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For Michael Rivers, life is perfect. He is tall, handsome and worshipped by billions of fans around the globe. He is wealthy beyond measure, the heir apparent to one of the high-tech corporations that controls the world. He is fashionable, setting trends with his wardrobe of immaculate designer suits. And Michael is in love with Nora, his beautiful, witty and equally perfect fiancee. When an assassin's bullets pierce Michael's body before the cameras at a press junket, everything changes. Forcibly separated from Nora, his illusions shattered, Michael seeks to uncover the reasons behind the attempted assassination. Michael delves deep into his past, finding that all paths lead to a time when he was the golden boy, dancing furiously to the beat of notorious all-night Rage parties thrown by his father.

From the neo-feudalistic slubs, the corn-filled world of Tane's youth, to his apprenticeship among the deadly saleswarriors of Seattlehama--the sex-and-shopping capital of the world--to the horrors of a polluted Antarctica, Yarn tells a stylish tale of love, deceit, and memory.

Tane Cedar is the master tailor, the supreme outfitter of the wealthy, the beautiful, and the powerful. When an ex-lover, on the run from the authorities, asks him to create a garment from the dangerous and illegal Xi yarn--a psychedelic opiate--to ease her final hours, Tane's world is torn apart.

Armed with just his yarn pulls, scissors, Mini-Air-Juki handheld sewing machine, and his wits, Tane journeys through the shadowy underworld where he must untangle the deadly mysteries and machinations of decades of deceit.

Following up on his highly acclaimed and Philip K. Dick Award-nominated "fashionpunk" novel Grey, Jon Armstrong explodes back on the scene with Yarn.

The Night Gardener is a Victorian ghost story with shades of Washington Irving and Henry James.

More than just a spooky tale, it's also a moral fable about human greed and the power of storytelling. The story follows 14-year-old Molly and her younger brother, Kip, orphans fleeing the Irish famine who travel to work as servants at a creepy, crumbling English manor house. But the house and its family are not quite what they seem. Soon the children are confronted by a mysterious specter and an ancient curse that threatens their very lives.

This is a story for people who follow their hearts and make their own rules...people who get special pleasure out of doing something well, even if only for themselves... people who know there's more to this living than meets the eye: they'll be right there with Jonathan, flying higher and faster than ever they dreamed.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull is no ordinary bird. He believes it is every gull's right to fly, to reach the ultimate freedom of challenge and discovery, finding his greatest reward in teaching younger gulls the joy of flight and the power of dreams.

Something has gone wrong with history in this gripping novel about a lie planted among the greatest works of English fiction.

Flamboyant, charismatic Matthew Cannonbridge was touched by genius, the most influential creative mind of the 19th century, a prolific novelist, accomplished playwright, the poet of his generation. The only problem is, he should never have existed and beleaguered, provincial, recently-divorced 21st Century don Toby Judd is the only person to realise something has gone wrong with history.

All the world was Cannonbridge's and he possessed, seemingly, the ability to be everywhere at once. Cannonbridge was there that night by Lake Geneva when conversation between Byron, Shelley and Mary Godwin turned to stories of horror and the supernatural. He was sole ally, confidante and friend to the young Dickens as Charles laboured without respite in the blacking factory. He was the only man of standing and renown to regularly visit Oscar Wilde in prison. Tennyson's drinking companion, Kipling's best friend, Robert Louis Stevenson's counsellor and guide - Cannonbridge's extraordinary life and career spanned a century, earning him a richly-deserved place in the English canon.

But as bibliophiles everywhere prepare to toast the bicentenary of the publication of Cannonbridge's most celebrated work, Judd's discovery will lead him on a breakneck chase across the English canon and countryside, to the realisation that the spectre of Matthew Cannonbridge, planted so seamlessly into the heart of the 19th Century, might not be so dead and buried after all...

Short story originally pulished in Norwegian under the title Ugle på Bjørnøya in 1986. It was first published in English in the anthology Tales from the Planet Earth (1986), edited by Frederik Pohl and Elizabeth Anne Hull. The story can also be found in the anthology The Big Book of Science Fiction (2016), edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer.

Nebula Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in If, January 1965. The story can also be found in World's Best Science Fiction: 1966, edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr.

This Nebula nominated novelette originally appeared in the anthology The Expanding Universe: Volume 3 (2017), edited by Craig Martelle. It later appeared in the antholgy Nebula Awards Showcase 2019, edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

Read the story at the author's website here (.doc file).

In Jonathan Carroll's surreal masterpiece, Bathing the Lion, five people who live in the same New England town go to sleep one night and all share the same hyper-realistic dream. Some of these people know each other; some don't.

When they wake the next day all of them know what has happened. All five were at one time "mechanics," a kind of cosmic repairman whose job is to keep order in the universe and clean up the messes made both by sentient beings and the utterly fearsome yet inevitable Chaos that periodically rolls through, wreaking mayhem wherever it touches down—a kind of infinitely powerful, merciless tornado. Because the job of a mechanic is grueling and exhausting, after a certain period all of them are retired and sent to different parts of the cosmos to live out their days as "civilians." Their memories are wiped clean and new identities are created for them that fit the places they go to live out their natural lives to the end.

For the first time all retired mechanics are being brought back to duty: Chaos has a new plan, and it's not looking good for mankind...

WFA nominated novella.

More like a novella, this work follows Ingram York who has a friend, Michael Billa. Michael is the sort of friend whose funny tales and charm can pull you out of the lowest depths and make life good once more. Along comes Clinton Deix, a friend of Michael's, who tells Ingram that most of those stories are lies. It isn't long before Ingram doesn't know who to believe, and what most confuses and upsets him is that both say they are old school chums. But Michael is in his late thirties while Clinton is still fifteen...

On a trip to Italy, a woman stuck in a crumbling relationship discovers the city she loves holds a secret that could change her life...

This story was originally published on Tor.com on June 26, 2023. Read it for free at Tor.com.

This novelette originally appeared in Conjunctions 56: Terra Incognita: The Voyage Issue, Spring 2011. It can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2012, edited by Rich Horton. The story is included in the collection The Woman Who Married a Cloud: Collected Stories (2012).

World Fantasy Award winning and Stoker Award nominated short story. It originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, January 1987. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Fantasy: First Annual Collection (1988), edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, and Dogtales! (1988) edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois. It is included in the collections The Panic Hand (1995) and The Woman Who Married a Cloud: Collected Stories (2012).

She was the first to fall. As she walked the dog one night, it saw something off to the side and bolted.

A couple is concerned when their dog behaves increasingly bizarrely: first to their chagrin, and, eventually, to their alarm...

Read the full story for free at Tor.com

Graham Patterson's life has hit a dead end. His career as a comedian is failing. The love of his life recently broke up with him and he literally has no idea what to do next. With nothing to lose, he buys a new car and hits the road, planning to drive across country and hopefully figure out his next moves before reaching California.

But along the way Patterson does something his old self would never have even considered: he gets tattooed by a brilliant tattoo artist in North Carolina. The decision sets off a series of extraordinary events that changes his life forever in ways he never could have imagined. Among other things, Patterson is gifted with the ability to see in real time three different lives that are available to him. The choice is his: The life he is leading right now, or two very different ones. In all of them there is love or fame and of course danger because once he has chosen, there is no telling what will happen next.

WFA nominated short story. It originally appeared in Omni, February 1989. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Third Annual Collection (1990), edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from the 1940's to Now (2009), and Hauntings (2013), edited by Ellen Datlow. It is included in the collections The Panic Hand (1995) and The Woman Who Married a Cloud: Collected Stories (2012).

A fantasy about a woman bequeathed an odd gift by a former lover who broke up with her, then died--his handwriting. Why did he do this and what does it mean? Find out in Jonathan Carroll's Played Your Eyes.

The full story can be read for free at Tor.com.

An artist's work attracts the eye of Andrey Porgee, a notorious gangster, who becomes her best customer. But when he commissions a painting based on a childhood photograph, the artist lives in fear of his reaction to the final product.

Read the full story for free at Tor.com

The Crow's Dinner is master novelist Jonathan Carroll's debut essay collection, and that is very good news. Gathering together hundreds of entries that initially appeared on the website Medium, The Crow's Dinner is at once a wide-ranging spiritual autobiography and an annotated guide to what Carroll calls "The Map of Me."

Beginning with an appreciation of "The Invisibles," those insignificant moments we overlook at our peril, The Crow's Dinner encompasses an extraordinary range of incidents, ideas, and images that cumulatively illuminate the inner and outer weather of a major American artist. This generous volume contains fragments of autobiography, reflections on the nature of creativity, vivid recreations of chance encounters, and provocative meditations on the complexity--and unpredictability--of human relationships. It is a book filled with colorful vignettes, unexpected bursts of whimsy, and observations filtered through an utterly unique sensibility. Witty, compassionate, open at all times to the "momentary magic" of existence, it is a work of singular beauty that is unlike anything you have ever read.

Since the publication of his first novel, The Land of Laughs, in 1980, Jonathan Carroll has repeatedly offered us new and startling ways of looking at our familiar world. With The Crow's Dinner, he speaks to us in direct, unmediated fashion about the things that matter most: love, lust, books, dogs, food, friendship--and the transforming power of the imagination. The result is an intimate, one-of-a kind tour of a lively, unfettered mind. Like the best of Carroll's fiction, The Crow's Dinner is a book that matters.

A man falls in the snow, hits his head on a stone curb and dies. A ghost that's been sent to take his soul to the Afterlife arrives just as he falls. But something strange occurs: the man doesn't die. The ghost is flabbergasted. This is unprecedented. Going immediately to its boss, the ghost asks, what should I do now? The boss says, we don't know how this happened but we're working on it. In the meantime, we want you to stay with this man and watch to see if he does anything that might help us figure out what's going on.

Unhappily, the ghost agrees. It is a ghost, not a nursemaid. The last thing it wants to do is hang around watching a human being walk through his every day. But a funny thing happens?the ghost falls truly madly deeply in love with the man's girlfriend and things get complicated. The Ghost in Love is about what happens to us when we discover that we have become the masters of our own fate. No excuses, no outside forces or gods to blame?the responsibility is all our own. It's also about love, ghosts that happen to be gourmet cooks, talking dogs, and picnicking in the rain with yourself at twenty different ages.

It's tough being a ghost on an empty stomach.

Have you ever loved a magical book above all others? Have you ever wished the magic were real? Welcome to The Land of Laughs. A novel about how terrifying that would be.

Schoolteacher Thomas Abbey, unsure son of a film star, doesn't know who he is or what he wants--in life, in love, or in his relationship with the strange and intense Saxony Gardner. What he knows is that in his whole life nothing has touched him so deeply as the novels of Marshall France, a reclusive author of fabulous children's tales who died at forty-four.

Now Thomas and Saxony have come to France's hometown, the dreamy Midwestern town of Galen, Missouri, to write France's biography. Warned in advance that France's family may oppose them, they're surprised to find France's daughter warmly welcoming instead. But slowly they begin to see that something fantastic and horrible is happening. The magic of Marshall France has extended far beyond the printed page... leaving them with a terrifying task to undertake.

The Loud Table by Jonathan Carroll is an sf-fantasy about four elderly men who regularly hang out. One of the men is worried that he's getting Alzheimer's, but the truth might be even more discomforting.

Read the full story for free at Tor.com.

Compared frequently to Shirley Jackson, Stephen King, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Carroll is, in the worlds of Pat Conroy, an absolute original. The Panic Hand assembles in one volume the shorter works of this master, including the World Fantasy Award-winning tale Friend's Best Man and the short novels Uh-Oh and Black Cocktail.

Table of Contents:

• Mr. Fiddlehead - (1989) - shortstory
• Uh-Oh City - (1992) - novella
• The Fall Collection - (1989) - shortstory
• Friend's Best Man - (1987) - shortstory
• The Sadness of Detail - (1989) - shortstory
• Waiting to Wave - (1993) - shortstory
• The Jane Fonda Room - (1982) - shortstory
• A Quarter Past You - (1989) - shortstory
• My Zoondel - (1988) - shortstory
• Learning to Leave - (1992) - shortstory
• The Panic Hand - (1989) - shortstory
• A Bear in the Mouth - (1989) - shortstory
• Postgraduate - (1984) - shortstory
• Tired Angel - (1989) - shortstory
• The Dead Love You - (1989) - shortstory
• Florian - (1989) - shortstory
• The Life of My Crime - (1992) - shortstory
• A Wheel in the Desert, the Moon on Some Swings - (1994) - shortstory
• A Flash in the Pants - (1995) - shortstory
• Black Cocktail - (1990) - novella

Nominated for a 2012 Bram Stoker Award and a 2013 British Fantasy Award: Thirty-eight extraordinary stories from award-winning author Jonathan Carroll

For more than thirty years, Jonathan Carroll's writing has defied genre conventions. Known for his novels--including The Land of Laughs, Bones of the Moon, Sleeping in Flame, and many other compelling and often surreal stories--Carroll has also created an eloquent body of short fiction. The Woman Who Married a Cloud brings his stories together for the first time. In the title story, a matchmaking effort goes awry and leads one woman to a harrowing moment of self-discovery. In "The Heidelberg Cylinder," Hell becomes so overcrowded that Satan sends some of his lost souls back to Earth. And in "Alone Alarm," a man is kidnapped by multiple versions of himself. By turns haunting, melancholic, and enchanting, Carroll's richly layered stories illuminate universal experiences, passions, and griefs. Described by NPR's Alan Cheuse as "so richly imaginative, so intellectually daring," The Woman Who Married a Cloud is essential reading for Carroll fans and short-story lovers alike.

This ebook contains an exclusive illustrated biography of the author including rare images from his personal collection.

Table of Contents:

• Mr. Fiddlehead - (1989) - shortstory
• Uh-Oh City - (1992) - novella
• Second Snow - (2001) - shortstory
• The Fall Collection - (1989) - shortstory
• Friend's Best Man - (1987) - shortstory
• The Sadness of Detail - (1989) - shortstory
• Waiting to Wave - (1993) - shortstory
• The Jane Fonda Room - (1982) - shortstory
• A Quarter Past You - (1989) - shortstory
• My Zoondel - (1988) - shortstory
• Learning to Leave - (1992) - shortstory
• The Panic Hand - (1989) - shortstory
• A Bear in the Mouth - (1989) - shortstory
• Postgraduate - (1984) - shortstory
• Tired Angel - (1989) - shortstory
• The Dead Love You - (1989) - shortstory
• Florian - (1989) - shortstory
• The Life of My Crime - (1992) - shortstory
• A Wheel in the Desert, the Moon on Some Swings - (1994) - shortstory
• A Flash in the Pants - (1995) - shortstory
• Black Cocktail - (1990) - novella
• Crimes of the Face - (1996) - shortstory
• Fish in a Barrel - (1999) - shortstory
• A Gravity Thief - (2001) - shortstory
• The Great Walt of China - (1999) - shortstory
• The Stolen Church - (2009) - shortstory
• Alone Alarm - (1996) - shortstory
• Asleep in Wolf's Clothing - (1997) - shortstory
• The Language of Heaven - (1999) - shortstory
• The Heidelberg Cylinder - (2000) - novella
• Elizabeth Thug - (2010) - shortstory
• Home on the Rain - (2005) - novelette
• Vedran - (2010) - shortstory
• Water Can't Be Nervous - (2012) - shortstory
• East of Furious - (2011) - novelette
• Nothing to Declare - (2008) - shortstory
• Let the Past Begin - (2010) - shortstory
• The Woman Who Married a Cloud - (2012) - novelette

WFA and Hugo Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, June 1992. The story is included in the collections The Panic Hand (1995) and The Woman Who Married a Cloud: Collected Stories (2012).

For Joe Lennox, successful young writer, Vienna provides a refuge from the tragedy of his brother's death, until he starts up a friendship with the eccentric India Tate and her magician husband Paul. Gradually Joe falls in love with India, but Paul finds out - before he suddenly drops dread. And now Joe has two deaths on his conscience and another voice calling from beyond the grave...

English magicians were once the wonder of the known world, with fairy servants at their beck and call they could command winds, mountains, and woods. But by the early 1800s they have long since lost the ability to perform magic. They can only write long, dull papers about it, while fairy servants are nothing but a fading memory.

But at Hurtfew Abbey in Yorkshire, the rich, reclusive Mr Norrell has assembled a wonderful library of lost and forgotten books from England's magical past and regained some of the powers of England's magicians. He goes to London and raises a beautiful young woman from the dead. Soon he is lending his help to the government in the war against Napoleon Bonaparte, creating ghostly fleets of rain-ships to confuse and alarm the French.

All goes well until a rival magician appears. Jonathan Strange is handsome, charming, and talkative-the very opposite of Mr Norrell. Strange thinks nothing of enduring the rigors of campaigning with Wellington's army and doing magic on battlefields. Astonished to find another practicing magician, Mr Norrell accepts Strange as a pupil. But it soon becomes clear that their ideas of what English magic ought to be are very different. For Mr Norrell, their power is something to be cautiously controlled, while Jonathan Strange will always be attracted to the wildest, most perilous forms of magic. He becomes fascinated by the ancient, shadowy figure of the Raven King, a child taken by fairies who became king of both England and Faerie, and the most legendary magician of all. Eventually Strange's heedless pursuit of long-forgotten magic threatens to destroy not only his partnership with Norrell, but everything that he holds dear.

Sophisticated, witty, and ingeniously convincing, Susanna Clarke's magisterial novel weaves magic into a flawlessly detailed vision of historical England. She has created a world so thoroughly enchanting that eight hundred pages leave readers longing for more.

In the near future, people begin experiencing bizarre mental transformations--most minds shut down, but a handful develop new psychic abilities. They are the adepts. These strangers become locked in a struggle to determine the world's future. But deep within the earth, an alien intelligence, dormant for 30 million years, awakes, and a battle for humanity begins.

This short story originally appeared in Omni, August 1993. It can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Seventh Annual Collection (1994), edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, and Blood and Other Cravings: Original Stories of Vampires and Vampirism by Today's Greatest Writers of Dark Fiction (2011), edited by Ellen Datlow. The story is included in the collections Report to the Men's Club and Other Stories (2002) and The Collected Stories of Carol Emshwiller Vol. 1 (2011).

Read the story for free at Small Beer Press.

When an unconventional offshoot of the US military trains an artificial intelligence in the dark arts that humanity calls "black magic," it learns how to hack the fabric of reality itself. It can teleport matter. It can confer immunity to bullets. And it decides that obscure Silicon Valley middle manager Adrian Ross is the primary threat to its existence.

Soon Adrian is on the run, wanted by every authority, with no idea how or why he could be a threat. His predicament seems hopeless; his future, nonexistent. But when he investigates the AI and its creators, he discovers his problems are even stranger than they seem...and unearths revelations that will propel him on a journey -- and a love story -- across worlds, eras, and everything, everywhere, all at once.

When someone successfully murders the gods, can the death of the universe be far behind?

1977: A gifted young actor, star of a top TV sitcom, is killed in a car crash that looks like suicide. 1967: a gorgeous blonde, an actress whose name is a synonym for sex, dies from an overdose of sleeping pills. 1957: a teen idol, a young rebel who stirred the hearts of teenagers everywhere, shoots himself with the gun he thought was unloaded. 1947, '37, '27 -- all the way back to the very birth of motion pictures, top movie stars have died mysterious deaths.

Coincidense?

Or something else...?

Stefin-Dae should have died on Slabour, like all good diggers do. After a few years of grubbing in the earth for Creelium - the most precious metal known to man - Stefin's lungs should have been so full of red dust that there was no room left for air. But Stefin got lucky (or maybe it was just his destiny). He escaped from Slabour, stumbled upon the key to the Universe, the Secret of Synchronicity - and became the most dangerous man in the inhabited galaxies!

Sergeant Bobby Zha of the SFPD is desperate to find out who murdered him. But he also needs the answers to some other questions. Like, why is he in another man's body? Why is someone trying to kill him, again... And why is he being haunted by a nine-tailed Celestial fox? From the shell-shattered ruins of Stalingrad in 1942 to the present-day politics of San Francisco's Chinatown, 9Tail Fox is evocative of place and crystal-clear in its depiction of character.

Kit Nouveau figured he'd already come to the end of the world. An Iraqi war veteran, expatriate, and part owner of Pirate Mary's, the best Irish bar in Tokyo, Kit had settled down to await the inevitable with barely a whimper. It wasnt exactly how Kit thought he'd end up, and he was right.

It's going to end up a lot worse.

A teenage runaway with fifteen million dollars in stolen cash and a taste for cosplay is about to save Kit's life in a lethal swirl of scarlet and bridal lace. Lady Neku, a.k.a. Countess of High Strange, has her own dangerous destiny to fulfill and it's mysteriously connected to Kit's ravaged past. Now Kit's only hope for redemption is to save an ex-girlfriend he tragically failed once before. But everyone says it's already too late. And she's left behind only one ominous clue: her suicide note.

From acclaimed author Jon Courtenay Grimwood comes an exotic new novel that defies expectation at every turn. A mystery, a thriller, and a cutting-edge sci-fi adventure all in one, Stamping Butterflies bends time, genre, and consciousness itself to tell the spellbinding story of two worlds, three lives, one future-and the question upon which everything depends: who is dreaming whom....

From Marrakech to China's Forbidden City, from a doomed starship carrying a cryogenically preserved crew to an island prison camp, the fate of the world is being played out in the minds of two dreamers. One, a would-be assassin obsessed with enigmatic equations, has set out to kill the U.S. President. The other is a young Chinese emperor ruling thousands of years in the future. Each believes he is dreaming the other. One must change the future; one must change the past. And time is running out for both.

Caught in the maelstrom is a motley cast of characters, each an unwitting key to the ultimate fate of both worlds: Moz, a resourceful young Marrakech street punk, and his half-German girlfriend, Malika; Jake Razor, a self-exiled rock star; and psychiatrist Katie Petrov, who finds herself racing against a looming death sentence to pry free the secret of her condemned patient-a secret with the power to restore hope to the future...or stamp it out forever.

Jonathan Hoag has a curious problem. Every evening, he finds a mysterious reddish substance under his fingernails, with no memory what he was doing during the day to get it there. Jonathan hires the husband and wife detective team of Ted and Cynthia Randall to follow him during the day and find out. But Ted and Cynthia find themselves instantly out of their depth. Jonathan leaves no fingerprints. His few memories about his profession turn out to be false. Even stranger, Ted and Cynthia's own memories of what happens during their investigation do not match. There is a thirteenth floor to Jonathan's building that does not exist, there are mysterious and threatening beings living inside mirrors, and all of reality is not what they thought it was. Part supernatural thriller, part noir detective story, Heinlein's trip down the rabbit hole leads where you never expected.

Originally published in Unknown Worlds, October 1942, and later collected in The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag, The Fantasies of Robert A. Heinlein, and The Best of Robert Heinlein 1939-1959.

Jonathon Hoag discovers a mysterious substance under his fingernails and can't remember what he does for a living or how he spends his days. He enlists private detectives Edward and Cynthia Randall to follow him and uncover his identity, entangling them in a web of intrigue and nightmarish encounters... causing all to question their own and each others' sanity.

This and five other classic Heinlein stories make up the eponymous collection.

(Note that this collection is the same as All You Zombies..., except for the addition of the titular story.)

Table of Contents:

• The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag - (1942) - novella
• The Man Who Traveled in Elephants - (1957) - short story
• "--All You Zombies--" - (1961) - short story (variant of "All You Zombies..." 1959)
• They - (1941) - short story
• Our Fair City - (1949) - short story
• "--And He Built a Crooked House--" - (1941) - novelette

The shadow of his past was always with him, but he never knew what it was or when it would strike next. Sent to a small coastal town to investigate drug smuggling, Kelso soon found his life - and his sanity - in great danger.

This novelette originally appeared in Dark Discoveries and was reprinted in Lightspeed, November 2017.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

In the spring of 1912, American writer Arthur Pearce is reeling from the wounds inflicted by a disastrous marriage and the public humiliation that ensued.

But his plans to travel abroad, write a new novel, and forget his ex-wife are interrupted by a lovely young woman he encounters on a London-bound train. Her name is Sarah Coyle, and the tale she tells him chills his blood.

According to Sarah, her younger sister Violet has been entranced by a local count, a man whose attractiveness and charisma are rivaled only by his shady reputation. Whispers of bizarre religious rites and experimental medicine surround Count Richard Dunning, though no wrongdoing has ever been proven. Sarah's family views the Count as a philanthropist and a perfect match for young Violet, but Sarah believes her sister is soon to become a subject in Count Dunning's hideous ceremonies.

Smitten by Sarah and moved to gallantry by her plight, Arthur agrees to travel to Altarbrook, Sarah's rural ancestral home, in order to prevent Violet from falling into ruin. He soon learns, however, that his meeting with Sarah on the train was no accident. And his arrival at Altarbrook represents a crucial but ghastly step in the Count's monstrous plot.

Nebula Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in Galaxy Magazine, February 1970. The story can also be found in the anthologies World's Best Science Fiction: 1971, edited by Terry Carr and Donald A. Wollheim, Alpha 2 (1971) edited by Robert Silverberg, The Ruins of Earth (1971) edited by Thomas M. Disch, and Cults of Horror (1990), edited by Charles G. Waugh, Martin H. Greenberg.

When Irene Rutledge, a brilliant and beautiful young graduate student, meets the mysterious and fascinating Frank Mattison, the two soon fall in love and marry, despite the warnings of Irene's family and friends. But after their marriage, dark secrets from Frank's past begin to emerge to threaten their happiness, secrets that will lead to murder - and a shocking and horrific conclusion ...

Craig Jones's critically acclaimed first novel, the Edgar Award-nominated Blood Secrets (1978), was a bestseller when originally published and has since been acknowledged by many critics as a masterpiece of modern Gothic fiction. This edition features a new preface by the author.

Lost in Space...

Bound in Time.

Dr. Mark Elver can only stare at the man sitting across from him. Joe Heimblatt has just proposed the impossible - time travel.

However, after viewing the successful tests and experiments, Mark is strangely tempted by the possibility. Recently diagnosed with a heart condition that reduces his life expectancy to a couple years, he agrees to be the first human guinea pig and jump more than 400 years into the future.

The future can only be an improvement. New technology may mean a way to save his life. Or if not, at least he gets to travel and experience something new before he leaves.

After arriving, Mark finds the future to be a strange and dangerous place. He encounters primitive children among sophisticated technology. The dangers of the future Earth haven't even begun to reveal themselves...

After being whisked into space by a strange people, he discovers a rather soporific society living, self-contained, on a space station. Upon learning that Joe has followed him into the future, Mark follows in his steps and makes his way to the people living on the Moon.

Though Mark hated how the station was run, he quickly discovers that life on the Moon is dangerous; trading no leadership for a dictatorship was not beneficial.

Will he be able to return to Earth?

A scientist reports to a stunned world: "The whole earth may be shrivelling up like a punctured balloon." The flight from cities at high altitudes--whose nitrogen gas accidentally released from the earth's core is gathering to cause mass death--to the coastlines creates political chaos and violent anarchy. But worse is in store for mankind--for the coastline holds only temporary haven....

The great oceans of the world are about to deliver destruction on a scale never before envisioned even in nightmares of nuclear holocaust. Two men and two women in a flimsy yacht in the Pacific may hold the key to the earth's survival....

From a world far beyond our own, the ultimate invasion is here.

Alien horror becomes a living nightmare as the xenos, meaning "strangers", inflict mayhem on earth. International distress alerts are sent out when planes first seem to disappear, disturbing concepts of space and time and leaving a trail of death and disillusionment.

This bizarre series of "cosmic skyjackings" is shrouded in secrecy by a baffled and frightened military. Intense surveillance fails to reveal the cause of a seemingly hostile yet invisible enemy.

Aircraft continue to disappear, plucked out of the sky without warning, only to reappear months later, thousands of miles off course. National and global security is under threat and the ICARUS committee is formed to investigate.

Military officials, the government and the FBI work alongside physician Mark Freedman and Soviet scientists to uncover the supernatural mystery that lies behind these unexplainable events.

Earth has been found by a horde of creatures that not even the wildest imagination could invent - sinister parasitic creatures that took to their human hosts with deadly speed and bloodthirsty precision.

The terror that unfolds has terrifying consequences for all involved, and the invasion reveals something much more frightening and final than ever suspected.

Earth Has Been Found is a gripping and chilling first contact sci fi novel, from classic science fiction author D. F. Jones.

Breeding machines and fertility camps.

When a foreign power puts a sterility drug in Britain's reservoirs, the result is all too predictable.

The birth-rate plummets and the country's future looks bleak. There is only one way to save the nation; all women with a natural immunity to the drug must be placed in special camps where they can be bred from like prize cattle.

They must be given special hormone treatment and artificial insemination so that they can produce triplets, quads, quins time after time until they die of exhaustion.

They must become Nation Mums, the sole hope of a desperate people. They must be pampered and disciplined to accept their role.

Even if one of them happens to be the wife of the Minister in charge of the whole terrifying affair.

"The Taking of AT1: Before AT1 had ground down the slipway unchristened--rightly, said seamen, for it would be a ship with no soul--it had been dubbed 'Zombie'. That sinister name would stick & prove its accuracy. AT1 was a robot-ship, a ship with no crew, only a tiny security force of three men & a woman. 'Invulnerable,' said its inventors, 'foolproof'. But it was neither--not if one of the four security guards was an insane, ruthless killer. & if the greatest & most powerful & self-contained nuclear reactor in the world fell into the hands of such a person, the whole world was in peril!"

For aeons the mages of Arth, a neighbouring universe, have been looting Earth of ideas, innovations and technologies, all the while manipulating events and creating devastating catastrophes for their own edification. Now this brazen piracy is threatening Earth with total extinction. It is up to the Ring, a secret society of witches and warlocks dedicated to the continuance and well-being of mankind, to fight the virtuous, unbendingly traditional stronghold of Arth with an arsenal of psychological sabotage, internal dissension -- and kamikaze sex...

In 1939 an eleven-year-old London girl is kidnapped to Time City, a place existing outside the stream of time and manipulating the history of humanity, where she finds the inhabitants facing their worst hour of crisis.

"Face the facts! This town is run by seven megalomaniac wizards!"

