Dark Fantasy Short Stories

Year of the Lepper, 746 - 3rd Cycle of the Dragon Every couple of thousand years the Dark Citadel rises in the East, within the Endless Ruins looking to bring darkness and evil to the world of Capris. Every couple of thousand years, the races of Capris are charged with fighting back the darkness or succumbing to its eternal death. In the year of the Lepper, it is no different. Four maybe heroes are called into service of the kingdom to ensure the Dark Citadel is once again vanquished. One, a human past his prime, but a great warrior in his day. One, an energy mage of the Engeli (humans who ...

Everything Aria tried to do in order to save her brother and help those closest to her has made everything worse. She's now alone with Beru, trying to figure out a way to fix what they've done, to undo what they've started. But Aria still can't get over the fact that Beru is a traitor to Onen Suun, the only man who dared to defy Dag'draath. Beru was the reason Onen Suun was forced to sacrifice his life to save the world.

Can Valerie, a superficial and arrogant 20-year-old, outsmart a powerful futanari mermaid? Find out what happens in Oceana the Futa Mermaid, the first installment of the Alpha Futas of the Sea series.Valerie lied there speechless, shivering out of fear and coldness... She also felt the heat of the young woman’s body, the way she shook involuntarily and the pounding of her frightened heart. An unexpected feeling of pity suddenly filled the mermaid and she loosened her grip. Sensing an opportunity, Valerie wiggled free, and as she was about to make a run for the higher part of the island, ...

Talisha is shocked when she finds mechdream pills in the bottom of her husband's underwear drawer. Designed to create a unique virtual reality based on his wildest fantasies, they will allow him to plumb the depths of his pleasure centers. The only problem is, he's spending the rent money building his virtual paradise. Just what are her husband's deepest desires? Talisha isn't sure she wants to know.

The relentless feeding of the Being has created a secret world of monsters. Each of these bastard children have a different path to follow. In this collection of short stories, learn more about the world of spirits that surrounds a society of people who never die. This book is part monster manual and part family album.

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....

From USA Today Bestselling Author, Uvi Poznansky, comes an anthology of dark fantasy stories: Come into a strange world, where everything is firmly rooted in the familiar—except for some quirky detail that twists the yarn and takes it for a spin in an unexpected direction. So prepare yourself: keep the lights on. If you like to read Edgar Allan Poe, you’ll love this horror anthology, where a woman—or rather, her ghost—finds a way to outwit the devil.★★★★★ "To say her stories are one of a kind would be a disservice as they are really one of no other kind: Twisted is unique....

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 ...

A collection of horror/thriller stories with surprise endings to chill you and thrill you to the bone. The nightmares include: JACK IN THE BOX: Harold fixes up old houses and sells them for a nice profit. That is, until he bought the dreaded house on Elm Street. THE SECOND VIRGIN BIRTH: At midnight on Christmas Eve, a nun rescues a baby left on the chapel steps in the freezing cold. GRANDPA: The zombie apocalypse has begun and Grandpa is near death in the next room. TATTOO: Bad things start to happen after Marla picks a ferocious black panther for the free tattoo she won. THE JACK THE ...

"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.

A brand new novella 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 the surface 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.

A collection of three stories by John Kaniecki: "Heretic", "Johnny Can't Run", and "The Psychology of Lady Jane Perkins". Religion and truth battle for control in a future society underground on Earth. In the not-so-far-off future a group of Nazis have been exiled to a distant planet. An engineering student is swept away in love by one Lady Jane Perkins, but what does the young man see in this homeless psychiatric patient?

This was the book that launched a genre. Modern fantasy collections trace their lineage back to Lord Dunsany, and this was his first work that today's listeners would recognise in tone and settings.

Crimson, the bloodthirsty, sadistic King of Hearts, is a villain. Or at least he’s supposed to be. That’s just how things work in Wonderland, a strange, fanciful place filled with heroes and villains who always seem to be at odds. Crim is in a very dark place after the hero Alister Kingsley wins the Wonderland joust and marries Madeline Hatter. He should have known better than to hope for true love since villains don’t get "happy endings". But there’s something fishy afoot.

New to Castle Blackbourne, a pretty young housemaid is drawn to the dark and handsome master of the house, but a dalliance with the Earl of Blackbourne would be unwise…for a reason most deadly.

Confronting werewolves, exploring haunted forests, calming angry spirits, and befriending ancient vampires. These are just a few of the tasks that Asher Norwood and his raven partner Aethon find themselves doing on any given day. Asher is a sin eater, a guild of mages that exists to combat dark magic wherever it rears its ugly head.

A collection of horror/thriller stories with surprise endings to chill you and thrill you to the bone. The nightmares include: SOMETHING IN THE SKY: Strange things happen to two college students on Lovers Lane after a meteor cuts a path through a nearby cemetery. THE TOASTER: The City of Baltimore appropriates funds to move Edgar Allen Poe's gravesite to a new mausoleum. LORD OF DARKNESS: Fred finds a large box on his doorstep with a horrific looking ebony statue inside that terrifies him. He abhors scary things and takes it to the city dump for disposal. THE METEOR: Newt is awakened when a...

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 End. Those two little words can mean so much. But how will things end...and will it hurt? That's what we really want to know. Delve into the darkness and join us at the end of the world. From a blighted sky to an invasion from beyond, from untethered time to one person driven beyond the edge of sanity, from a child's game to an unseen apocalypse...it's all imagined here, and imagined darkly.

**Follow-up to Black Willow** After Jack Green is sucked through a portal known as "The Split," he is dumped into a wasteland from Hell. Lightning fingers smolder the black expanse and winged creatures patrol the skies, and Jack Green, shocked and despairing, is left with no escape. It is time to face the demons..