Think of what you’ve just read.” Lovecraftian stories are the bread and butter of the true horror fan. During his lifetime, Lovecraft himself encouraged other writers to develop stories in the vein we now call Lovecraftian: horror, based around the idea that Earth had been colonized by malign aliens in the remote past, long before mankind arose and became civilized, who eventually became worshipped and feared as evil Gods by their human servitors. Eventually these aliens had been “banished” to another dimensional limbo by a benign Elder Race, but might one day return to reclaim the Earth “when the stars are right.” That deep seated unease threads through this collection of Richard. A Lupoff's short stories that seem to share a common universe. Praise for Richard A. Lupoff: "Lupoff writes with intelligence, humour, wisdom, and a zest for life." - Joe Gorges, author of Hammett. Richard A. Lupoff began his writing career as a print and broadcast journalist while attending university. After earning his degree he served twice in the United States Army, first as an enlisted man, then as an officer. Following military service he worked for twelve years in the computer industry, while also serving as a guest lecturer at universities including the University of California (Berkeley) and Stanford University. As author and editor he has written more than fifty volumes, ranging from science fiction, mystery, fantasy, horror, and mainstream fiction to the evolution of cartooning and comics. He is a past winner of the Hugo Award, and a finalist for the Nebula and Oscar Awards. He has achieved the rare distinction of being represented in “Best of the Year” anthologies in three fields: science fiction, mystery, and horror.

    From dark fantasy and pure suspense to classic horror tales of vampires and zombies, 999 showcases the extraordinary scope of fantastical fright fiction. The stories in this anthology are a relentless tour de force of fear, which will haunt you, terrify you, and keep the adrenaline rushing all through the night.Amerikanski dead at the Moscow morgue / Kim Newman --The ruins of contracoeur / Joyce Carol Oates --The owl and the pussycat / Thomas M. Disch --The road virus heads north / Stephen King --Keepsakes and treasures: a love story / Neil Gaiman --Growing things / T.E.D. Klein --Good Friday / F. Paul Wilson --Excerpts from the records of the New Zodiac and the diaries of Henry Watson Fairfax / Chet Williamson --An exaltation of termagants / Eric Von Lustbader --Itinerary / Tim Powers --Catfish gal blues / Nancy A. Collins --The entertainment / Ramsey Campell --ICU / Edward Lee --The shadow, the darkness / Thomas Ligotti --Rio Grande Gothic / David Morrell --Des Saucisses, Sans doute / Peter Schneider --Angie / Ed Gorman --The ropy thing / Al Sarrantonio --The tree is my hat / Gene Wolfe --Styx and bones / Edward Bryant --Hemophage / Steven Spurill --The book of irrational numbers / Michael Marshall Smith --Mad dog summer / Joe R. Lansdale --The Theater / Bentley Little --Rehearsals / Thomas F. Monteleone --Darkness / Dennis L. McKiernan --Elsewhere / William Peter Blatty

    The Corn Maiden is the gut-wrenching story of Marissa, a beautiful and sweet eleven-year-old girl with hair the color of corn silk. Taken by an older girl from her school who has told two friends in her thrall of the Indian legend of the Corn Maiden, in which a girl is sacrificed to ensure a good crop, Marissa is kept in a secluded basement and convinced that the world has ended. Marissa s seemingly inevitable fate becomes ever more terrifying as the older girl relishes her power, giving the tale unbearable tension with a shocking conclusion. In Helping Hands, published here for the first time, a lonely woman meets a man in the unlikely clutter of a dingy charity shop and extends friendship. She has no idea what kinds of doors she may be opening. The powerful stories in this extraordinary collection further enhance Joyce Carol Oates s standing as one of the world s greatest writers of suspense."

    An orchard is bewitched with poison apples and would-be princesses. A pair of outcasts fail a questionnaire that measures who in their neighborhood will vanish next. Two sisters keep a grotesque secret hidden in a Victorian bathtub. A dearly departed best friend carries a grudge from beyond the grave.In her debut collection, Gwendolyn Kiste delves into the gathering darkness where beauty embraces the monstrous, and where even the most tranquil worlds are not to be trusted. From fairy tale kingdoms and desolate carnivals, to wedding ceremonies and summer camps that aren’t as joyful as they seem, these fourteen tales of horror and dark fantasy explore death, rebirth, and illusion all through the eyes of those on the outside—the forgotten, the forsaken, the Other, none of whom will stay in the dark any longer.

