Awe meets ache. Terror becomes transcendence. Regret gives way to rebirth. Fifteen short stories and one poem span nearly every twisted corner of the horror and dark fiction genres:A woman experiences an emotional reckoning inside a haunted house. A father sees his daughter rescued after a cold case is solved, only to learn the tragic limits of his love. A man awakens a vengeful spirit and learns the terrible price of settling scores. A boy comes of age into awareness of a secret universe of Lovecraftian scale. A young woman confronts the deathly price of existence inside a German concentration camp during the Holocaust. And much, much more…Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories features the most celebrated voices in dark fiction, as well as a number of exciting, new talents, including: Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, Ramsey Campbell, Paul Tremblay, John F.D. Taff, Lisa Mannetti, Damien Angelica Walters, Josh Malerman, Christopher Coake, Mercedes M. Yardley, Brian Kirk, Stephanie M. Wytovich, Amanda Gowin, Richard Thomas, Maria Alexander and Kevin Lucia. With a foreword from Cemetery Dance magazine founder Richard Chizmar.

    But when it all goes wrong, Alex is forced to make a grueling choice.An urban fantasy thriller from author Matt Kincade, The Devil’s Mouth is an adrenaline-fueled ride through the dark underbelly of America: a warped landscape of old motels, seedy roadhouse bars, and monsters lurking in the night.

    His father is dead, his mother is missing, and he was just rescued by an enormous man named Frankenstein. Jamie is brought to Department 19, where he is pulled into a secret organization responsible for policing the supernatural, founded more than a century ago by Abraham Van Helsing and the other survivors of Dracula. Aided by Frankenstein's monster, a beautiful vampire girl with her own agenda, and the members of the agency, Jamie must attempt to save his mother from a terrifyingly powerful vampire. Department 19 takes us through history, across Europe, and beyond - from the cobbled streets of Victorian London to prohibition-era New York, from the icy wastes of Arctic Russia to the treacherous mountains of Transylvania. Part modern thriller, part classic horror, it's packed with mystery, mayhem, and a level of suspense that makes a Darren Shan novel look like a romantic comedy.

    And when her visions return and a murder victim calls from the grave, will she risk her life to answer? It has taken Kate Hayden nine long years to escape Jonas, her sadistic husband. Scarred, injured, and full of secrets, she stops to rest in Harbinger Bend. Almost immediately she is bombarded with visions and the supernatural gifts she thought she'd lost forever return full force. Unable to leave town, she finds refuge in a vampire hotel and is taken under the fierce protection of Quillan Bouchard, the master of Harbinger Bend. She pushes away the past as she embraces her freedom, rediscovers her heart, and remembers what it's like to be alive. But when darkness arrives and enemies clash, who will be standing when the smoke clears?

    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.

     And that’s just a quarter of the thrills. Edited and compiled by Amazon bestselling author Dan Alatorre, this anthology of scary tales brings together the minds and pens of twenty authors, including bestseller Allison Maruska (The Fourth Descendant), bestselling author Jenifer Ruff (Everett), Lucy Brazier (PorterGirl), J. A. Allen, Juliet Nubel, TA Henry, Ann Marie Andrus, Heather Hackett, Barbara Anne Helberg, Scott Skipper, Joanne R. Larner, Christine Valentor, Adele Marie Park, Curtis Bausse, Annette Robinson, Frank Parker, Eric Daniel Clarke, and Maribel C. Pagan. Perfect for Halloween or any time, these stories will make you think twice before walking alone on the beach at night, reading a diary, or innocently watching a train from your car. Consider yourselves warned. NOTE: Warning! American and British spelling ahead. A few stories words are olde English, too. The story The Death Of Mrs. Billen by Mr. Alatorre is from his novel An Angel On Her Shoulder, used with permission.

    Now, tormented half-vampire Declan Reese wants her blood to destroy the undead kingdom. Unfortunately, the serum has also made her blood irresistible to all vampires-including Declan, whose desire for Jillian is more than mere hunger.

