A mixture of horror and fantasy. Where a psychiatric has a taste for red meat, and elsewhere a statue greets the end of time. A fantasy that delves into the underworld and lives forever in the cyberworld. Where late night autopsies prove the existence of the metaphysical, and an encounter with a gypsy creates monsters. A collection of short stories from the mind of Zachary Adams.A mixture of horror and fantasy. Where a foodie can't stop eating, and an EMT meets a patient unlike any other. Where a psychiatric has a taste for red meat, and elsewhere a statue greets the end of time. A fantasy that delves into the underworld, and another into the cyberworld. Psychological manipulation, one attempt resisted, another willingly accepted. Where late night autopsies prove the existence of the metaphysical, and an encounter with a gypsy creates monsters. A collection of short stories from the mind of Zachary Adams.

Finding the perfect gift for friends and family is hard enough, but when your friends have such specific tastes, it can be murder.The Party Line, a Myrtle Crumb Mystery prequel, shows readers where Myrtle's sleuthing all began--with her telephone's party line! Ada, Tansie Miller's daughter, has moved back home. Word on the party line is that her husband has shown an interest in another woman. When the other woman is found dead, Myrtle is on the case! Myrtle is the sassy, sixty-something sleuth who won readers over in Between A Clutch and a Hard Place, When Good Bras Go Bad, and Claus of Death.

This short, flash fiction starts with an open gate in a picket fence. Closed, the gate guards the pathway to paradise. Open, it becomes an omen; a harbinger of death; a reminder of the horrors she has already survived. But now, instead of her husband, it is her children at risk.A mother returns home from work to find the gate in her picket fence open. Immediately she panics, reminded of the last time she came home to an open gate - the day her husband was murdered by his former partner. Closed, the gate guards the pathway to paradise. Open, it becomes an omen; a harbinger of death; a reminder of the horrors she has already survived. But now, instead of her husband, it is her children at risk.

Thaniel, just seventeen, is a wych-hunter. Together, he and Cathaline - his friend and mentor - track down the fearful creatures that lurk in the Old Quarter of London. It is on one of these hunts that he first encounters Alaizabel Cray. Whatever dreadful entity has entered her soul has turned her into a strange and unearthly magnet - attracting evil from every dark corner.

From the powerful imagination of a new horror master comes a bone-chilling tale set in a small town where good and evil are joined in a terrifying, deadly battle. . . Evil Endures Once an idyllic Pennsylvania village, Pine Deep awoke one morning to find itself bathed in a massive bloodletting. Twice in thirty years the townsfolk have endured the savage hungers of a murderous madman. . . but if the residents think the death of serial killer Karl Ruger put an end to the carnage, they're dead wrong. The Nightmare Never Ends Bodies mutilated beyond description, innocents driven to acts of vicious madness. A monstrous evil is preying on the living--and the dead--and turning the quiet little town into hell on earth. Their only hope is to find the source. But the secrets that lurk in the heart of Pine Deep are twisted into its very roots. This time the townspeople aren't just fighting for their lives, but for their very souls. . .

Kobzari, or "those who play the kobza", were once itinerant, usually blind, Ukrainian minstrels whose purpose was to preserve the Ukraine's rich oral folklore. Thanks to the vile machinations of Stalin, they have become all but a foot note of a shadow in history.This short story addresses the flight and hopes of a family facing great changes. Live safely and die free.

A man searching for shelter from a storm finds instead, a nightmareAfter an accident strands Glen Tillman in a thunderstorm, he looks to the only nearby home for shelter. But is what he finds inside the building more dangerous than the storm he escaped?

What happens when you leave the life you know for an unknown adventure? What's going to happen? Is everything going to be as fun as you might think?A Tale of Community and Corruption.2140 CEFor a Century the world has been ignorant of the life that dwells beyond Stone Hill Garrison.A community has thrived in the intervening years since The Great Pathogen, ever conscious they may one day be found by the slowly deteriorating old-world.Unknown to them, the Ministry of Defence suspects that not only is there life beyond the border, but a community able to manipulate and disperse the virus that wiped out a quarter of the world’s population a century before.The villagers carry out their lives while a countdown hangs over them, swiftly ticking to conclude in a violent and harrowing confrontation on the shores of Mortehoe.

Written by Jay Bonansinga, based on the series created by Robert Kirkman, The Walking Dead: Descent follows the events of The Fall of the Governor, and Lily Caul’s struggles to rebuild Woodbury after the Governor’s shocking demise. Out of the ashes of its dark past, Woodbury, Georgia, becomes an oasis of safety amidst the plague of the walking dead – a town reborn in the wake of its former tyrannical leader, Philip Blake, aka The Governor. Blake’s legacy of madness haunts every nook and cranny of this little walled community, but Lilly Caul and a small ragtag band of survivors are determined to overcome their traumatic past… despite the fact that a super-herd is closing in on them. This vast stampede of walkers, driven by inexorable hunger and aimed directly at Woodbury, becomes their first true test. But Lilly and company refuse to succumb, and in a stunning counteroffensive, the beleaguered townspeople save themselves by joining forces with a mysterious religious sect fresh from the wilderness. Led by an enigmatic preacher named Jeremiah, this rogue church group seems tailor made for Woodbury and Lilly’s dream of a democratic, family-friendly future. The two factions meld into one, the town prospers, and everything seems hopeful for the first time since the plague broke out. But things – especially in the world of the walking dead – are often not what they seem. Jeremiah and his followers harbor a dark secret, the evidence of which very gradually begins to unravel. In a stunning and horrifying finale, the world for Lilly and her close friends is turned upside down, and it is solely up to Lilly Caul to cleanse the town once and for all of its poisonous fate.