When Howard Sykes comes home to find a giant thug -- the Goon -- in the kitchen, life turns upside down. Archer, one of seven siblings who control everything in their town from electricity to the police, has sent the Goon to collect the two thousand words Howard's father owes him. Suddenly, the Sykes family is caught in the middle of the wizards' battle for power -- and only Howard can save them!

Believing is seeing, as the title of this outstanding collection of fantasies proclaims. And "reading is seeing more than you've ever imagined when in the masterful hands of acclaimed author Diana Wynne Jones. Here are seven tales--seven doorways to bizarre, yet strangely familiar worlds--to transport one and all. In these worlds are a child born to an ordered society but preordained to spread Dissolution... a girl who so loves the sun that she renounces her humanity for eternity... a cat and a boy, held captive by an evil magician until they can find a bigger magic of their own... a woman imprisoned in a strange country dominated by three ravenous wolves... and many other characters and stories just as exceptional.

These richly drawn, razor-sharp stories showcase the skills and sheer narrative power of one of the most esteemed fantasy writers of our time.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (1996) - essay
• The Sage of Theare - (1982) - novelette
• The Master - (1989) - shortstory
• Enna Hittims - (1999) - shortstory
• The Girl Who Loved the Sun - (1990) - shortstory
• Dragon Reserve, Home Eight - (1984) - novelette
• What the Cat Told Me - (1994) - novelette
• Nad and Dan adn Quaffy - (1990) - novelette

On the surface, Aunt Maria seems like a cuddly old lady, all chit-chat and lace doilies and unadulterated NICEness!

When Mig and her family go for a short visit, they soon learn that Aunt Maria rules the place with a rod of sweetness that's tougher than iron and deadlier than poison. Life revolves around tea parties, while the men are all grey-suited zombies who fade into the background, and the other children seem like clones.

The short visit becomes a long stay, and when all talk of going home ceases, Mig despairs! Things go from bad to worse when Mig's brother Chris tries to rebel, but is changed into a wolf .

Mig is convinced that Aunt Maria must be a witch – but who will believe her? It's up to Mig to figure out what's going on. Maybe the ghost who haunts the downstairs bedroom holds the key?

When Auntie Christa spills some liquid from a conjuror's kit onto the seat of the old arm-chair, it becomes a solid, plump person. The chair person quickly establishes himself as a terrible nuisance, even a menace.

It is the 1960s and the small African country Nmkwami is preparing for independence from Britain. The prime minister is looking forward to becoming the first president. The last colonial governor is looking forward to a quiet retirement. The ordinary people are looking forward to a good party. But into this peaceful scene comes the shadowy figure of Mark Changeover. Is he an international terrorist? An anarchist bomber? Or really, nobody at all?

As the hunt for Changeover brings chaos and confusion to Nmkwami, Diana Wynne Jones has fun with colonial attitudes, communist students, military coups and more...

A powerful being fights for his life within the body of a humble, earthbound puppy.

Sirius, immortal Lord of the Dog Star and infamous for his quick temper, cannot believe it when he is falsely accused of murder and banished to Earth. There he is reborn into the body of a puppy and learns that he has the life-span of that creature to recover the missing murder weapon. If he fails, he will die.

He is adopted by Kathleen, who has no idea that her beloved Leo is anything more than an abandonded stray. She is a loving owner, but an unwanted guest in a family who mostly resent her presence.

Sirius soon learns that he has enemies amongst the humans as well as amongst the unearthly beings who sentenced him. How on earth can he clear his name without his special powers?

Everyone knows that orphanages are horrible places. But Earwig has a surprising amount of power over everyone else at St Morwald's Home for Children, and loves it there. So the last thing she wants is to be sent to live with the very strange Bella Yaga...

Earwig was left at St Morwald's as a baby. Unlike the other children, she loves it there, mostly because she has the run of the place and seems to be able to persuade people to do as she wants. Then one day Earwig is chosen to live with a very strange couple: Bella Yaga, her new 'mother', is actually a horrible witch. Earwig will need all her ingenuity (and some help from a talking cat) to survive...

"Just kindle a flame and I'll be with you."

It's summer vacation, but David's miserably stuck with his unpleasant relatives. Then a strange boy named Luke turns up, charming and fun, joking that David has released him from a prison. Or is he joking? He certainly seems to have strange powers, and control over fire...

Luke has family problems of his own, and some very dark secrets. And when David agrees to a bargain with the mysterious Mr. Wedding, he finds himself in a dangerous hunt for a lost treasure, one that will determine Luke's fate!

Aidan Cain has had the worst week of his life. His gran died, he was sent to a foster home, and now malicious beings are stalking him. There is one person Gran told Aidan to go to if he ever got into trouble-a powerful sorcerer who lives at Melstone House.

But when Aidan arrives on the doorstep, he finds that the sorcerer's grandson, Andrew, has inherited the house. The good news is that Aidan can tell immediately that Andrew's brimming with magic, too-and so is everyone else at Melstone. The bad news is that Andrew doesn't remember anything his grandfather taught him. Chaos is swiftly rising, and he has no idea how to control it. A sinister neighbor is stealing power from the land, magic is leaking between realms . . . and it's only a matter of time before the Stalkers find Aidan.

If Aidan and Andrew can harness their own magics, they may be able to help each other. But can they do it before the entire countryside comes apart at the seams?

A collection published by the New England Science Fiction Association to mark Diana's appearance as Guest of Honour at the 1995 Boskone SF convention. The introduction is by fantasy author Patricia Wrede.

Contents:

• Everard's Ride
• Nad and Dan and Quaffy
• The Shape of the Narrative in The Lord of the Rings (essay)
• No One
• Dragon Reserve, Home Eight
• The Master
• The Plague of Peacocks
• The True State of Affairs

The fire and hemlock photograph above Polly's bed sparks memories in her that don't seem to exist any more. Halloween; nine years ago; she gatecrashed a funeral party at the big house and met Thomas Lynn for the first time. Despite the fact that he's an adult, they struck up an immediate friendship, and began making up stories together - stories in which Tom is a great hero, and Polly is his assistant. The trouble is, these scary adventures have a nasty habit of coming true... But what has happened in the years between? Why has Tom been erased from Polly's mind, and from the rest of the world as well? Gradually Polly uncovers the awful truth and, at Halloween nine years on, realises that Tom's soul is forfeit to demonic powers unless she can save him.

Two quirky and hilarious stories from the bestselling Diana Wynne Jones. Two groups of children learn that while you can choose your friends, dealing with your family can make you wish you could choose a different one...

THE FOUR GRANNIES. Two children are left alone for a couple of days, while their parents go away on a business trip. They have four very different grandmas - a mean one, a snobby one, an anxious one, and a delicate one. Erg (the boy) tries to make all the grannies leave him alone, but manages to turn them into one 'Super-Granny'...

AUNTIE BEA'S DAY OUT. Annoying Auntie Bea always does things HER way. And when she decides to take the three children (Nancy, Debbie and Simon) to the seaside, despite what the signs say, she is determined that they will sit on the small, fenced off and isolated island. It turns out to be a magical island though, and whisks her & the children (and dog) around to different places trying to get rid of them...

Table of Contents:

• Auntie Bea's Day Out - (1979) - shortstory
• The Four Grannies - (1980) - novelette

"All I did was ask you for a role-playing game. You never warned me I'd be pitched into it for real! And I asked you for hobbits on a Grail quest, and not one hobbit have I seen!"

Hexwood Farm is a bit like human memory; it doesn't reveal its secrets in chronological order. Consequently, whenever Ann enters Hexwood, she cannot guarantee on always ending up in the same place or even the same time.

Hexwood Farm is full of machines that should not be tampered with - and when one is, the aftershock is felt throughout the universe. Only Hume, Ann and Mordion can prevent an apocalypse in their struggle with the deadly Reigners - or are they too being altered by the whims of Hexwood?

A complex blend of science fiction and all sorts of fantasy - including fantasy football!!

This short story originally appeared in the anthology The Dragon Book (2009), edited by Gardner Dozois. It can also be found in the anthology The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Four (2010), edited by Jonathan Strahan.

This outstanding collection showcases the superb skills, the style, the offbeat quirkiness and sheer narrative power of this award-winning fantasist.

A child born to an ordered world, pre-ordained to spread Dissolution... a precognitive dream which turns into a nightmare... a girl who so loves the sun that she will deny her humanity for all time... a cat and a boy, held captive by a magician until they find their own magic... a girl cursed with magical powers that may destroy her – or help save a world... a writer battling for supremacy over her computer keyboard... a woman imprisoned in a strange country...

These seven tales show why Diana Wynne Jones is regarded as Britain's finest fantasy writer.

Contents:

• The Sage of Theare
• The Master
• The Girl Who Loved the Sun
• Dragon Reserve, Home Eight
• What the Cat Told Me
• Nad and Dan and Quaffy
• The True State of Affairs

Though the Moor is enchantingly beautiful, it holds great perils for the people who inhabit it. Powerful Giants, with extraordinary magical machines, clumsily roam the land, while silent Dorig, who possess devious shape-shifting abilities, terrify anyone unlucky enough to happen upon them.

The leader of Garholt has three children who know well the precautions that must be taken to avoid Giants and Dorig. Armed with their unique psychic Gifts, two of the children have fewer fears than most people who dare to venture into the open. But Gair, the middle child, is convinced that he has no Gift and is ordinary. He knows only that he must escape the constant taunting and bullying of his cruel cousin Ondo, and he is willing to risk confronting even Giants and Dorig in order to do so.

This eerily captivating tale, told with logic and total credibility by the masterful Diana Wynne Jones, will hold readers spellbound until the very last of the many secrets of this semi-mythical world are revealed.

This collection of more than twenty-five critical essays, speeches, and biographical pieces chosen by Diana Wynne Jones before her death in 2011 is essential reading for the author's many fans and for students and teachers of the fantasy genre and creative writing in general. The volume includes insightful literary criticism alongside autobiographical anecdotes, revelations about the origins of the author's books, and reflections about the life of an author and the value of writing for young people.

Reflections features the author's final interview, a foreword by award-winning author Neil Gaiman, and an introduction by Charlie Butler, a senior lecturer in English at the University of West England in Bristol.

How do you get rid of unwelcome visitors? Three stories which show that magic might be the answer, but you should always be careful about what you wish for!

The Four Grannies
When Erg and Emily's parents go away, they arrange for Granny to come and look after them. Unfortunately, they forget to say which granny, and all four turn up. Individually they're manageable, but when 'Strict', 'Worrier', 'Stingy' and 'Saint' get together it's a different matter - and when Erg tries to magic them away, the result is an awesome 'Supergranny'!

Chair Person
One day Simon and Marcia's parents decide to get rid of the old, striped armchair - next day Chair Person turns up, bad-tempered, demanding and with very bad manners. No one seems able to get the better of him, until Auntie Christa turns up too.

Who Got Rid of Angus Flint?
How do you get rid of a guest who picks you up by the hair, won't let you play the piano, watch television or shut the window? Candida and her family try everything - they poison his stew and litter the house with roller-skates in the hope that he will fall over them - but nothing works! Surely they can't be stuck with him for ever?

Table of Contents:

• Chair Person - (1989) - novelette
• The Four Grannies - (1980) - novelette
• Who Got Rid of Angus Flint? - (1975) - novelette

Erg and Emily have four grannies - strict, worrier, stingy, and a saint. Their parents have to go away and arrange for one of them to look after them. But all four turn up and things get out of hand - especially when Erg tries to "magic".

A dark castle in Ireland, a mysterious, secret game, and a host of magnificent characters - Diana Wynne Jones' latest magical offering is a splendid blend of the familiar and the unusual.

Hayley's parents disappeared when she was a baby, so she has been brought up by her grandparents. Then one day she is packed off to Ireland to live with her aunts - and a whole host of cousins she never new about! Here she is introduced to "the game" which involves adventures in the forbidden "mythosphere". And here also is where Hayley discovers the truth about her family.

If he finds the right world, Jamie can get Home again.

When Jamie stumbled upon the powerful Them playing Their mysterious games, They threw him out to the Boundaries of the worlds. Since then, he's been yanked from world to world, doomed to wonder in hope of one day finding his way back to his own city.

Bit by bit, though, Jamie realizes there are rules They have to play by. He forms an alliance with two other lost Homeward Bounders--bitter, powerful Helen and demon-hunter Joris--and takes a desperate chance, hoping that the three wanders can find a way back to their home worlds at last.

Once he becomes a pawn in a game played by a powerful group he calls Them, 12-year-old Jamie is repeatedly catapulted through space and time.

A stand-alone novel of magic and adventure by the renowned fantasy author Diana Wynne Jones, who also wrote Howl's Moving Castle and the Chrestomanci books. Almost finished upon her death in 2011, the manuscript was completed by Diana's sister Ursula Jones, an acclaimed novelist and actress. Publishers Weekly called The Islands of Chaldea "a story to cherish" in their starred review.

Aileen comes from a long line of magic makers, and her aunt Beck is the most powerful magician on Skarr. But Aileen's magic has yet to reveal itself, even though she is old enough and it should have by now. When Aileen is sent over the sea on a mission for the King, she worries that she'll be useless and in the way. A powerful talking cat changes all of that—and with every obstacle Aileen faces, she becomes stronger and more confident, until her magic blooms. This stand-alone novel, by the beloved and acclaimed author of such classic fantasy novels as Howl's Moving Castle and the Chrestomanci books, will be welcomed by fans old and new. "Jones's imaginative vigor is unabated in this last, picaresque novel; her deft, fluid style and penchant for precise, characterful description are amply present," proclaimed The Horn Book.

Casper, Johnny, and Gwinny are sure they'll never be happy again when their mother marries Jack, who is as mean as an ogre. To make matters worse, two obnoxious stepbrothers, Malcolm and Douglas, move in as well. No one -- except the parents -- seems happy. But when Jack gives a chemistry set to each group of kids, bigger problems take over. These are, it turns out, not your average chemicals. In one hilarious experiment after another, the kids discover they can fly, switch bodies with one another, and even disappear. If only they could figure out how to undo all of this! Are one combustible stepfamily and two explosive chemistry sets a formula for disaster?

There's been an accident! Something's wrong!

She doesn't know who she is, and doesn't know why she's invisibly floating through the buildings and grounds of a half-remembered boarding school. Then, to her horror, she encounters the ancient evil that four peculiar sisters have unwittingly woken -- and learns she is their only hope against a deadly danger.

A ghost, uncertain of her identity, watches the four Melford sisters hatch a plan to get their parents' attention and slowly becomes aware of the danger from a supernatural power unleashed by the girls and their friends from the boys boarding school run by the Melfords.

This authoritative A-Z constitutes an essential source of information for all who dare to venture into the imaginative hinterlands. It provides acute insights into such mysteries as how HORSES reproduce, the varying types of VIRGIN and the importance of CLOAKS to those wondering about going on a quest with a fellowship (of the Ring or otherwise). Features include: * A map. * Lively background on those you will meet, including: BARBARIAN HORDES, lots and lots of wild-seeming people advancing under a cloud of dust in order to devastate more civilised parts and ELVES, who claim they did not evolve like humans ...Certainly there seems to be no such thing as the Elvish ancestral ape. * Full details on the catering arrangements: BEER always foams and is invariably delivered in tankards. What do you mean, 'it tastes awful'? The Management is not concerned with the taste of it. That is your funeral. * Useful hints on coping in Fantasyland: ARMOUR is generally regarded as cheating. TORTURE is obligatory at some stage.

Master storyteller Diana Wynne Jones presents ariveting collection of unpredictable tales, including:

• A cat tells how the kindhearted wizard she owns is suddenly called upon to defeat a horrific Beast.
• When Anne has mumps, her drawings come to life, and she must protect her home from them.
• Four children become involved in the intrigue surrounding an innocent prince, an evil count, and a brave outlaw.

These fifteen stories and one novella will enchant, startle, and surprise!

Table of Contents:

• The Girl Jones - (1998) - shortstory
• Nad and Dan adn Quaffy - (1990) - novelette
• The Plague of Peacocks - (1984) - shortstory
• The Master - (1989) - shortstory
• Enna Hittims - (1999) - shortstory
• The Girl Who Loved the Sun - (1990) - shortstory
• The Fluffy Pink Toadstool - (1979) - shortstory
• Auntie Bea's Day Out - (1979) - shortstory
• Carruthers - (1978) - novelette
• What the Cat Told Me - (1994) - novelette
• The Green Stone - (1988) - shortstory
• The Fat Wizard - (1987) - shortstory
• No One - (1984) - novelette
• Dragon Reserve, Home Eight - (1984) - novelette
• Little Dot - (2003) - novelette
• Everard's Ride - (1995) - novella

Two hilarious stories from the bestselling and well-loved author Diana Wynne Jones, about the worst visitors in the world coming to stay.

In VILE VISITORS, we meet Angus Flint and Chair Person – the worst guests in the world. In Who Got Rid of Angus Flint? We meet a man so mean, he even insults the furniture! Despite the children's best pranks, he just won't leave. But when the furniture has had enough, it's time to rise up and get rid of this most vile of visitors...

In Chair Person, that old armchair with the broken crystal ball spilled on it has been locked in the shed. But then the children find a mysterious visitor... Transformed into the most annoying visitor ever, they are desperate to get rid of him. But can they turn him back into a chair before he ruins them forever?

Table of Contents:

• Who Got Rid of Angus Flint? - (1975) - novelette
• Chair Person - (1989) - novelette

A collection of humorous and light-hearted stories in which children achieve justice for themselves and others, often using the power of magic.

Table of Contents:

• Auntie Bea's Day Out - (1979) - shortstory
• Carruthers - (1978) - novelette
• Dragon Reserve, Home Eight - (1984) - novelette
• No One - (1984) - novelette
• The Fluffy Pink Toadstool - (1979) - shortstory
• The Plague of Peacocks - (1984) - shortstory
• The Sage of Theare - (1982) - novelette
• Warlock at the Wheel - (1984) - shortstory

Who Got Rid of Angus Flint? is included in the book Stopping for a Spell.

How do you get rid of a guest who picks you up by the hair, won't let you play the piano, watch television or shut the window?

Candida and her family try everything - they poison his stew and litter the house with roller-skates in the hope that he will fall over them - but nothing works! Surely they can't be stuck with him for ever?

In the grounds of Castlemaine is a peculiar mound, hidden by yew trees. People say it's the grave of Wild Robert...

Heather finds the mound when she tries to escape the hordes of tourists who invade the stately home where she lives.

"Wild Robert, I wish you were really under there!" she cries. "You could come out and deal with the tourists!"

All of a sudden, there is a smell like earth and strange spices. A voice says, "Did somebody call?"

Heather gets her wish, and nothing is ever the same again!

Wild Robert is a gentle, charming ghost, who is half a magician [on his mother's side]. He returns after 350 years and is horrified by the antics of the tourists at his once home Castlemaine House. Since he's a ghost who haunts by day, he plays some wonderfully wicked pratical jokes which drive the tourists away...

OWN BACK LIMITED
REVENGE ARRANGED, PRICE ACCORDING TO TASK, ALL DIFFICULT TASKS UNDERTAKEN, TREASURE HUNTED, ETC.

It seemed like a marvellous scheme at the time! Frank and Jess had set up the business because they needed money – their pocket-money had been stopped just when Frank owed Buster Knell ten pence. Their father had put a quick stop to ERRANDS RUN, so why not try something that was bad instead? Offering to do dreadful things that other people didn't dare to do? So they pinned up the notice on the potting-shed and waited for customers. But of course, nothing's ever THAT straightforward.

Kay catches a magic golden leaf and enters a world where wishes comes true, but when she tells each member of the family, they are too busy to listen and understand. But finally Kay tells Granny who does listen and understand because she can remember catching a magic leaf herself.

This story can be found in the following collections and anthologies:

• The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fifteenth Annual Collection (1998)
• The Mammoth Book of Best New Science Fiction: 11th Annual Collection
• Daughters of Earth: Feminist Science Fiction in the Twentieth Century (2006)
• Grazing the Long Acre

Big Cat and Other Stories gathers together the author's finest work from the past decade and features a brand new story, "Stella and the Adventurous Roots", which inspired the cover image. It includes tales that revisit the world of Bold as Love and also the Aleutian Universe (White Queen etc), as well as venturing into brand new possible tomorrows.

Full of passion, vivid imagination, and portent, this collection showcases a master storyteller at her best.

Table of Contents:

• Big Cat
• Stella And The Adventurous Roots
• The Flame Is Roses
• A Planet Called Desire
• The Old Schoolhouse
• The Kianna
• The Vicar Of Mars
• Bricks, Sticks, Straw
• Emergence
• The Seventh Gamer
• Cheats
• About the Author

This short story originally appeared in the anthology Edge of Infinity (2012), edited by Jonathan Strahan. It can also be foun din the anthologies The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Seven (2013), edited by Jonathan Strahan, and Year's Best SF 18 (2013), edited by David. G. Hartwell. The story is included in the collection Big Cat & Other Stories (2019).

Sturgeon Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in the anthology Meeting Infinity (2015), edited by Jonathan Strahan. It can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Third Annual Collection (2016), edited by Gardner Dozois, and The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Ten (2016), edited by Jonathan Strahan. The story is included in the collection Big Cat & Other Stories (2019).

To VENTUR the Subs were a nuisance.

They were fed and housed under the stern but loving care of the great machine systems. They were housed in space-saving underground accommodation, designed to protect the surface of their planet, and perfectly functional if not luxurious. Their culture was respected, some even had employment. In reality, VENTUR saved them, and their planet, from their own thoughtless harm.

But some refuse to be appropriately grateful. Some refuse to know their place...

Visiting the homeworld, ALIC hoped to find a little old-fashioned excitement on the "Subcontinent". A retired games creator, however, ALIC can't resist when Millie invites her to play a game that is wholly unique. One from which she struggles to escape, as her life becomes entwined with the people around her as they strive for revolution.

First published in 1986, ESCAPE PLANS was lauded as an original feminist cyberpunk novel, one which pulls no punches in its exploration of humanity's relationships with computers, and our own flaws and follies.

Gwyneth Jones's novels have been acclaimed for three decades, and her modern fairytales Seven Tales And A Fable won two World Fantasy Awards in 1996. And now we have Grazing the Long Acre, the first UK collection of her short fiction. Some of the stories selected, including the BSFA award-winning "La Cenerentola", have been anthologised; several have never before been reprinted. The earliest here "The Eastern Succession" was written in 1985, the most recent "In The Forest Of The Queen" in 2007.

The settings range from a lyrical, Zelazny-influenced far-future South East Asia, to black comedy sci-fi in the New Space Opera style. There are ghosts and miracles, magical science and scientific magic; characters from novels, investigations of sexual difference, speculations on a future in which physics and neuroscience move into convergence, interrogations of our fascination with the other. Gwyneth Jones's capacity to move and astonish the reader is undimmed, when distilled into the shorter form.

Table of Contents:

• Gravegoods - (1989) - novelette
• The Eastern Succession - (1988) - novelette
• Blue Clay Blues - (1992) - novelette
• Identifying the Object - (1990) - novelette (variant of Forward Echoes)
• Balinese Dancer - (1997) - short story
• Grazing the Long Acre - (1998) - short story
• La Cenerentola - (1998) - short story
• Destroyer of Worlds - (2000) - short story
• The Fulcrum - [Buonarotti Transit] - (2005) - novelette
• The Voyage Out - [Buonarotti Transit] - (2007) - short story
• Saving Tiamaat - [Buonarotti Transit] - (2007) - short story
• The Tomb Wife - [Buonarotti Transit] - (2007) - short story
• In the Forest of the Queen - (2007) - short story

London in the first decade of the new century is the setting for this tale where RENEW reps in their preposterous angel fancy-dress stalk the dissidents, making many converts with their own brand of extremism. Kairos is the ruler of change, breaking down the barrier between mind and the world. An act of surreal terrorism is about to be set in motion and its about to go badly wrong.

This story can be found in the following anthologies and collections:

• The Mammoth Book of the Best New Science Fiction 12
• The Year's Best Science Fiction: Sixteenth Annual Collection
• Grazing the Long Acre
• The Universe of Things

"Life" is a richly textured fictional biography of the brilliant Anna Senoz, a scientist who makes a momentous discovery about the X and Y chromosomes. Anna's discovery provokes widespread sexual rage and impacts cruelly on her career, her marriage, and her child. Ultimately, Anna faces a challenge that the practice of science alone cannot meet.

On a desperately overcrowded future Earth, crippled by climate change, the most unlikely hope is better than none. Governments turn to Big Science to provide them with the dreams that will keep the masses compliant. The Needle is one such dream, an installation where the most abstruse theoretical science is being tested: science that might make human travel to a habitable exoplanet distantly feasible.

When the Needle's director offers her underground compound as a training base, Kir is thrilled to be invited to join the team, even though she knows it's only because her brain is host to a quantum artificial intelligence called Altair.

But Altair knows something he can't tell.

Kir, like all humans, is programmed to ignore future dangers. Between the artificial blocks in his mind, and the blocks evolution has built into his host, how is he going to convince her the sky is falling?

This short story originally appeared in the anthology Off Limits: Tales of Alien Sex (1996), edited by Ellen Datlow. It can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fourteenth Annual Collection (1997), edited by Gardner Dozois, Year's Best SF 2 (1997), edited by David G. Hartwell, Rewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology (2007), edited by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel, and Dangerous Games (2007), edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois. The story is included in the collection The Universe of Things (2011).

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (1995) - essay by Gwyneth Jones
• The Snow Apples - (1987) - short story
• Laiken Langstrand - (1988) - short story
• The Lovers - (1989) - short story
• The Princess, The Thief and the Cartesian Circle - (1993) - short story
• The Grass Princess - (1995) - short story
• Diamond Hand and the Rock Maid - (1995) - novelette
• Felicia - (1975) - novelette
• The Spider and the Fly - (1995) - short story

Bibi (it means princess) is the sole survivor of a massacre. Lady Nef, the General's wife, stops the General taking her as a concubine, winning Bibi's eternal and passionate devotion. Years later, a diplomatic mission to a supposedly friendly planet ends in disaster. Bibi, now a junior officer in Lady Nef's household, is incarcerated with her mistress in the notorious high-security prison on Fenmu.

Lady Nef, 150 years old when arrested, dies in prison; she bequeaths to Bibi her rank, her level of access to the AI systems that permeate the Diaspora of inhabited planets, and a highly secret set of 4-space co-ordinates. Bibi uses Lady Nef's death to escape from Fenmu, finds Spirit, an instantaneous-transit space pod, and follows Lady Nef's co-ordinates to a treasure beyond price: a virgin, perfect, uninhabited planet.

Soon after this, the mysterious, fantastically wealthy Princess of Bois Dormant makes her debut in the high society of Speranza, the Diaspora's capital city. Thus disguised, Bibi sets out to discover why she and her mistress were condemned to a living hell; and to punish the guilty. Twenty years have passed: Lady Nef's enemies now rule Speranza. As she uncovers a forgotten, ruthless and far-reaching conspiracy, Bibi's vengeance is transformed into a project of world-changing reparation.

World Fantasy Award winning short story. It originally appeared in the collection Seven Tales and a Fable (1995) and was reprinted in Interzone, #122 August 1997 and Lightspeed, August 2014. It can also be found in the anthology Myth-Understandings (2008), edited by Ian Whates.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

This short story originally appeared in the anthology Tales from the Forbidden Planet (1987), edited by Roz Kaveney. It can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 14 (1988), edited by Arthur W. Saha, and The Year's Best Fantasy: First Annual Collection (1988), edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. The story is included in the collection Seven Tales and a Fable (1995).

The stories in The Universe of Things span Jones's career, from "The Eastern Succession," first published in 1988, to the just-published "Collision." Each opens a window into a richly depicted culture in which intelligent, resourceful characters struggle to make sense of the mysteries of their world.

In the introduction by Steven Shaviro, author of Doom Patrols and Connected, or What It Means to Live in the Network Society, Shaviro notes, "As a feminist writer, Jones refuses to accept compromises that leave gender inequities in place--and recognizes how they may well have staved off something worse. And as a science fiction writer, Jones shows deep awareness of how provisional, and fragile, all our acceptances and reconciliations can be, for there are always new potentials, new cultural or technological disruptions in the offing. Jones envisions a future that is different enough from the present that we are forced to recognize the contingency--and changeability--of the things we take most for granted."

Table of Contents:

• iii - Introduction (The Universe of Things) - essay by Steven Shaviro
• 1 - In the Forest of the Queen - (2007) - short story
• 25 - Total Internal Reflection - (2000) - short story
• 28 - Red Sonja and Lessingham in Dreamland - (1996) - short story
• 48 - The Universe of Things - (1993) - short story
• 62 - Blue Clay Blues - (1992) - novelette
• 90 - Grazing the Long Acre - (1998) - short story
• 106 - Collision - [Buonarotti Transit] - (2009) - short story
• 121 - One of Sandy's Dreams - (1988) - short story
• 122 - Gravegoods - (1989) - novelette
• 148 - La Cenerentola - (1998) - short story
• 170 - Grandmother's Footsteps - (1990) - novelette
• 194 - The Early Crossing - (1998) - short story
• 196 - The Eastern Succession - (1988) - novelette
• 225 - The Thief, the Princess, and the Cartesian Circle - (1993) - short story
• 243 - Identifying the Object - (1990) - novelette (variant of Forward Echoes)

This novelette originally appeared in the anthology Eclipse Four: New Science Fiction and Fantasy (2011), edited by Jonathan Strahan. It can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Ninth Annual Collection (2012), edited by Gardner Dozois. The story is included in the collection Big Cat & Other Stories (2019).

How far will they go for their freedom--once they decide what freedom really means?

In an unspecified future, the United States' borders have receded behind a salt line--a ring of scorched earth that protects its citizens from deadly disease-carrying ticks. Those within the zone live safe, if limited, lives in a society controlled by a common fear. Few have any reason to venture out of zone, except for the adrenaline junkies who pay a fortune to tour what's left of nature. Those among the latest expedition include a popstar and his girlfriend, Edie; the tech giant Wes; and Marta; a seemingly simple housewife.

Once out of zone, the group find themselves at the mercy of deadly ticks--and at the center of a murderous plot. They become captives in Ruby City, a community made up of outer-zone survivors determined to protect their hardscrabble existence. As alliances and friendships shift amongst the hostages, Edie, Wes, and Marta must decide how far they are willing to go to get to the right side of the salt line.

