Horror Fiction Fantasy

When horror-obsessed Riley Lawrence and his group of college friends arrive in the small town of Carousel for their Centennial Celebration, the few decrepit cars parked in the street don’t scare them. But when they enter a locked building, an animatronic usher hands them each a ticket, and the lights dim, Riley realizes they’ve entered the inescapable patchwork of a horror movie set. And they’ve each been assigned an archetype—Scholar, Athlete, Eye Candy, Final Girl—to play out as the curtains rise.

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!

It looked like another ordinary day in Los Angeles. Then night came...Evil as old as the centuries has descended upon the City of Angels - it comes as a kiss from the terrifying but seductive immortals. Slowly at first, then by the legions, the ravenous undead choke Los Angeles with bloodthirsty determination - and the hordes of monstrous victims steadily mount each night.

People start dropping dead around Charlie, giant ravens perch on his building, and it seems that everywhere he goes, a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Strange names start appearing on his nightstand notepad, and before he knows it, those people end up dead, too. Yup, it seems that Charlie Asher has been recruited for a new job, an unpleasant but utterly necessary one: Death.

In the acclaimed first novel from short story virtuoso and Pulitzer Prize finalist Kelly Link, three teenagers become pawns in a supernatural power struggle.

Bleakwood, Oregon—once a sleepy, forgotten town—has become ground zero for an unspeakable horror. When Danielle Pryer’s long-lost brother, Bruce, returns from the Vietnam War carrying a monstrous mutation, reality itself begins to unravel. Vines turn to veins, brick to bone, and the laws of physics become mere suggestions. But Bleakwood’s nightmare is just beginning.

For 300 years, Sister Autumn has incited wars, burnt villages, killed kings, and released plagues at the bidding of the grimoire. When an order from the grimoire sends Agatha to the Kingdom of Merveille, she already anticipates the worst. Unless she wants to face the wrath of the Goddess, Agatha must keep her head down and do as she's commanded. But when the grimoire orders her to marry a pompous prince and play the role of a peasant "accepted" by vicious aristocrats, she finds herself at the center of a war between the classes and an age-old prophecy.

This is the story of Michael Talbot, his family, and his friends: a band of ordinary people trying to get by in extraordinary times. When disaster strikes, Mike, a self-proclaimed survivalist, does his best to ensure the safety and security of those he cares for. Book One of the Zombie Fallout Trilogy follows our lead character at his self-deprecating, sarcastic best. What he encounters along the way leads him down a long dark road, always skirting the edge of insanity.

High atop a dormant volcano, a team of scientists preserve the last remnants of higher technology. Off the coast of Kauai, a flotilla of survivors must decide whether to return to their island, or make their way to another location, risking pirates and nature on the gamble of safer shores. On the central plateau of the Big Island, a group of ranchers want to rebuild civilization… but to do that, they’ll need to reunite a people scattered across an ocean of stars.

From the cramped bowels of a dimly lit radio station, Ghost Radio is beamed onto the airwaves. More than a call-in show to tell scary stories, Ghost Radio is a sanctuary for those sleepless denizens of the night, lost halfway between this world and the next. Joaquin, the host, slowly he finds himself unable to distinguish between the real world and the world populated by the nightmares on Ghost Radio.

When he was 19, James Stark was considered to be one of the greatest natural magicians, a reputation that got him demon-snatched and sent downtown - to Hell - where he survived as a gladiator, a sideshow freak entertaining Satan's fallen angels. That was 11 years ago. Now, the hitman who goes only by Stark has escaped and is back in L.A. Armed with a fortune-telling coin, a black bone knife, and an infernal key, Stark is determined to destroy the magic circle.

1983. The US nuclear submarine USS Roanoke embarks on a classified spy mission into Soviet waters. Their goal: to find evidence of a new, faster, and deadlier Soviet submarine that could tip the balance of the Cold War. But the Roanoke crew isn't alone. Something is on board with them. Something cunning and malevolent. Trapped in enemy territory and hunted by Soviet submarines, tensions escalate and crew members turn on each other. When the lights go out and horror fills the corridors, it will take everything the crew has to survive the menace.

New York Times best-selling author Simon R. Green has crafted numerous acclaimed science-fiction and fantasy novels, including Blue Moon Rising, Blood and Honor, and Shadows Fall. In this first installment of the Ghost Finders series, JC Chance, Melody Chambers, and Happy Jack Palmer are agents of the Carnacki Institute - a place where the sole purpose is to “do something” about ghosts. But what exactly?

When Amy sees a dog stranded on the side of the highway, she knows what she has to do. She tells her dad to stop the car. She can't understand why anyone would abandon a dog in such a way, tied up and blindfolded. Amy's parents say they'll only keep the dog until they can find it a permanent home. Amy's younger sister names the dog Rover.

Born with uncanny abilities, 19-year-old Adam could be a great help to people. Could be, if he wasn't such a slacker. Instead, he's obsessed with his nonexistent love life; trying to hook up and constantly striking out at the local watering hole. Marked when he was 12 by a powerful spirit, he encounters it again. It's been waiting for him to mature and now he's definitely ripe. Adam is revolted by the evil succubus. Even a wannabe Lothario has some standards! When he rejects the horrifying "offer", the enraged demon strikes back. Bodies start to pile up.

Ex-burlesque dancer and aspiring author Tamara Garvey just had her world turned upside down. Her best friend died and leaves her as guardian to a teenager. Now, not only is Tamara struggling with her new role but she is also charged with caring for the family home, the Ridaught Plantation known by the locals as the Dead House. To her surprise, the place is already occupied by an angsty ghost named Joey who has a penchant for wearing her clothes and a fascination for paranormal movies and television shows.

Jonathan Harker, un jeune clerc de notaire londonien est invité à séjourner chez le comte Dracula pour régler quelques affaires mais dès son arrivée en Transylvanie, des signes inquiétants l'intrigue, les gens du coin tentent de le dissuader, le château est isolé et des phénomènes étranges se produisent. Le roman le plus érotique de la prude époque victorienne, il est devenu un grand classique et a inspiré nombres d'adaptations dont les plus illustres au cinéma.

In The Dragon Factory, Ledger and his team from the Department of Military Sciences square off against two separate groups of corrupt scientists. The beautiful but twisted Jakoby Twins are creating transgenic monsters and genetically enhanced mercenaries for sale to the highest bidder. Their father, who takes evil to an entirely new level, is using cutting-edge science to complete the Nazi master-race program.

Peter Grant - cop, magical apprentice, and Londoner to the core - is being forced out of his comfort zone and into the English countryside. His latest case involves the disappearance of children in the small village of Herefordshire, and the local police are unwilling to admit there might be a supernatural element involved. Now Peter must deal with them, local river spirits, and the fact that all the shops close by 4 P.M.

Now available in one collection, the Jurassic Dead omnibus includes all three novels in the action-horror trilogy: Jurassic Dead, Jurassic Dead, Book 2: Z-volution, and Jurassic Dead, Book 3: Ctrl-Z. An Antarctic research team studying an underground lake discovers something far more amazing: perfectly preserved dinosaur corpses. After one thaws and wakes ravenously hungry, it becomes apparent that, like life, death will find a way. Billionaire visionary and megalomaniac William DeKirk has plans for these dinosaurs....