audible Inc.• Joanne Anderton, “Trail of Dead”• Michael Arnzen, “Rigormarole” (poem)• Marie Brennan, “What Still Abides• Mike Carey, “Iphigenia in Aulis”• Jacques L. Condor (Mak a Tai Meh), “Those Beneath the Bog”• Neil Gaiman, “The Day the Saucers Came” (poem)• Roxane Gay, “There is No ‘E' in Zombi Which Means There Can Be No You Or We”• Ron Goulart, “I Waltzed with a Zombie”• Eric Gregory, “The Harrowers”• William Jablonsky, “The Death and Life of Bob”• Shaun Jeffrey, “Til Death Do Us Part”• Matthew Johnson, “The Afflicted”• Stephen Graham Jones, “Rocket Man”• Joy Kennedy-O'Neill “Aftermath”• Caitlín R. Kiernan, “In The Dreamtime of Lady Resurrection”• Nicole Kornher-Stace, “Present”• Joe R. Lansdale, “The Hunt: Before and The Aftermath”• Shira Lipkin, “Becca at the End of the World”• David Liss, “What Maisie Knew”• Jonathan Maberry, “Jack & Jill”• Alex Dally MacFarlane, “Selected Sources for the Babylonian Plague of the Dead (572-571 BCE)”• Maureen McHugh, “The Naturalist”• Lisa Mannetti, “Resurgam”• Joe McKinney, “The Day the Music Died”• Tamsyn Muir, “Chew”• Holly Newstein, “Delice”• Cat Rambo, “Love, Resurrected”• Carrie Ryan, “What We Once Feared”• Marge Simon, “The Children’s Hour” (poem)• Maggie Slater, “A Shepherd of the Valley”• Simon Strantzas, “Stemming the Tide”• Charles Stross, “Bit Rot”• Genevieve Valentine, “The Gravedigger of Konstan Spring”• Carrie Vaughn, “Kitty’s Zombie New Year”• Don Webb, “Pollution”• Jay Wilburn, “Dead Song”

    Thirty-two good stories--some previously anthologized, some hot off the press ("Beauty and the Opera" by Suzy McKee Charnas appeared in July 1996), and a few once considered classic, but now nearly forgotten (Thomas Burnett Swann is rapidly falling out of sight)--offer entertainment for every taste. Many of the stories ("The Overworld" by Jack Vance, and "The Changeling" by Michael Swanwick) also offer continuation elsewhere as part of a longer work.Gardner Dozois's emphasis is on magazine fiction. As such, it's an interesting view of the evolution and increasing sophistication of the "pulps"--and their readers. For this reason this would be an excellent text for a course on modern fantasy writing. Stories from Asimov Science Fiction Magazine, which Dozois edits, are prominent among the recent pieces. Providing a brief history of 20th-century fantasy, the introduction seems written with the new reader in mind.ContentsWalk Like a Mountain • [John the Balladeer] • (1955) • shortstory by Manly Wade WellmanScylla's Daughter • [Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser] • (1961) • novella by Fritz LeiberPaper Dragons • (1985) • novelette by James P. BlaylockThe Golem • (1955) • shortstory by Avram DavidsonFlowers of Edo • (1987) • novelette by Bruce SterlingBears Discover Fire • (1990) • shortstory by Terry BissonThe Changeling's Tale • (1994) • shortstory by Michael SwanwickMissolonghi 1824 • (1990) • shortstory by John CrowleyBlunderbore • (1990) • shortstory by Esther M. FriesnerInto Gold • (1986) • novelette by Tanith LeeSpace-Time for Springers • [Gummitch the Cat] • (1958) • shortstory by Fritz LeiberBeauty and the Opéra or the Phantom Beast • (1996) • novelette by Suzy McKee CharnasThe Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule • [Griaule] • (1984) • novelette by Lucius ShepardA Cabin on the Coast • (1984) • shortstory by Gene WolfeThe Sleep of Trees • (1980) • shortstory by Jane YolenTrouble with Water • (1939) • shortstory by H. L. GoldThe Gnarly Man • (1939) • novelette by L. Sprague de CampDeath and the Executioner • [Lord of Light] • (1967) • novelette by Roger ZelaznyThe Manor of Roses • [John & Stephen] • (1966) • novella by Thomas Burnett SwannThe Overworld • [Dying Earth] • (1965) • novelette by Jack VanceExtempore • (1956) • shortstory by Damon KnightGod's Hooks! • (1982) • shortstory by Howard WaldropBuffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight • (1987) • novelette by Ursula K. Le GuinThe Tale of Hauk • (1977) • novelette by Poul AndersonA Gift of the People • (1988) • shortstory by Robert SampsonConfiguration of the North Shore • (1969) • shortstory by R. A. LaffertyTwo Sadnesses • (1973) • shortstory by George Alec EffingerManatee Gal, Won't You Come Out Tonight • [Jack Limekiller] • (1977) • novelette by Avram Davidson (aka Manatee Gal Ain't You Coming Out Tonight)The Signaller • [Pavane] • (1966) • novelette by Keith RobertsThe Troll • (1935) • shortstory by T. H. WhiteDeath and the Lady • (1992) • novelette by Judith TarrProfessor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros • (1995) • novelette by Peter S. BeaglePreface (Modern Classics of Fantasy) • (1997) • essay by Gardner DozoisRecommended Reading (Modern Classics of Fantasy) • essay by Gardner Dozois