    MRS. CLAUS APPROVED. Let’s just hope we don’t melt the North Pole! Her Dragon’s No Angel Take one snowbound dragon, combine with one Christmas Angel, throw in a healthy dose of an attraction only the Universe could have conjured and top with the largest blizzard in a hundred years. Now sit back and enjoy the show! This one's gonna be a bumpy ride! Fate Will Not Be Denied but Heaven’s Got A Plan of Its Own! Guarding Her Dragon It’s gonna take more than a little Elven magic and the love of her dragon to make it to Christmas Eve, but this little elf is not giving up. She’s guarding her dragon with all she’s got and finding out the best things in life might just come wrapped in glittering green scales. Tangled in Tinsel Visions of sugarplums can’t fix this one. It’ll take a whole lot of dragon magic, sprinkled with fairy dust and tied together with yards of tinsel and garland. Grab your eggnog and a bowl of figgy pudding, cause the Gingerbread Man has made a call and Fate is on the way. Never fear, if all else fails, we’ll be tangled in tinsel and singing Jingle Bells. There’s no better way to spend your holidays. Dragon Got Run Over By A Reindeer Put on your feety pajamas, grab a cup of hot cocoa and gather around the fire while our dashing hero and trusty cohorts race to save the holidays and in the process, find the happily ever after they didn’t know they were looking for, all neatly wrapped in shiny paper with a bright red bow. The holidays only come once a year, but this crazy couple plans to make it last forever. After all, not even Fate stays home for the holidays. May the Magic of the Dragon Guard and the Love of the Holidays Fill Your Whole Year with Nothing but Happiness.

    Experience the darker side of YA as 13 authors explore the places that others prefer to leave among the shadows.The eyes have it--Gretchen McNeil--The one true Miranda Lieu--Kate Karyus Quinn--Such a lovely monster--Justina Ireland--Heroin(e)--Kelly Fiore--Canary--Demitria Lunetta--Phantom heart--Mindy McGinnis--Reunion--Joelle Charbonneau--Not fade away--Geoffrey Girard--Blarach bridge--Lydia Kang--Chasing the sky--R.C. Lewis--The cowbird egg--Phoebe North--Panic room--Lenore Appelhans--Lonely hunter--Beth Revis--Author Q & As--Acknowledgments

    Her new late-night advice show for the supernaturally disadvantaged is a raging success, but it's Kitty who can use some help. With one sexy werewolf-hunter and a few homicidal undead on her tail, Kitty may have bitten off more than she can chew!

    In "The New Daughter," a father comes to suspect that a burial mound on his land hides something very ancient, and very much alive; in "The Underbury Witches," two London detectives find themselves battling a particularly female evil in a town culled of its menfolk. And finally, private detective Charlie Parker returns in the long novella "The Reflecting Eye," in which the photograph of an unknown girl turns up in the mailbox of an abandoned house once occupied by an infamous killer. This discovery forces Parker to confront the possibility that the house is not as empty as it appears, and that something has been waiting in the darkness for its chance to kill again.

    The angels are no longer in charge. From the extravagant appetites of the vampire world above, to the gritty defiance of the werewolves below, the specter of darkness lives around every corner, the hope of paradise in every heart. All walk freely with humans in a tentative peace, but to live in Los Angeles is to balance on the edge of a knife. One woman knows better than most that death lurks here in nights of bliss or hails of UV bullets. She’s about to be tested, to taste true thirst. She’s about to regain the power she’s long been denied. And Fleur Dumont is about to meet the one man who may understand her: a tormented protector who’s lost his way and all he loved.

    Subject to uncontrollable rages, most dhampirs live very short, very violent lives. So far Dory has managed to maintain her sanity by unleashing her anger on those demons and vampires who deserve killing.Now Dory's vampire father has come back into her life. Her Uncle Dracula (yes, the Dracula), infamous even among vampires for his cruelty and murderous ways, has escaped his prison. And her father wants Dory to work with gorgeous master vampire Louis-Cesare to put him back there.Vampires and dhampirs are mortal enemies, and Dory prefers to work alone. But Dracula is the only thing on Earth that truly scares her, so when Dory has to go up against him, she'll take all the help she can get… ...

    Filled with grotesque creatures, murderous vampires, and a petrifying ending, Cirque Du Freak chills, thrills, and leaves readers begging for more.