Suspenseful, surprising, sometimes dark, sometimes humorous-these all-new stories will ensure that readers never think of vampires (or birthdays) in quite the same way again. In New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris's "Dracula Night," Sookie Stackhouse is the only human at the annual commemoration of Dracula's birth. But this year, the Prince of Darkness actually shows up-and finds Sookie to be a tasty-looking present. New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher's crime-solving wizard Harry Dresden, of the Dresden Files novels, heads to a role-playing party to give his vampire brother a birthday present in "It's My Birthday Too," only to discover there are some bloodthirsty party crashers who don't share their brotherly love. In "Twilight," Cassandra DuCharme, who appeared in New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong's Dime Store Magic, knows she has to kill to live as a vampire another year-but finds herself disturbingly disinterested in the hunt. Plus ten more bloody good birthday stories that take the cake.Contents xi • Preface: A Few Words (Many Bloody Returns) • (2007) • essay by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner1 • Dracula Night • [Sookie Stackhouse 4.3] • shortstory by Charlaine Harris21 • The Mournful Cry of Owls • novelette by Christopher Golden50 • I Was a Teenage Vampire • novelette by Bill Crider73 • Twilight • [Women of the Otherworld Short Fiction 7.2] • novelette by Kelley Armstrong100 • It's My Birthday, Too • [The Dresden Files 9.2] • novella by Jim Butcher146 • Grave-Robbed • [Vampire Files] • novelette by P. N. Elrod176 • The First Day of the Rest of Your Life • [The Morganville Vampires: Extras 2.5] • novelette by Rachel Caine201 • The Witch and the Wicked • novelette by Jeanne C. Stein230 • Blood Wrapped • [Henry Fitzroy] • novelette by Tanya Huff254 • The Wish • shortstory by Carolyn Haines265 • Fire Ice and Linguini for Two • [Garnet Lacey 2.5] • novelette by Lyda Morehouse [as by Tate Hallaway ]290 • Vampire Hours • novelette by Elaine Viets318 • How Stella Got Her Grave Back • novelette by Toni L. P. Kelner

    This is writing which is more direct, less euphemistic, and frankly accepting of sexuality.

    In these novellas, the Norseston alpha plays matchmaker for the pack’s lonely, rough-around-the-edges, single wolves. CONTAINS: BEAST After a brutal fight left werewolf Anton Denis half blind, he closed himself off to the possibility of taking a mate. It’d take a special woman to love the man behind the scars, and meek Christina Stilton insists that woman is her. LONER Darius used to being on the fringes, but Stephanie understands how that feels all too well. He may lack polish, but he has the tenderness that was lacking in Stephanie’s previous relationships. They’re both loners in their own ways, but if they can come together to find a common thread, the mates could ignite a romance hot enough to make them both howl. IDLER Lisa is convinced that her born-alpha mate has the potential to solve big problems, but not without incentive. He’s a wolf with a troubled past, and if she pushes too hard, she’ll lose his trust. She can’t afford that. Colt may not only be the ticket to a better life for her sisters, but possibly the closest thing to a perfect mate a domineering Type A personality like her will ever find. SCION Old grudges form a seemingly insurmountable wedge between the Madeiras and Carbones, but the wolf goddess will only grant Vic and Ashley with perfect mates once. If they’re to have a hopeful future in the Norseton pack, they must set aside the insults of the past. It may take a small miracle for them to manage it. ____ Also available in the Norseton Wolves series: #5 - MAKER #6 - ELDER #7 - SCOUT #8 - SEER #9 - ANGEL

    In "Seeing Eye" by Patricia Briggs, a blind witch helps sexy werewolf Tom Franklin find his missing brother—and helps him in more ways than either of them ever suspected. And in Jim Butcher's "Last Call," wizard Harry Dresden takes on the darkest of dark powers—the ones who dare to mess with this favorite beer.For anyone who's ever wondered what lies beyond the limits of reality, who's imagined the secret spaces where witches wield fearsome magic, come and drink deep. Let yourself fall under the spell of this bewitching collection of short stories!

    Welcome to the night shift...The omnibus edition of Jill Kismet contains: Night Shift, Hunter's Prayer, Redemption Alley, Flesh Circus, Heaven's Spite and Angel Town.

    Two magics. One world.There’s nowhere in America like the Big Easy. Just ask Jane Yellowrock, shapeshifting vampire killer, whose hunting grounds run the length and breadth of the Bayou.Just ask Joanne Walker, whose shamanic magic has drawn her to the heart of American Weird.But it’s not Joanne’s world, and it isn’t Jane’s either. In a New Orleans where Katrina never hit and supposedly-dead vampires stalk the streets, Jane and Jo have to find and defeat the magic that brought them there–or they just might find themselves…EASY PICKINGSfan fiction by the authors themselves!

    though I did leave out some of the original "diary" entries that appeared on an earlier version of the Morganville website, simply because they were just scenes and not stories, and were generally really short snippets. This is all short fiction, and it's been carefully organized into the timeline, so you can read from the earliest adventures (some of which belong to vampires) all the way through some post-Daylighters goodies.MIDNIGHT BITES includes a total of more than 50,000 words of brand new content, which makes me very happy indeed (and I hope will also make you happy, too). From stories featuring our favorite bunny-slipper-wearing mad scientist to a mystery solved by police chief Hannah Moses, I think you'll find this is a diverse group of stories that will shine a little more light in the murkiest corners of Morganville.