    Most of the stories are modern, with many especially written for this collection. The book also includes classic reprints and rare gems from comic fantasy's roots in past years.

    His prose has been called subtle and brilliant, inspiring not just lovers of fantasy and science fiction, but readers of every stripe, transcending genre and defying preconceptions.In this volume, a select group of Wolfe’s fellow authors pay tribute to the award-winning creator of The Book of the New Sun, The Fifth Head of Cerberus, Soldier of the Mist, The Wizard Knight and many others, with entirely new stories written specifically to honor the writer hailed by The Washington Post as “one of America's finest.”Shadows of the New Sun features contributions by Neil Gaiman, David Brin, David Drake, Nancy Kress, and many others, plus two new short stories by Gene Wolfe himself.

    Sprague de Camp77 • The Flight of the Horse • [Svetz] • (1969) • shortstory by Larry Niven (aka Get a Horse!)96 • On the Downhill Side • (1972) • shortstory by Harlan Ellison116 • The Night of the Unicorn • (1975) • shortstory by Thomas Burnett Swann124 • Mythological Beast • (1979) • shortstory by Stephen R. Donaldson149 • The Final Quarry • (1970) • novelette by Eric Norden176 • Elfleda • (1981) • shortstory by Vonda N. McIntyre193 • The White Donkey • (1980) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le Guin198 • Unicorn Variation • (1981) • novelette by Roger Zelazny231 • The Sacrifice • (1982) • shortstory by Gardner Dozois236 • The Unicorn • (1952) • shortstory by Frank Owen247 • The Woman the Unicorn Loved • [Anderson] • (1981) • novelette by Gene Wolfe271 • The Forsaken • (1982) • shortstory by Beverly Evans286 • The Unicorn • (1939) • shortfiction by T. H. White307 • Selected Bibliography (Unicorns!) • (1982) • essay by uncredited

    More than just two books for the price of one, this book brings together over 200,000 words of the best genre fiction anywhere. Strahan's critical eye and keen editorial instincts have served him well for earlier best of the year round-ups in the Best Short Novels, Science Fiction: Best of and Fantasy: Best of series, and this is his most impressive effort yet.Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.

    L. Gold --Nothing in the rules / L. Sprague de Camp --Fruit of knowledge / C. L. Moore --Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius / Jorge Luis Borges --Compleat werewolf / Anthony Boucher --Small assassin / Ray Bradbury --Lottery / Shirley Jackson --Our fair city / Robert A. Heinlein --There shall be no darkness / James Blish --Loom of darkness / Jack Vance --Man who sold rope to the gnoles / Margaret St. Clair --Silken-swift / Theodore Sturgeon --Golem / Avram Davidson --Operation afreet / Poul Anderson --That hell-bound train / Robert Bloch --Bazaar of the bizarre / Fritz Leiber --Come lady death / Peter S. Beagle --Drowned giant / J. G. Ballard --Narrow valley / R. A. Lafferty --Faith of our fathers / Philip K. Dick --Ghost of a Model T / Clifford D. Simak --Demoness / Tanith Lee --Jeffty is five / Harlan Ellison --Detective of dreams / Gene Wolfe --Unicorn variations / Roger Zelazny --Basileus / Robert Silverberg --Jaguar Hunter / Lucius Shepard --Buffalo gals, won't you come out tonight / Ursula K. Le Guin --Bears discover fire / Terry Bisson --Tower of Babylon / Ted Chiang.

