Horror Anthology

John Updike reads six stories he has selected from the hundred-odd he has published. "A&P", recounting a moral crisis on the checkout counter, is his most anthologized story. "Pigeon Feathers," the longest story included, tells of a fourteen-year-old boy's fear of death and the answer he finds...

At sixteen, Sadie Young had a brush with death, and as a result she became more sensitive to the supernatural. Rather than embrace this gift, she spent years running from it, and from the darkness that once preyed upon her. Now twenty-five and working as a librarian, Sadie is called upon by a desperate family friend to look into a strange series of events. A teenaged girl has entered a reputedly haunted house in town and has gone mad. Committed, the girl attempts suicide and claims to be terrorized at all hours by a horrific specter known as "Mother Maggot."

In Queer Little Nightmares, creatures of myth and folklore seek belonging and intimate connection, cryptids challenge their outcast status, and classic movie monsters explore the experience of coming into queerness. The characters in these stories and poems—the Minotaur camouflaged in a crowd of cosplayers, a pubescent werewolf, a Hindu revenant waiting to reunite with her lover, a tender-hearted kaiju, a lagoon creature aching for the swimmers above him, a ghost of Pride past—relish their new sparkle in the spotlight.

Wander through visions of the most terrible of angels, the Seven who would undo the world. Venture through Hell and back, and lands more terrestrial and darker still. Linger a while in childhoods, and seasons of change by turns tragic and monstrously transformative. Lose yourself amongst the haunted and those who can't let go, in relationships that might have been and never were. Witness in dreams and reflections, hungers and horrors, the shadows cast upon the wall, and linger in forests deep.

Where do we go when we dream? Since the beginning of time, people have argued the meaning of dreams. Are they symbolic visions that hold great meaning and personal significance? Are they portals into other worlds? Or are they just a series of random events our mind shows us when we fall asleep? Whatever the case, this much is true—the mind can be a scary place to venture, even for a few hours. Never Wake is an anthology of dream horror, bringing you several mind-bending tales of nightmares, hallucinations, and phantasmagoria from some of the hottest talent in horror fiction.

Accursed items. Some people believe in them, some people don’t. With a truly cursed item, belief doesn’t matter. It’s gonna get you anyway. You might survive. Or you might not. Maybe you'll be compelled to do things you never would without its influence. Maybe it helped you at the casino. Did you think that was free? There’s always a price to pay, and one you can’t afford. That little lucky charm in your pocket may be doing more damage than good

We decided upon the shopping list theme for this particular volume of horror short stories as an antithesis to those wildly successful writers (they know who they are) of whom it is often said "we would read their shopping list if they published it!" Well, we have given 21 of the hottest new horror authors in the independent scene the unique opportunity to have their own shopping lists listened to by you - along with their most terrifying tales, of course!

It is said that dreams are harmless, that they are nothing more than the meaningless fancies of an unconscious mind. It’s only a dream. It’s only a dream. It’s only a dream. This, of course, is something we tell ourselves when we wake up screaming in the dead of night. We repeat the mantra in order to bring ourselves back to reality, in order to remind ourselves that there is nothing to fear.

We’re all grown up, right? Or, are we? Do things in the night still make you wanna cry to Mama? Well, you can’t anymore, she’s not around. Time to face your demons, man or woman. Mama ain’t here, but all she ever wanted was to hear your laughter and to know you’re safe.

Gather 'round for ominous tales of the paranormal that’ll have you looking over your shoulder to make sure you’re actually alone. The World’s Favorite Ghost Stories is a carefully curated collection of hair-raising ghost stories from around the world meant to thrill and ensnare you. Listen to this audiobook for unsettling ghost stories that’ll get under your skin. These peculiar tales from different corners of the world (including the United Kingdom, India, and the United States) are so vivid that they almost feel real. But they couldn’t be - could they?

Fear isn’t always loud. It doesn’t always scream or announce itself with a loud thud on the closet door. Sometimes it creeps, slithers, and crawls. Sometimes it’s waiting in the shadows, whispering as you pass by. These stories may not scare you, but one or two whispers may just burrow into the back of your brain. They may make you shiver at night and consider, for just a moment, that maybe you left the front door unlocked and maybe those were footsteps you heard inside.

This issue of Weird Tales presents a variety of stories, essays, and poems about cryptids and urban legends. Not to dispel, but to reveal.

Edgar Allan Poe was a writer, poet, editor and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre, and is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States and of American literature. Poe was one of the country's earliest practitioners of the short story and considered to be the inventor of the detective fiction genre, as well as a significant contributor to the emerging genre of science fiction.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST A bewitching story collection from the author of White Cat, Black Dog and The Book of Love, hailed as “the most darkly playful voice in American fiction” (Michael Chabon) and “our greatest living fabulist” (Carmen Maria Machado)...

The Glamour of the Snow is one of Algernon Blackwood’s most haunting supernatural tales—a hypnotic blend of winter wilderness, psychological tension, and eerie elemental forces. When an English traveler becomes captivated by a mysterious woman who appears only in the snow-covered Swiss Alps, he is drawn into a chilling dance between beauty and danger. As fascination deepens into obsession, the seductive pull of the mountains reveals its true, otherworldly power.

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.

The supernatural, the surreal, and the all-too real . . . tales of the dark. Such stories have always fascinated us, and modern authors carry on the disquieting traditions of the past while inventing imaginative new ways to unsettle us. Chosen from a wide variety of venues, these stories are as eclectic and varied as shadows. This volume of The Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror offers tales from some of today's finest writers of the fantastique. Sure to delight as well as disturb!

After executing the perfect crime, a woman inherits an estate by poisoning its original owner and learns that we are sometimes our own worst enemy.

The Jedi move one step closer to saving the embattled galaxy— only to confront a formidable wall of resistance. The harrowing search for Zonama Sekot is finally over for Luke Skywalker, Jacen Solo, and the others aboard the Jade Shadow. But joy turns to alarm when the living planet sends a...

Now, available in audio for the first time, Side Effects is narrated by Woody Allen himself. A humor classic by one of the world’s funniest writers, Side Effects is a treat for Allen fans and those just discovering how gifted he is. In classics including "Remembering Needleman", "The Kugelmass Episode", "Confessions of a Burglar", and others, Allen discusses such subjects as the nature of relativity, the UFO menace, and the predicament of modern man.