    1. A Questionable Client (Kate Daniels, #0.5) by Ilona Andrews: Kate Daniels guards shifter Saiman, less trustworthy than the enemy.2. Even Hand (Dresden Files, #11.6) by Jim Butcher: "Gentleman" John Marcone, Chicago's most dangerous crime lord, fights water demon with defenses against White Council wizard Harry Dresden. 3. The Beacon by Shannon K. Butcher: Hereditary fighter faces monster that killed his father and town, with a little girl that attracts said monster. 4. Even a Rabbit Will Bite by Rachel Caine: Liesl trains the new Dragonslayer before she faces the last dragon.5. Dark Lady (Vampire Files, #12.75) by P.N. Elrod: Vampire nightclub owner Jack Fleming promises radio to resident ghost.6. Beknighted by Deidre Knight: Artist tries to free knight painted in real gold.7. Shifting Star (Signs of the Zodiac, #4.6) by Vicki Peterson: Skamar, Tibetan for star, newly created tulpa, fights another vicious male of Tulpa. 8. Rookwood & Mrs King by Lilith Saintcrow: Vampire private eye is hired by wife to kill the woman's vampire husband. 9. God's Creatures (Kitty Norville, #0.8) by Carrie Vaughn: Cormac follows a werewolf to convent school.

    Your demon lover is waiting for you in the shadows, ready to fulfill your secret wishes and most dangerous fantasies. Here passion has a face and form both titillating and terrifying—and love has teeth and claws. Get ready to give in to your craving for something exquisitely dark . . . and different.Hotter Than Hell gathers together a baker's dozen of today's boldest and best authors of supernatural fiction and paranormal romance in a breathtaking anthology that blends black magic with red-hot desire. From the tantalizing tale of a conflicted psychic vampire driven by a powerful, savage love to the strange saga of a Greek warrior woman battling to save the world, these are stories outside the limits, as hypnotic as the full moon . . . and hotter than the sun.

    Venture into a world beyond the ordinary, where the dark passions and voracious appetites of vampires, werewolves, demons, and a few undaunted mortals combine to unleash a potent spell.

    But now that witches have joined forces with nefarious weretrappers, it’s a perfect storm for double trouble. When the murder of a human points to a wolf, along with the threat of the packs being outted to the world, the Dires fear that something even more dangerous is out there hiding in the dark, something waiting for the right time to show itself.Includes a letter from the author and a teaser chapter from Dire Needs.

    Melanie Harding comes to rural Maryland to open a veterinarian clinic, she has no intention of buying into the area's absurd werewolf legends. Until she rescues an ordinary dog shot with a silver bullet, and meets his sexy owner, Major Drew Connell.A founding member of the Alpha Force on a nearby military base, Drew has developed an elixir that helps werewolves control their shape-shifting abilities. Drew has always tried to keep his distance from the civilian population, but Melanie's sweet and gentle nature soon wears down his defenses. With the attacks on people and animals in the area mounting, can their fiery attraction withstand their toughest challenge?

    But can Ashton keep me safe forever? Lily Veilleux? Things are heating up between Victor and me. I’m sure he’s the one, but dare I hope he feels he same way?

    P. Kelner, this hair-raising holiday collection includes fifteen original tales—including an original Sookie Stackhouse story.The holidays can bring out the beast in anyone- particularly lycanthropes. Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner have harvested the scariest, funniest, saddest werewolf tales by an outstanding pack of authors, best read by the light of a full moon with a silver bullet close at hand.Whether wolfing down a holiday feast (use your imagination) or craving some hair of the dog on New Year's morning, the werewolves in these frighteningly original stories will surprise, delight, amuse, and scare the pants off readers who love a little wolfsbane with their mistletoe. Gift Wrap - Charlaine HarrisThe Haire of the Beast - Donna AndrewsLucy, at Christmastime - Simon R. GreenThe Night Things Changed - Dana CameronThe Werewolf Before Christmas - Kat RichardsonFresh Meat - Alan GordonIl Est Né - Carrie VaughnThe Perfect Gift - Dana StabenowChristmas Past - Keri ArthurSA - J. A. KonrathThe Star of David - Patricia BriggsYou'd Better Not Pyout - Nancy PickardRogue Elements - Karen ChanceMilk and Cookies - Rob ThurmanKeeping Watch over His Flock - Toni L. P. Kelner

    but in the end, are they what each other needs? TEMPTED BY THE PACK (Blue Moon Brides) by Anne Marsh -- Lark isn't looking for love, and she wants nothing to do with the sexy Cajun werewolf Rafer, but Rafer is determined to change her mind, one kiss at a time... TEMPTATION (Grey Wolves Rising) by Emma Storm -- Gabriel found his true mate when she was too young, so he made the choice to leave so she could have a life. Now Joy is grown, and she's a woman who knows what she wants... RED FEVER (A Werewolf BBW Fairy Tale) by Viola Rivard -- Innocent Rose is travelling a stretch of woods with a dangerous reputation, and a sexy predator has her in his sights... IRON (Blue Collar Wolves) by Ronin Winters -- Iron may never break, but Bella is going to do everything possible to make him bend...to her. DESERT MOON (Wolves of Twin Moon Ranch) by Anna Lowe -- Lana Dixon knows well enough to steer clear of alpha males, but Ty Hawthorne is as impossible to avoid as the sizzling Arizona sun. Her inner wolf just won’t give up on the man who’s tall, dark, and more than a little dangerous HERO (Wolves of Angels Rest) by Elsa Jade -- Kane travelled the world before coming back home to become Alpha of his pack. Now he's reunited with the girl he left behind, and he wants Maddie as much as ever, but with his pack involved in dangerous times, keeping her safe might mean letting her go... ENFORCER'S HEART (Stratton Wolves) by Mina Carter -- During an investigation, Carla has been bitten by a werewolf. Now while waiting to see if she's been turned or not, she's got a babysitter in the sexy, sinful Riley. ----------------------------------------- ALL STORIES are complete down to the Happily Ever After!