    Here, a talented group of writers has taken up the challenge of creating strong, well-rounded female protagonists, more than able to defend themselves and take the helm--whether in space, on distant worlds, in our own future, or in fantasy realms where a civilization's fate hangs in the balance.Introduction by Tanya Huff and Alexander PotterFighting Chance by Sharon Lee and Steve MillerPainted Child of Earth by Rosemary EdghillShe’s Such a Nasty Morsel by Julie E. CzernedaThe Children of Diardin: To Find the Advantage by Fiona PattonNot That Kind of a War by Tanya HuffThe Black Ospreys by Michelle WestThe Art of War by Bruce Holland RogersGeiko by Kerrie HughesShin-Gi-Tai by Robin Wayne BaileyThe Last Hand of War by Jana PanicciaWar Games by Lisanne NormanFire from the Sun by Jane LindskoldSweeter Far Than Flowing Honey by Stephen LeighToken by Anna OsterElites by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

    It's a time when anything could happen, when any kind of story just might be true. That sense of the strange and wonderful guides Eclipse: New Science Fiction and Fantasy, the first volume in an exciting new annual anthology series edited by acclaimed anthologist Jonathan Strahan. Set to become a major event on the science fiction and fantasy calendar,Eclipse: New Science Fiction and Fantasy gathers together new science fiction and fantasy stories by the best writers working today. You can see that in Eclipse 1, which features extraordinary tales by Peter S. Beagle, Jack Dann & Paul Brandon, Terry Dowling, Andy Duncan, Jeffrey Ford, Kathleen Ann Goonan, Eileen Gunn, Gwyneth Jones, Ellen Klages, Maureen F. McHugh, Garth Nix, Lucius Shepard, Bruce Sterling and Ysabeau S. Wilce.Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.

    Now, in time for the 100th anniversary of that seminal work, comes an anthology of original stories featuring John Carter of Mars in brand-new adventures. Collected by veteran anthology editor John Joseph Adams, this anthology features stories from titans of literature such as Peter S. Beagle and Garth Nix and original art from Mark Zug, Charles Vess, and many more—plus an introduction by Tamora Pierce and a glossary of Mars by Richard A. Lupoff.Illustrations are by prominent artists Meinert Hansen, Charles Vess, John Picacio, and more.Don’t miss Mars Trilogy, the companion bind-up of three classic John Carter of Mars stories!This book has not been prepared, approved, licensed, or authorized by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. or any other entity associated with the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate.

    Disch- The Little Black Box (1964)- The War With the Fnools (1964)- A Game of Unchance (1964)- Precious Artifact (1964)- Retreat Syndrome (1965)- A Terran Odyssey (1987)- Your Appointment Will Be Yesterday (1966)- Holy Quarrel (1966)- We Can Remember It for You Wholesale (1966)- Not by Its Cover (1968)- Return Match (1967)- Faith of Our Fathers (1967)- The Story to End All Stories (1968)- The Electric Ant (1969)- Cadbury, the Beaver Who Lacked (1987)- A Little Something for Us Tempunauts (1974)- The Pre-Persons (1974)- The Eye of the Sibyl (1987)- The Day Mr. Computer Fell Out of Its Tree (1987)- The Exit Door Leads In (1979)- Chains of Air, Web of Aether (1980)- Strange Memories of Death (1984)- I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon (1980, variant of Frozen Journey)- Rautavaara's Case (1980)- The Alien Mind (1981)- NotesFront cover illustration by Chris Moore

