"'Magic' is the operative word for this moody novella. The magic of Harry Houdini serves as an overriding backdrop here, but another kind of magic permeates these pages—the magic of fine writing. Don't expect the usual linear plot, because there is no direct narrative. Vivid dreams, surreal images, hypnotic memories, all serve to flesh out an unsettling tale that sweeps us into a new fictional dimension. Read The Box Jumper and share the magic."— William F. Nolan, author of Logan's ...

In each of these stories from some of greatest writers of horror and dark fiction, water plays the dual role of accomplice and executioner. With accidental drownings, irresistible calls of sirens from the deep, strange whisperings from household plumbing, faces of the dead in droplets of water, rabid fish, leviathan monsters, and more, these thirty-nine tales of death by water will make you think twice about taking that long-awaited cruise, going for a midnight swim, or taking your next sh...

A disturbing journey into the beauty that rests inside the very heart of darkness.From the Bram Stoker Award-winning Crystal Lake Publishing and the editing duo who brought you the critically acclaimed small-town Lovecraftian horror anthology Shadows Over Main Street, comes Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories.Awe meets ache.Terror becomes transcendence.Regret gives way to rebirth.Fifteen short stories and one poem span nearly every twisted corner of the h...

Tom and Huck have reincarnated as twin white cats, and they're now familiars for a modern-day witch—and, of course, they want to be boys again! This whimsical novel by Lisa Mannetti captures the flavor of Twain's writing, yet brings Tom and Huck to life in a contemporary framework that is utterly delightful!"Huck always said it was a powerful lot of trouble to write a book, and if he'd a known it ahead of time, he wouldn't have gone through with it. That's his version of the truth,...

Bram Stoker Award-winner for Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction!Nightmares come to life in this comprehensive how-to guide for new and established authors…Book two in Crystal Lake Publishing's The Dream Weaver series picks up where the Bram Stoker Award-nominated Where Nightmares Come From left off.It's Alive focuses on learning the craft in order to take your story from concept to completion.With an introduction by Richar...

om and Huck have reincarnated as twin white cats, and they're now familiars for a modern-day witch—and, of course, they want to be boys again! This whimsical novel by Lisa Mannetti captures the flavor of Twain's writing, yet brings Tom and Huck to life in a contemporary framework that is utterly delightful!"Huck always said it was a powerful lot of trouble to write a book, and if he'd a known it ahead of time, he wouldn't have gone through with it. That's his version of the truth, ...

The journey into darkness continues in this, the second in the DARK VISIONS series and follow-up to the Bram Stoker Award® Nominated DARK VISIONS ONE.DARK VISIONS: A COLLECTION OF MODERN HORROR - Volume Two takes you far deeper into the twisted psyche of man with 14 psychological tales of creeping dread that explore the evil the lives inside all of mankind. The stories in DARK VISIONS TWO offer an even darker, more insidious look into the concepts of life, death and how choices we ...

“The uncanny beauty of Van Booy’s prose, and his ability to knife straight to the depths of a character’s heart, fill a reader with wonder.” — San Francisco ChronicleAward-winning author Simon Van Booy tells a harrowing and enchanting story of how one man’s act of mercy during World War II changed the lives of strangers, and how they each discover the astonishing truth of their connection.The characters in Van Booy's The Illusi...

The one thing you can depend on in Cold Sassy, Georgia, is that word gets around—fast. When Grandpa E. Rucker Blakeslee announces one July morning in 1906 that he’s aiming to marry the young and freckledy milliner, Miss Love Simpson—a bare three weeks after Granny Blakeslee has gone to her reward—the news is served up all over town with that afternoon’s dinner. And young Will Tweedy suddenly finds himself eyewitness to a major small-town scandal. Boggled by the sheer audacity of it all, an...

Winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best Anthology"One of the best anthologies of horror and suspense of all time."—Rocky Mountain NewsFrom award-winning author and “master anthologist”* Al Sarrantonio, 999: Twenty-Nine Original Tales of Horror and Suspense is a specially curated collection of evocative fiction that probes the depth of human fears and frailties. From otherworldly entities stalking prey to psycholog...

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

The depth and breadth of what science fiction and fantasy fiction is changes with every passing year. The two dozen stories chosen for this book by award-winning anthologist Jonathan Strahan carefully maps this evolution, giving readers a captivating and always-entertaining look at the very best the genre has to offer.