Dark Fantasy Short Stories

When the Blackout arrives, Dax Harper finds himself alone and fighting for survival on the chaotic streets of New Orleans. He is on the run, desperately searching for his estranged sister as the riots intensify. An unexpected encounter with his ex-girlfriend thrusts Dax into a leadership position—one he's not sure he can accept. As the hours pass, the city floods, pitting Dax in an epic battle against time and a mysterious new enemy threatening the future of humankind.

I woke to a mass of men writhing and broken, moving as one in their attempt to reach that great circle of light. They looked like ants, but ants without exoskeletons: their soft bits shredding, their hard bits breaking, to make a sort of chicken-leg jello out of humanity. The cries of pain and cries of triumph mixed. But one man keeps saying, "2π28.57mm. 2π28.57mm. 2π28.57mm.” Pointing at the circle of light. Claiming he cut it. Cut what? And why?

Sixteen years old, Caina is a student of the Ghosts, the spies and agents of the Emperor of Nighmar, and from them she learns the arts of stealth and infiltration, of disguise and intrigue. But when a man dies of a mysterious poison, Caina faces a deadly test. Because if she doesn't solve the murder, she might die next....

At 10-feet, four inches tall, Gowanus was the runt of the litter. Working the mines of No’ad took strength and height, unless you had the smarts to be able to help the dwarves invent and build new mining tools. He didn’t have smarts and didn’t have height, and yet his curiosity got the better of him: Where had Sakima gone? In an attempt to find the rogue giant Sakima, Gowanus learns the secret to how the giants have spread so far, so fast and comes face-to-face with the worst betrayal of giant-kind.

Vyder Ironstone is an assassin with a troubled past. At the order of his king, Vyder must undertake his most dangerous mission yet - a mission from which he may never return. If he is successful, it might just be enough to alleviate war tearing the kingdom apart. The prospect of failure is not worth considering.

When 35-year-old office worker Avery Brocus set up a profile on an adult hook-up site, he never dreamed a 22-year-old hottie would contact him. Nor did he imagine she’d want to meet him in person. After agreeing, he immediately has second thoughts. He’s expecting someone out to rob him of his money or identity. He’s not expecting to encounter creatures that want his very soul.

One of Canada’s most acclaimed horror writers, Gemma Files presents a mosaic of interconnected stories about interconnected families. After fleeing Scotland, five clans settled in the fictional town of Dourvale in northern Ontario. Known as the Five-Family Coven, they are the descendants of witches and witch-children, none of whom were spared persecution in their native country. Now shamans, spellcasters, singers, and thieves, the members of the Devize, Druir, Glouwer, Roke, and Rusk families survive by trading their occult powers and talents.

What happens when a man starts life as a corpse? Two hundred years ago, Frank Victorsson awoke as a semi-dead, monstrous abomination reanimated by his hubris-ridden father, Victor Frankenstein. But Frank refused to become the infernal hate his father spewed at the world. He walked away from his origins - and into a small, Minnesota town overflowing with magic.

Audiobook contains: Accession of the Stone Born Death doesn't always ride a pale horse: Gavin Randall hasn’t been home in nearly thirty years. Upon his return, he discovers that he’s one of the rarest beings in the supernatural community - a Stone Born. Dust Walkers: When newly minted vigil Gavin Randall is summoned to a small town in New Mexico, the last thing he’s expecting is to have to fight a cartel of necromancers, and Shades of Fire & Ash: fanatics hellbent on destroying Gavin Randall, his friends, and the Archive itself have surfaced.

An anthology of airships and outlaws... Journey deeper into the vibrant world of Endless Frontier in this captivating collection of four thrilling tales. Ranging from short stories to novellas, these chronicles expand the rich tapestry of a realm where magic and technology collide. Follow a young Sariya Vaeliz as she executes an audacious plan to steal a marvelous airship. Witness Kasta Krane's harrowing escape into the unforgiving desert, where she rediscovers her strength. Join Deputy Raelyn Bovien in a race against time to catch a terrifying serial killer.

Nobody likes getting bullied, and Donny has had enough. Deciding to take matters into his own hands, he solicits the help of the old Asian man at the end of his street to teach him Karate. During a grueling two days of training, Donny earns belt after belt, until he finally becomes a Karate Master.

Contains books three and four of Descendants of the Fall. Age of Gods: Pursued by the inhuman Tangata, Lukys flees on foot through the wilderness. He and his companions make for the ocean, a stolen ship their only hope - but even that may prove fleeting. For should they reach the island of Perfugia, a war is brewing between the kingdoms of humanity. Dreams of Fury: On the distant shores of Perfugia, Lukys and Sophia have finally found sanctuary - and an unexpected power left by their ancestors. But their refuge cannot last.

For almost thirty years, Shirley Jackson Award–winning horror author Gemma Files has consistently served up tale after tale celebrating monstrosity in all its forms: the imperfect, the broken, the beautifully alien, and the sadly familiar. Her characters make their own choices and take their own chances, slipping from darkness into deeper darkness yet never losing their humanity—not even when they’re anything but.

The first in a series of anthologies devoted to the Lovecraftian gods, Ordo ab Chao follows the highly successful The Gods of HP Lovecraft (published in 2015 by JournalStone Publishing). We begin our series with the primal origins and the god Azathoth, who represents primordial chaos in the Lovecraftian Mythos.

En las manos maestras de Neil Gaiman, la magia es mucho más que un mero juego de engaños... Una recopilación de treinta relatos, poemas narrativos y piezas breves componen esta maravillosa novela de fantasía e ilusiones.

Brian Lumley's Cthulhu Mythos writings began in the 1960s when he was included in new collections by August Derleth's Arkham House. While today, the author is probably better-known for his Necroscope and Psychomech series, he has continued with his Mythos stories for over 40 years. This volume spans that career, using Derleth's suggestion that the Mythos monsters could be viewed as "Elementals", and includes a new novella-length story.

Seabury Quinn's short stories were featured in well more than half of the pulp magazine Weird Tales' original publication run. His most famous character, the supernatural French detective Dr. Jules de Grandin, investigated cases involving monsters, devil worshippers, serial killers, and spirits from beyond the grave, often set in the small town of Harrisonville, New Jersey.

Once upon a time, the stories that came to be known as "fairy tales" were cultivated to entertain adults more than children; it was only later that they were tamed and pruned into less thorny versions intended for youngsters. But in truth, they have continued to prick the imaginations of audiences at all ages.

Featuring all-new tales of dark fantasy, cosmic horror, supernatural revenge, and the sorcery of terror from masters of the craft, this issue includes stories and poems by Alma Katsu, Heather Graham, Maurice Broaddus, Fran Wilde, Priya Sharma, Anne Walsh, Yvonne Navarro, Jake Bible, Gabrielle Faust, and Christina Sng.

Each the darkest of tales. Skeletons in the cupboards of the mind. Shackled in a dungeon. Rattling the cages. Bones jangling as they grinningly emerge.Meet a hungry old woman who roasts her victims.A grieving father intent on rape and murder. A sex-slave nurse who uses lizards to kill. A...