Dark Fantasy Short Stories

Sometimes the world is a very dark place. You know the magic is still out there, but it feels distant or displaced. Voices in the Darkness is an attempt to create a link, to bring some of those voices together in a single work of art. Six award-winning authors lent their talent to this work. The stories are unique and dark, filled with wonder and emotion.

This collection of 22 short stories by the author of Daughter of Hounds and Alabaster firmly established Caitlín R. Kiernan as one of the preeminent voices in dark fantasy today. Through a cycle of interconnected narratives, Kiernan unflinchingly explores a surreal world where the fantastic and the mundane are never separated by more than the insubstantial thickness of a shadow.

Jenna thought becoming a Blood Vice agent would solve all her problems, but now she’s sworn to solve House Lilith’s problems, too. And there’s no shortage of trouble when dealing with the most regal vampire family in the United States. The duke’s first assignment for Jenna and company is to locate Ursula, the estranged Duchess of House Lilith suspected of murdering her sire. It’s a tall order - a wild bat chase, some might say - and the long hours with half-sired agent Roman Knight soon drive Jenna to distraction, and possible destruction.

Orson Scott Card, Kevin J. Anderson, and Larry Niven have seen the future. Now you can, too. A constellation of the brightest lights in the science fiction and fantasy firmament have judged these authors to be the best, the brightest, the truest emerging stars in the field.

Kate and Michael, twenty-something housemates working at the same Trader Joe’s supermarket, are thoroughly screwed when people start turning into zombies at their house party in the Oakland hills. The zombie plague is a sexually transmitted disease, turning its victims into shambling, horny, voracious killers.

In The Dinosaur Tourist, Caitlín R. Kiernan’s 15th collection of short fiction, 19 tales of the unexpected and the uncanny explore that treacherous gulf between what we suppose the world to be and what might actually be waiting out beyond the edges of our day-to-day experience. A mirror may be a window into another time. A cat may be our salvation. Your lover may be a fabulous being. And a hitchhiker may turn out to be anyone at all.

To Charles Fort, with Love is award-winning fantasist Caitlín R. Kiernan’s third collection of short fiction, a haunting parade of the terrible things which may lie beyond the boundaries of science, the minds which may exist beyond psychology, and the forbidden places which will never be located in any orthodox globe. A deceptively even dozen, this collection includes Kiernan’s celebrated stories “Onion” and “Andromeda Among the Stones”, as well as a number of more obscure pieces.

A selection of short fiction by Dusty McGowan; blending magic realism and dark comedy.

After surviving an attempt to end his life, Spencer is determined to make it through whatever horrors await him to get what he wants. Lead by a guide he’s not sure he can completely trust, Spencer will have to put his faith in the unknown and hope that he’s strong enough to see the end of his journey. Facing off against things that the human mind can’t possibly comprehend, a man with nothing to lose will learn the true meaning of regret, remorse, and recovery.

EPIC award finalist Howard Odentz has penned 26 disturbingly fascinating horror stories about the youngest predators among us. From Andy and Boris to Yuri and Zina, this eclectic anthology is filled, A to Z, with psychopaths, monsters, and murderers.

Sympathy with the sea, with the weird, and with monsters fills the stories of Imperfect Commentaries. Ruthanna Emrys' collection offers listeners feminist and #ownvoices Neo-Lovecraftian fiction, anthropological science fiction, and fantasies of belonging, plus miscellaneous deleted scenes, poems, and secret story origins. Listeners familiar with her novels (Winter Tide and Deep Roots) will see the first appearance of Aphra Marsh, an Innsmouth survivor, still recovering from her losses and making a life for herself in late-1940s San Francisco.

The first collection in the ongoing series of fantasy stories from the world of Esowon. You'll find dastardly beasts, tortured monks, and unexpected lovers in a set of tales that'll transport you to lands lost to time. Delve into these companion novellas to The Kishi, an African fantasy based on Angola folklore.

Renowned and knighted for capturing the fearsome Dark Elf of Syron, Sir Fredric has nagging doubts about his victory. His brother Malgrid's drunken remark strengthens dire suspicions. Was it all some devious scheme? Fredric has enough enemies who would want to compromise his honor, especially with the prestigious Jewel Quest coming up. It seems that there is only one person who can possibly shed some light on the situation - the Dark Elf himself. But will the captured enemy speak? Will Fredric discover the truth before a plot far more elaborate and danger much greater than he realizes take his life?

King Gelleran is facing a dilemma. The dangerous dark elf he holds captive and uses as his protection from the neighboring country of Kerbia has drawn the attention of Welmar, a kingdom even more powerful. The Welmarians have offered a generous sum for the prisoner; refusing the offer could mean war. As the king tries to find a way to handle this, he learns a devastating news: Things are not as they appeared, and the prisoner he thought securely jailed is playing a game of his own, threatening vengeance if it's not played by his rules.

This was the book that launched a genre. Modern fantasy collections trace their lineage back to Lord Dunsany, and this was his first work that today's listeners would recognise in tone and settings.

O.J. Simpson in an alternate reality and blind ninjas ushering in the apocalypse are just two of the beautifully written tales in this seminal work of art, from the mind of a human being the likes of which God and the devil wholeheartedly agree upon. While drenched in comedy, Laughter's Cold Shadow takes on the darkest of subject matter: murder, rape, racism, the nuclear family, ninjas, Nazis, zombies, police brutality, drug cartels, hedonism, psychopathy, and more.

Everything Aria tried to do in order to save her brother and help those closest to her has made everything worse. She's now alone with Beru, trying to figure out a way to fix what they've done, to undo what they've started. But Aria still can't get over the fact that Beru is a traitor to Onen Suun, the only man who dared to defy Dag'draath. Beru was the reason Onen Suun was forced to sacrifice his life to save the world.

Solomon Pace - Cold-blooded killer? Depraved evil sadist? A man just trying to make his way in the world? Or just deeply misunderstood? Of all my characters, Solomon Pace has to be one of the most complicated, but least understood. In the "Storm Series" novels, he is always in the shadows, manipulating people and situations, and when he does come into the light, it is only to perform some dastardly deed before returning back into the inky gloom to continue his plotting.

This volume brings together 17 masterful tales of cosmic horror inspired by Lovecraft's work. In his fiction, humanity is a tiny, accidental drop of light and life in the endless darkness of an uncaring universe a darkness populated by vast, utterly alien horrors. Our continued survival relies upon our utter obscurity, something that every fresh scientific wonder threatens to shatter.

Robert E. Howard may no longer be penning Conan tales but that doesn't mean you have to go without your fix of axe wielding barbarians, lusty wenches, and evil wizards! Literary Rebel is dedicated to bringing you a new crop of monthly fantasy fiction by talented authors. In this month's issue: Steve Dilks returns with another jaw-dropping Bohun tale, a fledgling sorcerer goes toe to toe with an evil warlord, and a mercenary pits himself against a villainous tree(?). You have to listen to it to get it.