• Bait and Other Stories

• Bedtime Stories for the Apocalypse

• Fetal Position and Other Stories

This one volume holds over 120,000 words of fiction that will haunt and terrify you for days on end.

Contains the award winning stories “Some Things Don’t Wash Off” and “Mississippi Pearl” as well as stories that have seen print in such venues as , , , and . Six of these stories have received honorable mentions in The Years Best Fantasy & Horror.

In these three collections, you’ll meet:

A father whose intense longing for his dead son lead to disturbing consequences.

A group of college students tubing down a river through a burnt forest who encounter terrifying creatures.

A man seeking redemption for a sinful past through the skill of a tattoo artist.

A Cambodian-American teen who will fit in with the locals at any cost.

A woman who finds a bizarre solace in a rare pearl.

A self-absorbed husband monitoring the end of his existence over the internet.

A teenager digging his way through a deep crust of waste and bone to win his freedom.

A man whose work for the Khmer Rouge returns to haunt him.

A son who has an intensely strange relationship with his mother.

A student with a bizarre homework assignment.

A woman who has a macabre way to deal with bill collectors.

These stories and more will have you up late into the night, glancing over your shoulder and flinching at the slightest of noises.

The Horror Writers Association Presents

BLOOD LITE

...a collection of entertaining tales that puts the fun back into dark fiction, with ironic twists and tongue-in-cheek wit to temper the jagged edge.

Charlaine Harris reveals the dark side of going green, when a quartet of die-hard environmentalists hosts a fundraiser with a gory twist in "An Evening with Al Gore"...In an all-new Dresden Files story from Jim Butcher, when it comes to tracking deadly paranormal doings, there's no such thing as a "Day Off" for the Chicago P.D.'s wizard detective, Harry Dresden...Sherrilyn Kenyon turns a cubicle-dwelling MBA with no life into a demon-fighting seraph with one hell of an afterlife in "Where Angels Fear to Tread"...Celebrity necromancer Jaime Vegas is headlining a sold-out séance tour, but behind the scenes, a disgruntled ghost has a bone to pick, in Kelley Armstrong's "The Ungrateful Dead." Plus tales guaranteed to get under your skin — in a good way — from Janet Berliner Don D'Ammassa Nancy Holder Nancy Kilpatrick J. A. Konrath and F. Paul Wilson Joe R. Lansdale Will LudwigsenSharyn McCrumb Mark Onspaugh Mike Resnick Steven SavileD. L. Snell Eric James Stone Jeff Strand Lucien Soulban Matt Venne Christopher Welch

So let the blood flow and laughter reign — because when it comes to facing our deepest, darkest fears, a little humor goes a long way!

Ruby feels isolated and out of place―lonely, shy, but too strong-minded to go along with the crowd. All that changes when she is dragged out for her birthday and ends up dancing with Simon―mysterious, blue-eyed, and gorgeous. Her body tingles watching his muscled form move―so fast, so smooth, so powerful. His smile is otherworldly, and his kiss charges her with electric energy. All seems to be going well until three other vampires appear in the crowd, turning the dance floor into a horror show.

The other vampires, led by the vicious Roderick, are after a new fix―_the new breed_. It's a mix of blood and something secret that's driven them to a desperate addiction, making them reckless and willing to tear anyone apart to get to it, and Ruby's best friend, Ambrosia, has something they need to make it. When Ambrosia flees New Orleans for her life, they relentlessly hunt the one person who knows where she is: Ruby.

Stalked by ravenous vampires at every turn, Ruby's only hope for survival is her handsome new love. Through crowded dance floors, wild forests, high-speed car races, and even into Roderick's horrific dwelling filled with hostile vampires, Simon risks his life trying to keep her safe while being outnumbered at every turn and mesmerized by her every second―even while facing death, danger, and darkness.

Born into a long line of distinguished lepidopterists, scientists who study moths and butterflies, Ginny and Vivien grew up in a sprawling Victorian home. Forty-seven years later, Ginny lives there alone, tending to her moths and obsessions amid the ghosts of her past.

But when her sister Vivien returns to the crumbling family mansion, dark, unspoken secrets rise, disrupting Ginny's ordered life and threatening the family's fragile peace. Told in Ginny's unforgettable voice, this debut novel tells a disquieting story of two sisters and the ties that bind-sometimes a little too tightly.

