Dark Fantasy Short Stories

The town of Pine Ridge has an eerie past, with tales of witchcraft and ritual murders, but when a local man is savagely killed, all hell threatens to break loose. Supernatural detective Jack Nightingale is called in to investigate the brutal slaying - a murder that seems to have been carried out by children - children with dead black eyes....

An incubus disguised as a high school girl puts a disturbing spin on the teacher/student fantasy. An engineer creates a robot with unexpected consequences during the end of the world. A man becomes the pet of alien invaders. From stories of aliens in other worlds to those living among us, these tales will move you out of your comfort zone and open you up to experiencing something - or someone - completely different.

An anthology of eleven dark fantasy and paranormal short stories. There are haunted houses inhabited by mysterious beings; monsters; dark fairies; the horrors of a psychopathic mind; a cursed jewel; the element of the double as occurs in so many unusual works, and harrowing situations inspired by the universes of George MacDonald, Edgar Allan Poe, and Lovecraft. Ideal plots for more sensitive readers who enjoy dark and mysterious adventures with a hint of supernatural, but do not feel comfortable reading tales with extreme violence and gore scenes.

Hidden beneath the waves, a secret power risesIn the depths of the pool at SUNY Rochester, Anna Taylor isn't just any swim coach. Beneath her clothing hides a secret; growing scales and an ability to manipulate water in ways she's just beginning to understand. As whispers of her newfound abilities reach the wrong ears, Anna is pulled into a turbulent world of intolerance, where even her estranged brother, Joel, stands on the side of the oppressors. Thrust from the sanctuary of the university, Anna's journey to seek refuge takes her from the tumultuous streets of Rochester to the possibility...

"The Deep End" by Robert McCammon: Everyone thinks the drowning death of Neil Calder in the local swimming pool was a tragic accident. Only his father knows better. Now, on the last night of summer, Neil returns in search of revenge.

The Reaper did not speak. He did not even move, for what need did he have to chase anyone? Everyone comes to him eventually. Men, women, and gods all are consumed in his ever waiting black. Clive, sighing deeply, turned to look Death in the face. In the form he took for Clive, Death stood around seven feet tall, the hood of his monk’s cowl falling to just above the bridge of the nose, had there been a nose to speak of. Instead, there was simply a hole, a cavernous nothing, like death itself.

Set in the mist-laden realm of Elderglen, The Hollow Vale: Short Stories: The Seer of Velden tells the story of a younger Caelwyn and Velden Nan, a figure of mystery and reverence known for her silence and her connection to the Wyrd. Through half-spoken truths and glimpses of forgotten threads, her journey as a seer explores the weight of prophecy and memory in a land shaped by both history and myth.

When your best friend murders your wife...revenge is the only option. The Slayer's Wife is a collection of short stories and poems by nationally bestselling author, Tenaya Jayne

A collection of horror/thriller stories with surprise endings to chill you and thrill you to the bone. The nightmares include: THE FEUD: After twelve years of truce between two feuding families, Jasper Stump is missing and a beast is devouring people in the woods. CATS: The police are sent to investigate the home of an elderly woman with a houseful of cats who has not retrieved her newspapers for four days. BEDTIME STORY: Cindy is waiting up for her daddy who went out to get something for tomorrow morning’s breakfast. ANOTHER DAMN DAY IN VEGAS: Two detectives have a particularly grisly ...

This bundle includes The Dark Corner, Pan's Realm, and The Wishing Stone.

Contains books three and four of Descendants of the Fall. Age of Gods: Pursued by the inhuman Tangata, Lukys flees on foot through the wilderness. He and his companions make for the ocean, a stolen ship their only hope - but even that may prove fleeting. For should they reach the island of Perfugia, a war is brewing between the kingdoms of humanity. Dreams of Fury: On the distant shores of Perfugia, Lukys and Sophia have finally found sanctuary - and an unexpected power left by their ancestors. But their refuge cannot last.

Valerie’s Tale is a story about a little girl with a heart filled with courage and strength, living in a world plagued with war and where magic is divided by clerics, who believe in using magic conservatively, and mages, who use it for whatever their heart’s desire.

Two exciting short stories set in the engrossing world of The Demon Cycle from bestselling fantasy author Peter V. Brett.Humanity has been brought to the brink of extinction. Each night, the world is overrun by demons - bloodthirsty creatures of nightmare that have been hunting and killing humanity for over 300 years. A scant few hamlets and half-starved city-states are all that remain of a once proud civilization, and it is only by hiding behind wards, ancient symbols with the power to repel the demons, that they survive.

Four dark tales of the holiday spirit. In "Christmas Eve Gift", Old Bill sets out on her annual Christmas Eve journey to her niece's house and encounters an unexpected darkness along the way. In "A Dark Christmas", Alice, a dark daughter of the vampire, Elizabet, turns the table on a family of hunters. In "On the 7th Day of Christmas", Sunny finally gets to throw a party, only a monster shows up and twists a small kink into her New Year's Eve festivities. In "Twelfth Night", A 13-year-old encounters the Woman with No Face for the first time.

Nadia Moran is an illegal wizard, an expert thief, and an occasional killer. Riordan MacCormac is an assassin of the Family, a legendary band of assassins bonded to Shadowmorph symbionts. And unless Nadia and Riordan work together, the creatures of the Shadowlands will devour them both....

When the Luck of the Irish Runs Out... This St. Patrick's Day, the city of Chicago will be painted green, but in the Celtic Spirits pub, a sinister presence is brewing. Black Annis, the malevolent spirit from ancient Celtic lore, has found an unlikely entry point into our world, and she's got her sights set on chaos. As the revelry reaches its peak, the bartender finds himself ensnared in her evil grasp, forced to aid in her dark plan to open a portal to her twisted realm. Will anyone survive the night, or will the luck of the Irish be consumed by an ancient evil?

On a dark winter's night in 1970, Horley and Grinstead huddle for warmth in the Senior Common Room of a college in Oxford. Conversation turns to the two impressive works of art that Horley has recently added to his collection. What the two men don't know is that these pieces are connected in mysterious and improbable ways, and they are about to be caught in the cross-fire of a story which has travelled time and worlds.

Before Jak became a hero, a horrible secret surrounded her birth. Witness the beginning of that secret as we follow her father while he searches for his wife, and finds more than he could possibly imagine.

Spiders. Magic. Horror. Guts. Sisters Skylar and Mia drive deep into the countryside to clean up their dead father's house. Little do they know that they've been followed. Listen to this story for the spider shaman magic. Remember this story in flashes during the night. Better buy some bug spray.

Submitted for your approval - Ten Tales of a Dark Tomorrow, a collection of speculative fiction inspired by the original Twilight Zone series. In the spirit of that iconic, timeless show, these mysterious and gripping narratives explore parallel worlds, faraway planets, dystopian societies, and unsettling reality.