    These brave men and women stand up to the darkness, stare it right in the eye, and give it the finger. These are the stories of those who rage against the night, stories of triumph, sacrifice, and bravery in the face of overwhelming evil. Rage Against the Night features the megastars of dark fantasy and horror—including Stephen King, Ramsey Campbell, Peter Straub, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, F. Paul Wilson, Jonathan Maberry, Scott Nicholson, Nancy Holder, Sarah Langan, and many, many more.

    From the tortured mind of Edgar Allan Poe, these three tales, "The Black Cat," "The Fall of the House of Usher," and "The Cask of Amontillado," speak to the hidden places inside us all.Capturing the mist and shadows rising from the stories are illustrations by prominent artist Gary Kelley. Angular and dark, his work heightens the Gothic terror that is Poe's trademark and creates windows into Poe's world.

    It continues after midnight, when a young boy, held captive in a basement, is filled with unearthly visions of fantastic and frightening worlds. How could his kidnappers know that the ransom would be their own souls? For, as the hours pass, the boy's nightmares invade his captors like parasites-and soon, they become real.This audiobook also contains the short stories "Underworld," "O Rare and Most Esquisite," "The Rendering Man," "The Fruit of Her Womb," "The Hurting Season," "Chosen," "The Night Before Alec Got Married," "Only Connect," "The Little Mermaid," "Damned if You Do," and "The Ripening Sweetness of Late Afternoon." You can also listen to the acclaimed novelettes, "White Chapel" and "I am Infinite, I Contain Multitudes."

    These 31 stories of the supernatural explore the furthest reaches of the macabre and at the same time parallel de Maupassant's own descent into madness and death. Includes a Foreword by modern master horror writer Ramsey Campbell.The Horla --The Devil --Two friends --Fear --The hand --Coco --The mannerism --The madwoman --Mohammed-Fripouille --The blind man --At sea --Apparition --Saint-Antoine --The wolf --Terror --The diary of a madman --A vendetta --The smile of Schopenhauer --On the river --He? --Old Milon --The head of hair --The inn --Mother Savage --Was he mad? --The dead girl --Mademoiselle Cocotte --A night in Paris --The case of Louise Roque --The drowned man --Who knows?

    A new outbreak is about to begin. The world's most deadly disease is loose, and anyone who catches it is doomed. Symptoms include coughing, sneezing, abdominal pain, and rotting of the flesh. There is no cure. Infection is 100% fatal. Stay calm. Please do not panic. The situation is under control. It is under control. The Peeling & Other Terrifying Tales is a collection of novellas and short stories from bestselling horror author Iain Rob Wright. It begins with the 80-page novella THE PEELING, and also includes several short stories, most of which have never been published before. Full table of contents below: 1. THE PEELING 2018 (novella) 2. THE PEELING OF SAMUEL LLOYD COLLINS 3. THE PEELING OMNIBUS (5 previously released novellas set in The Peeling universe) 4. EHLLF (short story) 5. VLOG LIFE (short story) 6. HEIRLOOMS (short story) 7. THE EAGLE & THE WOLF (short story) 8. CHICKEN BOY (short story) 9. THE WITNESS (short story) 10. THE BOB SAGA (1 previously released short story & 1 previously unpublished) "Iain Rob Wright scares the Hell out of me!" - J. A. Konrath "Iain Rob Wright is sick and twisted." - David Moody "A master of the genre." - Matt Shaw

    However, General Spielsdorf does not travel alone. Moreover, his band of companions carry a secret of their own, and it is one which will likely spell disaster for any who fall prey to their urges. The General is about to discover that when werewolves and vampires clash; there can be no winners. Carmilla: A Dark Fugue - is a stand alone story which unfolds parallel to the events in Carmilla: The Wolves of Styria.

