Dark Fantasy Short Stories

Vitus Adamson is falling apart. As a pre-deceased private investigator, he takes the prescription Atroxipine hourly to keep his undead body upright and functioning. Whenever he is injured, he seeks Niko, a bombshell mortician with bedroom eyes and a way with corpses, to piece him back together. Decomposition, however, is the least of his worries when two clients posing his most dangerous job yet appear at his door looking for their lost son.

A group of mountain climbers, caught in the dark, fight to survive their descent; in the British countryside, hundreds of magpies ascend into the sky, higher and higher, until they seem to vanish into the heavens; a professor and his student track a zombie horde in order to research zombie behavior; an all-girl riding school has sinister secrets; a town rails in vain against a curse inflicted upon it by its founders; and much more.

The box has been in Panea's family for generations. Like the women before her, she has no idea what's inside, just that she has sworn to protect it. When the box is accidentally destroyed in a fire, Panea learns the truth behind her oath and like the hope from Pandora's box, Panea's box gives her something of its own.

Zombie, Indiana explores the impact of an invading zombie horde on a trio of Hoosier protagonists…each of whom have some dark secrets to keep. When the governor’s daughter mysteriously disappears on a field trip, IMPD Special Sergeant James Nolan, scholarship student Kesha Washington, and Governor Hank Burleson must all come together not only to find the governor’s daughter, but also to undertake a quest to redeem the very soul of the state itself…all while under constant attack from the living dead.

These stories present electric messiahs, identity constructs, the Beatles, and even a nuclear Armageddon, which serve as comic foils for Lain's everyman characters. Here is an America where packets of Sea Monkeys arrive in the mail containing secret messages, and the girl next door can breathe underwater. With Last Week's Apocalypse, Douglas Lain arrives with a punch line and a warning.

Almost 1,000 pages of lightning-paced action. The next three stories in the series listeners are describing as "The new Harry Dresden," or "Deadpool meets Dumbledore".

Fortune hunter Billy Newman is not a man of great strength or physical courage. Like a young Johnny Depp, he gets by on his wit, wiles and good looks. And he’s had quite a good run—striking gold in the Philippines and buying his very own island in the South Seas. . . . But there’s trouble in paradise, and Billy’s in the thick of it. The island’s crops are failing. The island’s people are dying. And the island’s owner—Billy—is taking the heat. Why? Because he’s angered the 75-foot-tall big-boss god of the island.

At the heart of these stories, as with all the best of Lovecraft’s work, is the belief that the Earth was once inhabited by powerful and evil gods, just waiting for the chance to recolonise their planet. Cthulhu is one such god, lurking deep beneath the sea until called into being by cult followers who – like all humans – know not what they do.

A young woman is driven to madness by the recurring appearance of a hospital gown that first traumatized her as a child. By the author of the bestselling gothic novel The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls, “The Gown” is a chilling example of how a seemingly innocuous event can tragically erode the psyche of a sensitive child. This disturbing short story follows a nameless girl as she attempts to make a normal life for herself while struggling to escape the debilitating fear that preys upon her in her most vulnerable moments.

Dive into a dark, empowering world where folktales, horror and feminist magic collide. This collection features 26 modern retellings of legends and folktales about fierce female deities and spirits from around the world. Perfect for women who own their power.

Take a trip to a terrifying carnival and uncover the secrets within, solve a mysterious puzzle box and await your reward, join a travelling circus and witness the strangest ventriloquist act you've ever seen. In this follow-up to the bestselling Cursed: An Anthology, you'll unearth curses old and new. From a very different take on Snow White, to a new interpretation of The Red Shoes, the best in fantasy spin straw into gold, and invite you into the labyrinth.

In Dark Property, a woman carries a dying baby across a desert waste, moving toward a fortress harboring a mysterious resurrection cult. Menaced by scavengers, she nevertheless begins to suspect that the reality within the fortress may be even more unsettling than the blasted environment outside. In Contagion and Other Stories, Evenson takes his audiences into a world that is at once apocalyptic, dark, observant, and grotesque without ever dipping into static genre conventions.

Deep in the dark forest, in a cottage that spins on birds’ legs behind a fence topped with human skulls, lives the baba yaga. A guardian of the water of life, she lives with her sisters and takes to the skies in a giant mortar and pestle, creating tempests as she goes. Those who come across the baba yaga may find help, or hinderance, or horror. She is wild, she is woman, she is witch—and these are her tales.

Don't miss this breathtaking collection of stories set in the world of the best-selling Darkest Minds trilogy: “IN TIME”, “SPARKS RISE”, and “BEYOND THE NIGHT”.

Arthur Conan Doyle was the greatest genre writer Britain has ever produced. Throughout a long writing career, he drew on his own medical background, his travels, and his increasing interest in spiritualism and the occult to produce a spectacular array of Gothic tales. Many of Doyle's writings are recognized as the very greatest tales of terror. They range from hauntings in the polar wasteland to evil surgeons and malevolent jungle landscapes. This collection brings together over 30 of Conan Doyle's best Gothic tales

The next novella in the New York Times bestselling Sworn Soldier series, featuring Alex Easton investigating the dark, mysterious depths of a coal mine in America. "The audiobook narrated by Avi Roque is delightful." —BuzzFeed News on What Moves the Dead Alex Easton does not want to visit...

A secret society of immortals lives within the human world. Kane is one of them, a Sensor who experiences emotional energy through touch. But despite his good looks and easygoing personality, Kane lives a solitary life. Unlike other Sensors, he is unnaturally hypersensitive. Fate throws a curveball when a woman's life is placed in Kane's hands. He is suddenly faced with making a choice, and each comes with a consequence that will wreck him forever. Time is not on his side.

Fantasy fanatics hang on because The Year's Best Fantasy, Volume 2 will take you on a fantastic journey like no other! Prepare to embark on yet another fantastic adventure with award-winning fantasy editor Paula Guran. Delve into realms that exceed the limits of your imagination and embrace the surreal! Enjoy tales ranging from wonderful to wicked. From lore and legends to myths and fables of alternative realities, you will discover bewitchment with every story.

"The audiobook narrated by Avi Roque is delightful." - Buzzfeed "Narrator Avi Roque delivers a perfectly paced performance in this concise audiobook...holding listeners hostage until the house reveals its terrifying secrets." -AudioFile Magazine From T. Kingfisher, the award-winning author of...

In this remarkable collection the author has selected over two dozen of her best Lovecraftian tales ranging from 2000s “Valentia” to her more recent classic “A Mountain Walked” as well as including the complete Dandridge Cycle, as well as a new story, “M Is for Mars.” In short, this is a cornerstone volume for Kiernan fans and Mythos devotees alike.