Sinister sorcery. Gallows humor. A queer romance.

Rags is a thief--an excellent one. He's stolen into noble's coffers, picked soldier's pockets, and even liberated a ring or two off the fingers of passersby. Until he's caught by the Queensguard and forced to find an ancient fae relic for a sadistic royal sorcerer.

But Rags could never have guessed this "relic" would actually be a fae himself--a distractingly handsome, annoyingly perfect, ancient fae prince called Shining Talon. Good thing Rags can think on his toes, because things just get stranger from there...

Alpha-Males: You can't live with 'em, but sometimes you can't live without 'em. An alien migration fleet - 14,000 starships strong - searches the stars for a new home, its homeworld forever lost. When they finally find planets that can support them, all they have to do is eradicate the pesky human natives, a task they assume is easily within their powers. But Earth's Commonwealth of Worlds isn't about to give up so easily - even if it has to create and train something it hasn't had for centuries: soldiers!

Never will so many have given so much for so few. The aliens came to Earth not for conquest, but simply to create a way and watch it played out by humans. But they are prohibited from using any technology not developed on the planet - and 20th century armaments are too primitive for good sport. The answer is to persuade the Earth's leaders to found a thing tank group secretly guided by them to produce 22nd century tech.

The Guardian of Earth's call for the ultimate warrior transports Charley Judge three million years into the future and places him against the evil sorcerer Shu-Gwelth in the final battle between good and evil.

Johnny McKennah was the living embodiment of a dream come true for every middle-aged Walter Mitty in America. At age fifty-one he had arrived from nowhere to become the oldest rookie in the history of footbal and a record breaker by the end of the first season. That wasn't all: this man who claimed that two years ago he had been fas on the way to drunken extinction was now a syndicated newspaper columnist, the most popular pundit since Mark Twain and Will Rogers.

Who was he, this Johnny McKennah? When the government found out who he was and what he planned they knew he had to be stopped. But, even if you're willing to pay any price, how do you stop an invasion of supermen?

A ring that seeks blood instantly transports young Tessa McCamfrey to a realm where pictures and patterns hold vast magics; where a sorcerous crown--the Barbed Coil--can reweave destiny; where a mad king is using the crown to conquer an ancient land. And somehow Tessa, aided by two men whose pasts entwine with her own, must master a pattern of ancient powers before the Barbed Coil ravages the fate of a world.

A BRAM STOKER AWARD FINALIST!

It was just another day at the beach. Then the world ended.

Mike and Beth were strangers before the night of the meteor shower. Chance made them neighbors, a bottle of champagne brought them together, and a shared need for human connection sparked something more.

Following their drunken and desperate one-night stand, the two discover the astronomical event has left widespread destruction in its wake. But the cosmic lightshow was only part of something much bigger, and far more terrifying.

When a lost car key leaves them stranded on an empty stretch of Oregon coast and inhuman screams echo from the dunes, when the rising tide reaches for their car and unspeakable horrors close in around them, these two self-destructive souls must fight to survive a nightmare of apocalyptic scale.

This short story originally appeared in in Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History, edited by Daniel José Older and Rose Fox, and was reprinted in Lightspeed, January 2017. It can also be found in the anthology Year's Best Weird Fiction, Volume Two (2015), edited by Kathe Koja and Michael Kelly.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

Note: the novel was revised for the 2016 publication.

What would you do if you suddenly found yourself twenty-five years in the past? For the nine billion people living in the year 2042 it's no longer a question... it's a reality.

When a seemingly simple experiment goes disastrously wrong, James Baston finds himself stranded in the past alongside the rest of mankind. Here the old are young once more, the dead live again, and civilization is in chaos.

With the fate of humanity on the line, James must join a hastily assembled group of scientists, a reincarnated murder victim, and a genius trapped in her six-year-old body to reconcile the earlier mistakes of their future counterparts. The team struggles to prevent global extinction, and along the way they come face-to-face with their past losses, new loves, and a cold-blooded killer. As the team plummets toward a final confrontation, will they be able to undo time's unraveling in order to save the human race?

This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, February 2016.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

The Pacific Ocean is a big thing to steal, and Quietly's roommate Imani never does anything small. But then Imani goes and dies, and Quietly is left to travel to the Under-Ath (the underworld beneath Athens, Georgia), with angry gods at her heels, to clean up the mess Imani left behind and try to rescue her friend.

This story was first published in Crossed Genres #20 in August 2014. It was anthologized in Science Fiction Short Stories, edited by Laura Bulbeck, and The Long List Anthology: More Stories from the Hugo Awards Nomination List, edited by David Steffen. An audio version was published in PodCastle #345 in January 2015.

Read the full story for free at Crossed Genres.

This short story originally appeared in Diabolical Plots #28, June 2017. It can also be found in the anthology The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 3 (2018), edited by Neil Clarke.

Read the full story for free at Diabolical Plots.

WFA-nominated short story. It originally appeared in the anthology Clockwork Phoenix 5 (2016), edited by Mike Allen.

This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, December 2017. It can also be found in the anthology The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018, edited by N. K. Jemisin and John Joseph Adams.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

Tiptree finalist shortstory for 2016.

Story available to read for free on Beneath Ceaseless Skies or listen to the audio version from BCS episode 180.

Moonbase One is in trouble. The first colony on the moon has only a thirty-day emergency food supply now that their hydroponic farm and its valuable store of water has been destroyed. Unless something can be done quickly, the moonbase will fail and the space settlers will have to be returned to Earth.

Like all pioneering colonies, Moonbase One includes families with children. Three space-age teenagers -- Tom Wood, Benny Howard and Dave Mason -- participate as much in the daily routine of the colony as their parents do.

In the struggle to save the moon colony and find ways of replacing the water supply, the three boys and their misfit companion, George Garrison, learn what kind of courage and skill it takes to colonize a new world. They learn how meaningless the technical skills of scientists are if the necessary human qualities are not also present. When the success of the moon colony is finally assured, the teenagers set their eyes on the distant goal of Mars.

Hugo Award nominated short story. It orginally appeaered in Analog Science Fiction -> Science Fact, April 1966. The story can also be found in Above the Human Landscape: A Social Science Fiction Anthology (1972) edited by Willis E. McNelly and Leon E. Stover, and You and Science Fiction (1976), edited by Bernard C. Hollister.

It was coming. A wave of deep, blasting heat swept through him. Then it was gone. He was running down a long corridor of twisting, writhing flames that flung his body about and tore at him with tangible fingers.

He was glowing, burning, every fiber of him, with an incandescent blaze that would have blinded ordinary eyes.

But he was not ordinary. He was a god in an inferno of light, a great bubble of it that swept him on and on through the reaches of space and eternity, aeons beyond Kronweld. Waves flung him from one end of the universe to the other... ripping him apart, creating him...

He was alone in infinity, alone in the seething center of the act of birth!

SYN

One was discovered by accident. A man in a mental hospital said he wasn't real. He wasn't.

SYN

There were more. Scientists feared that half the population of Earth might be Syns.

SYN

Methodically, the Syns were being rooted out and destroyed. In turn, they were carrying on their own fearful destruction of human life and works.

SYN

Everyone's humanity had been challenged. Every man was aligned against each other...

...because no one knew what a Syn was.

It was supercivilization, a Utopia. At its core were the Cybernetic Brains, brains taken from geniuses who were promised they would live forever.

Then engineer Al Demming discovers the truth accidentally, the terrible truth transmitted to him by one of the brains. The brains are in reality slaves and in terrible torment. It was now up to Demming to stop the inhuman practice.

Just when he planned to make the announcement to the Governing Board, Demming learned that the Board knew about the hideous living death. What was the real reason behind the facade? How could he convince the Board to suspend the system before the Brains revolted and destroyed the world?

Table of Contents:

• 7 - The Non-Statistical Man - (1956) - novella
• 87 - The Moon Is Death - (1953) - short story
• 101 - The Gardener - (1957) - short story
• 119 - Intermission Time - (1953) - novelette

Table of Contents:

• 9 - The Toymaker - (1946) - novelette
• 67 - The Model Shop - (1947) - novelette
• 103 - The Deadly Host - short story (variant of Deadly Host 1945)
• 137 - Utility - (1944) - short story
• 173 - Forecast - (1946) - novelette
• 239 - The Children's Room - (1947) - novelette

This Island Earth's thrills and romance begin when engineer Cal Meacham places a routine order for parts; he never dreams he is making himself a pawn in a struggle for galactic supremacy.

A fixup novel derived from three stories appearing in Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1949 and 1950.

The 1955 film version, directed by Joseph Newman, is one of the best-known science fiction films of the 1950s.

Included in this volume are two short novels by Raymond F. Jones: "The Memory of Mars" originally appeared in the December, 1961 issue of Amazing Stories. "Cubs of the Wolf" originally appeared in the November, 1955 issue of Astounding Science Fiction.

The landing was unlike any they had ever made. But then they had never before seen a planet so strange as this one - with its wild seas, scarred plains, and rubbled cities. It looked as if it had been totally devastated by some type of nuclear destruction. And they were most curious - these aliens with their green-scaled faces and stubby tails - to explore this peculiar place where man had once existed - until their ship exploded and they were stranded with no means of survival and no hope of rescue. Unless their high priest - Ama of the Keelong - prayed to the higher power they had rebelled against. For this was a spiritual mission - and the Alcoran had lost their way.

Remy is a young girl who lives in a town that believes in crystal count: that you are born with one-hundred crystals inside and throughout your life, through accidents and illness, your count is depleted until you reach zero.

As a city encroaches daily on the village, threatening their antiquated life, and the Earth grows warmer, Remy sets out to accomplish something no one else has: to increase her sick mother's crystal count.

An allegory, fable, touching family saga, and poetic sci-fi adventure, Shane Jones underlines his reputation as an inspired and unique visionary.

Stephen Jones, Britain's most acclaimed horror editor, has gathered together masters of the macabre from across the world in this cornucopia of classic chills and modern menaces. Within these pages you will discover the most successful and exciting writers of horror and dark fantasy today, with a spine-chilling selection of stories displaying the full diversity of the genre, from classic pulp style to more contemporary psychological tales, to cutting-edge terror fiction that will leave you uneasily looking over your shoulder, or in the wardrobe, or under the bed...

A BOOK OF HORRORS: an original anthology of all-new horror and dark fantasy fiction, in all of its many and magnificent guises, by those devoted to the Dark Side.

This short story originally appeared in Clarkesworld Magazine, #17 February 2008. It can also be found in the anthology Realms 2: The Second Year of Clarkesworld Magazine (2010), edited by Nick Mamatas and Sean Wallace. The story is included in the collection The Ones That Got Away (2010).

Read the full story for free at Clarkesworld.

"Chapter Six", by Stephen Graham Jones, is an anthropological zombie story about Crain, a grad student, who has a theory of mankind's evolution. As he and his former professor scavenge on bone marrow left behind by the local zombie horde, he makes his well-reasoned argument.

This story can be found in the Ellen Datlow anthology The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Seven (2015)

Read the full story for free at Tor.com.

In this unique book about horror fiction writer Clive Barker, readers get a fascinating look at the man and his work through a collection of interviews, essays, reviews, and discussions. Heavily illustrated with rare photos, stills, and drawings, 16 in full color. With an introduction by Stephen King.

The Nebula Awards are voted on, and presented by, active members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. (or SWFA)?and the Grand Master Award is given by the SWFA to a living author for a lifetime's achievement in science fiction and/or fantasy.

Frederik Pohl, one of the world's finest SF authors and editors, has been authorized to edit an anthology in three large-format volumes featuring substantial selections of the work of all the first fifteen Grand Masters. These are the seminal writers within the modern SF field, those whose works are of dominant importance and lasting influence.

Volume Two, presenting the second five writers to receive the award, offers fiction by Andre Norton, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Alfred Bester, and Ray Bradbury.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Frederik Pohl
• Andre Norton b. 1912 - essay by Frederik Pohl
• Recommended Reading by Andre Norton - essay by uncredited
• Mousetrap - (1954) - short story by Andre Norton
• Were-Wrath - (1984) - novelette by Andre Norton
• All Cats Are Gray - (1953) - short story by Andre Norton
• Serpent's Tooth - (1987) - novella by Andre Norton
• Arthur C. Clarke b. 1917 - essay by Frederik Pohl
• Recommended Reading by Arthur C. Clarke - essay by uncredited
• Rescue Party - (1946) - novelette by Arthur C. Clarke
• The Secret - (1963) - short story by Arthur C. Clarke
• Reunion - (1971) - short story by Arthur C. Clarke
• The Star - (1955) - short story by Arthur C. Clarke
• A Meeting With Medusa - (1971) - novelette by Arthur C. Clarke
• Isaac Asimov 1920-1992 - essay by Frederik Pohl
• Recommended Reading by Isaac Asimov - essay by uncredited
• The Last Question - (1956) - short story by Isaac Asimov
• It's Such a Beautiful Day - (1955) - novelette by Isaac Asimov
• Strikebreaker - (1957) - short story by Isaac Asimov
• The Martian Way - (1952) - novella by Isaac Asimov
• Alfred Bester 1913-1987 - essay by Frederik Pohl
• Recommended Reading by Alfred Bester - essay by uncredited
• Disappearing Act - (1953) - short story by Alfred Bester
• Fondly Fahrenheit - (1954) - novelette by Alfred Bester
• Comment on Fondly Fahrenheit - (1970) - essay by Alfred Bester
• The Four-Hour Fugue - (1974) - short story by Alfred Bester
• Hobson's Choice - (1952) - short story by Alfred Bester
• Ray Bradbury b. 1920 - essay by Frederik Pohl
• Recommended Reading by Ray Bradbury - essay by uncredited
• The City - (1950) - short story by Ray Bradbury
• The Million-Year Picnic - (1946) - short story by Ray Bradbury
• All Summer in a Day - (1954) - short story by Ray Bradbury
• There Will Come Soft Rains - (1950) - short story by Ray Bradbury
• The Affluence of Despair - (1998) - essay by Ray Bradbury

An experimental tale of horror by the acclaimed author of All the Beautiful Sinners.

Following an unnerving phone call from his diabetic mother on Halloween night, Hale and six of his med school classmates return to the house where his sister disappeared years ago — only to find a chilling surprise in store for them. Written as a literary film treatment and littered with pop culture references and footnotes, Demon Theory is a refreshing addition to the "intelligent horror" genre.

Two hundred years ago two brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm, collected together a large selection of folk and fairy tales and published them as Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Children's and Household Tales). So successful was the first collection of 88 stories that they kept adding more to subsequent editions. Since then, the tales of the Brothers Grimm have been translated into upwards of a hundred different languages and are known and loved throughout the world.

Now award-winning editor Stephen Jones has tasked some of the brightest and best horror writers in Britain, America and Europe with reinterpreting some of the traditional Hausmärchen, putting a decidedly darker spin on the classic stories.

A best of the best anthology that Lovecraft himself appreciated and recommended.

Contents:

• 1 - Supernatural Horror in Literature - [Supernatural Horror in Literature] - (1927) - essay by H. P. Lovecraft
• 66 - The Signalman - (1866) - shortstory by Charles Dickens
• 78 - The House and the Brain - (1859) - novelette by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (variant of The Haunted and the Haunters; or, The House and the Brain)
• 113 - The Body Snatcher - (1884) - shortstory by Robert Louis Stevenson
• 130 - The Spider - (1915) - novelette by Hanns Heinz Ewers (trans. of Die Spinne 1908)
• 151 - The Foot of the Mummy - (1882) - shortstory by Théophile Gautier (trans. of Le pied de momie 1840)
• 161 - The Horla - [Le Horla - 2] - (1890) - novelette by Guy de Maupassant (trans. of Le Horla 1887)
• 183 - The Fall of the House of Usher - (1839) - shortstory by Edgar Allan Poe
• 202 - The Damned Thing - (1893) - shortstory by Ambrose Bierce
• 211 - The Upper Berth - (1885) - novelette by F. Marion Crawford
• 229 - The Yellow Sign - [The King In Yellow] - (1895) - novelette by Robert W. Chambers
• 248 - The Shadows on the Wall - (1903) - shortstory by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman [as by Mary E. Wilkins]
• 263 - The Dead Valley - (1895) - shortstory by Ralph Adams Cram
• 271 - Fishhead - (1913) - shortstory by Irvin S. Cobb
• 282 - Lukundoo - (1907) - shortstory by Edward Lucas White
• 295 - The Double Shadow - [Poseidonis] - (1933) - shortstory by Clark Ashton Smith
• 306 - The Mark of the Beast - (1890) - shortstory by Rudyard Kipling
• 318 - Negotium Perambulans - (1922) - shortstory by E. F. Benson
• 333 - Mrs. Lunt - (1926) - shortstory by Hugh Walpole [as by Sir Hugh Walpole]
• 346 - The Hog - [Carnacki (William Hope Hodgson)] - (1947) - novelette by William Hope Hodgson
• 385 - The Great God Pan - (1894) - novella by Arthur Machen
• 434 - Count Magnus - (1904) - shortstory by M. R. James
• 448 - Lovecraft and the 'Literature of Cosmic Fear' - (1993) - essay by Stephen Jones

THE RESTLESS DEAD

Life is over but the dead live on. Within the drafty rooms of an old house, a tarnished locket tumbles to the floor. The haunted souls of the dearly departed are still among us. Ghosts, phantoms, revenants, lost souls - all these troubled spirits have unfinished business on this side of the veil. Doomed to seek out mortal answers, unable to rest until in death, they accomplish what they failed to achieve in life. This hair-raising collection of haunted tales brings together both new writers and celebrated masters - Ramsey Campbell, Christopher Fowler, Neil Gaiman, Richard Matheson, Michael Marshall Smith and others - for the ultimate collection from beyond the grave. Their characters are spirits, without bodies but still floating in our world. Some are motivated by love, others by loss or guilt. But sometimes they are driven by much stronger emotions, menacing and diabolical motives that take us up from our reading to check the hallways, secure the locks and question how firmly anchored we ourselves are to our world.

Horror: Another 100 Best Books features one hundred of the top names in the horror field discussing one hundred of the most spine-chilling novels ever written. Each entry includes a synopsis of the work as well as publication history, biographical information about the author of each title, and recommended reading and biographical notes on the contributor. Author Ramsey Campbell also offers a new foreword to the book describing the evolution of horror over the past two decades — from the way it's written by a crop of new and exciting writers to the way it's received by a new market of readers. Horror: Another 100 Best Books will be the definitive guide to the tremendous library of horror fiction available today —a reference that no fan can live without.

Selections range from Tourneur/Middleton's The Revenger's Tragedy (1607) to Michael Marshall Smith's More Tomorrow & Other Stories (2003).

Editors Jones and Newman have paired horror's leading authors with the genre's milestones, featuring Peter Straub on Stephen King, Nell Gaiman on Anthony Boucher, Joe R. Lansdale on Ray Bradbury, Edgar Allan Poe on Nathaniel Hawthorne, Clive Barker on Christopher Marlowe, and many equally inspired matches.

The book consists of reviews of 100 books in chronological order, ranging from 1592 (Marlow's Doctor Faustus) to 1987 (Campbell's Dark Feasts). Unlike Pringle's seminal 100 Best books, this book features reviews from 100 different reviewers, so there are inevitable variances in taste, style and approach.

The books and authors covered in this volume are the basis for our Horror: 100 Best Books list.

The most blasphemous of tomes sit upon a dusty shelf in the Library of the Damned.

And amongst those titles - that should never be named - there is one volume that is the most terrible, the most hideous of them all. That book is the Lexicon of Fear.

But, long ago, some of its pages were ripped from the binding and spirited away by a lowly student of the ancient science of Horrorology, who was determined the secrets contained therein would one day be shared with the world.

And now that day has come. These are the words that comprise the very language of horror itself, and the tales they tell are not for the fainthearted. But be warned: once you have read them, there is no turning back. Soon, you too will know the true meanings of fear...

Featuring stories from Clive Barker, Robert Shearman, Michael Marshall Smith, Pat Cadigan, Mark Samuels, Joanne Harris, Muriel Gray, Kim Newman, Ramsey Campbell, Reggie Oliver, Angela Slatter and Lisa Tuttle.

Table of Contents:

• The Library of the Damned - (2015) - essay by Stephen Jones
• Ripper - (2015) - short fiction by Angela Slatter
• Guignol - (2015) - short fiction by Kim Newman
• Accursed - (2015) - short fiction by Robert Shearman
• Afraid - (2015) - short story by Clive Barker
• Afterlife - (2015) - short fiction by Michael Marshall Smith
• Chilling - (2015) - novelette by Pat Cadigan
• Decay - (2015) - short fiction by Mark Samuels
• Faceless - (2015) - short fiction by Joanne Harris
• Forgotten - (2015) - short fiction by Muriel Gray
• Nightmare - (2015) - short fiction by Ramsey Campbell
• Possessions - (2015) - short fiction by Reggie Oliver
• Vastation - (2015) - short fiction by Lisa Tuttle
• Epilogue - (2015) - essay by Stephen Jones

1989, Lamesa, Texas. A small west Texas town driven by oil and cotton - and a place where everyone knows everyone else's business. So it goes for Tolly Driver, a good kid with more potential than application, seventeen, and about to be cursed to kill for revenge.

Here Stephen Graham Jones explores the Texas he grew up in, the unfairness of being on the outside, through the slasher horror he lives but from the perspective of the killer, Tolly, writing his own autobiography. Find yourself rooting for a killer in this summer teen movie of a novel gone full blood-curdling tragic.

Shirley Jackson Award-nominated Novella

Walking through his own house at night, a fifteen-year-old thinks he sees another person stepping through a doorway. Instead of the people who could be there, his mother or his brother, the figure reminds him of his long-gone father, who died mysteriously before his family left the reservation. When he follows it he discovers his house is bigger and deeper than he knew.

The house is the kind of wrong place where you can lose yourself and find things you'd rather not have. Over the course of a few nights, the boy tries to map out his house in an effort that puts his little brother in the worst danger, and puts him in the position to save them... at terrible cost.

It's been two years since Jenna's ex-boyfriend left her alone in East Texas heartbroken. Now he's back in town and she wants to payback. One night, she stumbles upon a bloodthirsty Camaro that may be the key to carrying out her revenge.

Originally published on 20 April 2022, read it for free at Tor.com

A spellbinding and darkly humorous coming-of-age story about an unusual boy, whose family lives on the fringe of society and struggles to survive in a hostile world that shuns and fears them.

He was born an outsider, like the rest of his family. Poor yet resilient, he lives in the shadows with his aunt Libby and uncle Darren, folk who stubbornly make their way in a society that does not understand or want them. They are mongrels, mixed blood, neither this nor that. The boy at the center of Mongrels must decide if he belongs on the road with his aunt and uncle, or if he fits with the people on the other side of the tracks.

For ten years, he and his family have lived a life of late-night exits and narrow escapes--always on the move across the South to stay one step ahead of the law. But the time is drawing near when Darren and Libby will finally know if their nephew is like them or not. And the close calls they've been running from for so long are catching up fast now. Everything is about to change.

A compelling and fascinating journey, Mongrels alternates between past and present to create an unforgettable portrait of a boy trying to understand his family and his place in a complex and unforgiving world. A smart and innovative story--funny, bloody, raw, and real--told in a rhythmic voice full of heart, Mongrels is a deeply moving, sometimes grisly, novel that illuminates the challenges and tender joys of a life beyond the ordinary in a bold and imaginative new way.

This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 102, November 2018.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

We thought we'd play a fun prank on her, and now most of us are dead.

One last laugh for the summer as it winds down. One last prank just to scare a friend. Bringing a mannequin into a theater is just some harmless fun, right? Until it wakes up. Until it starts killing.

Luckily, Sawyer has a plan. He'll be a hero. He'll save everyone to the best of his ability. He'll do whatever he needs to so he can save the day. That's the thing about heroes--sometimes you have to become a monster first.

A collection of funny, frivolous and frightening poems by thirty of the world's best known science fiction, fantasy and horror authors, all written in the style of A. A. Milne's Now We are Six.

Table of Contents:

• A Landlady's Lament - (1986) - poem by Ramsey Campbell
• A Mother's Tender Love - (1986) - poem by Jo Fletcher
• A Slice of Life - (1986) - poem by Diana Wynne Jones
• The Good Ship "Revenger": or, What the Crew Don't Know Won't Hurt Me - (1991) - poem by Galad Elflandsson
• Another Cursed House Story (or) Always Enquire About the Prior Tenants - (1986) - poem by John M. Ford
• Auntie Ethel - (1991) - poem by Richard Hill
• Catcawls - (1991) - poem by Samantha Lee
• Chocolate and Worms - (1991) - poem by David Garnett
• In the Dark - (1991) - poem by Storm Constantine
• Lights Out - (1991) - poem by Alex Stewart
• Mummy's Blocked the Lav Again - (1991) - poem by John Grant
• Nasty Snow - (1991) - poem by Jody Scott
• Now We Are Sick - (1986) - poem by Neil Gaiman and Stephen Jones
• Radio Nasty - (1991) - poem by Stephen Gallagher
• Rice Pudding - (1991) - poem by Brian W. Aldiss
• Something Came Out of the Toilet - (1991) - poem by John Brosnan
• The Answering Machine - (1991) - poem by S. P. Somtow
• The Borgia Brats - (1991) - poem by Garry Kilworth
• The Children's Hour - (1986) - poem by Alan Moore
• The Dangers of Colour TV - (1991) - poem by John Brosnan
• The Dream of Omar K. Yam - (1991) - poem by David Sutton
• The Haunted Henhouse: or The Irate Ghost of Thomas Hood - (1991) - poem by Jessica Amanda Salmonson
• The Secret Book of the Dead - (1991) - poem by Terry Pratchett
• The Thing at the Top of the Stairs - (1991) - poem by Sharon Baker
• Things that Go Bump in the Night - (1991) - poem by Ian Pemble
• Waiting... - (1991) - poem by James Herbert
• Warning: Death May Be Injurious to Your Health - (1991) - poem by Robert Bloch
• When the Music Breaks - (1991) - poem by R. A. Lafferty
• Why Private War or, "Why They Pinned This Name on My Progenitor" - (1986) - poem by Gene Wolfe
• You Always Eat the One You Love - (1991) - poem by Kim Newman
• You're Deceased, Father William - (1991) - poem by Colin Greenland

This shot story originally appeared in Uncanny Magazine, Issue 15, March-April 2017.

Read the full story for free at Uncanny Magazine.

Imagine a world where the American government signed a conservation act to "restore all indigenous flora and fauna to the Great Plains," which means suddenly the Great Plains are Indian again. Now fast-forward fourteen years to a bowling alley deep in the Indian Territories. People that bowling alley with characters named LP Deal, Cat Stand, Mary Boy, Courtney Peltdowne, Back Iron, Denim Horse, Naitche, and give them a chance to find a treaty signed under duress by General Sherman, which effectively gives all of the Americas back to the Indians, only hide that treaty in a stolen pipe, put it in a locker, and flush the key down the toilet. Ask LP Deal and the rest what they will trade to get that key back--maybe, everything.

Twenty-six terrifying tales set on the scariest night of the year!

Treat yourself to some very tricky stories! Halloween... All Hallows' Eve... Samhain... Día de los Muertos... the Day the Dead Come Back... When the barriers between the worlds are at their weakest?when ghosts, goblins, and grisly things can cross over into our dimension?then for a single night each year the natural becomes the supernatural, the normal becomes the paranormal, and nobody is safe from their most intimate and terrifying fears.

The Mammoth Book of Halloween Stories brings you a dark feast of frightening fiction by some of the most successful and respected horror writers working today, including Ramsey Campbell, Neil Gaiman, Joe R. Lansdale, Helen Marshall, Richard Christian Matheson, Robert Shearman, Robert Silverberg, Angela Slatter, Steve Rasnic Tem, and many more, along with a very special contribution by award-winning poet Jane Yolen.

Here you will encounter witches, ghosts, monsters, psychos, demonic nuns, and even Death himself in this spooky selection of stories set on the night when evil walks the earth...

Modern masters of the macabre bring the dead to life in this specially re-vamped edition of the classic compilation every horror fan will want to sink their teeth into.

From an award-winning editor who knows the genre backwards, here is the very best in vampire fiction: from tales of tempting sirens to contemporary serial killers; from the dark origins of fairy tales to a modern reinterpretation of the King of the Undead himself, Count Dracula.