    Some of the stories are inspired by true events. Find out which ones inside this scary collection. “Night Visitors” Once or twice a year, dark creatures show up at the foot of Annie`s bed and take her with them and conduct grisly experiments on her. This is happening for years now. She doesn’t understand who they are and why they do this. But this, last time, it's different. This time she gets the answers, and nothing on Earth will be the same afterward. “Agatha” A man falls in love with a mysterious timid red-haired girl. As he begins to know more about her, he finds out that her secrets are more complicated than he fathoms. A series of abnormal accidents begin to happen in her presence. Who is she and why does she have these paranormal powers? "Grandpa Jesse" Three months have passed since the death of their grandfather, and sisters Jen and Kim are struggling to cope with the loss. As Jen and Kim spend more time at their grandmother’s house, they slowly begin to realize some specter is visiting her on a daily basis and he means no good.

    But what happens where the human world touches the domain of races ancient and alien? Museum curators, surveyors, police officers, archaeologists, mathematicians; from derelict buildings to country houses to the London Underground, another world is just a breath away, around the corner, watching and waiting for you to step into its power. The Private Life of Elder Things is a collection of new Lovecraftian fiction about confronting, discovering and living alongside the creatures of the Mythos.

    Imagine mephitic gardens where the sarcophage, selenotrope, and necrophilium bloom. Then throw in star-crossed lovers, crazed zealots, stalwart heroes, bloodthirsty renegade armies, hideous monsters, and likeable misfits. You've got just a hint of the wondrous and original visions in the dark fantasy world of Brian McNaughton. Horror scholar S. T. Joshi, in the afterword to this collection of stories, notes the strong influence of Clark Ashton Smith, Lord Dunsany, H. P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, and Greco-Roman decadent works such as Petronius's Satyricon. "McNaughton seems to have mastered one of the most difficult of literary arts: to draw upon the classics of the field without losing his own voice.... The world that McNaughton has created in this book is the world of the ghoul; and who knows but that The Throne of Bones will become the standard textbook for the care and feeding of ghouls just as Dracula has become that for vampires?"Contents:Ringard and Dendra (1996)The Throne of Bones (1997)The Vendren Worm (1990)Meryphillia (1990)Reunion in Cephalune (1997)The Art of Tiphytsorn Glocque (1997)A Scholar from Sythiphore (1995)Vendriel and Vendreela (1988)The Retrograde Necromancer (1993)The Return of Liron Wolfbaiter (1997)

    This eclectic volume takes the readers through places as varied as Laos, Greenland, Peru, and the Congo, and from antiquity until the 20th century, pushing the envelope of Lovecraftian lore. William Meikle's inquisitor tries to unravel the truth during a very hostile questioning. Jesse Bullington narrates the saga of a young Viking woman facing danger and destruction. E. Catherine Tobler stops in Ancient Egypt, where Pharaoh Hatshepsut receives an exquisite and deadly gift. Albert Tucher discovers that the dead do not remain silent in 10th century Rome. These are tales that reimagine history and look into the past through a darker glass. Tales that show evil has many faces and reaches through the centuries. Tales that will chill your heart. Join us in our journey through horror and time, if you dare. Stories by: Regina Allen, Jesse Bullington, Nathalie Boisard-Beudin, Mason Ian Bundschuh, Andrew G. Dombalagian, Mae Empson, Nelly Geraldine Garcia-Rosas, Orrin Grey, Sarah Hans, Travis Heermann, Martha Hubbard, Nathaniel Katz, Leigh Kimmel, Meddy Ligner, William Meikle, Daniel Mills, Aaron Polson, Y. Wahyu Purnomosidhi, Alter S. Reiss, Josh Reynolds, Julio Toro San Martin, Bradley H. Sinor, Molly Tanzer, Albert Tucher, E. Catherine Tobler, Bryan Thao Worra.

    A chronicle of the final seven days of a town that is about to be razed to the ground by an invading army. The lonely voyage of an elephant from Kerala to a princess’s palace in Morocco. A fabled cook who flavours his food with precious stones. A coterie of international diplomats trapped in near-Earth orbit. These, and the other stories can be found in this collection.