After Effects is a collection of twenty-seven short stories that dig into the downfall of a person, community, or society as a whole; and what the after effects of that ruin entail.Some are humorous, some are touching, but all make us pause and reflect.

ITS THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT...For decades, the apocalypse and its aftermath have yielded some of the most exciting short stories of all time. From David Brin's seminal The Postman to Hugh Howey's Deep Blood Kettle and Tananarive Due's prescient Patient Zero, the end of the world continues to thrill.This companion volume to the critically acclaimed WASTELANDS offers thirty of the finest examples of post-apocalyptic short fiction, with works by:Ann Aguirre

Nightmares come in many forms. Some rend the veil of sleep with heart-stopping madness. Others defy sanity to leave a helpless corner of your mind twitching for release. Sometimes, hours after waking, a nightmare drifts across your memory, tainting your day with wisps of discomfort. NIGHTMARES UNHINGED reveals horror in all its mutable forms—abject to absurd—through twenty tales of terror.Contributors include Mario Acevedo, Edward Bryant, Dustin Carpenter, Sean Eads, Keith Ferrell,...

Whether featuring tattooed demon hunters, angst-y vampires, supernatural gumshoes, or pixelated pixies, Urban Fantasy mashes up old-school tales with pop culture, creating iconic characters, diverging moralities, and complex settings. Urban fantasy is finally showcased in this star-studded collection, representing all three of its distinct styles, including the playful new mythologies of Charles de Lint, the sexy paranormal romances of Patricia Briggs, and the gritty urban noir of...

Unlucky thieves invade a house where Home Alone seems like a playground romp. An antique bookseller and a mob enforcer join forces to retrieve the Atlas of Hell. Postapocalyptic survivors cannot decide which is worse: demon women haunting the skies or maddened extremists patrolling the earth.In this chilling twenty-first-century companion to the cult classic Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror, Ellen Datlow again proves herself the most masterful editor of the ...

Everyone loves their grandma but these three are just a little...different. They have certain skills in war and strategy developed over forty years through military training and discipline. They are the definition of "never judge a book by its cover." They now work as contractors for the extra money. Follow the hapless Clem as he is hired to drive the three on their latest mission of destruction.

Married to an uncaring, workaholic husband, Shylia Allred walks to alleviate stress and to consider her divorce. Typical of many abused spouses, she dreams of escape but always comes up with a reason to thwart her own plans. Then, as she's walking past the local parish hall just as an AA meeting is letting out, she literally bumps into Randall Sly. As they get to know each other, she comes to trust him completely. He's the one man who can bring a huge change to her life. But change isn't a...

Archers Beach is a more-than-slightly battered resort town on the coast of Maine, but there's something a little bit special about it. Magic works there, sort-of, and the trenvay--the beings that guard the land and the people--work their own kind of enchantment. Includes two short stories, "The Gift of Music," and "The night don't seem so lonely." Both stories were previously published at Baen.com

In TOO LATE, 15-year-old Greg is in a teen sex offenders’ facility because of an assault on his stepsister. He hates the professionals who try to help him and can’t wait to go home. When he enters a room for a meeting, his mother is there crying. Her partner, whom Greg calls Step Dude, sits at her side. They have come to tell Greg they don’t want him back. It’s too late to be good, they say. Greg comes to the crippling realization of what he has become: the father he has both hated and fea...

This fiendish anthology, complied by the horror genre's most acclaimed editor, drags you into the twisted minds of modern literary masters at their fiendish best. Visionary storytellers fill this collection of tales lyrical and strange, monstrous and exhilarating, horrific and transformative.*A sweetly vengeful voice on the radio calls a young soldier out to join a phantom patrol.*A hotel maid who threw her newborn child from a fourth-story window lingers in an interminable...

"It would be our duty, as citizens on this earthto document its end the best way we knowand if that means a second by second updateof the world going up in flames, or down in rain, or crushed under the feet of invading monstersso be it."-- Shivangi NarainNo one understands an apocalypse like the people who have experienced it. Mad Scientist Journal has brought together twenty-three tales of people who have seen the world end. These accounts range ...

The farther we’ve gotten from the magic and mystery of the past, the more we've come to love Halloween—the one time each year when the mundane is overturned in favor of the bizarre, the “other side” is closest, and everyone can become anyone (or anything) they wish . . . and sometimes what they don’t. Introducing nineteen original stories from mistresses and masters of the dark celebrate the most fantastic, enchanting, spooky, and supernatural of holidays.