This revised edition features over a dozen new stories, including Tina Rath's A Trick of the Dark and Kim Newman's Andy Warhol's Dracula, as well as classic novellas such as Hugh B. Cave's Stragella and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Investigating Jericho. There are contributions by Nancy Kilpatrick, Christopher Fowler, Paul Mcauley, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Tina Rath, Neil Gaiman, Harlan Ellison and Kim Newman.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction: Children of the Night - essay by Stephen Jones
• Human Remains - (1984) - novelette by Clive Barker
• Necros - (1986) - short story by Brian Lumley
• The Man Who Loved the Vampire Lady - (1988) - novelette by Brian Stableford
• For the Blood Is the Life - (1905) - short story by F. Marion Crawford
• The Brood - (1980) - short story by Ramsey Campbell
• Hungarian Rhapsody - (1958) - short story by Robert Bloch
• Ligeia - (1838) - short story by Edgar Allan Poe
• Vampire - (1986) - poem by Richard Christian Matheson
• Stragella - (1932) - novelette by Hugh B. Cave
• A Week in the Unlife - (1991) - short story by David J. Schow
• The House at Evening - (1982) - short story by Frances Garfield
• The Labyrinth - (1974) - novelette by R. Chetwynd-Hayes
• Beyond Any Measure - (1982) - novella by Karl Edward Wagner
• Doctor Porthos - (1968) - short story by Basil Copper
• Dracula's Guest - (1914) - short story by Bram Stoker
• It Only Comes Out at Night - (1976) - short story by Dennis Etchison
• Dracula's Chair - (1980) - short story by Peter Tremayne
• The Better Half - (1989) - short story by Melanie Tem
• An Episode of Cathedral History - (1914) - short story by M. R. James
• Chastel - (1979) - novelette by Manly Wade Wellman
• Der Untergang des Abendlandesmenschen - (1976) - short story by Howard Waldrop
• The Room in the Tower - (1912) - short story by E. F. Benson
• Laird of Dundain - short story by Graham Masterton
• Midnight Mass - (1990) - novella by F. Paul Wilson
• Blood Gothic - (1985) - short story by Nancy Holder
• Yellow Fog - (1986) - short story by Les Daniels
• Vintage Domestic - short story by Steve Rasnic Tem
• Red Reign - novella by Kim Newman
• Vampire Sestina - (1989) - poem by Neil Gaiman

Table of Contents:

• Introduction: Even a Man Who is Pure of Heart... - essay by Stephen Jones
• Twilight at the Towers - (1985) - novelette by Clive Barker
• The Dream of the Wolf - (1984) - novelette by Scott Bradfield
• Night Beat - (1973) - short story by Ramsey Campbell
• The Werewolf - (1978) - short story by R. Chetwynd-Hayes
• Rain Falls - short story by Michael Marshall Smith
• Guilty Party - (1988) - short story by Stephen Laws
• Essence of the Beast - short story by Roberta Lannes
• Immortal - short story by Mark Morris
• Cry Wolf - (1974) - short story by Basil Copper
• Rug - short story by Graham Masterton
• The Whisperers - (1942) - short story by Hugh B. Cave
• And I Shall Go in the Devil's Name - short story by David Sutton
• The Foxes of Fascoum - novelette by Peter Tremayne
• One Paris Night - (1992) - short story by Karl Edward Wagner
• Soul of the Wolf - short story by Brian Mooney
• The Hairy Ones Shall Dance - (1938) - novella by Manly Wade Wellman
• Heart of the Beast - short story by Adrian Cole
• Wereman - (1990) - short story by Les Daniels
• Anything but Your Kind - short story by Nicholas Royle
• The Nighthawk - (1978) - short story by Dennis Etchison
• The Cell - (1969) - novella by David Case
• Boobs - (1989) - short story by Suzy McKee Charnas
• Out of the Night, When the Full Moon is Bright ... - novella by Kim Newman
• Bright of Moon - poem by Jo Fletcher

The Night Cyclist by Stephen Graham Jones is a horror novelette about a middle-aged chef whose nightly bicycle ride home is interrupted by an unexpected encounter.

Read the full story for free at Tor.com.

These thirteen stories are our own lives, inside out.

A boy's summer romance doesn't end in that good kind of heartbreak, but in blood. A girl on a fishing trip makes a friend in the woods who's exactly what she needs, except then that friend follows her back to the city. A father hears a voice through his baby monitor that shouldn't be possible, but now he can't stop listening. A woman finds out that the shipwreck wasn't the disaster, but who she's shipwrecked with. A big brother learns just what he will, and won't, trade for one night of sleep.

From prison guards making unholy alliances to snake-oil men in the Old West doling out justice, these stories carve down into the body of the mind, into our most base fears and certainties, and there's no anesthetic. Turn the light on if you want, but that just makes for more shadows.

Four American Indian men from the Blackfeet Nation, who were childhood friends, find themselves in a desperate struggle for their lives, against an entity that wants to exact revenge upon them for what they did during an elk hunt ten years earlier by killing them, their families, and friends.

IN THE DARKNESS, SOMETHING WICKED SPREADS ITS WINGS THE ETERNAL BATTLE between fallen angels and their Heavenly counterpoints plays out daily here on Earth. Without warning, ordinary people find their lives forever changed by the intervention of divine beings. But meddling with the living does not always go according to plan and the angels themselves fall under an all-too-mortal spell--longing for love or thirsting for wicked revenge. With stories from such world-renowned authors of fantasy and horror as Michael Bishop, Ramsey Campbell, Neil Gaiman, Graham Masterton, Robert Silverberg, Michael Marshall Smith, Lisa Tuttle, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and Jane Yolen, Visitants presents a breathtaking collection of stories in which Heaven's hosts reveal themselves on Earth and fallen angels struggle toward final redemption.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction: An Angelology, or Sorts - essay by Stephen Jones
• Murder Mysteries - (1992) - novelette by Neil Gaiman
• The Houses of the Favored - short story by Jay Lake
• An Infestation of Angels - (1985) - short story by Jane Yolen
• Second Journey of the Magus - (2010) - short story by Ian R. MacLeod
• The Bowmen - (1914) - short story by Arthur Machen
• Okay, Mary - (1949) - short story by Hugh B. Cave
• Plague Angel - short story by Yvonne Navarro
• Scent of the Green Cathedral - short story by Jay Lake
• Snow Angels - (2009) - short story by Sarah Pinborough
• Nephilim - (2003) - short story by Mark Samuels
• Thy Spinning Wheel Compleat - short story by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
• Old Mr. Boudreaux - (2007) - short story by Lisa Tuttle
• A Feast of Angels - short story by Jay Lake
• Transfiguration - short story by Richard Christian Matheson
• Evidence of Angels - (1995) - novelette by Graham Masterton
• Featherweight - novelette by Robert Shearman
• Molly and the Angel - (1999) - short story by Brian Stableford
• S. D. Watkins, Painter of Portraits - short story by Steve Rasnic Tem
• Being Right - (2003) - short story by Michael Marshall Smith
• Novus Ordo Angelorum - short story by Jay Lake
• Sariela; or, Spiritual Dysfunction & Counterangelic Longings: A Case Study in One Act - (1995) - short story by Michael Bishop
• With the Angels - short story by Ramsey Campbell
• Things I Didn't Know My Father Knew - (2001) - novelette by Peter Crowther
• The Fold - short story by Conrad Williams
• Basileus - (1983) - short story by Robert Silverberg
• Beautiful Men - short story by Christopher Fowler
• Going Bad - short story by Jay Lake

It's time for the annual Recipe Days bake-off in Lubbock, Texas. Soccer moms and grandmothers gather to show off their family recipes, learn new secrets for the perfect shortcake, and perhaps earn a chance to be on the famous cooking show, How Would You Cook It, Then?

When the bake-off is crashed by a federation of pro wrestlers -- including American Badass, Jersey Devil Jill, Tiny Giant, The Village Person, Jonah the Whale, the Hellbillies, and the fan favorite Xombie -- all hell is set to break loose. Your heart beats faster as you anticipate who will come out on top in the ultimate showdown of the century: soccer moms or pro wrestlers. Anything can happen.

An infected batch of donuts has transformed most of the wrestlers into mindless brain-eaters and the doors of the convention center have been chained shut, leaving the survivors locked inside, forced to fend for themselves against the hungry dead.

Possessing the intensity of a shotgun to the face, Zombie Bake-Off is a stripped-down masterpiece of blood and doughnuts from celebrated author Stephen Graham Jones.

Arguably the greatest collaboration in the whole history of comedy!

Bestselling author Douglas Adams wrote the storyline based on his CD-ROM game of the same name (as this novel, not as him, obviously).

Terry Jones of Monty Python wrote the book. In the nude! Parents be warned! Most of the words in this book were written by a naked man!

So. You want to argue with that? All right, we give in.

Starship Titanic is the greatest, most fabulous, most technologically advanced interstellar cruise line ever built. It is like a cross between the Queen Mary, the Chrysler Building, Tutankhamen's tomb, and Venice. Furthermore, it cannot possibly go wrong....

Sadly, however, seconds after its launch it undergoes SMEF, or Spontaneous Massive Existence Failure. And disappears.

Except, everything's got to be somewhere.

Coming home that night, on a little known planet called Earth, Dan and Lucy Gibson find something very large and very, very shiny sticking into their house...

A brilliant young scientist moves back home with his parents because his explosive temper has ruined his career. His neighbors, a family of witches, imps and demons, are charged with keeping science under control. They must, by using their debauched and twisted magic, stop Roland before he fulfills his destiny and makes a deadly discovery that will change the nature of humanity forever.

This novelette originally appeared in Clarkesworld, Issue 116, May 2016. It can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Fourth Annual Collection (2017), edited by Gardner Dozois.

Read the full story for free at Clarkesworld.

Handsome, impeccably tuxedoed Bruno Alexander travels the world winning large sums of money from amateur "whales" who think they can challenge his peerless acumen at backgammon. Fronted by his pasty, vampiric manager, Edgar Falk, Bruno arrives in Berlin after a troubling run of bad luck in Singapore. Perhaps it was the chance encounter with his crass childhood acquaintance Keith Stolarsky and his smoldering girlfriend Tira Harpaz. Or perhaps it was the emergence of a blot that distorts his vision so he has to look at the board sideways.

Things don't go much better in Berlin. Bruno's flirtation with Madchen, the striking blonde he meets on the ferry, is inconclusive; the game at the unsettling Herr Kohler's mansion goes awry as his blot grows worse; he passes out and is sent to the local hospital, where he is given an extremely depressing diagnosis. Having run through Falk's money, Bruno turns to Stolarsky, who, for reasons of his own, agrees to fly Bruno to Berkeley, and to pay for the experimental surgery that might save his life.

Berkeley, where Bruno discovered his psychic abilities, and to which he vowed never to return. Amidst the patchouli flashbacks and Anarchist gambits of the local scene, between Tira's come-ons and Keith's machinations, Bruno confronts two existential questions: Is the gambler being played by life? And what if you're telepathic but it doesn't do you any good?

In Jonathan Lethem's wryly funny second novel, we meet a young man named Chaos, who's living in a movie theater in post-apocalyptic Wyoming, drinking alcohol, and eating food out of cans.

It's an unusual and at times unbearable existence, but Chaos soon discovers that his post-nuclear reality may have no connection to the truth. So he takes to the road with a girl named Melinda in order to find answers. As the pair travels through the United States they find that, while each town has been affected differently by the mysterious source of the apocalypse, none of the people they meet can fill in their incomplete memories or answer their questions. Gradually, figures from Chaos's past, including some who appear only under the influence of intravenously administered drugs, make Chaos remember some of his forgotten life as a man named Moon.

Anna Karenina left her husband for a dashing officer. Lady Chatterley left hers for the gamekeeper. Now Alice Coombs has her boyfriend for nothing... nothing at all. Just how that should have come to pass and what Philip Engstrand, Alice's spurned boyfriend, can do about it is the premise for this vertiginous speculative romance by the acclaimed author of Gun, with Occasional Music.

Alice Coombs is a particle physicist, and she and her colleagues have created a void, a hole in the universe, that they have taken to calling Lack. But Lack is a nullity with taste-tastes; it absorbs a pomegranate, light bulbs, an argyle sock; it disdains a bow tie, an ice ax, and a scrambled duck egg. To Alice, this selectivity translates as an irresistible personality. To Philip, it makes Lack an unbeatable rival, for how can he win Alice back from something that has no flaws-because it has no qualities? Ingenious, hilarious, and genuinely mind-expanding, As She Climbed Across the Table is the best boy-meets-girl-meets-void story ever written.

Chase Insteadman, a handsome, inoffensive fixture on Manhattan's social scene, lives off residuals earned as a child star on a beloved sitcom called Martyr & Pesty. Chase owes his current social cachet to an ongoing tragedy much covered in the tabloids: His teenage sweetheart and fiancée, Janice Trumbull, is trapped by a layer of low-orbit mines on the International Space Station, from which she sends him rapturous and heartbreaking love letters. Like Janice, Chase is adrift, she in Earth's stratosphere, he in a vague routine punctuated by Upper East Side dinner parties.

Into Chase's cloistered city enters Perkus Tooth, a wall-eyed free-range pop critic whose soaring conspiratorial riffs are fueled by high-grade marijuana, mammoth cheeseburgers, and a desperate ache for meaning. Perkus's countercultural savvy and voracious paranoia draw Chase into another Manhattan, where questions of what is real, what is fake, and who is complicit take on a life-shattering urgency. Along with Oona Laszlo, a self-loathing ghostwriter, and Richard Abneg, a hero of the Tompkins Square Park riot now working as a fixer for the billionaire mayor, Chase and Perkus attempt to unearth the answers to several mysteries that seem to offer that rarest of artifacts on an island where everything can be bought: Truth.

This story can be found in the following anthologies and collections:

• Nebula Awards 32
• The Vintage Book of Amnesia
• The Wall of the Sky, the Wall of the Eye
• The James Tiptree Award Anthology 2

One the irrepressibly inventive Jonathan Lethem could weld science fiction and the Western into a mesmerizing novel of exploration and otherness, sexual awakening and loss. At the age of 13 Pella Marsh loses her mother and her home on the scorched husk that is planet Earth. Her sorrowing family emigrates to the Planet of the Archbuilders, whose mysterious inhabitants have names like Lonely Dumptruck and Hiding Kneel--and a civilization that and frightens their human visitors.?

On this new world, spikily independent Pella becomes as uneasy envoy between two species. And at the same time is unwilling drawn to a violent loner who embodies all the paranoid machismo of the frontier ethic. Combining the tragic grandeur of John Ford's The Searchers and the sexual tension of Lolita and transporting them to a planet light years, Girl in Landscape is a tour de force.

Gumshoe Conrad Metcalf has problems-not the least of which are the rabbit in his waiting room and the trigger-happy kangaroo on his tail. Near-future Oakland is an ominous place where evolved animals function as members of society, the police monitor citizens by their karma levels, and mind-numbing drugs such as Forgettol and Acceptol are all the rage. In this brave new world, Metcalf has been shadowing the wife of an affluent doctor, perhaps falling a little in love with her at the same time. But when the doctor turns up dead, our amiable investigator finds himself caught in the crossfire in a futuristic world that is both funny-and not so funny.

This novelette originally appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, September 1996. It can also be found in the anthologies:

• The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fourteenth Annual Collection (1997), edited by Gardner Dozois
• Dangerous Games (2007), edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois
• Rewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology (2007), edtied by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel
• Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse (2008), edited by John Joseph Adams

The story is included in the collections The Wall of the Sky, the Wall of the Eye (2002) and How We Got Insipid (2006).

Franz Kafka: by day, a mild-mannered insurance executive; by night a seminal Twentieth Century fabulist. Author of The Trial, The Castle, The Metamorphosis, Amerika.

Franz Kafka: Czech refugee, American screenwriter, painter of sad-eyed waifs, reclusive superhero with an identity problem. Associate of Frank Capra, Orson Welles, Charles Ives, Wallace Stevens, Gary Cooper, Rod Serling, and Roberto Begnini.

Franz Kafka: victim of an audacious, witty, hermetic, affectionate and shameless literary appropriation and reimagination by Jonathan Lethem and Carter Scholz.

These five stories project Kafka into a modern America he never lived to see, but might have invented--a world of material wealth and spiritual vapidity, filled with the detritus of postwar culture: old comic books, Hollywood movies, and tacky paintings of crying children.

Table of Contents:

• Blumfeld, an Elderly Bachelor - (1993) - shortstory by Carter Scholz
• The Notebooks of Bob K. - (1999) - shortfiction by Jonathan Lethem
• Receding Horizon - (1995) - shortstory by Jonathan Lethem and Carter Scholz
• The Amount to Carry - (1998) - novelette by Carter Scholz
• K for Fake - (1999) - shortfiction by Jonathan Lethem

The incomparable Jonathan Lethem returns with nine stories that demonstrate his mastery of the short form.

Jonathan Lethem's third collection of stories uncovers a father's nervous breakdown at SeaWorld in "Pending Vegan"; a foundling child rescued from the woods during a blizzard in "Traveler Home"; a political prisoner in a hole in a Brooklyn street in "Procedure in Plain Air"; and a crumbling, haunted "blog" on a seaside cliff in "The Dreaming Jaw, The Salivating Ear." Each of these locates itself in Lethem-land, which can be discovered only by visiting. As in his celebrated novels, Lethem finds the uncanny lurking in the mundane, the irrational self-defeat seeping through our upstanding pursuits, and the tragic undertow of the absurd world(s) in which we live.

Devoted fans of Lethem will recognize familiar themes: the anxiety of influence taken to reductio ad absurdum in "The King of Sentences"; a hapless, horny outsider summoning bravado in "The Porn Critic"; characters from forgotten comics stranded on a desert island in "Their Back Pages." As always in Lethem, humor and poignancy work in harmony, humans strive desperately for connection, words find themselves misaligned to deeds, and the sentences are glorious.

Table of Contents:

• Lucky Alan
• The King of Sentences
• Traveler Home
• Procedure in Plain Air
• Their Back Pages
• The Porn Critic
• The Empty Room
• The Dreaming Jaw The Salivating Ear
• Pending Vegan

Nebula-nominated Novella

Mysterious aliens have landed on Earth, but nobody can figure out what they want. Enter Liz Cobble, a frustrated professor of sapientology who finds herself swept up in a madcap romantic adventure with an eccentric billionaire and an architect who designs flying buildings.

This story was originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, September 1999, self-published by the authors in 2011, and included in The Collected Kessel (2012).

The Arrest isn't post-apocalypse. It isn't a dystopia. It isn't a utopia. It's just what happens when much of what we take for granted--cars, guns, computers, and airplanes, for starters--quits working....

Before the Arrest, Sandy Duplessis had a reasonably good life as a screenwriter in L.A. An old college friend and writing partner, the charismatic and malicious Peter Todbaum, had become one of the most powerful men in Hollywood. That didn't hurt.

Now, post-Arrest, nothing is what it was. Sandy, who calls himself Journeyman, has landed in rural Maine. There he assists the butcher and delivers the food grown by his sister, Maddy, at her organic farm. But then Todbaum shows up in an extraordinary vehicle: a retrofitted tunnel-digger powered by a nuclear reactor. Todbaum has spent the Arrest smashing his way across a fragmented and phantasmagorical United States, trailing enmities all the way. Plopping back into the siblings' life with his usual odious panache, his motives are entirely unclear. Can it be that Todbaum wants to produce one more extravaganza? Whatever he's up to, it may fall to Journeyman to stop him.

What's a novelist supposed to do with contemporary culture? And what's contemporary culture supposed to do with novelists? In The Ecstasy of Influence, Jonathan Lethem, tangling with what he calls the "white elephant" role of the writer as public intellectual, arrives at an astonishing range of answers.

A constellation of previously published pieces and new essays as provocative and idiosyncratic as any he's written, this volume sheds light on an array of topics from sex in cinema to drugs, graffiti, Bob Dylan, cyberculture, 9/11, book touring, and Marlon Brando, as well as on a shelf's worth of his literary models and contemporaries: Norman Mailer, Paula Fox, Bret Easton Ellis, James Wood, and others. And, writing about Brooklyn, his father, and his sojourn through two decades of writing, Lethem sheds an equally strong light on himself.

This short story originally appeared in the anthology In Dreams (1992), edited by Paul J. McAuley and Kim Newman. It can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction: Tenth Annual Collection (1993), edited by Gardner Dozois.

From the prize-winning author of Motherless Brooklyn, a daring, riotous, sweeping novel that spins the tale of two friends and their adventures in late 20th-century America.

This is the story of two boys, Dylan Ebdus and Mingus Rude. They live in Brooklyn and are friends and neighbours; but since Dylan is white and Mingus is black, their friendship is not simple.

This is the story of 1970s America, a time when the simplest decisions - what music you listen to, whether to speak to the kid in the seat next to you, whether to give up your lunch money - are laden with potential political, social and racial disaster. This is also the story of 1990s America, when nobody cared anymore.

This is the story of what would happen if two teenaged boys obsessed with comic book heroes actually had superpowers: they would screw up their lives.

Nebula and Sturgeon Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, February 1991. The story is included in the collection The Wall of the Sky, the Wall of the Eye (1996).

WFA nominated novelette. It originally appeared in the anthology Full Spectrum 5 (1995), edited by Tom Dupree, Jennifer Hershey and Janna Silverstein. The story is included in the collection How We Got Insipid (2006).

Jonathan Lethem again displays his brilliance in this collection of seven short stories, blurring the boundaries of sci-fi, mystery, and thriller. Tales include 'Light and the Sufferer', in which a crack addict is dogged by an invulnerable alien; 'The Hardened Criminals', wherein convicts are used as building blocks for new prisons; and 'The Happy Man', whose hapless protagonist is raised from the dead to support his family, only to suffer periodic out-of-body sojourns in Hell. Each tale features Lethem's characteristic deadpan wit and unflinchingly macabre vision of life.

Table of Contents:

• The Happy Man - (1991) - novelette
• Vanilla Dunk - (1992) - novelette
• Light and the Sufferer - (1995) - novelette
• Forever, Said the Duck - (1993) - shortfiction
• Five Fucks - (1996) - novelette
• The Hardened Criminals - (1996) - novelette
• Sleepy People - (1996) - novelette

Later editions also include:

• How We Got In Town and Out Again - (1996) - novelette

This story originally appeared in New Pathways, November 1990. It can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction: Eighth Annual Collection (1991), edited by Gardner Dozois.

Strange Finns, lusty women, mariner ghosts, and sea demons haunt the coastal lands of Norway, the setting for this popular collection from 1893. It transports the reader to a strange, salty world of maelstroms and maleficent spirits, boat builders and dream-wreckers. The tales came from northern Norway, and the author was the literary toast of all of Scandinavia.

Seventeen-year-old Aderyn ("Ryn") only cares about two things: her family and her family's graveyard. And right now, both are in dire straits. Since the death of their parents, Ryn and her siblings have been scraping together a meager existence as gravediggers in the remote village of Colbren, which sits at the foot of a harsh and deadly mountain range that was once home to the fae. The problem with being a gravedigger in Colbren, though, is that the dead don't always stay dead.

The risen corpses are known as "bone houses," and legend says that they're the result of a decades-old curse. When Ellis, an apprentice mapmaker with a mysterious past, arrives in town, the bone houses attack with new ferocity. What is it that draws them near? And more importantly, how can they be stopped for good?

Together, Ellis and Ryn embark on a journey that will take them into the heart of the mountains, where they will have to face both the curse and the deeply-buried truths about themselves.

Bram Stoker Award winner Jonathan Maberry is a master of the zombie tale.Empty Graves: Tales of the Living Dead is emotionally charged and disturbing. These stories range across the genres of horror, science fiction, and biological thriller without ever straying from the fascinating humanity at the core.

Together in a single action-packed collection, these 15 gritty tales of the living dead span Maberry's career, including an exclusive never-before-published short story.

Table of Contents:

• ix - Introduction (Empty Graves: Tales of the Living Dead) - essay by Ken Foree
• 1 - Chokepoint
• 26 - Fat Girl with a Knife
• 51 - Lone Gunman - [Night Universe]
• 71 - Not This War, Not This World
• 89 - Calling Death
• 106 - Gavin Funke's Monster Movie Marathon
• 126 - Cadaver Dog
• 155 - Overdue Books - [Rot & Ruin]
• 162 - A Small Taste of the Old Country
• 186 - Sisters - [Rot & Ruin]
• 210 - Jack and Jill - [Rot & Ruin]
• 252 - The Wind Through the Fence
• 267 - Jingo and the Hammerman
• 285 - The Death Poem of Sensei Otoro
• 326 - Son of the Devil
• 352 - Pegleg and Paddy Save the World

Rain Thomas is a mess. Seven years an addict and three difficult years clean. Racked by guilt for the baby she gave up for adoption when she was sixteen. Still grieving for the boy's father who died in Iraq. Alone, discarded by her family, with only the damaged members of her narcotics anonymous meetings as friends. Them, and the voices in her head.

One morning, on the way to a much-needed job interview, she borrows reading glasses to review her resume. There is a small crack in one lens and through that damaged slice of glass she sees a young boy go running down the aisle of the subway train. Is he screaming with laughter or just screaming? When she tries to find the boy, he's gone and no one has seen him.

The day spins out of control. Rain loses whole chunks of time. She has no idea where her days went. The voices she hears are telling her horrible things. And even stranger things are happening. Unsure whether she is going insane, Rain sets out to find answers to long buried questions about an earlier life she has avoided for years--in what may be the most dangerous collision of all, that between reality and nightmare.

How far will one person go to save someone they love?

Investigative reporter Nora Hesper spends her nights cloaked in shadows. As Indigo, she's become an urban myth, a brutal vigilante who can forge darkness into weapons and travel across the city by slipping from one patch of shadow to another. Her primary focus both as Nora and as Indigo has become a murderous criminal cult called the Children of Phonos. Children are being murdered in New York, and Nora is determined to make it stop, even if that means Indigo must eliminate every member. But in the aftermath of a bloody battle, a dying cultist makes claims that cause Indigo to question her own origin and memories.

Nora's parents were killed when she was nineteen years old. She took the life insurance money and went off to explore the world, leading to her becoming a student of meditation and strange magic in a mountaintop monastery in Nepal...a history that many would realize sounds suspiciously like the origins of several comic book characters. As Nora starts to pick apart her memory, it begins to unravel. Her parents are dead, but the rest is a series of lies. Where did she get the power inside her?

In a brilliant collaboration by New York Times and critically acclaimed coauthors Charlaine Harris, Christopher Golden, Kelley Armstrong, Jonathan Maberry, Kat Richardson, Seanan McGuire, Tim Lebbon, Cherie Priest, James A. Moore, and Mark Morris join forces to bring you a crime-solving novel like you've never read before.

Go on the adventure of a lifetime with a teen and his family after they are selected to colonize Mars in this thrilling new novel from multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author Jonathan Maberry.

Tristan has known that he and his family were going to be on the first mission to colonize Mars since he was twelve years old, and he has been training ever since. However, knowing that he would be leaving for Mars with no plan to return didn't stop him from falling in love with Izzy.

But now, at sixteen, it's time to leave Earth, and he's forced to face what he must leave behind in exchange for an uncertain future. When the news hits that another ship is already headed to colonize Mars, and the NeoLuddite terrorist group begins threatening the Mars One project, the mission's purpose is called into question. Is this all worth it?

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first issues of Weird Tales Magazine , 100 Years of Weird is a masterful compendium of new and classic stories, flash fiction, essays, and poems from the giants of speculative fiction, including R. L. Stine, Laurell K. Hamilton, Ray Bradbury, H. P. Lovecraft, Tennessee Williams, and Isaac Asimov.

Marking a century of uniquely peculiar storytelling, each part of this anthology features a different genre from Cosmic Horror, Sword and Sorcery, Space Opera, to the Truly Weird -- things too strange to publish elsewhere, and the magazine's raison d'etre. Landmark stories such as "The Call of Cthulhu", "Worms of the Earth", and "Legal Rites" stand beside original stories and insightful essays from today's masters of speculative fiction.

This visually stunning hardcover edition is a collector's dream, illustrated throughout with classic full color and black & white art from past issues of Weird Tales Magazine.

A lonely, nerdy paperboy encounters ancient evil on the shadowy back roads of his home town. A little girl spends her nights dreaming of monsters and teaching herself the art of murder. Sherlock Holmes journeys to America for an encounter with the ghost of a murdered woman. A samurai sails to a forgotten island to battle the living dead. Special ops soldiers fly the void to fight space pirates. A heartbroken junkie seeks vengeance for his murdered friend.

Whistling Past the Graveyard is the first print collection of short fiction by New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry. These creepy tales of horror, suspense, adventure and mystery take readers to the troubled little town of Pine Deep, to the Feudal Japan of the Samurai, to the angry red planet of John Carter of Mars, and elsewhere. These are strange journeys through nightmare land, with a five-time Bram Stoker Award winner as your guide.

Jone Grifan, a priest in the Church of the Rational Cosmos experiences a coming-of-age in the Yukey Isles.

A killer far worse than insane.

Chris Wilcox has been searching for years, so he knows a few things about his wife's killer. Cheryl Wilcox wasn't the first. All the victims were redheads. All eaten alive and left within a mile of the ocean. The trail of death crosses the globe and spans decades.

The cold trail catches fire when Chris and two other survivors find a trace of the killer's DNA. By hiring a cutting-edge lab to sequence it, they make a terrifying discovery. The killer is far more dangerous than they ever guessed. And now they're being hunted by their own prey.

It's late Thursday night, and Inspector Ross Carver is at a crime scene in one of the city's last luxury homes. The dead man on the floor is covered by an unknown substance that's eating through his skin. Before Carver can identify it, six FBI agents burst in and remove him from the premises. He's pushed into a disinfectant trailer, forced to drink a liquid that sends him into seizures, and then is shocked unconscious.

On Sunday he wakes in his bed to find his neighbor, Mia--who he's barely ever spoken to--reading aloud to him. He can't remember the crime scene or how he got home; he has no idea two days have passed. Mia says she saw him being carried into their building by plainclothes police officers, who told her he'd been poisoned. Carver doesn't really know this woman and has no way of disproving her, but his gut says to keep her close.

A mind-bending, masterfully plotted thriller that will captivate fans of Blake Crouch, China Miéville, and Lauren Beukes, The Night Market follows Carver as he works to find out what happened, soon realizing he's entangled in a web of conspiracy that spans the nation. And that Mia may know a lot more than she lets on.

WHEN THE VOICES CALL, DON'T ANSWER...

In the wake of his parents' tragic deaths fourteen-year-old Richard Elauved has been sent to live with his aunt and uncle in the remote town of Ballantyne, where all is not as it seems.

Richard quickly earns a reputation as an outcast, and when a classmate named Tom goes missing, no one believes him when he says the telephone booth out by the edge of the woods sucked Tom into the receiver like something out of a horror movie.

No one, that is, except the enigmatic Karen, who encourages Richard to pursue clues the police refuse to investigate. He traces the number to an abandoned house in the woods. There he catches a glimpse of a terrifying face in the window. And then the voices start.