"Spider Legs" A disturbing tale of our own world, and the strange creatures with whom we share it.It is well and truly said that there are more things under heaven and earth than there are almost anywhere else; true also that many of them lurk, unsuspected, far below the surface of the ocean. For thousands of years, mankind has trusted in the sea's generosity while using it as a dumping ground, believing that in its vastness his garbage will be swallowed up and forgotten. But that was never really true. And now, when the earth's hungry inhabitants demand more than even the ocean's endless bounty can provide, strange things are being born in the oceanice depths - strange things that the sea throws back upon the land... The ultimate crustacean encounter.

A plague hits America and turns most of the population into mindless zombies. A handful of survivors has to hide in a Buy-Right super center until help arrives or until the undead drop dead.It's been days since the plague hit America.Most of the population has turned into mindless creatures that hunger for human flesh and blood. Danny Hefner and a handful of others will try to live through this hellish nightmare, but they'll wonder if it's really worth it.Danny had watched and read plenty of Zombie fiction in his life, but nothing could have prepared him for this unthinkable, unimaginable hell.Everyone he knew had died. They'd become something less than human—wild animals with no self-control.He'd had to fight his way past his wife after she had turned into just such a beast.It's been said that nothing hurts more than losing a loved one. Well, Danny knew a pain that was a thousand times worse—not only had he lost a loved one, but she'd become some kind of zombie. He'd had to fight her, making sure he didn't get bit or scratched, hoping he would gain the upper hand.The plague had started off as an airborne illness much like the flu. The symptoms were easy to identify—blurred vision, slurred speech, and going from icy cold to burning hot.After a few hours the symptoms would become worse. It was noted by many health-care professionals that the patients would become numb, like their whole body was asleep—not like pins and needles asleep, just completely numb, where they could no longer feel when anyone touched them.Without the sensation of pain the patients would start chewing on their hands and arms, and once they got the taste of blood they changed.It wasn't long before the infected overwhelmed the living. The illness became blood-borne. When the creatures began to bite the other patients the illness spread faster than a wild fire.From the mountains of North Carolina to the coast of California the sickness was out of control. There were people rioting in the streets.It made it difficult to tell just what was happening. Madness had taken hold. People were punching, kicking, biting and pulling hair. As the cops tried to break up the acts of violence they soon noticed they were greatly outnumbered and quickly running out of room to lock people up.Not only were they running out of jail cells, they were running out of bullets.

A dystopic look at the future, where testing is not only mandatory—it’s deadly! Part of the forthcoming “Breach of Reality: Volume 1” collection. Bonus material included! Read a sample chapter of the newly released “UnAlive” Novel!Reminiscent of tales like “The Running Man,” this dystopic look at the future presents a world where testing is not only mandatory—it’s deadly! The first short story Kevin ever wrote and winner of the Young Georgia Authors Writing Exposition. Part of the forthcoming “Breach of Reality: Volume 1” collection. Bonus material included! Read a sample chapter of the newly released “UnAlive” Novel!

Michael Chabon is back with a brand-new collection that reinvigorates the stay-up-all-night, edge-of-the seat, fingernail-biting, page-turning tradition of literary short stories, featuring Margaret Atwood, Stephen King, Peter Straub, David Mitchell, Jonathan Lethem, Heidi Julavits, Roddy Doyle, and more! Margaret Atwood- Lusus Naturae David Mitchell- What You Do Not Know You Want Jonathan Lethem- Vivian Relf Ayelet Waldman - Minnow Steve Erickson- Zeroville Stephen King- Lisey and the Madman Jason Roberts - 7C Heidi Julavits- The Miniaturist Roddy Doyle - The Child Daniel Handler - Delmonico Charles D’Ambrosio - The Scheme of Things Poppy Z. Brite - The Devil of Delery Street China Mieville- Reports of Certain Events in London Joyce Carol Oates - The Fabled Light-house at Vi–a del Mar Peter Straub - Mr. Aickman’s Air Rifle From the Trade Paperback edition.

The long-awaited sequel to My Sweet Audrina, one of V.C. Andrews’s strangest, most beloved books—and now a Lifetime movie! Whitefern swallowed Audrina’s childhood—and now the sprawling Victorian mansion threatens her adult life too… Audrina remembers a better time, when her husband, Arden, was a young man with a heart filled with devotion for her. He didn’t used to be this ambitious, expansive…this cruel. But then, the death of Audina’s father changed a great many things. When the reading of her father’s will reveals that Audrina herself will control fifty-one percent of the family brokerage—the halls of Whitefern again don’t feel safe. Arden’s protestations become frantic, nearly violent. And while Audrina didn’t anticipate running the family business, she’s curious to do so. And she can’t help but wonder what had made her father change his will at the last minute? What did he know about Arden that she didn’t? Trapped in the middle of it all: her fragile, simple sister—the beautiful, trusting Sylvia. Audrina promised her father she’d watch over the young woman. But after years of relative quiet, the dark days of Whitefern may have returned…

Yes, there are zombies, even in Hawaii. A foolish, lonely writer learns this the hard way from a beautiful woman who claims to be a hunter of the living dead. (Note to self: Next time, when a stranger on the internet wants to see you, just say no.) A horror comedy novelette.Ryan warned that the things in the dead-end creek were in fact slimy, fetid, space alien freaks.And any kid dumb enough to approach their dark lair had better believe in the power of prayer. For underneath that calm surface of warm water and frog belly -waited sinister incarnate! Waited monster! Waited smelly! If that kid, so determined to make his way across, might step on some stones or some green fishy moss, or perchance he should slip and step into their sludge, then his boots, snared so tightly, would no longer budge. And no matter how hard that child strained, tugged or yanked, the Mud Gullumpers pulled harder and the boots slowly sank ‘til the child screamed in fear, and by clinging to rocks, freed his feet and ran home in his wet, soiled socks.