Features five diverse tales of the living dead from zombie fiction master Eric S. Brown!

SEASON OF ROT: Safe from the walking dead that rule the streets, a band of survivors holes up in a hospital. When their supplies run low, they must either migrate or trust a stranger who promises them salvation—except the stranger isn’t who he seems to be, and neither are the dead.

THE QUEEN: To escape a plague that has turned most of mankind into ravenous cannibals, a crew of survivors takes refuge at sea. But supplies only last so long, and the crew must face their enemies on land in order to keep themselves alive and afloat.

THE WAVE: When a wave of mysterious energy from outer space washes over the earth, electronic devices fail worldwide and communications break down. Worse still, the energy alters human brain waves and turns billions of people into bloodthirsty animals. Only a small pocket of humanity is immune, but their only chance of survival may also be their grave.

DEAD WEST: The Civil War is over. The Confederacy is gone. But in the West, a new threat is rising. Accompanied by a regiment of inexperienced soldiers, a journalist ventures into the frontlines of a war against the walking dead, and the truth he finds there is far more frightening than any living corpse.

RATS: Rats are everywhere and can get into anything. And now they are swarming mankind. Those bit rise again as undead pawns in the rodents’ onslaught, and no place is safe—no place except one. The problem is getting there before the rats’ next attack.

Karyn and her husband Roy had come to the peaceful California village of Drago to escape the savagery of the city. On the surface Drago appeared to be like most small rural towns.

But it was not.

The village had a most unsavory history. Unexplained disappearances, sudden deaths.

People just vanished, never to be found.

For Karyn it was the howling.

The howling that had heralded the nightmare in Drago… the nightmare that had joined her husband Roy to the she-wolf Marcia and should have ended forever with the fire.

But it hadn’t.

Roy and Marcia were still alive, and deadly…

And thirsty for the most horrifying vengeance imaginable…

They are man. And they are beast.

Once again they stalk the night, eyes aflame, teeth flashing in vengeance.

Malcolm is the young one. He must choose between the familiar way of the human and the seductive howling of the wolf. Those who share his blood want to make him one of them.

Those who fear him want him dead.

Only one woman and one man want to help him.

Even though they can't believe their ears. Or their eyes.

Taylor and Carl Mitchell are brothers who have taken wildly divergent paths in life. But when a mysterious virus transforms most of the Earth’s population into bloodthirsty lunatics, they must learn to trust each other and work together in a dangerous new world where the slightest misstep could lead to the ultimate consequence.

The brothers must face their innermost fears and confront loss as they try to survive the long journey home. But will anyone be there waiting for them?

Sometimes there isn’t a happy ending.

Titel der amerikanischen Originalausgabe

BLACK EASTER

Jenna Black has been establishing Morgan Kingsley as one of the premier female characters in the paranormal fantasy genre: a kick-ass exorcist who frees others of their demonic possessions while struggling — and embracing — her own. Black continues Morgan's dark, sexy adventures in the fourth book in the series, SPEAK OF THE DEVIL.

Hosting the king of the demons is hard enough without becoming the target of a mysterious enemy with a deadly grudge. To make things worse, Morgan must also defend herself against a lawsuit that won't die and a private investigator determined to unearth her every secret. With anonymous death threats piling up and her enemy closing in, Morgan stands to lose everything she holds dear: her reputation, her boyfriend, her freedom — and maybe even her life.

Exorcism isn't a job, it's a calling — and a curse. Just ask Morgan Kingsley, a woman who has a stronger aura than any demon. Or so she thought. Now, in a pair of black leather pants and a kick-ass tattoo, Morgan is heading back to Philadelphia after a nasty little exorcism — and her life is about to be turned upside down…by the demon that's gotten inside her.

Not just any demon. Six feet five inches of dark, delicious temptation, this one is to die for — that is, if he doesn't get Morgan killed first. Because while some humans vilify demons and others idolize them, Morgan's demon is leading a war of succession no human has ever imagined. For a woman trying to live a life, and hold on to the almost-perfect man, being possessed by a gorgeous rebel demon will mean a wild ride of uninhibited thrills, shocking surprises, and pure, unadulterated terror…