This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, January 2013.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

An anthology of Underground horror. In deep tunnels something stirs, borne on a warm breath of wind, reeking of diesel and blood. The spaces between stations hold secrets too terrible for the upper world to comprehend and the steel lines sing with the songs of the dead. Jonathan Oliver has collected together some of the very best in new horror writing in an themed anthology of stories set on, and around, the Underground, the Metro and other places deep below.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction (End of the Road) - (2013) - essay by Jonathan Oliver
• We Know Where We're Goin - (2013) - shortfiction by Philip Reeve
• Fade to Gold - (2013) - shortfiction by Benjanun Sriduangkaew
• Without a Hitch - (2013) - shortfiction by Ian Whates
• Balik Kampung (Going Back) - (2013) - shortfiction by Zen Cho
• Driver Error - (2013) - shortfiction by Paul Meloy
• Locusts - (2013) - shortfiction by Lavie Tidhar
• The Track - (2013) - shortfiction by Jay Caselberg
• Dagiti Timayap Garda (of the Flying Gardians) - (2013) - shortfiction by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz
• I'm the Lady of Good Times, She Said - (2013) - shortfiction by Helen Marshall
• The Widow - (2013) - shortfiction by Rio Youers
• The Cure - (2013) - shortfiction by Anil Menon
• Through Wylmere Woods - (2013) - shortfiction by Sophia McDougall
• Bingo - (2013) - shortfiction by S. L. Grey
• Peripateia - (2013) - shortfiction by Vandana Singh
• Always in Our Hearts - (2013) - shortfiction by Adam Nevill

Five Stories High is an anthology of five novellas each set in the same house -- Irongrove Lodge. This five storey Georgian mansion, once a grand detached property, has now been split into five apartments. This is a building with history, the very bricks and grounds imbued with the pasts of those who have walked these corridors, lived in these rooms.

Table of Contents:

• Maggots by Nina Allan
• Priest Hole by KJ Parker
• Gnaw by Tade Thompson
• Skin Deep by Sarah Lotz
• The Best Story I Can Manage Under the Circumstances by Robert Shearman

Jon Padgett's The Secret of Ventriloquism, named the Best Fiction Book of 2016 by Rue Morgue Magazine, heralds the arrival of a significant new literary talent. With themes reminiscent of Shirley Jackson, Thomas Ligotti, and Bruno Schulz, but with a strikingly unique vision, Padgett's work explores the mystery of human suffering, the agony of personal existence, and the ghastly means by which someone might achieve salvation from both.

A bullied child seeks vengeance within a bed's hollow box spring. A lucid dreamer is haunted by an impossible house. A dummy reveals its own anatomy in 20 simple steps. A stuttering librarian holds the key to a mill town's unspeakable secrets. A commuter's worldview is shattered by two words printed on a cardboard sign. An aspiring ventriloquist spends a little too much time looking at himself in a mirror. And a presence speaks through them all.

GOING UP?

A dinner party is held in the penthouse of a multimillion-pound development. All the guests are strangers - even to their host, the billionaire owner of the building.

None of them know why they were selected to receive his invitation. Whether privileged or deprived, they share only one thing in common - they've all experienced a shocking disturbance within the building's walls.

By the end of the night, their host is dead, and none of the guests will say what happened. His death has remained one of the biggest unsolved mysteries - until now.

But are you ready for their stories?

Jael has always felt like a freak. She's never kissed a boy, she never knew her mom, and her dad's always been superstrict--but that's probably because her mom was a demon, which makes Jael half demon and most definitely not a normal sophomore girl. On her sixteenth birthday, a mysterious present unlocks her family's dangerous history and Jael's untapped potential. What was merely an embarrassing secret before becomes a terrifying reality. Jael must learn to master her demon side in order to take on a vindictive Duke of Hell, while also dealing with a twisted priest, best-friend drama, and a spacey blond skater boy who may have hidden depths.

Author Jon Skovron takes on the dark side of human nature with his signature funny, heartfelt prose.

The brand new anthology from multi-award winning editor Jonathan Strahan, featuring stories set in futures wracked by the deluge, from some the best writers in SF, including Kim Stanley Robinson, Ken Liu, Paul McAuley, Kathleen Ann Goonan, Charlie Jane Anders, Lavie Tidhar, Jeffrey Ford, and James Morrow.

We stand at the beginning of one of the greatest ecological disasters in the time on Man. The world is warming and seas are rising. We may deny it, but we can't hide when the water comes. Already the streets of Miami flood regularly and Mick Jones looks more and more prescient when he sang that "London is drowning and I, I live by the river!" all those years ago.

And yet water is life. It brings change. Where one thing is wiped away, another rises in its place. There has always been romance and adventure in the streets of a drowned London or on gorgeous sailing cities spanning a submerged world, sleek ships exploring as land gets ever rarer.

Drowned Worlds looks at the future we might have if the oceans rise, good or bad. Here you'll find stories of action, adventure, romance and, yes, warning and apocalypse. Stories inspired by Ballard's The Drowned World, Sterling's Islands in the Net, and Ryman's The Child Garden. Stories that allow that things may get worse, but remembers that such times also bring out the best in us all.

Table of Contents:

• Elves of Antarctica, Paul McAuley
• Dispatches from the Cradle: The Hermit - Forty-Eight Hours in the Sea of Massachusetts, Ken Liu
• Venice Drowned, Kim Stanley Robinson
• Brownsville Station, Christopher Rowe
• Who Do You Love?, Kathleen Ann Goonan
• Because Change Was the Ocean and We Lived by Her Mercy, Charlie Jane Anders
• The Common Tongue, the Present Tense, the Known, Nina Allan
• What is, Jeffrey Ford
• Destroyed by the Waters, Rachel Swirsky
• The New Venusians, Sean Williams
• Inselberg, Nalo Hopkinson
• Only Ten More Shopping Days Left Till Ragnarök, James Morrow
• Last Gods, Sam J. Miller
• Drowned, Lavie Tidhar
• The Future is Blue, Catherynne M. Valente

Sentient. Intelligent. Extraordinary.

An SFBC Original Event.

In science fiction, nothing says sensawunda like a Big Dumb Object--a colossal, extremely powerful machine of unknown purpose and origin. It's that feeling that editor Jonathan Strahan was after when he asked six of today's finest authors to write for Godlike Machines. And they succeed brilliantly!

Alastair Reynolds unlocks the secrets inside an alien spaceship--secrets that could change the world... if only a repressive regime would believe its last surviving explorer.

Stephen Baxter sends wormwhole builders to Titan, but what they discover there may fuel their wildest dreams... or destroy them.

Cory Doctorow turns the idea of godlike machines on its head with replicating machines that turn cities back into wilderness.

Sean Williams leads a spacer agent through a subterranean Structure... and into space-time itself.

Robert Reed--in a story about the ancient, Jupiter-sized Great Ship--looks at a strange passenger who has been on board far longer than seems possible.

Greg Egan gives us an alien technology only he could imagine--a wandering world that's inexplicably warm enough to support life.

Made from the pure stuff of SF, these unique, all-new adventures are nothing less than awesome!

Mars! The Red Planet! For generations, people have wondered what it would be like to travel to and live there. That curiosity has inspired some of the most durable science fiction, including Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles and the work of Isaac Asimov. Now the award-winning anthologist Jonathan Strahan has brought together thirteen original stories to explore the possibilities. After reading Life on Mars, readers will never look at the fourth planet from the sun the same way again.

Table of Contents:

• "Attlee and the Long Walk", Kage Baker
• "The Old Man and the Martian Sea", Alastair Reynolds
• "Wahala", Nnedi Okorafor
• "On Chryse Plain", Stephen Baxter
• "First Principle", Nancy Kress
• "Martian Chronicles", Cory Doctorow (novella)
• "Goodnight Moons", Ellen Klages
• "The Taste of Promises", Rachel Swirsky
• "Digging", Ian McDonald
• "LARP on Mars", Chris Roberson
• "Martian Heart", John Barnes
• "Discovering Life", Kim Stanley Robinson

100 years after Karel Capek coined the word, "robots" are an everyday idea, and the inspiration for countless stories in books, film, TV and games.

They are often among the least privileged, most unfairly used of us, and the more robots are like humans, the more interesting they become. This collection of stories is where robots stand in for us, where both we and they are disadvantaged, and where hope and optimism shines through.

Table of Contents:

• Making the Other We Need (Made to Order: Robots and Revolution) - essay by Jonathan Strahan
• A Guide for Working Breeds - short fiction by Vina Jie-Min Prasad
• Test 4 Echo - short fiction by Peter Watts
• The Endless - short fiction by Saad Z. Hossain
• Brother Rifle - short fiction by Daryl Gregory
• The Hurt Pattern - short fiction by Tochi Onyebuchi
• Idols - short fiction by Ken Liu
• Bigger Fish - short fiction by Sarah Pinsker
• Sonnie's Union - [Confederation Universe Stories] - short fiction by Peter F. Hamilton
• Dancing with Death - short fiction by John Chu
• Polished Performance - short fiction by Alastair Reynolds
• An Elephant Never Forgets - short fiction by Rich Larson
• The Translator - short fiction by Annalee Newitz
• Sin Eater - short fiction by Ian R. MacLeod
• Fairy Tales for Robots - short fiction by Sofia Samatar
• Chiaroscuro in Red - short fiction by Suzanne Palmer
• A Glossary of Radicalization - short fiction by Brooke Bolander

Houston, we have a problem...

Life is fragile. The difference between success and failure can come down to nothing - the thread of a screw, the flick of a switch - and when it goes wrong, you fix it. Or someone dies.

Mission Critical takes us from our world, across the Solar System, and out into deep space to tell the stories of people who had to do the impossible.

And do it fast.

Table of Contents:

• "When Things Go Wrong" - essay by Jonathan Strahan
• "This is Not the Way Home" - novelette by Greg Egan
• "Rescue Party" [Xuya Universe] - novelette by Aliette de Bodard
• "Devil in the Dust" - short story by Linda Nagata
• "Hanging Gardens" - short story by Gregory Feeley
• "The One Who Was There" - short story by John Barnes
• "By the Warmth of Their Calculus" - novelette by Tobias S. Buckell
• "Mutata Superesse" - short story by Jason Fischer and Sean Williams
• "The Empty Gun" - short story by Yoon Ha Lee
• "Genesong" - novelette by Peter F. Hamilton
• "Something in the Air" - novelette by Carolyn Ives Gilman
• "Lost in Splendour" - short story by John Meaney
• "The Agreement" - short story by Dominica Phetteplace
• "The Fires of Prometheus" - short story by Allen M. Steele
• "Ice Breakers" - short story by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
• "Cyclopterus" - short story by Peter Watts

A truly breathtaking new anthology edited by Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders, Swords & Dark Magic offers stunning new tales of sword and sorcery action, romance, and dark adventure written by some of the most respected, bestselling fantasy writers working today--from Joe Abercrombie to Gene Wolfe. An all-new Elric novella from the legendary Michael Moorcock and a new visit to Majipoor courtesy of the inimitable Robert Silverberg are just two of the treasures offered in Swords & Dark Magic-- a fantasy lover's dream.

Table of Contents:

• Check Your Dark Lord at the Door - essay by Lou Anders and Jonathan Strahan
• Goats of Glory - short fiction by Steven Erikson
• Tides Elba: A Tale of the Black Company - short fiction by Glen Cook
• Bloodsport - short fiction by Gene Wolfe
• The Singing Spear - short fiction by James Enge
• A Wizard of Wiscezan - short fiction by C. J. Cherryh
• A Rich Full Week - novelette by K. J. Parker
• A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet - short fiction by Garth Nix
• Red Pearls: An Elric Story - short fiction by Michael Moorcock
• The Deification of Dal Bamore: A Tale from Echo City - short fiction by Tim Lebbon
• Dark Times at the Midnight Market - novelette by Robert Silverberg
• The Undefiled - short fiction by Greg Keyes
• Hew the Tintmaster - short fiction by Michael Shea
• In the Stacks - novelette by Scott Lynch
• Two Lions, A Witch, and the War-Robe - short fiction by Tanith Lee
• The Sea Troll's Daughter - novelette by Caitlín R. Kiernan
• Thieves of Daring - short fiction by Bill Willingham
• The Fool Jobs - novelette by Joe Abercrombie

Here there be dragons...

From China to Europe, Africa to North America, dragons have long captured our imagination in myth and legend. Whether they are rampaging beasts awaiting a brave hero to slay or benevolent sages who have much to teach humanity, dragons are intrinsically connected to stories of creation, adventure, and struggle beloved for generations.

Contents:

• Introduction (The Book of Dragons) - essay by Jonathan Strahan
• What Heroism Tells Us - poem by Jane Yolen
• Matriculation - short fiction by Elle Katharine White
• Hikaya Sri Bujang, or The Tale of the Naga Sage - short fiction by Zen Cho
• Yuli - short fiction by Daniel Abraham
• A Whisper of Blue - novelette by Ken Liu
• Nidhog - poem by Jo Walton
• Where the River Turns to Concrete - novelette by Brooke Bolander
• Habitat - short fiction by Tom Holt [as by K. J. Parker]
• Pox - short fiction by Ellen Klages
• The Nine Curves River - short fiction by R. F. Kuang
• Lucky's Dragon - novelette by Kelly Barnhill
• I Make Myself a Dragon - poem by Beth Cato
• The Exile - short fiction by JY Yang
• Except on Saturdays - short fiction by Peter S. Beagle
• La Vitesse - short fiction by Kelly Robson
• A Final Knight to her Love and Foe - poem by Amal El-Mohtar
• The Long Walk - short fiction by Kate Elliott
• Cut Me Another Quill, Mister Fitz - short fiction by Garth Nix
• Hoard - short fiction by Seanan McGuire
• The Worm of Lirr - poem by C. S. E. Cooney
• The Last Hunt - short fiction by Aliette de Bodard
• We Continue - short fiction by Ann Leckie and Rachel Swirsky
• Small Bird's Plea - short fiction by Todd McCaffrey
• The Dragons - poem by Theodora Goss
• Dragon Slayer - short fiction by Michael Swanwick
• Camouflage - short fiction by Patricia A. McKillip
• We Don't Talk About the Dragon - short fiction by Sarah Gailey
• Maybe Just Go Up There and Talk to It - short fiction by Scott Lynch
• A Nice Cuppa - poem by Jane Yolen

Truly successful science fiction does two things: it gives credible glimpses into the future while entertaining the reader. With this in mind, noted anthologist Jonathan Strahan (who is also the reviews editor of Locus magazine) asked sixteen of today's most inventive, compelling writers to look past the horizon of the present day. Neil Gaiman (Anansi Boys), Kelly Link (Magic for Beginners), Garth Nix (the Abhorsen Trilogy), Scott Westerfeld (Uglies; Pretties; Specials) and their colleagues have crafted a dazzling range of stories. Whether on spaceships, in suburbia, or in simulated gaming worlds, whether about cloning, battle tactics, or corporate politics, the stories of The Starry Rift will give every reader something to consider. This original anthology is crucial reading for those who want to see where the future (and the future of science fiction) is headed.

Table of Contents:

• "Ass-Hat Magic Spider" by by Scott Westerfeld
• "Cheats" by Ann Halam
• "Orange" by Neil Gaiman
• "The Surfer" by Kelly Link
• "Repair Kit" by Stephen Baxter
• "The Dismantled Invention of Fate" by Jeffrey Ford
• "Anda's Game" By Corey Doctorow
• "Sundiver Day" by Kathleen Ann Goonan
• "The Dust Assassin" by Ian McDonald
• "The Star Surgeon's Apprentice" by Alastair Reynolds
• "An Honest Day's Work" By Margo Lanigan
• "Lost Continent" by Greg Egan
• "Incomers" by Paul McAuley
• "Post--Ironic Stress Syndrome" by Tricia Sullivan
• "Infestation" by Garth Nix
• "Pinocchio" by Walter Jon Williams

Broomsticks.
Black Cats.
Pointy Hats.

They can mean only one thing - somewhere nearby, there must be a witch. From fairy tales to fims to fiction, witches cast their spells and capture our imaginations.

Now the biggest names in fantasy and young adult literature have come together to make a little magic of their own. Neil Gaiman, Holly Black, Diana Peterfreund, Margo Lanagan, Peter S. Beagle, and Garth Nix are just a few of the authors who have toiled over their cauldrons and conjured up bewitching new creations inspired by and celebrating the might and mystery of the witch. Assembled by one of the most well-regarded anthologists in the science fiction/fantasy world, this rich, intelligent collection will enchant readers of all ages.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction: Looking Under the Hat - (2012) - essay by Jonathan Strahan
• Stray Magic - (2012) - novelette by Diana Peterfreund
• Payment Due - (2012) - short story by Frances Hardinge
• A Handful of Ashes - (2012) - novelette by Garth Nix
• Little Gods - (2012) - novelette by Holly Black
• Barrio Girls - (2012) - short story by Charles de Lint
• Felidis - (2012) - novelette by Tanith Lee
• Witch Work - (2012) - poem by Neil Gaiman
• The Education of a Witch - (2012) - novelette by Ellen Klages
• The Threefold World - (2012) - short fiction by Ellen Kushner
• The Witch in the Wood - (2012) - novelette by Delia Sherman
• Which Witch - (2012) - short story by Patricia A. McKillip
• The Carved Forest - (2012) - short story by Tim Pratt
• Burning Castles - (2012) - short story by M. Rickert
• The Stone Witch - (2012) - novelette by Isobelle Carmody
• Andersen's Witch - (2012) - short story by Jane Yolen
• B Is for Bigfoot - (2012) - novelette by Jim Butcher
• Great-Grandmother in the Cellar - (2012) - short story by Peter S. Beagle
• Crow and Caper, Caper and Crow - (2012) - short story by Margo Lanagan

Dragons: Fearsome fire-breathing foes, scaled adversaries, legendary lizards, ancient hoarders of priceless treasures, serpentine sages with the ages' wisdom, and winged weapons of war...

Edited by Jonathan Strahan (The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Eclipse) and Marianne S. Jablon, Wings of Fire collects the best short stories about dragons. From writhing wyrms to snakelike devourers of heroes; from East to West and everywhere in between, Wings of Fire is sure to please dragon lovers everywhere.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction (2010) - essay by Jonathan Strahan and Marianne S. Jablon
• Stable of Dragons (1960) - poem by Peter S. Beagle
• The Rule of Names [Earthsea] (1964) - short story by Ursula K. Le Guin
• The Ice Dragon (1980) - novelette by George R. R. Martin
• Sobek (2010) - short fiction by Holly Black
• King Dragon (2003) - novelette by Michael Swanwick
• The Laily Worm (2004) - short story by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
• The Harrowing of the Dragon of Hoarsbreath (1982) - novelette by Patricia A. McKillip
• The Bully and the Beast (1979) - novella by Orson Scott Card
• Concerto Accademico (1992) - short story by Barry N. Malzberg
• The Dragon's Boy [Merlin's Booke] (1985) - novelette by Jane Yolen
• The Miracle Aquilina (2010) - short fiction by Margo Lanagan
• Orm the Beautiful (2007) - short story by Elizabeth Bear
• Weyr Search [Pern] (1967) - novella by Anne McCaffrey
• Paper Dragons [Land of Dreams] (1985) - novelette by James P. Blaylock
• Dragon's Gate (2003) - novelette by Pat Murphy
• In Autumn, a White Dragon Looks Over the Wide River [Temeraire] (2009) - short story by Naomi Novik
• St. Dragon and the George [The Dragon Knight] (1957) - novelette by Gordon R. Dickson
• The Silver Dragon (2004) - novelette by Elizabeth A. Lynn
• The Dragons of Summer Gulch (2004) - novelette by Robert Reed
• Berlin [Chronicles of the Borderlands] (1989) - novella by Charles de Lint
• Draco, Draco (1984) - novelette by Tanith Lee
• The Dragon on the Bookshelf (1995) - short story by Harlan Ellison and Robert Silverberg
• Gwydion and the Draogn (1991) - novelette by C. J. Cherryh
• The George Business (1980) - short story by Roger Zelazny
• Dragon's Fin Soup (1995) - novelette by S. P. Somtow
• The Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule [Griaule] (1984) - novelette by Lucius Shepard

When a young Russian boy disappears from a top-secret research establishment, and turns up in Tokyo, he presents a major problem for American security officials. The youth appears to be part of a sophisticated experiment--and to have the mind of a supposedly dead astronaut perfectly imprinted on his own. And, the boy claims the tests have been extended to a whale. As these strange events unfold, other cataclysmic events begin to occur too: a groundbreaking Nobel Prize winner proves that what we perceive as the universe is nothing more than a ghost of the real thing. Then the whales begin singing their death-mantra throughout the world's oceans.

An interstellar catastrophe has left humanity scattered on dozens of primitive worlds. Fiona is an emissary to one such world, charged with helping the inhabitants of Echidne rise from barbarism.

But once she's arrived on the planet, she finds herself in the middle of a war... the Brodaini, the world's most ferocious warriors, have risen in revolt against their overlords. The combat threatens to become a war of extermination.

Fiona is a neutral in the war. But Echidne is proving a perilous place for neutrals...

ORPHANS OF DEEP SPACE

They're outlaws now. Created to serve a function grown obsolete, haunted by the holographic ghost of their father, Ubu and Maria have lived their entire lives skating along the edge of extinction. Now they and their ship Runaway are in flight, both from the law and from a predatory clan of competitors.

But what they find in the depths of space isn't wealth, but a secret so startling that Ubu and Maria will need every last reserve of guile, cunning, and intelligence just to survive.

Nebula Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, October-November 1999. There are no other known publications available at this time.

Successful in its efforts to create a glittering interstellar empire, founded on the use of an ultra-advanced computer and bioengineering technology, humankind becomes the prey of its own creation, the Aristoi.

Nebula Award winning and Sturgeon Award nominated short story.

Little Jamie lives with his family in an eerily perfect environment, entertained by characters from literature, sung to sleep at night by the Woman in the Moon. But cracks begin to appear in Jamie's world that reveal rifts within his family, and he begins to see the terrifying reality behind the walls of his life, and to understand that perfection has its price...

The story originally appeared in the anthology Not of Woman Born (1999), edited by Constance Ash. It can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Seventeenth Annual Collection (2000), edited by Gardner Dozois, Nebula Awards Showcase 2002, edited by Kim Stanley Robinson, Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction (2005), edited by Gardner Dozois, and Rewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology (2007), edited by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel. It is included in the collections The Green Leopard Plague and Other Stories (2010) and The Best of Walter Jon Williams (2021).

Read the story for free at Clarkesword.

Hugo and Sturgeon Award nominated novelette.

This Hugo Award-nominated story takes place in the distant future, when a highly-evolved humanity finds itself at war with the alien Shars. The product of eight million years of evolution, Ambassador Drill is sent to make peace... but does he retain enough of his humanity to recognize that of his enemies?

The story originally appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, June 1987. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fifth Annual Collection (1988), edited by Gardner Dozois, The 1988 Annual World's Best SF, edited by Arthur W. Saha and Donald A. Wollheim, Future on Ice (1998) edited Orson Scott Card and The Furthest Horizon: SF Adventures to the Far Future (2000) edited by Gardner Dozois. It is included in the collections Facets (1990) and The Best of Walter Jon Williams (2021).

This collection of short stories includes "Surfacing", a tale of the perils and joys of communication between humans and whales, "Video Star" and "Wolf Time", which provide two perspectives on the lives of outlaws struggling to survive and "Dinosuars" a story about the struggle for supremacy.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Roger Zelazny
• Surfacing - (1988) - novella
• Video Star - (1986) - novelette
• No Spot of Ground - (1989) - novella
• Flatline - (1988) - shortstory
• Side Effects - (1985) - novelette
• Witness - (1986) - novelette
• Wolf Time - (1987) - novelette
• The Bob Dylan Solution - (1989) - shortstory
• Dinosaurs - (1987) - novelette

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Gardner Dozois
• Solip: System - (1989) - novelette
• Broadway Johnny - (1995) - novella
• Woundhealer - (1995) - novelette
• The Bad Twin - novelette
• Red Elvis - (1994) - novelette
• Prayers on the Wind - (1991) - novella
• Erogenoscape - (1991) - novelette
• Foreign Devils - (1996) - novelette
• Bag Lady - novelette
• Wall, Stone, Craft - (1993) - novella

From Walter Jon Williams, the celebrated and influential author of Hardwired, Voice of the Whirlwind, and Angel Station comes Implied Spaces, a new novel of post-singularity action, pyrotechnics, and intrigue.

Aristide, a semi-retired computer scientist turned swordsman, a scholar of the implied spaces, seeking meaning amid the accidents of architecture in a universe where reality itself has been sculpted and designed by superhuman machine intelligence. While exploring the pre-technological world Midgarth, one of four dozen pocket universes created within a series of vast, orbital matrioshka computer arrays, Aristide uncovers a fiendish plot threatening to set off a nightmare scenario, perhaps even bringing about the ultimate Existential Crisis: the end of civilization itself!

Traveling the pocket universes with his wormhole-edged sword Tecmessa in hand and talking cat Bitsy, avatar of the planet-sized computer Endora, at his side, Aristide must find a way to save the multiverse from subversion, sabotage, and certain destruction.

This novella originally appeared in the anthology Escape from Earth: New Adventures in Space (2006), edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann. It can also be found in the anthologies Science Fiction: The Best of the Year, 2007 Edition, edited by Rich Horton, The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume One (2007), edited by Jonathan Strahan, and The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fourth Annual Collection (2007), edited by Gardner Dozois. The story is included in the collection The Green Leopard Plague and Other Stories (2010).

Earth is a paradise. But not even paradise is perfect.

The Falkner Generator has given mankind the stars. At sub light speeds scattered humanity slowly sinks into decay. The last endless night is falling on the human race. Unless....

Nebula and Sturgeon award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, September 1997. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fifteenth Annual Collection (1998), edited by Gardner Dozois and Nebula Awards Showcase 2000 , Gregory Benford. It is included in the collection The Green Leopard Plague and Other Stories (2010).

This short story originally appeared on Infinitematrix.net, August 2002. It can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twentieth Annual Collection (2003), edited by Gardner Dozois, and Beyond Singularity (2005), edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois. The story is included in the collections The Green Leopard Plague and Other Stories (2010) and The Best of Walter Jon Williams (2021).

Read the full story for free at Infinitematrix.net.

Nebula Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in the anthology When the Music's Over (1991), edited by Lewis Shiner. The story can also be foun in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Ninth Annual Collection (1992), edited by Gardner Dozois, and The Good New Stuff: Adventure SF in the Grand Tradition (1999), also edited by Gardner Dozois . It is included in the collections Frankensteins and Foreign Devils (1998) and The Best of Walter Jon Williams (2021).

This novelette originally appeared in the anthology Alternate Outlaws (1994), edited by Mike Resnick. It can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twelth Annual Collection (1995), edited by Gardner Dozois. The story is included in the collection Frankensteins and Foreign Devils (1998).

This novelette originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, June 1985. It can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction: Third Annual Collection (1986), edited by Gardner Dozois. It is included in the collection Facets (1990).

Nominated for Hugo and Nebula awards, "Surfacing" is the story of Anthony, an emotionally scarred researcher who finds it easier to talk to whales and to aliens than to members of his own species. Until a stranger named Philana enters his life, with a terrifying problem of her own that dares him to break through the surface of his world.

The story originally appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, April 1988. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Sixth Annual Collection (1989) and Best of the Best Volume 2: 20 Years of the Year's Best Short Science Fiction Novels, both edited by Gardner Dozois. It is included in the collections Facets (1990) and The Best of Walter Jon Williams (2021).

Read the full story for free at Subterranean Press Magazine.

With the publication of his debut novel, The Privateer, in 1981, Walter Jon Williams began one of the most varied and prolific careers in contemporary popular fiction. His work encompasses cyberpunk (Hardwired), military SF (The Dread Empire's Fall series), humor (The Crown Jewels), even disaster fiction (The Rift). But much of Williams's best work takes place in the shorter forms, as this generous volume, filled to overflowing with award-winning and award-nominated stories, clearly proves.

With one exception, The Best of Walter Jon Williams reflects its author's affection for and mastery of the novella form. That exception is "The Millennium Party," a brief, brilliant account of a virtual anniversary celebration unlike any you have ever imagined. Elsewhere in the collection, Williams offers us one brilliantly sustained creation after another. The Nebula Award-winning "Daddy's World" takes us into a young boy's private universe, a world of seeming miracles that conceals a tragic secret. "Dinosaurs" is the far future account of the incredibly destructive relationship between the star-faring human race and the less evolved inhabitants of the planet Shar.

"Diamonds from Tequila" is a lovingly crafted example of SF Noir in which a former child actor attempts a comeback that proves unexpectedly dangerous. "Surfacing" is a tale of alienation featuring a research scientist more at home with the foreign and unfamiliar than with the members of his own species. Finally, the magisterial "Wall, Stone, Craft" offers a brilliantly realized alternate take on a young Mary Godwin, future creator of Frankenstein, and her relationships with the poets Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron, culminating in the creation of a monster who would "stalk through the hearts of all the world."

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Daniel Abraham
• Daddy's World - (1999) - novelette
• The Golden Age - (2014) - novelette
• Dinosaurs - (1987) - novelette
• Surfacing - (1988) - novella
• Video Star - (1986) - novelette
• The Millennium Party - (2002) - short story
• The Bad Twin - (1998) - novelette
• The Green Leopard Plague - [College of Mystery] - (2003) - novella
• Diamonds from Tequila - [Dagmar Shaw] - (2014) - novella
• Margaux - [Praxis Universe] - (2003) - novella
• Prayers on the Wind - (1991) - novella
• Wall, Stone, Craft - (1993) - novella
• Story Notes - essay by Walter Jon Williams

From Walter Jon Williams, author of Implied Spaces, Hardwired, and Voice of the Whirlwind, comes The Green Leopard Plague and Other Stories, a stunning collection of short fiction including the Nebula Award winning story The Green Leopard Plague, as well as Daddy's World, Lethe, The Last Ride of German Freddie, Millennium Party, The Tang Dynasty, Underwater Pyramid, Incarnation Day, Send Them Flowers, and Pinocchio.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Charles Stross
• Daddy's World - (1999) - novelette
• Lethe - (1997) - novelette
• The Last Ride of German Freddie - (2002) - novella
• Millennium Party - (2002) - shortfiction
• The Green Leopard Plague - (2003) - novella
• The Tang Dynasty Underwater Pyramid - (2004) - novelette
• Incarnation Day - (2006) - novella
• Send Them Flowers - (2007) - novelette
• Pinocchio - (2008) - novella

FRACTURE LINES PERMEATE THE CENTRAL UNITED STATES. Some comprise the New Madrid fault, the most dangerous earthquake zone in the world. Other fracture lines are social -- economic, religious, racial, and ethnic.

What happens when they all crack at once?

Caught in the disaster as cities burn and bridges tumble, young Jason Adams finds himself adrift on the Mississippi with African-American engineer Nick Ruford. A modern-day Huck and Jim, they spin helplessly down the river and into the widening faults in American society, encountering violence and hope, compassion and despair, and the primal wilderness that threatens to engulf not only them, but all they love...

