The holidays are always magical, when the stress isn't killing you. This issue is pretty magical, too, though there should far less stress involved. Maybe "magical" isn't the right term. All the stories this month are better described as "supernatural" because they are more about unusual things than straight hocus pocus. FICTION VORTEX: Founded in the 277th year of the Takolatchni Dynasty, Fiction Vortex set out to encourage people to write and publi...

Nate’s best friend Jeremy is missing, and Nate seems to be the only one worried that he’s been captured by hideous creatures that live in the sewers. A short story from Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka.

Three foster brothers are called home to Neverwood, the stately Pacific Northwest mansion of their youth. They have nothing in common but a promise to Audrey, the woman they all called mother-that upon her death, they would restore the house and preserve it as a home for troubled boys.But going home is never easy.Cal struggles to recover from past heartbreak, while Danny fears his mistakes are too big to overcome. Devon believes he may never break down the barriers that sep...

The first in an ongoing series by award-winning lesbian fiction writer Georgia Beers, "Balance" introduces you to Norah Ellison, who has a gift...or is it a curse? She knows nothing about the women whose names appear to her in the morning, only that she must help them, and that time is of the essence. She's spent more than a decade building a tiny team of trusted assistants, but even they can't guarantee she can figure out what needs to be done--or ensure that she'll get it done in time. (...

The world has changed -- forever. Across America, technology has been eclipsed by magic, and people are changing into the embodiments of their darkest desires and deepest fears. In this new time, former lawyer Cal Griffin has united a small group of outcasts to battle the chaos.Searching for the source of the unholy phenomenon -- and to save Cal's sister, Tina -- these unlikely heroes make their way cross country, led by the visions of a lunatic and the fragile song of a blind man....

The author of Closer "transcends the formulaic with exquisite writing on the level of Rimbaud's Illuminations . . . an American masterpiece" (James McCourt, Los Angeles Times).God Jr. is the story of Jim, a father who survived the car crash that killed his teenage son Tommy. Tommy was distant, transfixed by video games and pop culture, and a mystery to the man who raised him. Now, disabled by the accident, yearning somehow to abs...

~~This will not be one of those tales where the hero rises up from the depths to attain the pinnacle and through some duplicitous trick of fate loses everything. Reaching the bottom he pulls himself up by his bootstraps and reaches even higher heights. This won’t be some crazy adventure tale.Mostly the tale I have to tell is my own. So if you have reached this point and have decided to put these pages down……..well, you aren’t going to hurt my feelings none. I will understand. For yo...

Meet Mia Wilkinson. Mia Wilkinson doesn't feel very thankful right now, despite it being Thanksgiving. She's just found out her married boyfriend has no intention of leaving his wife. She heads north to her deceased grandmother's house in a small town in Vermont. But her plans for a solitary Christmas don't go as planned—especially when a gorgeous South African photographer shows up on her doorstep. And then there's Jake Groenewald... Jake's come to Hunters Grove to get over losing his bes...

Welcome to Red Heights. A town with a killer reputation… Seriously.Monsters. Homicidal maniacs. A killer sock monkey that never stops laughing. A whole gang of nightmares await your arrival with bloody, open arms.With LESSONS V: THE TERRIBLE TOWN AND OTHER MORBID DRABBLES, you'll find forty short tales, each only a hundred words long. Some will make you giggle. Others might make you want to sleep with the lights on.Either way, your stay at Red Heights will be a memo...

An anthology of twelve original short stories by top authors exploring real issues for real teens.Through prose and comics alike, these heart-pounding short stories for young adults ask hard questions about a range of topics from sexuality and addiction to violence and immigration. Here is the perfect tool for starting tough discussions or simply as an introduction to realistic literary fiction. In turns funny, thought-provoking, and heartbreaking, I See Realit...

You Want Me to Kill Who? (A Dandy Frost-Ninja Assassin Story) - Book OneI am a Petaloid.The lowest rung of the races, except for humans, the native species of the planet. Some say we're powerless but it really just takes us a while to find our power. Okay, a long while.Besides, as my mother always told me, "Petaloid means 'resembling the petals of a flower.' We're slow to blossom, but when we do, we're the most radiant plant in the forest."Te...

Weirdbook returns after a nearly 20-year hiatus under the editorship of Douglas Draa! Here are great fantasy and horror tales by current and upcoming masters of the genre...Included are:Chivaine, by John R. FultzGive Me the Daggers, by Adrian ColeThe Music of Bleak Entrainment, by Gary A. BraunbeckInto The Mountains with Mother Old Growth, by Christian RileyThe Grimlorn Under the Mountain, by James AquiloneDolls, by Paul Dale...