Apocalyptic Short Stories

A collection of (mostly) previously unpublished stories by award-winning journalist and cult horror author Ryan C. Thomas. From zombies to monsters to ghosts and more, Thomas weaves unique tales that will send a chill up your spine.

Reem lives a secluded, sheltered life inside Community One. Sold to one of the alien beasts who now rule the Earth, inexperienced young Reem is terrified she won't know how to please her husband, and he'll end up eating her instead of bedding her. After years of waiting, Troy finally gets his mate. When he lands her on his lap during their pairing party, he confirms her virginity. He can't wait until they're home so he can show her the only thing she should fear is his big...heart.

Wastelands 2: More Stories of the Apocalypse is a new anthology of postapocalyptic literature from some of the most renowned authors in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres today, including George R. R. Martin, Hugh Howey, Junot Díaz, David Brin, and many more. This eclectic mix of tales explores famine, death, war, pestilence, and harbingers of the biblical apocalypse.

A collection of apocalyptic short stories that are full of surprises and horror and heroism.

A dismembered body in the park.... Grand Rapids Detective Bill DeYoung is an old-timer riding it out until retirement. A ravaged body in the park and a drunken witness are about to change his plans; so is the end of the world. The events happen concurrently with the first novel, End Time, but it can be heard at any point in the series to get exciting additional content on the origin of a main character.

A hundred years ago, there was a cataclysm. Maybe a biological weapon was set off, or a parasite evolved...honestly, no one really cares any more. What matters is that the parasite was airborne, infectious, and could live in any warm-blooded creature. Those affected are driven insane and mutate, becoming a threat to those around them.

Six short stories appear in this second addition to the Fear series.

Earth as a new Dungeon World means opportunities and dangers galore. One of the enduring aspects of the System is the Shop, an interdimensional series of stores that compete for the opportunity to service clients and make a profit doing so. New clients on a new Dungeon World mean rare and heretofore unseen items and massive profits. No surprise that the vultures have arrived, searching for easy marks.

In Zombies, the absurdity of both life and death are on full display as the best and brightest of a high school prep school become tragically addicted to the latest drug craze - electric shocks from cardiac defibrillators. Funny, caustic, bizarre, poignant - this story represents everything listeners have come to love and expect from Chuck Palahniuk.

Phillip (the Ghost) and his friends are in Taos for a fun weekend when they meet a weird artist named Goffrey and decide to spend the weekend in the mountains. You never know where you'll be when it's the end of the world as we knew it.

Welcome to Tisaia - the last hub of modern civilization, in a world left scorched by the nuclear fires of the Biomass Wars. Surrounded by a fortress of steel walls, and protected by a fierce and loyal Council of Royal Knights, Tisaia seems relatively safe to the average State worker and citizen. A plentiful supply of Biomass powers the cities, and food is abundant, but security has come at a terrible cost.

This collection of five short stories touches on themes and topics throughout the genre including zombies, superheroes, artificial intelligence, and the changing role of birthdays in the future. "Billy and the Zombies" is a story about a boy who spent most of his life preparing for a zombie apocalypse and now has to deal with one in real life. "Mom's Special Day" talks about an indeterminate future where birthdays have a much different meaning than they do today. "The Trial of WLQC-73" discusses what happens when we create computers that are as human as we are with all of our faults and failings. "The Heist" is a story about a future where Superheroes aren't as clean cut as our comic books show them to be. "Chance Encounters" describes what happens when a simple misunderstanding spirals out of control.

Life after the apocalypse is one daily grind after another. It's a good thing for Wendy that she's got friends - a lot of friends as a fairy summoner. But life in Exeter is not easy, even for a summoner, and the grind of daily jobs and never-ending quests is getting to her. She's got one shot at getting a place for her own, a place of safety and maybe getting ahead. But it'll require Wendy to do the one thing she swore she'd never do again.

What happens when the apocalypse is over; to love, strained and torn? How do you pick up the pieces, when life stabilises? It's a question our heroes must ask themselves, when they're no longer fighting off swarms of monsters, no longer struggling for Credits and Levels. Valentine's in the Apocalypse is set four years after the System Apocalypse has arrived, between books 5 and 6 of the System Apocalypse and features new characters. The story is set in Vancouver, BC.

I’m a perp. When I got older and actually cared about history, I found out that wasn’t a name people were proud to have a few decades ago, but most people today are perps. It’s short for "perpetual". We wear collectors that harness the power created by our movement. It’s so normal now it’s hard to imagine a world without them. When humanity exhausted the resources of Earth, we had to resort to harnessing energy in a different way.

Fighting in the streets, corruption at the highest levels, collapsing infrastructure, brutal police, a daily threat of nuclear war: few of us thought we’d find ourselves here, so far into the 21st century. What’s next? Are we really going to be “great again,” however that’s meant? And if we are, what does that mean for those of us on the receiving end of the less-than-great? In this diverse and vigorous mix of stories by newcomers and luminaries, writers offer their takes on what life might hold for us in the next few years.

The stories in this second anthology explore the legends of the Outlands, beyond the border of humanity's immediate control, where strange and powerful creatures roam.

Rachel and the Smith Brothers are on the run, trying to escape the dangers they left in the city. But when they stop off for supplies, they suddenly find themselves in a whole new kind of trouble. Rachel realises the true nature of the men she is travelling with, but where exactly does she fit in?

In the post-collapse world, animals are once again returned to the top of the food chain as nearly all of the humans on the planet have perished. The budgies and bats of Davao City are expanding their colonies as nature intended when they stumble upon remnants of the human population. The decisions made after this discovery will affect all those involved in ways they could never imagine.

It's 2085, the time of the Great Affliction. Continents are burning, land is disappearing, and humanity is destroying itself as mass shootings and suicides wipe out the population. To Marjaana Salonen, the solution is found in high technology. By integrating the human brain with a sophisticated computer chip, she believes she can bring new hope to society. Her invention was supposed to fix it all, but Salonen's daughter has her own ideas. To Laura, her mother's invention is an opportunity to impose her own vision on the world—the promise of a new reality that is far more sinister.