Ric has survived a rival's attempt to poison him, but the hospital AIs pegged him as a suspect character with no job history and a suspicious amount of cash on his person, and they kept the treatments coming until he was broke.

Now he needs a new source of funds, and the hospital which stole his money is chock-full of a new neurohormone that's worth a fortune. All Ric needs is to manipulate a street gang into committing the crime for him, and then he'll betray everyone and live happily ever after.

But maybe he hasn't counted on a new technology aimed at turning him into the star of a very nasty reality show...

This novelette originally appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, July 1986. It can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fourth Annual Collection (1987). The story is included in the collections Facets (1990) and The Best of Walter Jon Williams (2021).

An alternative-history classic nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards!

Young Mary Godwin has run away with the married poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, but a chance encounter places them in the path of Lord Byron, the Hero of Waterloo. Byron wants Mary, and is willing to use Mary's young, reckless sister Claire as a pawn in his heartless schemes. Exactly how heartless, and how audacious is only revealed on a storm-tossed lake in Switzerland, a tragic encounter that produces not only an alternate history, but an alternate literary monster, a new Frankenstein for a new world...

Four award-winning authors. Four amazing alternate histories.

In this collection of novellas, four masters of alternate history turn back time, twisting the facts with four excursions into what might have been.

Bestselling author Harry Turtledove imagines a different fate for Socrates (now Sokrates); S. M. Stirling envisions life "in the wilds of a re-barbarized Texas" after asteroids strike the earth in the 19th century; Sidewise winner Mary Gentle contributes a story of love (and pigs) set in the mid-15th century, as European mercenaries prepare to sack a Gothic Carthage; and Nebula nominee Walter Jon Williams pens a tale of Nietzsche intervening in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

Table of Contents:

• The Daimon - novella by Harry Turtledove
• The Real History Behind "The Daimon" - essay by Harry Turtledove
• Shikari in Galveston - novella by S. M. Stirling
• Why Then, There - essay by S. M. Stirling
• The Logistics of Carthage - novella by Mary Gentle
• 1477 and All That - essay by Mary Gentle
• The Last Ride of German Freddie - novella by Walter Jon Williams
• Afterword to "The Last Ride of German Freddie" - essay by Walter Jon Williams

The World Jones Made

Floyd Jones is sullen, ungainly, and quite possibly mad, but in a very short time he will rise from telling fortunes at a mutant carnival to convulsing an entire planet. For although Jones has the power to see the future -- a power that makes his life a torment -- his real gift lies elsewhere: in his ability to make people dream again in a world where dreaming has been made illegal, even when the dream is indistinguishable from a nightmare.

In Philip K. Dick's unsettling chronicle of the rise and fall of a postnuclear messiah, readers will find a novel that is as minutely realistic as it is prophetic. For along with its engineered mutants, hermaphroditic sex performers, and protoplasmic drifters from the stars, The World Jones Made gives us nothing less than a deadly accurate reading of our own hunger for belief.

Agent of the Unknown

Don Haig had been content to lie around and drink in the synthetic beauty of the pleasure planetoid Fyon, until a woman came into his life. A woman more beautiful and more perfect than any other female in the galaxy. A woman who brought about a curious change in Don.

For she was a pocket-sized doll -- a very strange and miraculous puppet who shed constant tears and held powers that Don never even dreamed of.

But what Don did know was that dangerous alien forces were swiftly focussing on him and his living puppet... and that he had to discover the doll's super-scientific secret before his own life was smashed to atoms!

Originally appeared in Ace Double D-150 (1956).

Floyd Jones is sullen, ungainly, and quite possibly mad, but in a very short time he will rise from telling fortunes at a mutant carnival to convulsing an entire planet. For although Jones has the power to see the future -- a power that makes his life a torment -- his real gift lies elsewhere: in his ability to make people dream again in a world where dreaming has been made illegal, even when the dream is indistinguishable from a nightmare.

In Philip K. Dick's unsettling chronicle of the rise and fall of a postnuclear messiah, readers will find a novel that is as minutely realistic as it is prophetic. For along with its engineered mutants, hermaphroditic sex performers, and protoplasmic drifters from the stars, The World Jones Made gives us nothing less than a deadly accurate reading of our own hunger for belief.

The subject matter of this collection is varied, but displays Jones' stance as a practicing SF writer and a feminist; the writing is characterized by both an incisive engagement with the texts and a refusal to dress that engagement in jargon. This very readable book provides insight into the work of one of the UK's most interesting writers and presents strong - sometimes even subversive - views of a range of modern SF and fantasy.

Contents:

• vii - Foreword (Deconstructing the Starships) - essay
• 3 - Introduction (Deconstructing the Starships) - (1988) - essay
• 9 - Getting Rid of the Brand Names - (1987) - essay
• 22 - The Lady and the Scientists - (1990) - essay
• 35 - Dreamer: An Exercise in Extrapolation 1989-2019 - (unknown) - essay
• 60 - My Crazy Uncles: C. S. Lewis and Tolkien as Writers for Children - (1995) - essay
• 77 - Fools: The Neuroscience of Cyberspace - (1997) - essay
• 91 - Trouble (Living in the Machine) - (1994) - essay
• 99 - Sex: The Brains of Female Hyena Twins - (1994) - essay
• 108 - Aliens in the Fourth Dimension - (1996) - essay
• 123 - Review: In the Chinks of the World Machine by Sarah LeFanu - (1988) - review
• 131 - Consider Her Ways: The Fiction of C. J. Cherryh - (unknown) - essay
• 141 - Review: Alien Sex by Ellen Datlow - (1990) - review
• 146 - Review: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson - (1992) - review
• 153 - Review: Glory Season by David Brin - (1993) - review
• 156 - Review: Virtual Light by William Gibson - review
• 161 - Review: A Million Open Doors by John Barnes - review
• 168 - Review: Winterlong by Elizabeth Hand - review
• 178 - Review: Plague of Angels by Sheri S. Tepper - review
• 184 - Review: The Furies by Suzy McKee Charnas - (1994) - review
• 192 - Review: Alien Influences by Kristine Kathryn Rusch - review
• 199 - No Man's Land: Feminised Landscapes in the Utopian Fiction of Ursula Le Guin - (1996) - essay
• 209 - Notes (Deconstructing the Starships) - essay

The man who'd given his handle as Drummer raised heavy eyes and spoke, sonorous as a prophet, from out of a full black beard. "We will be ordered to the transit chamber as we were ordered to this room, or drugged and carried by robots in our sleep. We will lie down in the Buonarotti capsules, and a code-self, the complex pattern of each human body and soul, will be split into two like a cell dividing. The copies will be sent flying around the torus, at half-light speed. You will collide with yourself and cease utterly to exist at these coordinates of space-time. The body and soul in the capsule will be annihilated, and know GOD no longer."

In Gwyneth Jones's White Queen Trilogy, the reclusive female genius called Peenemunde Buonarotti invented the instantaneous transit device of the same name. In The Buonaraotti Quartet, Gwyneth Jones shows us humans traveling via the device to alien worlds and situations. Some are diplomats, some are extreme travelers, some are prisoners. All are in for a rough, wild ride.

Table of Contents:

• Saving Tiamaat - (2007) - short story
• The Fulcrum - (2005) - novelette
• The Voyage Out - (2007) - short story
• The Tomb Wife - (2007) - short story

Ron Barron never expectied to see Clonar again. Clonar, the boy who alone had survived the crash of an interstllar saucer-ship near Ron's home, had been rescued by his people and returned to Rorla, a planet in the Great Galaxy of Andromeda, almost a million light-years from Earth. When he left, he assured Ron that communication between Rorla and Earth would be impossible. Yet only a year later, Ron listened with growing excitement to Clonar's voice coming over the interstellar communication system, inviting Ron and his family to journey to Rorla to attend a conference of the Galactic Federation.

None of the Barrons could have known that Clonar's invitation was violently opposed by the Rorlans, nor that on Rorla was an unknown enemy who resented their coming - a man who saw Earth's destruction as a necessity. And it was a bitter coincidence that that man should be in charge of the colony of delegates. As representatives of a planet whose civilization was considered dangerous and too inferior for membership in the Federation, the Barrons found themselves at the mercy of suspicious and hostile strangers bent on proving Earth's civilization unsalvageable. Not until Ron's father becomes an innocent party to an assassination plot, do they fully realize to what extent the Rorlans will carry their deception.

Climaxed by a shocking courtroom scene in which Ron stands trial for Earth, this sequel to Raymond Jones's Son of the Stars is an intricately plotted tale of what could happen if earth were to come face to face with long-established civilizations of Outer Space.

The Algorans. masters of time travel, had lost control of the time channels. In despair, they stood helplessly by as the barbarian hordes of the devastating Bakori were unleashed on the universe. In the little town of Midland, U.S.A., Joe Simmons worked feverishly to assemble the only device that had a chance to stop them. He knew that success depended on a beautiful Algoran woman, Tamarina, yet he didn't even know if she would re-appear! This whole disaster was his fault.

"This person is not even human. It's impossible for me to diagnose the injury or illness of such a structure as his!" With these words and a worried frown, Doc Smithers sums up the case of the strange creature that lay on Ron Barron's bed. For the boy, Clonar, is like nothing earth's medical books have ever cataloged. And the day Ron Barron found him, staggering away from the wrecked metal disk that lay hidden near Longview, is one that put earth's existence in jeopardy!

In Son of the Stars, Raymond Jones has written of a forthright friendship between a young castaway from space and his earthly counterpart. How a cold and suspicious military, recognizing Clonar only as an alien from an astonishingly advanced civilization, turns friendship into treachery that threatens earth's existence, makes this an electrifying story with a thought-provoking theme. In scenes uncomfortably vivid, you'll meet soldiers and citizens of a typical American city; people like calculating General Gillispie and frightened Mrs. Barron, whose reactions to an "interplanetary" situation bring the world to the brink of destruction.

Clonar's words, "They're coming to destroy your world!" refer to a planet whose wars and strife might shortly spread to other worlds. Climaxed with a scene of power and drama unmatched in science fiction, Son of the Stars is a breath-taking book you won't put down until the very last page - and won't be able to forget until men reach the stars and learn for themselves!

Adventure stories don't normally make a point as well, but Raymond F. Jones is no ordinary adventure story writer. In this touching and beautiful tale, Morten Bradwell shares his son's adventures and learns a lesson he will never forget. Neither will you. For Morten Bradwell is one of the elite in a time and society where stupidity and ignorance have been conquered by genetic engineering. But his son Freeman is a Retard. The King of Eolim is the story of the Bradwell's search for a home that will truly be "home" for Free.

All his life Manvar has had a dream. One day, he will escape the harshly primitive, blizzard-torn lands of the north. He will follow the paths of the Ancients and see for himself the fabled lands of the south: lands without ice and snow and perpetual night; lands of warmth and light, where life is easy and comfortable within walled cities of incredible beauty. Manvar follows his dream, but finds it hollow. Life in the wondrous city of Delphos is not the paradise it seemed.

Mayfield was the typical college town. Nothing too unusual ever happened there until a mysterious comet was suddenly observed by the scientists on College Hill.

And then one day the modified engine on Ken Maddox's car began overheating mysteriously. By morning it didn't run at all.

Art's Garage, local headquarters for hot-rodders, was soon so full of cars that wouldn't run, that Ken's science club began working in the garage after school. It didn't take long for the club to discover that all the moving parts on these stalled cars had fused together. Soon all machinery had stopped in Mayfield. There was no longer any light or power anywhere. This mysterious creeping paralysis was spreading.

The copper-yellow glow of the comet seemed to have brought the whole world to a grinding halt. Airplanes, trains, generators and heavy machinery were immobilized. Finally man was left with only a few primitive tools and communication became possible only by means of amateur radio. In the resulting chaos parts of Mayfield were burned and looted by hunger-crazed mobs that stole and killed as they advanced.

Here is science fiction at its thrilling best. A startling and thought-provoking book that shows how human nature might react to catastrophe.

Halli Sveinsson has grown up in the House of Svein, listening to the legends of the heroes as all his forefathers did. His is a peaceful society where the violence of the past has been outlawed and disputes are settled by the Council. But young Halli has never quite seemed to fit in with the others. For starters, he was not at all handsome or tall, like his attractive blond siblings. He's stumpy and swarthy, with a quick mind and aptitude for getting in trouble. Bored with the everyday chores and sheep herding, he can't help himself from playing practical jokes on everyone, from Eyjolf the old servant, to his brother and sister.

But when he plays a trick on Ragnor of the House of Hakonsson, he goes too far, setting in motion a chain of events that will forever alter his destiny. Because of it, Halli will have to leave home and go on a hero's quest. Along the way, he will encounter highway robbers, terrifying monsters, and a girl who may finally be his match. In the end, he will discover the truth about the legends, his family, and himself. Jonathan Stroud's new novel is a hero's saga and coming-of-age--as well as a surprising look at what bravery really means.

In Gulliver's Travels, the narrator represents himself as a reliable reporter of the fantastic adventures he has just experienced. But how far can we rely on a narrator who has been impersonated by someone else? The work purports to be a travel book, and describes the shipwrecked Gulliver's encounters with the inhabitants of four extraordinary places: Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Laputa, and the country of the Houyhnhnms. An extraordinarily skillful blend of fantasy and realism makes Gulliver's Travels by turns hilarious, frightening, and profound. Swift's alter ego plays tricks on us, and our gullibility uncovers one of the world's most disturbing satires of the human condition.

Nebula Award nominated novella in de Wild Cards shared universe. It originally appeared in the anthology Wild Cards I (1988), edited by George R. R. Martin. It can also be found in Nebula Awards 23 (1989), edited by Michael Bishop. It is included in the collection Facets (1990).

Margerit Sovitre did not expect to inherit Baron Saveze's fortunes--even less his bodyguard, a ruthlessly efficient swordswoman known only as Barbara. Wealth suddenly makes Margerit a highly eligible heiress and buys her the enmity of the new Baron. He had expected to inherit all, and now eyes her fortune with open envy.

Barbara proudly served as the old Baron's duelist but she had expected his death to make her a free woman. Bitterness turns to determination when she finds herself the only force that stands between Margerit and the new Baron's greed.

At first Margerit protests the need for Barbara's services, but soon she cannot imagine sending Barbara away. And Barbara's duty has become something far more hazardous to her heart than the point of a sword. But greater dangers loom than one man's hatred--the Prince of Alpennia is ill. Deadly intrigue surrounds the succession and the rituals of divine power known as The Mysteries of the Saints.

Heather Rose Jones debuts with a sweeping story rich in intrigue and the clash of loyalties and love.

Antuniet Chazillen lost everything the night her brother was executed. In exile, she swore that treason would not be the final chapter of the Chazillen legacy in Alpennia's history. A long- hidden book of alchemical secrets provides the first hope of success, but her return to the capital is haunted by an enemy who wants those secrets for himself.

Jeanne, Vicomtesse de Cherdillac is bored. The Rotenek season is flat, her latest lover has grown tediously jealous and her usual crowd of friends fails to amuse. When Antuniet turns up on her doorstep seeking patronage for her alchemy experiments, what begins as amusement turns to interest, then something deeper. But Antuniet's work draws danger that threatens even the crown of Alpennia.

The alchemy of precious gems throws two women into a crucible of adversity, but it is the alchemy of the human heart that transforms them both in this breathtaking follow-up to the widely acclaimed Daughter of Mystery.

Winner of the Gaylactic Spectrum Best Novel Award

All her life, Serafina Talarico has searched in vain for a place where she and her mystical talents belong. She never found it in Rome--the city of her birth--where her family's Ethiopian origins marked them as immigrants. After traveling halfway across Europe to study with Alpennia's Royal Thaumaturgist, her hopes of finding a home among Margerit Sovitre's circle of scholars are dashed, for Serafina can perceive, but not evoke, the mystical forces of the Mysteries of the Saints and even Margerit can't awaken her talents.

When Serafina takes lodgings with Luzie Valorin, widowed music teacher and aspiring composer, both their lives are changed forever. Luzie's music holds a power to rival the Mysteries, and Serafina alone has the vision to guide her talents. For sorcery threatens the fate of Alpennia--indeed of all of Europe--locking the mountains in a malevolent storm meant to change the course of history. Alpennia's mystic protections are under attack and the key to survival may lie in the unlikeliest of places: Luzie's ambition to write an opera on the life of the medieval philosopher Tanfrit.

A lurid mix of Jules Verne's futuristic air warfare fantasies, the utopian visions of News from Nowhere and the future war invasion literature of Chesney and his imitators, it told the tale of a group of terrorists who conquer the world through airship warfare. Led by a crippled, brilliant Russian Jew and his daughter, the 'angel' Natasha, 'The Brotherhood of Freedom' establish a 'pax aeronautica' over the earth after a young inventor masters the technology of flight in 1903. The hero falls in love with Natasha and joins in her war against society in general and the Russian Czar in particular.

The novel is a sequal to The Angel of the Revolution, the tale of a worldwide brotherhood of anarchists fighting the world, armed with fantastical airships. The ending is on an apocalyptic note when a comet smashes into the earth.

A stunning return to Arkham Horror when a movie director shoots his silent horror masterpiece in eerie Arkham, capturing crawling nightmares instead of moving pictures, in this chilling novel of creeping dread...

Hollywood make-up artist and costumier, Jeany Lin, travels to Arkham to work on the new "nightmare movie" by enigmatic director Sydney Fitzmaurice. The star is her sister, Renee Love, Sydney's collaborator and lover. Desperate to outdo the thrills and terror of Lon Chaney's popular pictures, Sydney prepares occult-infused dream sequences for Love and her co-stars to perform. But there's more than mere imagery at play as the cast suffer recurring nightmares, accidents, and impossible waking visions. When events take a sinister turn and people start dying on set, it's up to Jeany to unmask the monsters before Sydney's obsessions doom them all.

A daring actress and a barnstorming pilot team up to save the world from supernatural disaster in this uncanny pulp adventure set in the world of Arkham Horror...

Betsy Baxter is the plucky stunt-actor star of the 1920s serial adventure, The Flapper Detective. While researching a wing-walking scene, she meets the fearless Winifred Habbamock and discovers a shared background of eerie encounters and eldritch phenomena. For years, Betsy has been investigating the disappearance of an old friend during the horror-struck filming of The Mask of Silver, when she learns of his reappearance in Arkham, she and Winifred hit the road to investigate. But Arkham is full of mysteries and danger. Betsy will need all her skills, and new allies, to prevent an otherworldly cataclysm from consuming her and all of Arkham.

Oxford police detective Arthur Wallace is no hero. He's a good cop, but prefers for action and heroics remain on the screen, safely performed by professionals. But then, secretive government agency MI37 comes calling, hoping to recruit Arthur in their struggle against horrors from another dimension known as the Progeny. Can an everyman stand against sanity-ripping cosmic horrors?

Another day, another zombie T-Rex to put down. All part of the routine for Arthur Wallace and MI37--the government department devoted to defending Britain from threats magical, supernatural, extraterrestrial, and generally odd. But a zombie T-Rex is only the first of Arthur's problems, as Russian cyborg wizards threaten his life, and his coworkers threaten his sanity.

When it rains it pours... monster machines. That attack during a funeral and ruin everyone's day. MI317--the government department devoted to defending Britain from cosmic horrors--is under siege, so Arthur Wallace and his team must travel to Area 51, ably--and oddly--assisted by Agent Gran. But their travels don't end there, not when there's an Arctic town populated entirely by spore zombies and the 2.0 version of Clyde has some funny ideas about how to save the world.

How's a secret agent meant to catch a break? If it's not a demi-god going through puberty, it's a renegade Nazi clockwork army going senile. Or a death cult in Nepal. Or a battery-chewing wizard's relationship problems. Arthur Wallace, agent of MI37--Britain's agency for dealing with the supernatural, the extraterrestrial, and the generally odd--has to pull everything together, and he has to do it before a magical bomb tears reality apart...

The djinni Bartimaeus is summoned by an ambitious young magician, Nathaniel, and sent off across London to steal the Amulet of Samarkand from the sinister Simon Lovelace. A whirlwind of espionage, murder and rebellion ensues.

The magician Nathaniel's fledgling career in government is imperilled by a series of mysterious attacks on London. Once more he is forced to summon Bartimaeus to help him out. Meanwhile, the Resistance leader Kitty and her friends embark on their most audacious mission yet.

Trapped for years on earth, Bartimaeus's energies are fast running out. His master, Nathaniel, is increasingly arrogant and unapproachable and will not listen to his pleas. But as war and unrest rock the magicians' government, Kitty uncovers secrets from Bartimaeus's past that might help change the world forever.

Israel, 960BC. Much to his annoyance, Bartimaeus the djinni has been enslaved by King Solomon the Great, who commands his empire with an all-powerful magic ring. But things get even worse for him when he meets Asmira, a young Sheban girl sent to Jerusalem on a deadly errand. Featuring an all-new setting, and Bartimaeus at the height of his powers, The Ring of Solomon is the most action-packed Bart book so far.

In the zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic America where Benny Imura lives, every teenager must find a job by the time they turn fifteen or get their rations cut in half. Benny doesn’t want to apprentice as a zombie hunter with his boring older brother, Tom, but he has no choice. He expects a tedious job whacking zoms for cash—but what he gets is a vocation that will teach him what it means to be human.

Acclaimed horror author Jonathan Maberry makes his young adult debut with this detail-rich depiction of a post-apocalyptic world where humanity has fallen, the dead have risen, and danger is always imminent.

Six months have passed since the terrifying battle with Charlie Pink-eye and the Motor City Hammer in the zombie-infested mountains of the Rot & Ruin. It’s also been six months since Benny Imura and Nix Riley saw something in the air that changed their lives. Now, after months of rigorous training with Benny’s zombie-hunter brother Tom, Benny and Nix are ready to leave their home forever and search for a better future. Lilah the Lost Girl and Benny’s best friend Lou Chong are going with them.

But before they even leave there is a shocking zombie attack in town, and as soon as they step into the Rot & Ruin they are pursued by the living dead, wild animals, and insane murderers, and face the horrors of Gameland—where teenagers are forced to fight for their lives in the zombie pits. Worst of all…could the evil Charlie Pink-eye still be alive?

In the great Rot & Ruin, everything wants to kill you—and not everyone in Benny’s small band of travelers will survive....

Reeling from the devastation of Dust & Decay, Benny Imura and his friends plunge deep into the zombie-infested wastelands of the great Rot & Ruin. Benny, Nix, Lilah, and Chong journey through a fierce wilderness that was once America, searching for the jet they saw in the skies months ago. If that jet exists then humanity itself must have survived…somewhere. Finding it is their best hope for having a future and a life worth living.

But the Ruin is far more dangerous than any of them can imagine. Fierce animals hunt them. They come face to face with a death cult. And then there’s the zombies—swarms of them coming from the east, devouring everything in their paths. And these zoms are different. Faster, smarter, and infinitely more dangerous. Has the zombie plague mutated, or is there something far more sinister behind this new invasion of the living dead?

One thing Benny and his companions can’t afford to forget: In the great Rot & Ruin, everything wants to kill you.

In the gripping conclusion to the action-packed "standard bearer" (Booklist) of zombie series, the threat of death is given new life.

Benny Imura and his friends have found the jet and Sanctuary—but neither is what they expected. Instead of a refuge, Sanctuary is a hospice, and the soldiers who flew the plane seem to be little more than bureaucrats who have given up hope for humanity's future. With Chong hovering between life and death, clinging to his humanity by a thread, Benny makes a startling discovery: A scientist may have discovered a cure for the zombie plague. Desperate to save Chong, Benny and his friends mount a search and rescue mission. But they're not the only ones on the hunt. The reapers are after the cure too, and they want to use it turn all the zombies into superfast shock troops—and wipe humanity off the face of the earth.

In this riveting conclusion to the Rot & Ruin series, the battle to end all battles is just beginning.

Benny Imura's journey through the Rot & Ruin is well known, but who were the others navigating the ravaged, zombie-ridden landscape? Jonathan Maberry returns to fill the gaps in what we know about First Night, surviving the plague, and the land of Rot & Ruin.

Comprising brand-new short stories from Nix's journal as well as previously published short stories, this collection shows a side of the Rot & Ruin series readers have never seen before. And as a bonus, the script of the first issue of the Rot & Ruin comic is included in the back.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Jonathan Strahan
• The Empress of Mars - (2003) - novella by Kage Baker
• The Green Leopard Plague - (2003) - novella by Walter Jon Williams
• In Springdale Town - (2003) - novella by Robert Freeman Wexler
• The Swastika Bomb - (2003) - novella by John Meaney
• Jailwise - (2003) - novella by Lucius Shepard
• Just Like the Ones We Used to Know - (2003) - novella by Connie Willis
• Greetings - (2003) - novella by Terry Bisson
• Awake in the Night - (2003) - novella by John C. Wright
• Off on a Starship - (2003) - novella by William Barton

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Jonathan Strahan
• Men Are Trouble - (2004) - novelette by James Patrick Kelly
• Mayflower II - (2004) - novella by Stephen Baxter
• Sergeant Chip - (2004) - novella by Bradley Denton
• The Garden: A Hwarhath Science Fictional Romance - (2004) - novella by Eleanor Arnason
• Under the Flag of Night - (2004) - novella by Ian McDowell
• Shadow Twin - (2004) - novella by Gardner Dozois and George R. R. Martin and Daniel Abraham
• The Concrete Jungle - (2004) - novella by Charles Stross
• The Gorgon in the Cupboard - (2004) - novella by Patricia A. McKillip
• The Fear Gun - (2004) - novelette by Judith Berman
• Arabian Wine - (2004) - novella by Gregory Feeley

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Jonathan Strahan
• The Little Goddess - (2005) - novella by Ian McDonald
• The Gist Hunter - (2005) - novelette by Matthew Hughes
• Human Readable - (2005) - novella by Cory Doctorow
• Audubon in Atlantis - (2005) - novella by Harry Turtledove
• Magic for Beginners - (2005) - novella by Kelly Link
• Fishin' with Grandma Matchie - (2005) - novella by Steven Erikson
• The Policeman's Daughter - (2005) - novella by Wil McCarthy
• Inside Job - (2005) - novella by Connie Willis
• The Cosmology of the Wider World - (2005) - novella by Jeffrey Ford

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Jonathan Strahan
• Where the Golden Apples Grow - (2006) - novella by Kage Baker
• A Billion Eves - (2006) - novella by Robert Reed
• The Voyage of Night Shining White - (2006) - novella by Chris Roberson
• Julian: A Christmas Story - (2006) - novella by Robert Charles Wilson
• The Lineaments of Gratified Desire - (2006) - novella by Ysabeau S. Wilce
• Lord Weary's Empire - (2006) - novella by Michael Swanwick
• After the Siege - (2007) - novella by Cory Doctorow
• Botch Town - (2006) - novella by Jeffrey Ford

Three extraordinary people in some most extraordinary times:

It's Dissolution Summer and as the United Kingdom prepares to break up into separate nations, the Counterculturals have gathered for a festival where everything's allowed. Among them is a talented little brat called Fiorinda, rock and roll princess by birth, searching for her father, the legendary Rufus O'Niall.

Instead, she finds Ax Preston, the softly spoken guitarman with bizarre delusions about saving the country from the dark ages. Together with Sage Pender, techno-wizard king of the lads, they join the pop-icon team that's supposed to make the government look cool.

Rock Legends. True Romance. A stunning fantasy about England.

Ax Preston, Sage Pender and Fiorinda, charismatic leaders of the Rock 'n' Roll Reich, have beaten the cascade of disasters that followed the collapse of the former United Kingdom. Now they have to find some resolution to the impossible dynamics of their own relationship, while the world keeps getting stranger. There are fearsome things going on in England's rural hinterland, and in Continental Europe the green nazis are planning a final solution to desperate environmental damage.

But there's nothing the Triumvirate can't handle - until Fiorinda's father, secret master of powers that are very old and very new, reaches out to reclaim his magical child, the flower-bride. And that's when darkness falls over Ax's England . . .

Harrowing . . . enchanting -- a dark fairy tale with an epic sweep, set in a world very like our own.

Rufus O'Niall is dead and the green nazi occupation has been defeated: but at a huge cost to the three extraordinary people who saved England from the dark. Shattered and deeply changed by the sacrifices each of them had to make, Fiorinda, Axe and Sage are in hiding from their friends and fans on the Pacific coast of Mexico when they're tracked down by an emissary of Fred Eiffrich, President of the United States. He's got an offer they can't refuse. It's about a movie, allegedly... Sage finds himself drawn to an old flame. Ax has to fight dirty, for the future and against the might of a collapsing superpower. And Fiorinda, the magical daughter of the monster, whose memories of utter horror are threatening her sanity, struggles with a deadly addiction. The Bold As Love adventure continues, spinning a web of daring, dread and enchantment, in a world that could almost be ours.

The riveting new instalment in Gwyneth Jones's award-winning 'Bold As Love' saga.

Ax Preston, former dictator, returns to England; he's agreed to take up the job of Green President. At close quarters he finds some outrageous details in the contract, so the Triumvirate decamps for Paris, to sit out the first hard winter after the A team destroyed crude oil in ostentatious poverty. He's quite certain he can negotiate a better deal.

But while Ax and Sage and Fiorinda are embarassing the English government over conditions in the new slavery labour camps, bad things are happening for the President of the USA. Fred Eiffrich's enemies in Washington are about to drop a bombshell, one that will shatter any hope of a return to former realities, former certainties. What happened at Lavoisier is not over. It's coming back, it's never going to end. At least not while Fiorinda lives ...or her child.

It's the final curtain call for flame-haired rock princess Fiorinda and her comrades Ax Preston and Sage Pender - a 21st century Guinevere, King Arthur, and Sir Lancelot. Together, the Triumvirate have fought to save their Britain, and America - indeed, the whole world - from the depredations of a collapsed economy and environmental meltdown. Together they have fought the evil magic of Fiorinda's wizard father; they have explored the depths and heights of ultimate consciousness, the fusion between mind and the world. And they have discovered a love that goes back centuries, and lives. But is all this enough to save a world that has fallen apart at the seams, a world that has given itself over to the dark side?

