Short Fiction Anthology

Shortstops who run with the wolves, painted eggs that reveal deeply disturbing meanings, long-dead Hall of Famers who miraculously return to the game, an Iowa minor-league town with a secret conspiracy: these are the elements from which W.P. Kinsella weaves nine fabulous stories about the magical world of baseball.

More than any writer before or since, Louis L'Amour brought the American West to life. His action-packed stories deal with eternal themes: honor, deceit, passion, betrayal, loyalty, courage, love. His settings are historically accurate, his prose riveting, and his characters colorful: good guys, bad guys, toughs, roughs, sidekicks, and saints.

This ghostly (and ghastly) collection includes: "The Upper Berth", "The Lady's Maid", "Markheim", "Ghost Stories of the Tiled House","What Was It?", "Madame Crowl's Ghost" and "The Golden Arm".

Over 15 Tales of Terror told in a true story style that will send chills down your spine.

Finney ha tredici anni, è solo e in un terribile guaio. Da due anni a questa parte, qualcuno perseguita i ragazzi di Galesburg, li porta via, facendoli sparire per sempre. E ora, Finney rischia di fare la stessa fine: è rinchiuso nel seminterrato di uno psicopatico, un luogo macchiato dal sangue di una mezza dozzina di bambini uccisi. Con lui, in quella cella sotterranea, c'è un telefono antico, nero e da tempo disconnesso. Eppure, di notte squilla, e all'altro capo dell'apparecchio si sentono le voci delle precedenti vittime.

Deep in the elbow skin of the Fae Wilds, far from the teeming fortress of the Goblin King and the glittering palace of the King and Queen of the Elves, there lies a forgotten hideaway of crumbling single-wides and rusty Airstreams. A lonely clan of beautiful women, clad in tube tops, overall shorts, and tacky Asian-print house-dresses, yearn for a man who can unstop their sewer lines and get the internet working again. Torn from his mundane life on Earth, Colton Winchester could be that man.

In his Locus review of Two Worlds and in Between - the first volume of The Best of Caitlín R. Kiernan - Gary K. Wolfe wrote, “...it makes you wish the second volume were here now.” Well, the long wait is over. This second volume completes this ambitious undertaking, collecting the finest of Kiernan’s stories from 2004 to 2012, selected by the author herself. The book includes 25 short stories and one poem, plus the short novel Black Helicopters - more than 200,000 words of fiction, including the World Fantasy Award-winning “The Prayer of 90 Cats”.

These classic mystery short stories feature Maurice Lebanc’s famous rogue, Arsène Lupin. A master of disguise, Lupin moves between high society and a burglar’s life, stealing from the rich and powerful and creating mischief for Detective Ganimard.

Beast, with Jane Yellowrock in the background of her mind, observes the lumber camp of white men who are destroying her hunting grounds. She decides to take revenge on the leader of the lumberjacks.

With her husband stranded in a war-torn country halfway around the world, a university professor – on whom the burden of managing their small family has suddenly fallen – tries to maintain order at home. Her young daughter seems not to mind, or even really notice, the father’s absence. But as the weeks go on, mounting pressure on the narrator to balance family and work begins to take a toll.

This edition includes books four through seven of the Irish Village Mystery series: Murder in an Irish Pub, Murder in an Irish Cottage, Murder at an Irish Christmas, and Murder in an Irish Bookshop.

The brilliance of this story is in how a normal bureaucrat, a judge in this case, has a small accident that winds up gradually taking his life. As he deals with this incident, with hope at first and then despair, he comes to terms with his family, his life, and the mediocrities that we all suffer with, except for the exceptional few. This story rings a particularly poignant note for those in early middle age facing the next part of their lives. This story is considered Tolstoy's best.

On the island of Avalon, everyone has magical abilities. Except Selena Pearce. As if being the only nonmagical person on the island isn’t bad enough, her parents happen to be the king and queen of Avalon - and the most magical people alive. She’s never felt like she fit in on Avalon, but that all changes when she leaves the island and meets Julian - a mesmerizing, mysterious human.

Every story in this collection is a raw, intimate confession—as if you've stumbled upon a stranger's hidden diary, or overheard the kind of secrets whispered only in the dark. Whether you're here to indulge in your own fantasies or experience the electrifying passion of others, this book will leave you breathless, captivated, and desperate for more.

Ms. Freedman's high school English class writes essays in which mystical creatures resolve the greatest sociopolitical problems of our time. Students include Janice Gibbs, "a feral child with excessive eyeliner and an anti-authoritarian complex that would be interesting were it not so ill-informed", and Cody Splunk, an aspiring writer working on a time machine. Following a nervous breakdown, Ms. Freedman corresponds with Janice and Cody from an insane asylum.

The world ends in a slew of blue notification boxes, bringing with it a game-like existence including monsters and Classes. Now, John has to make his way from Kluane National Park in the Yukon to Whitehorse through monster infested forests. But, that's not enough; because he'll need to help rebuild civilization itself around the System, aliens and monsters. And, as always, humanity will be its own greatest enemy.

Allen Ming awakens in an unfamiliar realm, trapped within an unfamiliar form—feeble in body and spirit. Thrust into a world of cultivation, Allen Ming finds himself grappling with a reality of a wastrel body, and a world filled with danger and killing. With an AI-enhanced eye, he seeks his way through the dark world of cultivation. But with his newfound family haunted by a looming threat, he has to take charge of the situation even before he gets familiar with the new body.

The title story of this collection - a devilishly ironic riff on H. P. Lovecraft's "Pickman's Model" - was nominated for a World Fantasy Award, while "Probiscus" was nominated for an International Horror Guild award and reprinted in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 19. In addition to his previously published work, this collection contains an original story.

Brighten your day and dive into Flat Spell Tales! The author, Tony Martello, transforms ordinary events in our lives into fiction based on half-realities. Drop in and surf stories about romance, revenge, treasure hunts, and humor. He invites you along with him on a variety of adventures that take you into extreme nature, complex human relationships, and animal allegories.

One by one, the Hewitt siblings make their way to Hope Ranch to meet their grandparents for the first time. None are quite sure what they're looking for, but they all find the family they need. And love. This box set includes Hope for Christmas, Hope for Tomorrow, Hope for Love, Hope for Freedom, Hope for Family, and Hope at Last. Hope Ranch is a place where second chances and God's love are waiting for everyone.