Urban Short Stories

Aguanten la respiración y sean testigos de los prodigios más sorprendentes: conozcan al increíble hombre que se comunica con un fantasma escribiendo mensajes en la puerta del servicio de un bar, a la extraordinaria gata enamorada de su vecino, al vendedor de enciclopedias que acaba suplantando al hijo de una de sus clientes, a la fabulosa niña que recibe cartas de su muñeca perdida, al asombroso hombre que se desdobla con cada decisión que toma, y toda una troupe de criaturas maravillosas.

Connor McKnight, former acolyte of film, Zen, and Japanese literature, is not unaware that these avocations are wildly different from his present occupation as a fledgling celebrity journalist. Meanwhile, his longtime girlfriend, the fashion model Philomena, seems curiously remote and soon decamps for the West Coast. Then there's the sister with whom he shared a flamboyantly addled childhood and his best friend, a monkishly neurotic and militantly vegetarian writer.

The guardians were created for protection, but they were used in the past to protect a power-hungry vampire. Made of stone, they're all impervious to harm, but their hearts can still be broken. All three books surround the same faction of gargoyles, but each highlights a different fated mate couple.

This collection of stories spans two decades of work by Bram Stoker Award winning author David Niall Wilson. From the streets of Jerusalem to the historical life of Vlad Tepes, follow this prolific author through 11 tales of vampirism, lycanthropy, and darkness. There's a bit of dark humor, a touch of the erotic, and a little something for everyone who loves creatures of the night. These vampires are guaranteed not to sparkle...

Let Tom Cardamone lead you into his wicked universe of changelings and mysterious creatures, where a boy transforms into lightning and illuminates his emerging sexuality. Where a man accidentally receives a package meant for his neighbor, a situation complicated by the fact that he lives next door to a Sphinx. A nurse finds herself working in a retirement home for vampires, while in the future a man questions his decision to live life as a manatee.

What newly married couple doesn't dream of a romantic retreat where they can escape the world for a while - but what happens when supernatural forces intrude on their wedded bliss? Nine of today's hottest paranormal authors answer that question in this all-star collection of supernatural stories.

Thirteen hundred years ago, the treaty was shattered. Lord Kammoloth, the King of Heaven, had fathered the Starchild, Merai hin'Dana: a half-mortal girl with the power to steal the divine essence of the gods themselves. But rather than fulfill her prophesied destiny and destroy the Gods of Shadow, Merai rejected both sides of the Pantheon, stealing their power and casting them to earth. To ensure that this power would never be abused, Merai then gave it to Lady Kyia, the spirit of Metamor Keep, to protect the mortal inhabitants she was sworn to serve.

The Drayton Chronicles is a collection of novellas chronicling the evolution of a vampire. In "Drayton, The Taker:" Blake Barnes commits suicide by freezing on Mt. Hood. As his life fades, he assumes Death has come to him in the form of a young man. In his last moments, he asks Death to find his family, to tell them he's sorry. Drayton honors this last request as he absorbs Blake Barnes' waning essence. He travels to the Lowcountry of South Carolina to find his family. But saying sorry is not always as easy as the words imply.

In number-one New York Times best-selling author Charlaine Harris’s "Dahlia Underground,” venerable vampire Dahlia Lynley-Chivers survives an attack by an anti-vampire terrorist group, only to show them they tried to blow up the wrong bloodsucker. Bailey Ruth Raeburn, a ghost assigned to assist humans in trouble, steps into the middle of a marital dispute with surprising twists in Carolyn Hart’s “Riding High”....

Quinlan used to have dreams about Queen Fand. She watched, unable to help as the goddess of the fairies was defeated, imprisoned, and finally enslaved to the Veilman. Now, those dreams don't just come to her at night. She's starting to believe that what she sees is real. She needs to learn the truth, and Shane Murphy might be the only one who can help her figure it out. Her boyfriend, Eli, refuses to believe, even though he sees the same things Quinlan sees. But there's so much more to it. Eli knows it's true, but he's not ready to admit it—yet.

Ten-year-old Jason Meechum is a quiet boy who hides in fantasy and science-fiction books. Other kids pick on and make fun of him, but he suffers through it. That's because Jason has a secret. A secret of pain and fear. A secret he wants to tell but can't. All of that is about to change because Jason will be the recipient of something special. Something beautiful, mysterious, wondrous, and odd. Tonight, Jason will be the bearer of two secrets that will meet for the first time. Only one will survive. The outcome will determine if 10-year-old Jason will live to see age 11.