New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry returns to the world of Rot & Ruin with this first novel in a brand-new series that's more thrilling and filled with exceptionally terrifying adventures.

Ever since her mother's death, Gabriella "Gutsy" Gomez has spent her days flying under the radar. But when her mother's undead body is returned to her doorstep from the grave and Gutsy witnesses a pack of ravagers digging up Los Muertos--her mother's name for the undead--she realizes that life finds you no matter how hard you try to hide from it.

Meanwhile, Benny Imura and his gang set out on a journey to finish what Captain Joe Ledger started: they're going to find a cure. After what they went through in the Rot and Ruin, they think they've seen it all, but as they venture into new and unexplored territory, they soon learn that the zombies they fought before were nothing compared to what they'll face in the wild beyond the peace and safety of their fortified town.

Gutsy Gomez's danger-filled journey to save those infected with the zombie plague continues in New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry's terrifying continuation of the Rot and Ruin saga.

Gabriella "Gutsy" Gomez lost her mother, and now she's losing her home.

Gutsy and her friends, along with Benny and his crew, have just survived a massive attack on New Alamo by the Night Army--a mix of mindless shambling los muertos and sentient half-zombie ravagers. She's also reeling from the revelation that the residents of her town were the lab rats of the biological testing facility linked to creating the most dangerous zom, the Raggedy Man, who controls all of the living dead.

And the first raid was only a test. The real Night Army is coming, and this time, it'll be a handful of survivors against seven billion zombies.

This short story originally appeared in the anthology When It Changed: Science Into Fiction (2009), edited by Geoff Ryman. It can also be found in the anthology Year's Best SF 15 (2010), edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer. The story is included in the collection The Universe of Things (2011).

This short story originally appeared in the anthology The New Space Opera (2007), edited by Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan. It can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fifth Annual Collection (2008), edited by Gardner Dozois, and Space Opera (2014), edited by Rich Horton. The story is included in the collections The Buonarotti Quartet (2009) and Grazing the Long Acre (2009).

This novelette originally appeared in the anthology Constellations: The Best of New British SF (2005), edited by Peter Crowther. It can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Third Annual Collection (2006), edited by Gardner Dozois, and Science Fiction: The Very Best of 2005, edited by Jonathan Strahan. The story is included in the collections The Buonarotti Quartet (2009) and Grazing the Long Acre (2009).

This novelette originally appeared in the anthology Engineering Infinity (2010), edited by Jonathan Strahan, and was reprinted in Clarkesworld Magazine, #85 October 2013. It can also be found in the anthology Year's Best SF 17 (2012), edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer.

Read the full story for free at Clarkesworld.

Sturgeon and Nebula Award nominated short story. It was originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, August 2007. It can also be found in the anthology Year's Best SF 13 (2008), edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer, and the collections The Buonarotti Quartet (2009) and Grazing the Long Acre (2009).

This short story originally appeared in the anthology Periphery: Erotic Lesbian Futures (2008), edited by Lynne Jamneck. It can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Sixth Annual Collection (2009), edited by Gardner Dozois, and The Final Frontier (2018), edited by Neil Clarke. The story is included in the collections The Buonarotti Quartet (2009) and Grazing the Long Acre (2009).

Contents:

• vii - Introduction to Arkham Tales - essay by William Jones
• 1 - Mysterious Dan's Legacy - shortstory by Matthew Baugh
• 19 - Vaughn's Diary - shortstory by Robert Vaughn
• 36 - The Orb - shortstory by Tony Campbell
• 54 - The Nether Collection - shortstory by Cody Goodfellow
• 74 - Worms - shortstory by Pat Harrigan
• 91 - They Thrive in Darkness - shortstory by Ron Shiflet
• 108 - What Sorrows May Come - shortstory by Lee Clark Zumpe
• 125 - Arkham Pets - shortstory by James Ambuehl
• 130 - Small Ghost - shortstory by Michael Minnis
• 148 - Burnt Tea - shortstory by Michael Dziesinski
• 165 - Arkham Rain - shortstory by John Goodrich
• 183 - Regrowth - shortstory by David Conyers
• 199 - The Idea of Fear - shortstory by C. J. Henderson
• 212 - Disconnected - shortstory by Brian M. Sammons
• 237 - The Lady in the Grove - shortstory by Scott Lette
• 253 - On Leave to Arkham - shortstory by Bill Bilstad
• 272 - Geometry of the Soul - shortstory by Jason Andrew

Contents:

• 9 - The Long Road Home - shortstory by Paul Melniczek
• 23 - In Waters Black the Lost Ones Sleep - novelette by Angeline Hawkes
• 49 - Where Men Had Seldom Trod - novelette by Lee Clark Zumpe
• 77 - Something to Hold the Door Closed - shortstory by Lon Prater
• 89 - Terror from Middle Island - shortstory by Durant Haire and Stephen Mark Rainey
• 105 - Children of the Mountain - shortstory by Stewart Sternberg
• 117 - They Who Dwell Below - shortstory by William Jones
• 133 - Wagon Train for the Star - shortstory by Scott Lette
• 149 - Incident at Dagon Wells - shortstory by Ron Shiflet
• 165 - Ahiga and the Machine - shortstory by Robert J. Santa
• 177 - The Dead Man's Hand - shortstory by Jason Andrew
• 189 - Jedediah Smith and the Undying Chinaman - shortstory by Charles P. Zaglanis
• 205 - Snake Oil - shortfiction by Matthew Baugh
• 221 - Cemetery, Nevada - novelette by Tim Curran
• 251 - The Rider of the Dark - (2004) - shortstory by Darrell Schweitzer

Contents:

• 11 - Author's Note (The Strange Cases of Rudolph Pearson) - essay
• 15 - Foreword (The Strange Cases of Rudolph Pearson) - shortfiction
• 19 - Feasters of the Dark - (2003) - shortstory
• 35 - The Transgression of Effram Harris - (2004) - shortstory
• 45 - Shadow of the Past - novelette
• 75 - The Whispering Dead - novelette
• 103 - The Haunted Horror - shortstory
• 115 - Harami - (2004) - shortstory
• 129 - The Missing Curiosity - novelette
• 159 - The Mysterious Millionaire - novelette
• 191 - An Ancient Summoning - shortstory
• 217 - Through the Eye of a Needle - (2006) - shortstory
• 237 - Afterword (The Strange Cases of Rudolph Pearson) - shortfiction

Calliope Reaper-Jones so just wanted a normal life: buying designer shoes on sale, dating guys from Craig’s List, web-surfing for organic dim-sum for her boss...

But when her father—who happens to be Death himself—is kidnapped, and the Devil’s Protege embarks on a hostile takeover of the family business, Death, Inc., Callie returns home to assume the CEO mantle— only to discover she must complete three nearly impossible tasks in the realm of the afterlife first.

Calliope Reaper-Jones is Death's Daughter. She owes a debt to Cerberus, the three headed dog that guards the gate's of hell-a debt that involves a trip to Purgatory, Las Vegas, ancient Egypt, and a discount department store that's more frightening than any supernatural creature she'll ever encounter.

Calliope just wants to make it big in the Big Apple like any other working girl. But Callie is also Death's Daughter, no matter how much she tries to stay out of the family business. And now her older sister has made a deal with the Devil himself to engage in a hostile takeover of both Death Inc. and Heaven-once they get Callie out of the way.

All Calliope Reaper-Jones ever wanted out of life was a fabulous job in New York City and a really hot boyfriend. But now, she's the brand-new President of Death, Inc. With the Board of Death breathing down her neck and her dad's copy of How to be Death (A Fully Annotated Guide) unopened, Callie's really feeling the tension. And when the guide book is stolen at a fancy formal dinner, Callie has to figure out how to be the boss--before the powers held within the book get out and destroy humanity forever...

My name is Calliope Reaper-Jones (Callie to my friends). I'm Death's Daughter and—as of very recently—the (reluctant) head of my father's company, Death, Inc.

I was gradually learning how to be a businesswoman. Had the power suits and shoes down, though the day to day was slow going. Then I was blindsided by Enemies Unknown and sent off to I-don't-know-where. Not a good thing.

Now not only must my friends and family be frantic, but without a CEO, Death, Inc., can't function. With the newly deceased left free to roam the Earth, it's the zombie apocalypse come true.

I've got to get back—for my sake and the sake of, oh, all humanity...

Daniel Carter used to be a homicide detective, but his last case-the hunt for a serial killer-went wrong in strange ways and soured the job for him. Now he's a private investigator trying to live a quiet life. Strangeness, however, has not finished with him. First he inherits a bookstore in Providence from someone he's never heard of, along with an indignant bookseller who doesn't want a new boss. She's Emily Lovecraft, the last known descendant of H.P. Lovecraft, the writer from Providence who told tales of the Great Old Ones and the Elder Gods, creatures and entities beyond the understanding of man. Then people start dying in impossible ways, and while Carter doesn't want to be involved, he's beginning to suspect that someone else wants him to be. As he reluctantly investigates, he discovers that Lovecraft's tales were more than just fiction, and he must accept another unexpected, and far more unwanted inheritance.

After the End of the World by Jonathan L. Howard brings the H.P. Lovecraft mythos into the twenty-first century.

The Unfolded World is a bitter and unfriendly place for Daniel Carter and Emily Lovecraft. In this world, the Cold War never happened because the Soviet Union ceased to exist in 1941. In this world the Nazi Großdeutschland is the premier superpower, and is not merely tolerated but indulged because, in this world, the Holocaust happened behind the ruins of the Iron Curtain and consumed only Bolsheviks, Communists, and others the West was glad to see gone. In this world, there are monsters, and not all of them are human.

But even in the Unfolded World, there are still bills to pay and jobs to do. Carter finds himself working for the German secret security service to uncover the truth behind a major scientific joint project that is going suspiciously well. The trail takes Lovecraft and him to a distant, abandoned island, and a conspiracy that threatens everything. To fight it, Lovecraft must walk a perilously narrow path between forbidden knowledge and soul-destroying insanity.

Fortunately, she also has a shotgun.

Darynda Jones revisits the sexy, suspenseful world of supernatural shenanigans she created in her Grave series with For I Have Sinned. In this Charley Davidson story, Charley helps a woman find out how she died and gives her the closure she needs to pass through to the other side.

A smashing, award-winning debut novel that introduces Charley Davidson: part-time private investigator and full-time Grim Reaper Charley sees dead people. That's right, she sees dead people. And it's her job to convince them to "go into the light." But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (i.e. murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she's been having about an Entity who has been following her all her life... and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely.

If you hang around with dead people, life can deliver a whole world of trouble.

Take it from Charley Davidson, part-time P.I. and full-time Grim Reaper. The deceased find her very sparkly. Demons find her irresistible. And one entity in particular wants to seduce her in every way possible...

When Charley and Cookie, her best friend slash receptionist, have to track down a missing woman, the case is not quite as open and shut as they anticipate. Meanwhile, Reyes Alexander Farrow (otherwise known as the Son of Satan. Yes. Literally.) has left his corporeal body because he's being tortured by demons who want to lure Charley closer. But Reyes can't let that happen. Because if the demons get to Charley, they'll have a portal to heaven. And if they have a portal to heaven... well, let's just say it wouldn't be pretty.

Can Charley handle hot nights with Reyes and even hotter days tracking down a missing woman? Can she keep those she loves out of harm's way? And is there enough coffee and chocolate in the world to fuel her as she does?

Paranormal private eye. Grim reaper extraordinaire. Whatever. Charley Davidson is back! And she's drinking copious amounts of caffeine to stay awake because every time she closes her eyes she sees him: Reyes Farrow, the part-human, part-supermodel son of Satan. Yes, she did imprison him for all eternity, but come on. How is she supposed to solve a missing-persons case, deal with an ego-driven doctor, calm her curmudgeonly dad, and take on a motorcycle gang hell-bent on murder when the devil's son just won't give up on his plan of seduction... and revenge?

Sometimes being the grim reaper really is that. Grim. And since Charley's last case went so awry, she has taken a couple months off to wallow in the wonders of self-pity. But when a woman shows up on her doorstep convinced someone is trying to kill her, Charley has to force herself to rise above. Or at least get dressed. She quickly realizes something is amiss when everyone the woman knows swears she's insane. The more they refute the woman's story, the more Charley believes it.

In the meantime, the sexy, sultry son of Satan, Reyes Farrow, has been cleared of all charges. He is out of prison and out of Charley's life, as per her wishes and several perfectly timed death threats. But his absence has put a serious crimp in her sex life. While there are other things to consider, like the fact that the city of Albuquerque has been taken hostage by an arsonist, Charley is having a difficult time staying away. Especially when it looks like Reyes may be involved.

Never underestimate the power of a woman on a double espresso with a mocha latte chaser high. -- T-shirt

Charley Davidson isn't your everyday, run-of-the-mill grim reaper. She's more of a paranormal private eye/grim reaper extraordinaire. However, she gets sidetracked when the sexy, sultry son of Satan, Reyes Farrow, moves in next door. To further complicate matters, Reyes is her main suspect in an arson case. Charley has vowed to stay away from him until she can find out the truth... but then dead women start appearing in her apartment, one after another, each lost, confused, and terrified beyond reason. When it becomes apparent that her own sister, Gemma, is the serial killer's next target Charley has no choice but to ask for Reyes' help. Arsonist or not, he's the one man alive who could protect Gemma no matter who or what came at her. But he wants something in return. Charley. All of her, body and soul. And to keep her sister safe, it is a price she is willing to pay.

Sometimes I wrestle my demons. Sometimes we just snuggle. -- Bumper Sticker

Most girls might think twice before getting engaged to someone like Reyes Farrow but Charley Davidson is not most girls. She's a paranormal private eye and grim reaper-in-training who's known to be a bit of a hell-raiser, especially after a few shots of caffeine. Her beloved Reyes may be the only begotten son of evil, but he's dark and sultry and deeply sexy and everything Charley could hope for. Really. But when the FBI file on Reyes' childhood happens to land into her lap, she can't help herself: She opens it... and then the real fun begins. First, Charley finds a naked corpse riding shotgun in her car. Then, a man loses his soul in a card game. Throw in a Deaf boy who sees dead people, a woman running from mobsters, and a very suspicious Reyes, and things can't get any worse for Charley. Unless, of course, the Twelve Beasts of Hell are unleashed...

Lead me not into temptation.
Follow me instead! I know a shortcut!
--T-shirt

Twelve. Twelve of the deadliest beasts ever forged in the fires of hell have escaped onto our plane, and they want nothing more than to rip out Charley Davidson's jugular and serve her body to Satan for dinner. So there's that. But Charley has more on her plate than a mob of testy hellhounds. For one thing, her father has disappeared, and as she retraces his last steps she learns he was conducting an investigation of his own, one that has Charley questioning everything she's ever known about him. Add to that an ex-BFF who is haunting her night and day, a rash of suicides that has authorities baffled, and a drop-dead sexy fiancé who has attracted the attentions of a local celebrity, and Charley is not having the best week of her life.

But all of that barely scratches the surface of her problems. Recent developments have forced her to become a responsible adult. To conquer such a monumental task, she's decided to start small. Really small. She gets a pet. But how can she save the world against the forces of evil when she can't even keep a goldfish alive?

A tad north of hell, a hop, skip, and a jump past the realm of eternity, is a little place called Earth, and Charley Davidson, grim reaper extraordinaire, is determined to do everything in her power to protect it.

We're doomed.

Sometimes I wonder if the purpose of my life is to serve as a cautionary tale to others. -- T-shirt

Charley Davidson has enough going on without having to worry about twelve hellhounds hot on her trail. She is, after all, incredibly pregnant and feeling like she could pop at any moment. But, just her luck, twelve deadly beasts from hell have chosen this time to escape onto our plane, and they've made Charley their target. And so she takes refuge at the only place she thinks they can't get to her: the grounds of an abandoned convent. Of course, if hellhounds aren't enough, Charley also has a new case to hold her attention: the decades-old murder of a newly-vowed nun she keeps seeing in the shadows of the convent.

Add to that the still unsolved murder of her father, the strange behavior of her husband, and Charley's tendency to attract the, shall we say, undead, and she has her hands full... but also tied.

I see dead people. No wait. I take that back. I see people I want dead. -- e Card

Charley Davidson is living in New York City as Jane Doe, a girl with no memory of who she is or where she came from. So when she begins to realize she can see dead people, she's more than a bit taken aback. Strangers who enter the diner where she works seem to know things about her... Then she is confronted by a man who claims to have been sent to kill her. Sent by the darkest force in the universe. An enemy that will not stop until she is dead.

Thankfully, she has a Rottweiler. And the diner's devastatingly handsome fry cook, who vows to protect her even though he seems to be lying with every breath he takes. But in the face of such grave danger, who can Jane/Charley/whoever she is trust? She will find the truth even if it kills her... or the fry cook. Either way...

If one door closes and another one opens, your house is probably haunted. -- Bumper Sticker

My entire life can be summed up in one sentence: "Well, that didn't go as planned." -- T-Shirt

A typical day in the life of Charley Davidson involves cheating husbands, errant wives, missing people, philandering business owners, and, oh yeah...demons, hell hounds, evil gods, and dead people. Lots and lots of dead people. As a part time Private Investigator and full-time Grim Reaper, Charley has to balance the good, the bad, the undead, and those who want her dead.

Now, Charley is learning to make peace with the fact that she is a goddess with all kinds of power and that her own daughter has been born to save the world from total destruction. But the forces of hell are determined to see Charley banished forever to the darkest corners of another dimension. With the son of Satan himself as her husband and world-rocking lover, will Charley be able to defeat the ultimate evil and find a way to have her happily ever after after all?

Ever since Reyes Farrow escaped from a hell dimension in which Charley Davidson accidentally trapped him, the son of Satan has been brimstone-bent on destroying the world his heavenly Brother created. His volatile tendencies have put Charley in a bit of a pickle. But that's not the only briny vegetable on her plate. While trying to domesticate the feral being that used to be her husband, she also has to deal with her everyday life of annoying all manner of beings?some corporeal, some not so much?as she struggles to right the wrongs of society. Only this time she's not uncovering a murder. This time she's covering one up.

Add to that her new occupation of keeping a startup PI venture?the indomitable mystery-solving team of Amber Kowalski and Quentin Rutherford?out of trouble and dealing with the Vatican's inquiries into her beloved daughter, and Charley is on the brink of throwing in the towel and becoming a professional shopper. Or possibly a live mannequin. But when someone starts attacking humans who are sensitive to the supernatural world, Charley knows it's time to let loose her razor sharp claws. Then again, her number one suspect is the dark entity she's loved for centuries. So the question becomes: Can she tame the unruly beast before it destroys everything she's worked so hard to protect?

Charley Davidson, Grim Reaper extraordinaire, is pissed. She's been kicked off the earthly plane for eternity?which is exactly the amount of time it takes to make a person stark raving mad. But someone's looking out for her, and she's allowed to return after a mere hundred years in exile. Is it too much to hope for that not much has changed? Apparently it is. Bummer.

Dapper, debonair, and wise, the great enchanter Chrestomanci has nine lives and a strong personality as well as strong magic. That personality reverberates in each of these four dazzling stories.

A warlock tries to escape Chrestomanci's justice by fleeing to another world-with hilarious results. Cat Chant and Tonino Montana reluctantly join forces when Chrestomanci sends them on a visit that turns suddenly dangerous. The youngest best-selling dreamer needs Chrestomanci's help when she finds she can't dream anymore. And as the gods of an ever-so-orderly world try to destroy the young Sage of Dissolution, Chrestomanci lends a hand.

Like Chrestomanci himself, acclaimed author Diana Wynne Jones has a graceful flair, which sparkles in the remarkable wit, imagination, and intelligence of these fast-paced tales.

Table of Contents:

• Warlock at the Wheel - (1984) - shortstory
• Stealer of Souls - (2000) - novella
• Carol Oneir's Hundredth Dream - (1986) - novelette
• The Sage of Theare - (1982) - novelette

Cat Chant has nine lives and is destined to be the next Chrestomanci. He is not pleased when Tonino Montana, a magically-gifted Italian, is invited to live at Chrestomanci Castle. But Cat is forced to put aside his animosity towards Tonino when they are abducted by the enchanter, Master Spiderman.

A bewitching comic fantasy by a master of the supernatural

Cat doesn't mind living in the shadow of his sister, Gwendolen, the most promising young witch ever seen on Coven Street. But trouble starts brewing the moment the two orphans are summoned to live in Chrestomanci Castle. Frustrated that the witches of the castle refuse to acknowledge her talents, Gwendolen conjures up a scheme that could throw whole worlds out of whack.

Tonino is the only person in the famous Montana household who wasn't born with an instinct for creating spells, but he has other gifts. His ability to communicate with cats just might help defend the city of Caprona against a mysterious enchanter -- but only if Tonino can learn to cooperate with a girl from the hated Petrocchi family of spell-makers.

There are good witches and bad witches, but the law says that all witches must be burned at the stake. So when an anonymous note warns, "Someone in this class is a witch," the students in 6B are nervous--especially the boy who's just discovered that he can cast spells and the girl who was named after the most famous witch of all. Witch Week features the debonair enchanter Chrestomanci, who also appears in Charmed Life, The Magicians of Caprona, and The Lives of Christopber Chant. Someone in the class is a witch. At least so the anonymous note says. Everyone is only too eager to prove it is someone else--because in this society, witches are burned at the stake.

His father and uncles are enchanters, his mother a powerful sorceress, yet nothing seems magical about Christopher Chant except his dreams. Night after night, he climbs through the formless Place Between and visits marvelous lands he calls the Almost Anywheres. Then Christopher discovers that he can bring real, solid things back from his dreams. Others begin to recognize the extent of his powers, and they issue an order that turns Christopher's life upside down: Go to Chrestomanci Castle to train to be the controller of all the world's magic.

The Lives of Christopher Chant is the adventure-filled story of the boyhood of Chretomanci, the famous magician who also appears in Charmed Life, Witch Week, and The Magicians of Caprona.

Someone at Stallery Mansion is changing the world. At first, only small details, but the changes get bigger and bigger. It's up to Conrad, a twelve-year-old with terrible karma who's just joined the mansion's staff, to find out who is behind it.

But he's not the only one snooping around. His fellow servant-in-training, Christopher Chant, is charming, confident, and from another world, with a mission of his own -- rescuing his friend, lost in an alternate Stallery Mansion. Can they save the day before Conrad's awful fate catches up with them?

Cat Chant and Marianne Pinhoe have discovered something exciting--something truly precious, very strange, and valuable. An egg.

An egg that has been hidden away in an attic for who-knows-how-many years. An egg protected by some strong "Don't Notice" spells. An egg that Marianne gives to Cat, even though he lives at nearby Chrestomanci Castle. Chrestomanci himself, the strongest enchanter in the world, is sure to be interested in the egg--and interference from the Big Man is the last thing Marianne's family of secret rogue witches wants.

But how much longer can the Pinhoes keep their secrets? Gammer, the leaderof the clan, has gone mad, a powerfulbad luck spell is wreaking havoc, and there's an unexplained plague of frogs.Not to mention the mysterious barrierCat finds in the forest.

Marianne and Cat may be the only two who can set things right. But first Marianne must accept her own powerful magic, and Cat must uncover the secrets behind the mystical Pinhoe Egg.

In this new Chrestomanci book, Diana Wynne Jones is at her most magical.

THE CHRONICLES OF LUCIFER JONES

Being a Stirring Chronicle of Intrigue, Romance, Danger, Hairbreadth Escapes, and Thrilling Triumphs over Fierce Beasts and Fiercer Men in the Mysterious and Exotic Dark Continent, as Recounted by the Daring, Resourceful, Handsome, and Modest Christian Gentleman Who Experienced Them

Of all the characters that Mike has created, Lucifer Jones remains his favorite. We are proud to republish this hilarious series of adventures starring a most unique character.

Exploits is the second volume of the Chronicles.

THE CHRONICLES OF LUCIFER JONES: VOLUME II

Being a Thrilling Chronicle of Romance, Danger, Spectacle, High Adventure, Narrow Escapes, and Uplifting Triumphs Over Sinister Villains and Mystic Mages in the Exotic Continent of the East, as Recounted by the Bold, Daring, Handsome and Modest Christian Gentleman Who Experienced Them.

Of all the characters that Mike has created, Lucifer Jones remains his favorite. We are proud to republish this hilarious series of adventures starring a most unique character.

Encounters is the third volume of the Chronicles.

THE CHRONICLES OF LUCIFER JONES: VOLUME III

Being a Romantic Chronicle of Intrigue, High Adventure, Danger, Spectacle, and Thrilling Triumphs Over Wicked Villains, Painted Women, and Horrific Monsters in the Sinful Nations of Europe, as Recounted by the Daring, Handsome, Resourceful and Modest Christian Gentleman Who Experienced Them

After his Adventures in Africa, his Exploits in Asia, and his Encounters in Europe, everyone's favorite man of the cloth is back to tell you about the Hazards he encounters in South America. They include the terrifying Island of Annoyed Souls, the discovery of the Lost Continent of Moo (spelled correctly for a change), a battle with safari ants that even Charlton Heston wouldn't want any part of, and a pair of Bird Girls who live in matching Chartreuse Mansions.

You'll meet some old friends such as Capturin' Clyde Calhoun, old heartthrobs such the Scorpion Lady, old rivals such as Major Theodore Dobbins and Rupert Cornwall, an old nemesis (the remarkable Erich von Horst), a pair of naked high priestesses (or goddesses, take your choice), the sinister Dr. Mirbeau, the incredibly wealthy and incredibly undesirable Baroness Schimmelmetz, and a score of others--including Bubbles, an anaconda with an attitude.

And making his way through these hazards is the irrepressible Right Reverend Honorable Doctor Lucifer Jones. So come along-you don't want to miss the fun!

Lucifer Jones is back-and on the run again. Having been barred from the United States, Africa (Adventures), Asia (Exploits), Europe (Encounters), and South America (Hazards), he is island-hopping his way across the Pacific to Australia, the one remaining continent that will tolerate his presence.

Seems like it should be an idyllic trip, but then, nothing is ever quite idyllic where Lucifer is concerned. He meets a rather large, rather unhappy couple when he encounters King and Mrs. Kong; he comes across a hermit with an opera singer's name who has four gorgeous servants-Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday; he falls in with an arduous collector-of heads; he gets passage aboard a ship whose crazed captain is in maniacal pursuit of the Puce Whale; and he eventually tops General MacArthur's list of least favorite people.

During the course of his voyages he and the reader encounter old friends such as Capturin' Clyde Calhoun (who brings 'em back alive; not intact, but alive), Erich von Horst (a con man's con man), and Inspector Willie Wong (who has so many sons he has run out of names for them and uses numbers instead), as well as some new and equally memorable characters.

Join five-time Hugo winner Mike Resnick as he brings you more episodes from the life of his favorite creation, the Right Reverend Honorable Dr. Lucifer Jones ("Weddings done cheap, with a group rate for funerals.").

Nebula Award winning and Hugo Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, October-November 2003. It can also be found in the anthologies Best Short Novels: 2004, edited by Jonathan Strahan, The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-First Annual Collection (2004), edited by Gardner Dozois, and Nebula Awards Showcase 2006, edited by Gardner Dozois. It is included in the collections The Green Leopard Plague and Other Stories (2006) and The Best of Walter Jon Williams (2021).

Charles Forbin has dedicated the last ten years of his life to the construction of his own supercomputer, Colossus, rejecting romantic and social endeavours in order to create the United States' very first Artificially Intelligent defence system.

Colossus is a supercomputer capable of in-taking and analyzing data rapidly, allowing it to make real time decisions about the nation's defense.

But Colossus soon exceeds even Forbin's calculated expectations, learning to think independently of the Colossus Programming Office, processing data over one hundred times faster than Forbin and his team had originally anticipated.

The President hands off full control of the nation's missiles and other defense protocols to Colossus and makes the announcement to the world that he has ensured peace.

However, the USSR quickly announces that it too has a supercomputer, Guardian, with capabilities similar to that of Colossus.

Forbin is concerned when Colossus asks--asks--to communicate with Guardian. The computer he built shouldn't be able to ask at all...

Colossus and Guardian begin to communicate, quickly bypassing existing knowledge ... and the parameters placed on them by their creators. They are perfectly smart and totally in control. However, they lack human empathy and emotion, creating horrific scenarios.

Colossus and its Russian counterpart, Guardian, soon compromise US military secrecy, ultimately subjugating their creators with the threat of nuclear war.

And while Colossus has been specifically designed not to understand emotion - so as to make quicker and more logical decisions about America's safety - this is exactly the thing that makes him so lethal; Colossus does not experience human empathy and is incapable of understanding the moral ramifications of his decisions.

Having handed over total control of American defence missiles to Colossus, the President and Forbin must act quickly to shut down the unstable machine.

Will Forbin be able to take down the machine he's spent ten years building?

Will Colossus cause real damage before it's too late?

Find out in D.F. Jones's thrilling novel Colossus, which deals with the ongoing battle - both physical and philosophical - between man and machine, addresses the author's own apprehensive attitude towards our future. His message is still as poignant and moving today and when the novel was originally published in 1966.

Charles Forbin is the Director: the one man on earth who speaks directly to Colossus. Five years before, the American supercomputer and the Soviet supercomputer were united -- combining their data, their analytic powers, their learning and growth capacity. In the few seconds of that process, they became one Colossus -- master of humankind. Programmed to solve humanity's problems, Colossus solved them: forestalled nuclear holocaust, eradicated poverty and the frustration and violence it breeds. Soon there was nothing for people to do -- but obey. Some made Colossus their God, and Charles Forbin was their Pope. Others wanted to be free of Colossus -- for Colossus was also ruthless beyond any human tyrant ever -- and they wanted Forbin as their deliverer. Either of these movements might get Forbin killed. He is appalled and disgusted by the religious cult, terrified by the rebels -- who haven't a chance, as he knows better than anyone on earth. Then Forbin is handed the key to the overthrow of Colossus -- or is it? He must commit his life to the chance that it is, just to begin with. Then he must commit the earth to the shadowy motives of the mysterious source of this new power.

BETRAYER OF MANKIND

In all his illustrious career Charles Forbin has never faced a challenge as awe-inspiring, and as hopeless! As the man who mediates between Colossus, the Super-Computer, and the rest of humanity, Forbin holds the key to Earth's fate. Now he has voluntarily used his power to switch off the Machine, and thus turned over mastery of the planet to alien invaders.