    Paxson --Foreword / Andre Norton --To light such a candle / Eluki Bes Shahar --The grail of heart's desire / Judith Tarr --Lady of Avalon / Diana L. Paxson --With God to guard her / Kate Elliott --Appreciation / C.J. Cherryh --Sing to me of love and shadows / Deborah Wheeler --The wellspring / Katharine Kerr --Knives / Dave Smeds. A refuge of firedrakes / Susan Shwartz --Appreciation / Charles de Lint --The hag / Lawrence Schimel --Salve, Regina / Melanie Rawn --Tress of Avalon / Elisabeth Waters --Sparrow / Esther Friesner --The spell between worlds / Karen Haber --The stone mother's curse / Dave Wolverton. Appreciation / Paul Edwin Zimmer --Iontioren's tale / Paul Edwin Zimmer --Winter tales / Adrienne Martine-Barnes --Dark lady / Jane M. Lindskold --The lily maid of Astolat / Laura Resnick --Appreciation / Jennifer Roberson --Guinevere's truth / Jennifer Roberson.

    Visit places where one might expect to find the dark — in a house where love was shared and lost, a milky-white pool in an Australian cave, the trenches of World War I, the deep woods. You would not be surprised to find the dark in a cheap apartment on the wrong side of town, down mean streets, under a gallows-tree, along dank passageways, trapped underground, in the near future, or among the mysteries of old New Orleans. Dunes, lakes, isolated cabins, old books, and Old West saloons — well, the darkness might easily be there. But we've also found locales you thought were safe from shadows — a rib joint with good blues playing, inside an old wardrobe, on a baseball diamond, the Beverly Wilshire Hotel...Travel into the best dark fantasy and horror from 2011 with more than five-hundred pages of tales from some of today's best-known writers of the fantastique as well as new talents — stories that will take you to a diverse assortment of dark placesContents Hair • (2011) • shortstory by Joan AikenRakshasi • (2011) • shortfiction by Kelley ArmstrongWalls of Paper, Soft as Skin • (2011) • shortstory by Adam CallawayThe Lake • (2011) • shortfiction by Tananarive DueTell Me I'll See You Again • (2011) • shortstory by Dennis EtchisonKing Death • (2011) • shortfiction by Paul FinchThe Last Triangle • (2011) • shortfiction by Jeffrey FordNear Zennor • (2011) • novella by Elizabeth HandCrossroads • (2011) • shortstory by Laura Anne GilmanAfter-Words • (2011) • novelette by Glen HirshbergRocket Man • (2011) • shortfiction by Stephen Graham JonesThe Maltese Unicorn • (2011) • shortfiction by Caitlín R. KiernanThe Dune • (2011) • shortfiction by Stephen KingCatastrophic Disruption of the Head • (2011) • shortfiction by Margo LanaganThe Bleeding Shadow • (2011) • shortfiction by Joe R. LansdaleWhy Light? • (2011) • novelette by Tanith LeeConservation of Shadows • (2011) • shortstory by Yoon Ha LeeA Tangle of Green Men • [Chronicles of the Borderlands] • (2011) • novella by Charles de LintAfter the Apocalypse • (2012) • shortfiction by Maureen F. McHugh [as by Maureen McHugh ]Why Do You Linger? • (2011) • shortfiction by Sarah MonetteLord Dunsany's Teapot • (2011) • shortstory by Naomi NovikMysteries of the Old Quarter • (2011) • novelette by Paul ParkVampire Lake • (2011) • shortfiction by Norman PartridgeA Journey of Only Two Paces • (2011) • shortstory by Tim PowersFour Legs in the Morning • (2011) • shortfiction by Norman PrentissThe Fox Maiden • (2011) • shortfiction by Priya SharmaTime and Tide • (2011) • shortstory by Alan Ryan [as by Alan Peter Ryan ]Sun Falls • (2011) • shortstory by Angela SlatterStill • (2011) • shortfiction by Tia V. TravisObjects in Dreams May Be Closer Than They Appear • (2011) • shortstory by Lisa TuttleThe Bread We Eat in Dreams • (2011) • shortstory by Catherynne M. ValenteAll You Can Do Is Breathe • (2011) • shortstory by Kaaron WarrenJosh • (2011) • shortfiction by Gene Wolfe