Short Fiction Anthology

Urban fantasy offers a diverse playground for some extremely powerful stories. Professional writer and editor Kerrie L. Hughes pulled some fantastic tales out of 14 top writers for this fifth installment of Fiction River. Set in urban lands from modern Portland, to a future Detroit, to a wild Washington, D.C., and ending the tour in London, these top writers take the idea of "Hex" and stretch and twist it into stories with a magickal grip on the imagination.

Amanda Jenner is done being a boring man magnet and has finally taken control of her love life. As any smart paralegal would, she's researched the hell out of how to seduce a man. She's waxed, primped, and ready to put her newfound skills into action - and a masquerade bar crawl is the perfect venue for her solo coming-out party.

There will never be another Western writer like Louis L’Amour. A legendary author and indisputably the greatest storyteller in his genre of all time, L’Amour captivated millions of readers and has sold well over three hundred million copies of his works, which includes nearly ninety novels and countless short stories. Mistakes Can Kill You highlights an essential selection featuring nine of L’Amour’s earlier short stories, sometimes written under the pen name Jim Mayo, that exemplify the rugged morality of the best Western writing.

The Grand Hotel is a horror novel by esteemed best-selling author Scott Kenemore ( Zombie, Ohio) that takes the reader on a thrilling ride through an interconnected series of stories narrated by the desk clerk and the residents of the hotel itself. And while it is not known whether or not the desk clerk is actually the devil incarnate, it is strange that so many visitors who come for a tour of the hotel have a way of never leaving.

A collection of 98 enthralling and pulse-quickening stories, spanning five decades, venerates the remarkable imagination of J. G. Ballard. With a body of work unparalleled in twentieth-century literature, J. G. Ballard is recognized as one of the greatest and most prophetic writers in the world. With the much-hailed release of The Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard, readers now have a means to celebrate the unmatched range and mesmerizing cadences of a literary genius.

A big, brilliant, spooky collection of classic and contemporary ghost stories that will make you hesitate before turning off that light.

Horror movies hold a complicated space in the queer community: historically misogynist, and often homo- and transphobic, the genre has also been inadvertently feminist and open to subversive readings. It Came from the Closet features twenty-five original essays by writers speaking to this relationship, through connections both empowering and oppressive. From Carmen Maria Machado on Jennifer’s Body, Jude Ellison S. Doyle on In My Skin, Addie Tsai on Dead Ringers, and many more, these conversations convey the rich reciprocity between queerness and horror.

It all started with a simple, yet sneakily difficult challenge from global best-selling author Harlan Coben: Pick a bird of prey, then use it as the inspiration for a brand-new story. The response from some of the best writers on the planet: Game on! The result: Eleven stories that are twisty, scary, surprising and bursting with imagination. An egg worth more than its weight in gold. A mysterious operative known only as Owl. An eagle-watcher who sees more than she should. Even a story that somehow places the Maltese Falcon in a nursing home.

For over three decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror listeners crave. Now, with the eighth volume of the series, Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night. Encompassed in the audio of The Best Horror of the Year have been such illustrious writers as: Neil Gaiman; Kelley Armstrong; Stephen King; Linda Nagata; Laird Barron; Margo Lanagan; and many others.

The monster that is Haunted Reels has returned, and now no one is safe. Featuring twenty-four brand-new, never-before-published stories by a mix of Hollywood legends and rising film-industry stars, Haunted Reels 2 continues the menace its brooding predecessor started, only this time it has a grudge. Beware the murderous vandals, maniacal crackpots, and diabolically possessed contained within this book, for once you let them loose, there’s no telling what they’ll do next.

The sixteen stories and two screenplays that make up Volume One of the Emmy® Award–winning Netflix Original series Love, Death & Robots.

Oren was a dominant force in the bustling digital realm of NEO, commanding wealth, prestige, and high levels. But when fate deals him a cruel blow, trapping him in the body of a lowly goblin and depriving him of his ability to log out, Oren is forced to fight for survival. Stripped of his immense powers and cast into a hostile, monster-ridden wilderness, with the constant risk of the game frying his nervous system, his only way out of the virtual purgatory is to win.

If you like scary stories, you've come to the right place. Over 80 tales of terror told in a true story style that will curdle your blood and send shivers down your spine!

Atticus Coven is lucky to have a job at all, let alone one with the Corporation. But the work is numbing and repetitive, and the pace is relentless on the brutally efficient AI-controlled factory floor. Every day is a trial—until her.

Louis L'Amour was the most decorated author in the history of American letters and a recipient of the Medal of Freedom. Now collected here in a single book are several of Louis L'Amour's finest Western stories the way Mr. L'Amour wrote them. At the time Louis L'Amour was writing, it was common practice for editors to rewrite the manuscript to fit certain publishing criteria. The text of The Strong Land has been restored, and the stories within it appear as Mr. L'Amour intended.

Welcome to the Hayes Pack. It all started with four men, brought together by fate, connected in more powerful ways than they’d ever imagined. Old legends surface, and ancient powers awaken, but so do enemies. In this third and last box set, which contains books seven, eight, nine, and ten plus bonus materials, we see six more men fall in love as events come to an epic conclusion.

When the Wilder brothers return home after leaving the military and the lives they fought to build, they’ll have to start from scratch and create roots when they had none before. They’re moving to a new state, a new town, and with a new set of problems they never expected. Falling in love along the way isn’t in the cards, but the Wilder brothers should know by now—you don’t choose your fate, fate chooses you.

I believe in rules to live by. It's how I built my reputation as Will Connor-the tough cop, and how I've survived being one. I give a hundred percent to the job, I care for my family, and I never, ever ignore my instincts. So when Paige turns my head, all my senses go on high alert. As the developmental director of a non-profit, Paige Lamonica meets a lot of people. That's how she got so good at reading them. But I enjoy surprising her at every turn. She keeps expecting a jerk. Maybe it's my confidence. Maybe it's my looks.

Have you ever had a reoccurring nightmare? What if the nightmare was more than a dream? In this story our protagonist discovers that his night terror is more is a glimpse into his past. An unforgivable crime haunts him in his present life. This short story is part of a series of short supernatural and horror stories. A quick, spooky listen that will leave you haunted.

Freeing Sully is the short prequel to the novel For the Love of Whiskey, detailing Sullivan “Sully” Tate’s escape from the Free Rebellion compound.