Short Horror

Here there be gods and monsters—forged from flesh and stone and vengeance—emerging from the icy abyss of deep space, ascending from dark oceans, and prowling strange cities to enter worlds of chaos and wonder, where scientific rigor and human endeavor is tested to the limits. These are cosmic realms and watery domains where old offerings no longer appease the ancient Gods or the new and hungry idols. Deities and beasts. Life and death. Love and hate. Science and magic. And smiling monsters in human skin.

13 cosmic horror-tinged tales by some of the best authors the indie horror world has to offer.

Two short scary slasher stories that will leave you petrified and make you want to sleep with your lights on.

Addiction is the perpetual epidemic, where swarms of human moths flutter to the flames of hell. Because that warm blanket of a heroin high, that joyful intoxication of a pint of vodka, that electric energy from a line of cocaine, over time leaves you with a cold loneliness and a bitter heart. Relationships destroyed, bodies deteriorate, loved ones lost, yet the craving continues for that which is killing us—living, as the title suggests, like an Orphan of Bliss.

A tribute to the glorious slasher movies of the 1980s.

Fans of cosmic horror will have much to sup on in these eight tales. The supernatural intrudes upon a wedding; a pier becomes the site of tragedy; a collapsed building is only the start of the nightmare for those trapped in the ruins; a scientist makes the discovery of a lifetime, only to find out that what he’s unearthed has dire consequences not only for himself, but for all of mankind.

Have you ever tried to build a haunted house? Best-selling author Travis Brown returns with a new collection taking listeners on a journey into dark rooms filled with the creepy, weird, and unexplained. The sundown is tinted green, a wind blows in from the west, and the walls between our world and all others grow thin enough to slip through. Invisible nightmares walk among us, some more dangerous than others. Make sure when that happens, you’re somewhere secret and safe.

In these tense, macabre stories, bodies fall from the sky, perfect nails conceal grisly secrets and violence pulses behind gleaming façades. From hellish visions to obsessive relationships, acclaimed author Agustina Bazterrica takes us to the dark heart of human desires and fears. Shocking, brutal, yet glinting with sharp humour, "Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird" is a breathtaking dive into human monstrousness from a master of contemporary horror.

Leash and Other Short Horror Stories is a horror anthology of 13 short, creepy, scary, and sometimes gruesome monster stories. These hair-raising stories will make your mind tingle and your paranoia kick into overdrive. This chilling set of frighteningly strange and weird stories are tales of the unexpected - of deceit and of unspeakable beings that hide in the recesses of the mind and the shadows of dark forests.

Mike Mignola's award-winning series Hellboy has earned fans all over the world, among them some of the most respected horror, fantasy, and mystery novelists in the field as well as some of Hollywood's most talented writers and directors. Now a who's who list of these writers are drawn together to tell their own tales of Hellboy, to play with the characters and worlds Mignola has created. As part of Dark Horse's celebration of Hellboy in 2004, Christopher Golden has brought together a stellar array of talents.

Zombies! Zombies! Zombies! is the darkest, the living-deadliest, scariest - and dare we say most tasteful - collection of zombie stories ever assembled. It's so good, it's a no-brainer. There is never a dull moment in the world of zombies. They are superstars of horror, and they are everywhere, storming the world of print and visual media. Their endless march will never be stopped. It's the Zombie Zeitgeist! Now, with his wide sweep of knowledge and keen eye for great storytelling, Otto Penzler offers a remarkable catalog of zombie literature.

A collection of highly disturbing and deeply original short stories from the master of horror Graham Masterton and rising star Dawn G Harris. A belt adorned with strange markings has the power to strangle anyone who attacks its owner. A man whose wife has been placed into a portrait at the Tate decides to join her on the other side. In these and other unsettling tales, master of horror Graham Masterton and his protegee Dawn G Harris explore the dark side of human nature—from the graphic and violent to the spine-tingling and supernatural.

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.

From the chilling whispers of the unseen to the grotesque transformations of the body, Flesh and Shadow delves into the primal fears that reside in our deepest subconscious. These are not just ghost stories; they are explorations of the monstrous within and without, perfect for fans of atmospheric dread, cosmic terror, and visceral psychological horror.

In the Shadow of the Moon: When Laura Truitt first sees the dilapidated plantation house, she's overcome by a sense of familiarity. Inside, the owner claims to have been waiting for years and offers an old photograph of a woman with Laura's face. Soon afterward, when a lunar eclipse inexplicably thrusts Laura back in time to Civil War Georgia, she finds herself fighting not just for her heart but for her very survival.

In this collection of 13 fabulously chilling stories from 13 true masters of suspense, including five New York Times best sellers and a number of Edgar Award nominees, all edited by none other than R. L. Stine, nothing is what it seems. From cannibalistic children, to an unwitting date with a vampire, to a crush on a boy who just might be a werewolf, no scary stone is left unturned. A must-have for all fans of the genre!

From the secret reels of a notoriously cursed cinematic masterpiece to the debauched livestreams of modern movie junkies who will do anything for clicks, Final Cuts brings together new and terrifying stories inspired by the many screens we can't peel our eyes away from. Inspired by the rich golden age of the film and television industries as well as the new media present, this new anthology reveals what evils hide behind the scenes and between the frames of our favorite medium.

2019. The year certainly made its mark on the world. It also made for a bounty of good horror stories of the extreme kind, the best of which the tales herein serve to illustrate. 2019 was the year Year's Best Hardcore Horror went global. Not by design but because the stories inside just happened to have been written by authors hailing from various parts of the globe. From Australia by way of South Africa, to Italy, Scotland, Norway, Taiwan, North America and India - the common denominator being that their tales come from darkest regions of imagination.

Psychotic killers, devious ghosts, alien monsters, howling storms, undead creatures, and other dark forces haunt the highways and the truckers who drive them in these 18 chilling tales. A ghostly voice on a trucker's CB radio knows more about his life than it should.... Two drivers find their cargo gives them inhuman appetites.... A boy in a truck stop encounters a supernatural force that threatens to destroy the world.... The hypnotic singing lulling a driver to sleep might not be coming from the tires....

Do you hate sleep and love real ghost stories? Then this 50-story collection is exactly what you’re looking for! With terrifying true tales from all around the world, these ghost stories will make you jump at every little sound. We caution you not to listen to these stories if you value good sleep, because these spooky stories will have you sleeping with one eye open! From those bumps in the night to that shadow you notice out of the corner of your eye that vanishes when you look at it, these creepy, chilling stories will leave you on edge and terrified.