Geschichten machen die Welt zu einem besseren Ort. New York im April 2020. Während des ersten Lockdowns wird das Dach ihres Mietshauses für die Bewohner zur überraschenden Zuflucht vor der Isolation. Jeden Abend treffen sie sich dort und erzählen einander ihre ungewöhnlichen, spannenden, komischen und bewegenden Geschichten. Jeder Mieter und jede Mieterin steuert eine bei (wahr oder zumindest gut erfunden), und ein neues Decamerone für unsere Zeit nimmt seinen Anfang. Allmählich findet die Runde zu einer unerwarteten Gemeinschaft und Anteilnahme füreinander.

Released one year after the publication of The King in Yellow - a milestone of supernaturalfiction - Robert W. Chambers’ title story of this short-story collection isconsidered one of his finest weird tales. It is followed by a series ofromantic art nouveau stories. Chambers’ love of natural scenery, symbolicanimal figures, and ghostly imagery are on full display as he weaves hischaracters through these otherworldly tales.

Are you a fan of the upside-down worlds of the Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, or Black Mirror? How about Stephen King or Neil Gaiman? Then spend some time reading these 26 twisty, turny stories that cross genres and blur the lines between reality and fantasy. In "Seven Hundred and Seventy-Six", a timid bank clerk working in the Arizona frontier encounters a strange man and an even stranger gun. In "Captain Coffee", a caffeine-powered superhero comes to the rescue...and many more fun ways to spend a few minutes of your day.

A century and a quarter ago, Bram Stoker unleashed the unbridled horror of Count Dracula upon the world. We can only wonder if he ever imagined the impact his creation would have on not only the horror world, but across the globe. Vampires have become a foremost staple of horror stories and have been represented in both print and film countless times over the decades–and their mythos has grown unchecked, evolved, and taken root in the collective consciousness of old and young, horror fans and non-horror fans alike.

Vier Schreibende - eine Mission: Euch das Staunen zu lehren. Auf dem Berliner Stammtisch des "Phantastik Autoren Netzwerks" des Dezember 2019 kam die Frage auf, ob es nicht Möglichkeiten gäbe, Montage phantastisch zu finden. Daraus entstand die Idee, jeden Montag eine phantastische Kurzgeschichte zu veröffentlichen. Vier Schreibende plus vier Montage und ein Thema pro Monat, schon war die Sache perfekt. Daher gibt es seit Januar 2020 jeden Montag eine neue phantastische Geschichte auf der Facebook- bzw. Instagram-Seite "Phantastischermontag" und auf unseren AutorInnen-Seiten.

Everything they knew had been a lie. They didn’t belong here, and someone wanted them gone. Freya preferred to be alone serving lattes and trying not to fail calculus. It had been just her and the nerdy boy next door best friend Jamie. All of that changed when the dark and gorgeous stranger walked into the coffee shop. Dathen thought he had been okay with helping run his family’s local business, but the dreams were haunting him and drawing him to the girl surrounded in pink light. Seeking out his dream girl could get them all killed, but that kiss...

When Desa Rae Jenkins ended her tumultuous relationship with Roc, it seemed like the appropriate thing to do; but now she's second-guessing her decision. Roc moved away to Kansas City, leaving street life back in St. Louis up to the brothas who can handle it. He continues to live his life on the edge, though, and when he returns to St. Louis, Desa Rae shows up at his doorstep to reconcile. Roc is reluctant to go there with the one woman who ripped his heart from his chest.

"Take these paths to the place where lost things go, karma vs. a promise, a ghost stepping out of a poster, a deal with the Devil over a football game and more: Nine adventures of contemporary magic and spirits, including triple award finalist/Twilight Zone episode “Wong’s Lost and Found Emporium.” (PG excerpt). “What’s wrong with you?” she demanded. “I want to know! Why are you so callous”? She snatched up the metal container from the floor in front of me and held it wrapped in her shawl. “Tell me now!” she screamed, right in front of me.

Two books in one box. Willow Rose's I Am Wolf and Song for a Gypsy. Both are part of the Wolfboy Chronicles, the story of the life of Sami the Wolfboy. I Am Wolf: They call me Wolfboy. Of that very simple reason that I am part-wolf, part-boy. I'm not immortal as many people might think, but I will live longer than most. Song for a Gypsy: Sara's life is drastically changed the moment a convoy of horse-drawn caravans enters the quiet Reidenburgerstrasse, where she lives with the people she thinks are her parents.