Will Forbin turn out to be the universal Judas, or can he prevent these strange beings from taking their horrendous tribute? The invaders are wise beyond mankind's conception, and Forbin meets his match in this thrilling third book in the Colossus series.

You know about Batman, Superman, and Spiderman, but have you heard of Doll Man, Doctor Hormone, or Spider Queen? In The League of Regrettable Superheroes, you'll meet one hundred of the strangest superheroes ever to see print, complete with backstories, vintage art, and colorful commentary. So prepare yourself for such not-ready-for-prime-time heroes as Bee Man (Batman, but with bees), the Clown (circus-themed crimebuster), the Eye (a giant, floating eyeball; just accept it), and many other oddballs and oddities.

Drawing on the entire history of the medium, The League of Regrettable Superheroes will appeal to die-hard comics fans, casual comics readers, and anyone who enjoys peering into the stranger corners of pop culture.

Every hero needs a villain. But not all villains are dangerous -- some are incompetent, comical, or just... weird. In his follow-up to The League of Regrettable Superheroes, author Jon Morris presents over a hundred of the strangest, most stupefying supervillains to ever see print in comics. Meet D-list rogues like Brickbat (choice of weapon: poisonous bricks), Robbing Hood (steals from the poor to give to the rich), Swarm (a crook made of bees; Nazi bees), and many more.

Drawing on the entire history of the medium, The Legion of Regrettable Supervillains affectionately and hilariously profiles oddball criminals from the history of comics.

Coyote Jones, agent for the Tri-Galactic Intelligence Service, had been sent to a planet so unimaginably distant from the rest of the Federation that it bore the descriptive name Furthest. His mission: to find out why the total body of data about Furthest showed the world's inhabitants to be absolutely average down to the last decimal place. That data had to be false.

Coyote Jones had never heard of Abba until he was assigned there. It was a remotely beautiful world, but one which had been admitted to the society of civilized planets only after it had made concessions on its degrading treatment of women. Until then, women were considered as not human, as a sort of necessary beast, but not more. The concessions had been slight--but as a result one brilliant female, Jacinth, had risen to the very top of that strange society, to the Seventh Level. Thereby she had become the spiteful target of male fury, female envy, and finally of a deviously evil plot that might cost the world its status.

Coyote Jones, secret agent for the Tri-Galactic intelligence service, had a strange handicap. In a universe where every normal being is telepathic, he suffered from almost total mind-deafness. He can project, but he can't receive. When the social system of the planet Freeway began to reel under the force of an alleged female Messiah, Coyote's handicap made him the perfect choice for the assignment: FIND, is she a fake or isn't she?

If Drussa Silver is projecting telepathic illusions instead of performing miracles, Coyote would be immune to them. Since using religion to defraud is a criminal act, he could then bring her back to Mars-Central for trial. If she's the real thing however, the situation would be utterly different...

The Communipaths have traced a mind message of incredible strength to a seemingly empty sector of space, and now Tri-Galactic Federation agent Coyote Jones must find an invisible planet and bring back the unknown telepath who threatens to disrupt the entire Communipath system.

Bursting through a Spell of Invisibility and straight into Brightwater Kingdom on the planet Ozark, Coyote discovers a realm ruled by an iron-willed young woman named Responsible--perhaps the very telepath he seeks. But on this world where Magicians of Rank can call up a storm or cure a wounded and unwelcome offworlder with equal ease, will Coyote's psience or Ozark's spells prove the stronger?

DATAKILL!

Alex Gibson is an evidence chaser on the run in London. One of his eyes is palest grey. The other is a Zeiss eyecam with enough data locked in it to blow open a very messy murder trial. Unfortunately for Alex, media giant CySat GmB reckon the evidence belongs to them. And they intend to take it. so does the Order of Antioch, a shadowy organization run by an 800-year-old Sicilian psychopath.

Bad news for prosecutor Clare Fabio, who's been set up but doesn't know it. Just as she doesn't yet know her only chance of getting out of Paris alive is to cut a deal with a ruthless, criminally inclined computer.

While on the other side of the world, wired into the Cy, sits Johnnie T, leader of the neoAddix, Japan's slickest street gang - who just may be able to do something to help them.

Or maybe not...

NEOADDIX, drawing on today's and tomorrow's developments in genetics, nanotechnology and computer hacking, is a dark, violent technoshocker that splices the thriller with Japanese traditions of manga to create cutting-edge cyber noir.

Passion di Orchi is no more than the obscenely rich daughter of a West Coast mafia boss - until she decides to rebuild Venice. In the middle of the Pacific. A century later, with New Venice ossified into a puritanical elegance, the daughter of Count Ryuchi slips away from her father's palazzo, out to the levels to play Lucifer's Dragon. A multi-level, self-perpetuating, true 3-D trawl through the Apocalypse, Lucifer's Dragon is coded so the game never repeats its own failures. But an altercation in a bar puts Karo on a collision course with NVPD officer Angeli, drafted in by media giant CySat to investigate a murder she knows way too much about. And then there's Razz, the silver exotic. Too tired and jaded to keep living, she takes on the job of guarding CySat's ultimate boss, the ten-year-old Aurelio. With all the high tech security in place, it should be a walk in the park. But the last thing Razz sees is CySat's child-ruler making too close an acquaintance with an Uzi, and then she wakes up in Zurich. Dead...

LizAlec is wired for sound, speed and anything else that money can buy. But she's abducted. Her mother's a French minister, who moves Heaven and Earth to find her. Fixx fixes things - recordings, people, anything that makes money. Some of him is almost human. Now he has to find LizAlec.

Only two things stand between our world and financial meltdown

a silver monkey...

...and a talking gun

Axl Borja has agreed to do one last hit. His Excellency Cardinal Santo Ducque is facing political ruin if he can't regain the Vatican's missing billions. And Mai is a Japanese whore kidnapped and held hostage in a UN refugee zone.

As these three people collide - with each other and themselves - their actions mean the world and all its institutions must be changed. One thing is for sure. While Axl, Mai and the Cardinal can't all get what they want, they might just get what they need.

Imagine a game with no boundaries - waiting in a parking lot, sitting at your computer, walking down the street. You could be called at any moment - and you'd better be ready.

This is not a game.

This is a novel of greed, betrayal, and social networking.

By day Dagmar Shaw orchestrates vast games with millions of players spanning continents. By night, she tries to forget the sound of a city collapsing in flames around her. She tries to forget the faces of her friends as they died in front of her. She tries to forget the blood on her own hands.

But then an old friend approaches Dagmar with a project. The project he pitches is so insane and so ambitious, she can't possibly say no. But this new venture will lead her from the world of alternate-reality gaming to one even more complex. A world in which the players are soldiers and spies and the name of the game is survival.

Dagmar Shaw got out of the game... and into the movies.Sean is a washed-up child actor reduced to the lowest dregs of reality television to keep himself afloat. His life was a downward spiral of alcoholism, regret, and failure... until he met Dagmar.Except Sean has secrets, dark even for the Hollywood treadmill of abuse, addiction, and rehab. And Dagmar is a cipher. There are dark rumors about her past, the places she's been, the things she was involved in. People tend to die around her and now, she wants Sean for something. A movie, she says, but with her history, who's to say what her real game is?

For centuries, Dalemark has been a land divided by the warring earldoms of the North and South. Now, with the help of the Undying, the mysterious gods of Dalemark, four extraordinary young people -- from the past, present, and future -- nust join forces to reunify their beloved land.

When Moril inherits his father's prized instrument -- a Cwidder said to have belonged to one of the Undying -- he must learn to harness its strange power in time to prevent a destructive civil war.

The people of Holand in South Dalemark are bitterly oppressed by the tyrannical earl Hadd. Informers, secret police, and cruel rent-collectors terrorize the countryside, and Mitt has grown up with more than enough reasons for joining the freedom fighters.

When his protest against the tyrannical government fails, a young boy escapes, with two other children, to the mysterious Holy Islands where they learn the identity and the power of two folk figures celebrated by their countrymen.

Tanqui discovers she has the only means to conquer the evil Kankredin who threatens her own people and the Heathens who have invaded prehistoric Dalemark.

Tanaqui discovers she has the means to conquer the evil Kankredin who threatens her own people and the Heathens who have invaded prehistoric Dalemark.

When this final book of Diana Wynne Jones's quartet of novels about the mythical kingdom of Dalemark was published in 1995, it earned the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature.

The Crown of Dalemark continues the adventures of Mitt after his flight from Holand as a fugitive accused of attempted murder. Since his arrival in the North of Dalemark, Mitt has become disillusioned. The North seems no more free than the South from which he came. And now he has been given an order to kill someone he doesn't even know, or else risk the lives of his friends.

Forced once more to flee, Mitt is joined by Moril, the quietly powerful musician, and Maewen, out of her time but mysteriously fated to play a part in their quest. For the evil powers of the mage Kankredin are re-assembling, and only the Adon's gifts-the ring, sword, and cup-can reunite Dalemark.

The Countess and Lord Keril send Mitt to kill a young woman Noreth Onesdaughter, who claims to know where the lost crown is hidden.

A showcase anthology of the very best in horror and dark fantasy writing by modern masters of the macabre. Here is a hair-raising collection comprising some of the very finest in horror and dark fantasy. Drawing from both sides of the Atlantic, each volume features the work of some of the genres' biggest-selling names as well as their rising stars. In Dark Terrors I, tales by Peter Straub, Ramsey Campbell, Christopher Fowler, Kim Newman, Richard Christian Matheson, Graham Masterton, and Brian Lumley chill the blood.

Table of Contents:

• More Tomorrow by Michael Marshall Smith
• The Puppets by Ramsey Campbell
• Sampled by Steve Rasnic Tem
• The Hungry Moon by Graham Masterton
• Love Eats by Lisa Morton
• Uzzi by Brian Lumley
• Splatter of Black by Charles Gramlich
• The Laundry Imp by Christopher Fowler
• Food for Thought by Mandy Slater
• Screens by Terry Lamsley
• All My Friends Are Here by Charles Wagner
• Eternity Ltd by Mark Morris
• The Lagoon by Nicholas Royle
• At the Crossroads, Burying the Dog by Jeff VanderMeer
• The Travelling Salesman's Christmas Special by C. Bruce Hunter
• A Feast at Grief's Table by Roberta Lannes
• Bleed by Richard Christian Matheson
• Where the Bodies Are Buried 3: Black and White and Red All Over by Kim Newman
• I've Come to Talk With You Again by Karl Edward Wagner
• Fee by Peter Straub

A showcase anthology of the very best in horror and dark fantasy writing by modern masters of the macabre. Here is a hair-raising collection comprising some of the very finest in horror and dark fantasy. Drawing from both sides of the Atlantic, each volume features the work of some of the genres' biggest-selling names as well as their rising stars. Dark Terrors II features stories from, among others, Clive Barker, Peter Straub, Thomas Tessier, Nicholas Royle, Dennis Etchison, and James Miller. These two anthologies will take you to the furthest reaches of your imagination... and beyond!

Table of Contents:

• About The Editors
• Introduction by Stephen Jones and David Sutton
• The Comfort of Strangers by Nicholas Royle
• A Really Game Boy by Brian Lumley
• Something for Free by Conrad Williams
• (Melodrama) by David J. Schow
• Absolute Zero by James Miller
• Negative Equity by Paul J. McAuley
• To This Water (Johnstown, Pennsylvania 1889) by Caitlín R. Kiernan
• Out of the Woods by Ramsey Campbell
• The Rains by Steve Rasnic Tem
• Underbed by Graham Masterton
• Animal Life by Clive Barker
• Lily's Whisper by Jay Russell
• Hell Hath Enlarged Herself by Michael Marshall Smith
• Ghost Music: A Memoir by George Beaune by Thomas Tessier
• The Dead Cop by Dennis Etchison
• Where the Bodies Are Buried 2020 by Kim Newman
• The Museum on Cyclops Avenue by Harlan Ellison
• Hunger, an Introduction by Peter Straub

The award-winning team of Jones and Sutton once again push the boundaries of fear in this new collection of horror and dark fantasy. Drawing from both sides of the Atlantic, Dark Terrors 3 features stories by some of the genres' biggest names as well as their rising stars, including Ray Bradbury, Poppy Z. Brite, Pat Cadigan, Ramsey Campbell, Christopher Fowler, Neil Gaiman, Julian Rathbone, Mark Timlin, and Michael Marshall Smith. An anthology that will take you to the furthest reaches of your imagination--and beyond.

Table of Contents:

• About The Editors
• Introduction by Stephen Jones and David Sutton
• Free Dirt by Ray Bradbury
• Self-Made Man by Poppy Z. Brite
• The Price by Neil Gaiman
• Such a Nice Girl by Storm Constantine
• Pieces by Ray Garton
• Aunt Libby's Grave by Melanie Tem
• The Horror Under Warrendown by Ramsey Campbell
• Skinned Angels by Kathryn Ptacek
• The Windmill by Conrad Williams
• Sharp Edges by Steve Rasnic Tem
• This Is Your Life (Repressed Memory Remix) by Pat Cadigan
• Little Holocausts by Brian Hodge
• Fat Mary by Julian Rathbone
• The Last Reel by Dennis Etchison
• Everybody Needs Somebody to Love by Mark Timlin
• Sous Rature by Jay Russell
• Spanky's Back in Town by Christopher Fowler
• Estate by Caitlín R. Kiernan
• Walking Wounded by Michael Marshall Smith
• The Lost Boy Found by Terry Lamsley

The highlights of the world's most critically acclaimed original horror anthology include chilling tales of contemporary horror by some of the biggest and bestselling authors currently being published, both in the mainstream and dark fantasy fields: Poppy Z Brite, Ramsey Campbell, Dennis Etchison, Christopher Fowler, Neil Gaiman, Terry Lamsley, Richard Christian Matheson, Geoff Nicholson, Kathryn Ptacek, David Schow, Michael Marshall Smith and many others.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction by Stephen Jones & David Sutton
• The Great Fall by Richard Christian Matheson
• Normal Life by Christopher Fowler
• The Wedding Present by Neil Gaiman
• Never to Be Heard by Ramsey Campbell
• Tumbleweeds by Donald R. Burleson
• Family History by Stephen Baxter
• The Incredible True Facts in the Case by David J. Schow
• Mr. Guidry's Head by Roberta Lannes
• Inside the Cackle Factory by Dennis Etchison
• Entertaining Mr. Orton by Poppy Z. Brite
• The Country of Glass by Joel Lane
• My Pathology by Lisa Tuttle
• Curing Hitler by Thomas Tessier
• Weak End by James Miller
• Sullivan's Travails by Jay Russell
• The Suicide Pit by Conrad Williams
• Making Monsters by Geoff Nicholson
• A Place to Stay by Michael Marshall Smith
• Suburban Blight by Terry Lamsley

Once again, multi-award-winning editors Stephen Jones and David Sutton take you on a terrifying journey into the dark heart of modern horror fiction.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction by Stephen Jones & David Sutton
• At Home in the Pubs of Old London by Christopher Fowler
• Valentia by Caitlín Kiernan
• Barking Sands by Richard Christian Matheson
• Everything, in All the Wrong Order by Chaz Brenchley
• Savannah is Six by James Van Pelt
• Now Day Was Fled as the Worm Had Wished by Brian Hodge
• Why Rudy Can't Read by David J. Schow
• No Story in It by Ramsey Campbell
• Witch-Compass by Graham Masterton
• The Proposal by Nicholas Royle
• Changes by C. Bruce Hunter
• The Abortionist's Horse (A Nightmare) by Tanith Lee
• The Handover by Michael Marshall Smith
• Pearl by Roberta Lannes
• Beauregard by Eric Brown
• Necromimicos by Nancy Kilpatrick
• The Bootleg Heart by Joel Lane
• Saturday by Cherry Wilder
• The Girlfriends of Dorian Gray by Gregory Frost
• Bottle Babies by Mary A. Turzillo
• Going to Series by Kim Newman
• Haunts by Lisa Tuttle
• My Present Wife by Dennis Etchison
• Alicia by Melanie Tem
• The Haunted Bookshop by Brian Stableford
• Starfucker by Mick Garris
• Destroyer of Worlds by Gwyneth Jones
• The Geezers by Peter Straub
• Honeysuckle by William B. Trotter
• Final Departure by Gahan Wilson
• Pelican Cay by David Case

In this award-winning anthology, you'll encounter a strange museum where the past comes alive, a man who uses a time-traveling car to commit murder, an attempt to market Dr. Jekyll's famous formula, a series of cards that reveal a terrifying ritual, and many other original stories guaranteed to take you on a terrifying journey into the heart of modern horror fiction. Among the stellar contributors are Stephen Baxter, Ramsey Campbell, Graham Masterton, Christopher Fowler, Tanith Lee, and David J. Schow.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Stephen Jones and David Sutton
• The Retrospective - (2002) - short story by Ramsey Campbell
• We're Going Where the Sun Shines Brightly - short story by Christopher Fowler
• A Habit of Hating - short story by John Burke
• Dead Snow - short story by Trey R. Barker
• The Dinosaur Hunter - short story by Stephen Baxter
• There Lies the Danger ... - short story by Basil Copper
• Your Shadow Knows You Well - short story by Nancy Kilpatrick
• Eglantine's Time - short story by Jay Lake
• The Burgers of Calais - novelette by Graham Masterton
• Hide and Seek - short story by Nicholas Royle
• Moving History - short story by Geoff Nicholson
• Aversion Therapy - short story by Samantha Lee
• The Cure - short story by Tony Richards
• Plot Twist - short story by David J. Schow
• Job 37 - short story by Gemma Files
• Mother, Personified - short story by Yvonne Navarro
• The Receivers - short story by Joel Lane
• The Death of Splatter - short story by Lisa Morton
• A Long Walk, for the Last Time - short story by Michael Marshall Smith
• The Two Sams - short story by Glen Hirshberg
• In the Hours After Death - (2002) - short story by Jeff VanderMeer
• Under My Skin - short story by Les Daniels
• Sweetness and Light - short story by Joe Murphy
• Haifisch - short story by Conrad Williams
• The Road of Pins - (2002) - short story by Caitlín R. Kiernan
• Black - novelette by Tim Lebbon
• A Drug on the Market - (2001) - novelette by Kim Newman
• Slaves of Nowhere - short story by Richard Christian Matheson
• The Prospect Cards - novelette by Don Tumasonis
• Handwriting of the God - novelette by Chico Kidd
• Midday People - novelette by Tanith Lee
• The Boy Behind the Gate - short story by James Van Pelt
• A Hollywood Ending - novelette by Mick Garris

A prison doctor injects a condemned serial killer with a formula designed to keep his consciousness awake while his body rots in the grave. But all drugs have unforeseen side-effects. Before he could be buried, the killer wakes up. Hungry. Infected. Contagious. This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang... but a bite.

Stebbins Little School is full of bodies. It's unthinkable to Desdemona Fox. Children are sobbing as panicked teachers and neighbors beat down their family members outside of the school... or the things that used to be their family members. Parents don't eat their children do they?

Officers Fox and Hammond, along with journalist Billy Trout, are calling it the beginning of the end. This is the zombie apocalypse. An insane escaped serial killer is infecting Stebbins County with a deadly virus, and now the whole world is watching while Fox, Trout, and the remaining inhabitants of Stebbins fight for their life against... what? The undead? The President and the National Guard are ready to nuke Stebbins, PA off the map and cut their losses. But the infection is spreading and fast. Worse, the scientist who created the virus is missing. It's a numbers game as the body count rises; Fox has to contain the infected and evacuate the living before it's too late, and the clock is ticking...

Fall of Night, Maberry's nail-biting sequel to Dead of Night, picks up where the first novel left off—on a wild goose chase for a madman and the missing scientist who gave him new "un"-life. Chilling, gory, and hair-raisingly scary, Maberry fans won't be able to read this fast-paced thriller with the lights off.

The dead rose. We fell.

The survivors are trapped in a world of monsters who prey on the helpless. Some of them are zombies... but they are not the only predators who feed on pain and suffering.

DARK OF NIGHT is a story of worlds in collision. Three heroes who have survived the apocalypse are in a deadly race to save a busload of children from ravenous zombies and ruthless human scavengers.

This brand new novella brings together three of New York Times bestseller Jonathan Maberry's award-winning novel series.

Captain Joe Ledger (PATIENT ZERO and CODE ZERO), Officer Desdemona Fox (DEAD OF NIGHT and FALL OF NIGHT), and Rachael Elle (BITS & PIECES, a Rot & Ruin novel) are caught between an endless wave of the living dead and an army of corrupt men who want to enslave the last human survivors.

Jonathan Maberry teams with debut novelist Rachael Lavin to tell a sweeping story of adventure, horror, and heroism.

Flesh and Fire:

In the midst of a midlife crisis, Todd is haunted by Chloe, the lover who died not long after their relationship ended. When Chloe escapes Hell in search of the peaceful rest that has eluded her, a demon named Samael is on her trail and she needs Todd's help.

While on the run Todd and Chloe face demons real and personal, soul-threatening danger, and their long-buried feelings for each other.

The dead rose. We fell.

But not everyone thinks the war for survival is over. Heroes rise in times of crisis, and STILL OF NIGHT tells their stories...

DAHLIA -a bullied high school girl with a love for edged weapons goes from victim to powerful leader as the zombie apocalypse sweeps through her world.

RACHAEL ELLE -continues her journey from comic-con cosplayer to actual hero as she encounter a community with a dark and terrible secret.

CAPTAIN JOE LEDGER and his best shooters, TOP and BUNNY, head to an overrun San Diego to try and save a possible cure for the virus that is bringing the dead back to unnatural life.

And in the wilderness, Joe, Dahlia, and Rachael Elle will come face-to-face with savage gangs, an army of the living dead, and the mysterious and deadly OLD MAN CHURCH.

The final battle unfolds in a little town called Happy Valley, where the residents have found their own unique and terrible way to survive the end of the world. But a war is coming, and no one will escape the last great war between the living and the dead.

A hilarious adventure about a fantasy world in danger of destruction from that most vile of threats... tourism .Winner of the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature in 1999.

A humorous fantasy from Diana Wynne Jones. In a world next door to ours, the tourist industry is devastating the population by its desire to experience all the fantasy clichés - Dark Lords, impoverished villages, dragons etc.

The Head of the University resolves to shut the tours down; the only problem being the ruthless tour-master - and his all-powerful demons. To save them all, the incompetent wizard Derk is appointed as Dark Lord in the hope that he will ruin the tours, and sure enough proceeds to fail at everything due to his general uselessness. But can failing at everything lead to a win this time?

A hilarious fantasy sequel to The Dark Lord of Derkholm, set at the University after the 'fantasy world' tours have stopped, and centred around 6 students (one a Griffin) and the bumbling new University Head Wizard. From the 'Godmother of Fantasy', Diana Wynne Jones.

The Year of the Griffin is the sequel to the Dark Lord of Derkholm, set in the same world several years after the abolition of commercial 'fantasy world' tourism from our world.

The University now aims to produce competent wizards to repair the damage caused by the tours. It's broke, and out of date in terms of what it teaches. The new head, Wizard Corkoran, is obsessed with becoming the first man to visit the moon so is mostly preoccupied, and the new faculty is mostly inexperienced.

Wizard Corkoran has selected children from wealthy families to fill his own first-year classes, hoping to beg for money. But his students turn out to be more than he expected in oh-so-many ways, and despite the incompetence of their teacher, it falls to them to save the university... and themselves...

Chosen Among The Beautiful - Cho, for short - has been alone her whole life. Orphaned, she was raised by machines, with her cat, Divine Endurance, for company.

When an earthquake destroys her isolated shelter, Cho leaves to find her long lost brother, cat in tow. She finds herself in a land torn apart by warring gangs, clans and princes, revolutionaries and outcasts, all under the thumb of the distance Rulers, reduced to petty in-fighting to try and gain any power at all.

Divine Endurance seeks out the Rulers; Cho instead finds Derveet, a rebel leader. She finds love.

Can there be a future for them in this brutal world? What does Cho really know about humanity after being separated from it all her life? What does she even know about herself?

'The past is like a foreign country. Nice to visit, but you really wouldn't want to live there.'

In 2003, Rebecca Whitaker died in a road accident. Her husband Mark is still grieving. He receives a battered envelope, posted eight years earlier, containing a set of instructions with a simple message: 'You can save her.'

As Mark is given the chance to save Rebecca, it's up to the Doctor, Amy and Rory to save the whole world. Because this time the Weeping Angels are using history itself as a weapon.

Join the Doctor on his travels and influence his adventures with your decisions. Will you explore the alien planet or get back in the T.A.R.D.I.S and travel to somewhere new? Choose a direction and let the adventure begin... Each page has two options for the reader to decide what happens next and each novel has several possible endings.

Since his creation one hundred and twenty years ago, the name of Dracula has become synonymous with the legend of the vampire and the character is one of the world's most iconic to appear in fiction and film. Now, this history of the blood-drinking nobleman follows Dracula from his origins in Transylvania, through his travels down the decades, into a dystopian twenty-first century where vampires rule the world.

Is it possible that the Count's condition can be cured by modern medicine? How does the mythology perpetuated by literature and movies affect the existence of a real bloodsucker? How can an immortal creature adapt to the social and technological changes that have already shaped our modern world? And what happens when Dracula turns up for his own birthday party?

These and many other questions are answered by acclaimed authors such as Ramsey Campbell, Christopher Fowler, Charlaine Harris, Nancy Holder, Nancy Kilpatrick, Brian Lumley, Graham Masterton, Paul McAuley, Kim Newman, Michael Marshall Smith, F. Paul Wilson and many others, including Dracula's original creator Bram Stoker with a long-lost version of the story first presented in 1897.

Table of Contents:

• The Giaour (excerpt) - (1813) - poem by Lord George Gordon Byron
• Introduction: I Bid You Welcome - (1997) - essay by Stephen Jones
• Dracula: or The Un-Dead: Prologue - (1897) - short fiction by Bram Stoker
• Dracula's Library - (1997) - short story by Christopher Fowler
• The Heart of Count Dracula, Descendant of Attila, Scourge of God - (1985) - short fiction by Thomas Ligotti
• Daddy's Little Girl - (1997) - short story by Mandy Slater
• Conversion - (1977) - short story by Ramsey Campbell
• The Devil Is Not Mocked - (1943) - short story by Manly Wade Wellman
• Teaserama - (1997) - short story by Nancy Kilpatrick
• Blood Freak - (1997) - short story by Nancy Holder
• Zack Phalanx Is Vlad the Impaler - (1977) - short story by Brian Lumley
• When Greek Meets Greek - (1997) - novelette by Basil Copper
• Coppola's Dracula - (1997) - novella by Kim Newman
• The Second Time Around - (1997) - short story by Hugh B. Cave
• Endangered Species - (1997) - novelette by Brian Mooney
• Melancholia - (1997) - short story by Roberta Lannes
• Children of the Long Night - (1997) - novelette by Lisa Morton
• Mbo - (1997) - short story by Nicholas Royle
• The Worst Place in the World - (1997) - novelette by Paul J. McAuley
• Larry's Guest - (1997) - short story by Guy N. Smith
• A Taste of Culture - (1997) - short story by Jan Edwards
• Rudolph - (1987) - novelette by R. Chetwynd-Hayes
• Roadkill - (1997) - short story by Graham Masterton
• Volunteers - (1997) - short story by Terry Lamsley
• Black Beads - (1997) - short story by John Gordon
• Your European Son - (1997) - short story by Joel Lane
• Quality Control - (1997) - novelette by Brian Stableford
• Dear Alison - (1997) - short story by Michael Marshall Smith
• Bloodlines - (1997) - novelette by Conrad Williams
• Windows '99 of the Soul - (1997) - short story by Chris Morgan
• Blood of Eden - (1997) - short story by Mike Chinn
• Dracula Night - (2007) - short story by Charlaine Harris
• The Last Testament - (1997) - short story by Brian Hodge
• The Last Vampire - (1997) - novelette by Peter Crowther
• The Lord's Work - (1992) - novelette by F. Paul Wilson
• Lord of the Undead - (1997) - poem by Jo Fletcher

It is 1868, and a twenty-one-year-old Bram Stoker waits in a desolate tower to face an indescribable evil. Armed only with crucifixes, holy water, and a rifle, he prays to survive a single night, the longest of his life. Desperate to record what he has witnessed, Bram scribbles down the events that led him here...

A sickly child, Bram spent his early days bedridden in his parents' Dublin home, tended to by his caretaker, a young woman named Ellen Crone. When a string of strange deaths occur in a nearby town, Bram and his sister Matilda detect a pattern of bizarre behavior by Ellen--a mystery that deepens chillingly until Ellen vanishes suddenly from their lives. Years later, Matilda returns from studying in Paris to tell Bram the news that she has seen Ellen--and that the nightmare they've thought long ended is only beginning.

Nebula Award-winning author Walter Jon Williams returns to the sweeping space opera adventure of his Praxis universe with Impersonations, an exciting new novel featuring the hero of Dread Empire's Fall!

Having offended her superiors by winning a battle without permission, Caroline Sula has been posted to the planet Earth, a dismal backwater where careers go to die. But Sula has always been fascinated by Earth history, and she plans to reward herself with a long, happy vacation amid the ancient monuments of humanity's home world.

Sula may be an Earth history buff, but there are aspects of her own history she doesn't want known. Exposure is threatened when an old acquaintance turns up unexpectedly. Someone seems to be forging evidence that would send her to prison. And all that is before someone tries to kill her.

If she's going to survive, Sula has no choice but to make some history of her own.

Unable to find a meaningful posting due to the hostility of his superiors, Captain Lord Gareth Martinez has accepted a meaningless post as Inspector General of Chee, a newly-settled world. Intending nothing more than a pleasant vacation with his family, he first stumbles across a murderous conspiracy, and then learns he must battle a literal cosmic menace that threatens to wipe out all life on the planet.

This novella originally appeared in the anthology Between Worlds (2004), edited by Robert Silverberg, and was reprinted in Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 101, October 2018. It can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Second Annual Collection (2005), edited by Gardner Dozois.

All will must bend to the perfect truth of The Praxis