Body Horror

Against all odds, former geneticist Benny White has survived the first Wave of the Game of Souls. But the rewards have come at a cost, and the games are far from over. New enemies have been introduced with eyes set on those calling the Blackstone Keep home. Not only do the contestants have to struggle against the Arketh-Takshi—a group of intergalactic vampiric pirates residing within scattered portals—but also with private outworlder factions whose motivations are anything but clear. Not to mention some threats that originate a little closer to home.

Whether for entertainment, under the guise of medicine, or to propel consumerism, heinous acts are perpetrated daily on women’s bodies. In Body Horror: Capitalism, Fear, Misogyny, Jokes, award-winning journalist Anne Elizabeth Moore catalogs the global toll of capitalism on our physical autonomy. Weaving together unflinching research and surprising humor, these essays range from investigative—probing the Cambodian garment industry, the history of menstrual products, or the gender biases of patent law—to uncomfortably intimate.

Step into the shadows where the line between flesh and nightmare blurs, where the body becomes both canvas and cage. In this chilling anthology, darkness reigns supreme as twisted minds explore the depths of human agony and transformation. From the grotesque to the surreal, each story delves deeper into the macabre, weaving tales of torment that will leave you breathless and disturbed.

Max Baker, a 31-year-old accountant, finds himself in a desperate situation after killing a prostitute in his hotel room. ‘I lost control of myself,’ he says. ‘I couldn’t get the thought out of my head!’ Panicking and unable to dispose of the evidence by himself, he calls on his long-time friend John Kasper for help. Kasper is horrified and hesitant to help at first, but he can’t abandon his friend during his time of need. Max’s family and future are at stake. Together, they devise and execute one plan after another, hopelessly trying to hide Max’s crime...

Alien visitors devastate a remote farm in Lovecraft’s first and best venture into science fiction.

The most terrifying thing that you can possibly imagine is your own body in the hands of a monster. Or worse, in the hands of another human being. In this definitive anthology of body horror selected by a World Horror Grandmaster, you'll find the unthinkable and the shocking: a couture designer preparing for an exquisitely grotesque runway show; a vengeful son seeking the parent who bred him as plasma donor; a celebrity-kink brothel that inflicts plastic surgery on sex workers; and organ-harvesting doctors who dissect a living man without anesthetic.

In this chilling anthology, ten talented authors plunge into the darkest corners to explore the grotesque and unsettling. From grotesque mutations to psychological terrors, each story unfolds a unique and horrifying journey through the visceral landscapes of the human body. Brace yourself for a collection that will leave you questioning your own existence, as the authors unravel tales that linger beneath the skin. "Body Horror Anthology" is an exploration of the grotesque, where the boundaries between the body and the unknown are blurred, and the unimaginable becomes all too real.

R is a young man with an existential crisis—he is a zombie. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse, but he has dreams. His ability to connect with the outside world is limited to a few grunted syllables, but his inner life is deep, full of wonder and longing. After experiencing a teenage boy’s memories while consuming his brain, R makes an unexpected choice that begins a tense, awkward, and strangely sweet relationship with the victim’s human girlfriend, Julie.

Full body transplants on sale here: the more you pay, the better the body. But can an expensive upgrade really fulfil the life-changing expectations of demoralised mortician Caroline McAleese? Caroline is desperate to be promoted to the sales team - but she's overweight and over 40, and in a world where attractiveness is prioritised ahead of intelligence, her prospects are slim. Then she hits the jackpot in the Citizens' Lottery, and gets the chance to trade up to the perfect new body: one that's young, lithe and beautiful.

Lestat speaks. Vampire-hero, enchanter, seducer of mortals - for centuries he has been a courted prince in the dark and flourishing universe of the living dead. Lestat is alone. And suddenly, all his vampire rationale - everything he has come to believe and feel safe with - is called into question. In his overwhelming need to destroy his doubts and his loneliness, Lestat embarks on the most dangerous enterprise he has undertaken in all the danger-haunted years of his long existence.

Brad will go insane unless his body is completely hair-free. Prince Alastair looks for his Cinderella, but he carries her foot skin instead of a slipper. Poppy will stop at nothing to become the number one pimple popping social media star. A weight loss cult holds darker secrets than its abusive leader. And it gets worse.

Take a daunting journey into the "dissection theater." This fictional story will give you chills and thrills while presenting you with a plausible moral dilemma.

From Chuck Tingle, USA Today bestselling author of Bury Your Gays, comes Fabulous Bodies, a supernatural joyride where Drive meets Beetlejuice. Fashion influencer by day and grave-robber by night, Poppy Stringer is on call when Eddie Michaels—a flamboyant, piano-slamming rockstar and queer...

Single gay mom Brigid always thought that cutting ties with her extremist Catholic family was the best thing she could have done for her daughter, Dylan—and for herself. But when Dylan starts having terrifying fits of unnatural violence, Brigid can’t shake her memories of a girl from her childhood who behaved the same way … until Brigid’s uncle, Father Angus, performed an exorcism. Convinced that her daughter is suffering from demonic possession, Brigid does the thing she told herself she’d never do: she goes home.

Thirteen Victims. One Monster. From the twisted mind of award-winning screenwriter Dale Zawada, 13 Bodies delves into the origins of true evil. Jack Delmont was doomed from the start, an abused child who claimed his first victim at thirteen. Now a hulking menace with a compulsive hunger for violence, Jack carves a bloody path through 13 unflinching chapters, each revealing the twisted artistry behind every kill. But as Jack carves a bloody path through the shadows, whispers of his past claw their way back, twisted memories of torment and betrayal that gnaw at the edges of his sanity.

An aimless ghost haunts his ex-girlfriend for evidence that she’s actually upset about his death. A group of teens discovers a machine that purports to predict the best day of its users’ lives. A young woman is horrified to discover that an aggressive stranger she met on a night of bar-hopping now manifests in every photo that is taken of her. A drunken posse descends into the woods in search of clowns that have been terrorizing their small town.

Joyce Carol Oates assembles an outstanding cast of authors—including Margaret Atwood, Tananarive Due, and Megan Abbott—to explore, subvert, and reinvent one of the most vital subgenres of horror.

Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the 16-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world . . . and the imprints that attach to their killers.

The air in the hospital was thick with the scent of antiseptic and something more primal, a lingering fear that clung to the walls like the shadows of the past. For years, I had been a caretaker, a healer devoted to the well-being of others, but the echoes of trauma and the weight of my own experiences began to manifest in unsettling ways. A new beginning was not just a transition; it was a reckoning with the darkness that lurked within the depths of my mind and the very fabric of the hospital itself.

Our greatest fears are of the unknown. Usually we think those fears are in front of us...or behind us. But perhaps the human body itself holds the greatest horror. What happens after death? Do our bodies have a new existence either in whole...or part? Will others seek to claim them and do unspeakable things? We don’t know. But our authors do. And they have the talents and wits to make these diabolical stories vehicles for horror, for terror, for the unimaginable....