Dark Fantasy Short Stories

A collection of horror/thriller stories with surprise endings to chill you and thrill you to the bone. The creepers include: THE BLIND MAN: Two career criminals see a blind man with a wad of cash at the mall and follow him home. BAD TO THE BONE: Ted sees a gruesome accident, discovers he can't get enough death and dismemberment, and his graphic videos go viral on the net. DEAL OR NO DEAL: An author who lost his wife in a fatal accident meets a weird man at the bar who says he can bring her back for a price. IDENTICAL: A frightened and confused pregnant woman delivers three identical girls ...

For an imperial assassin, assignment as a courtesan in the Floating World seems like a waste of her talents...until killers target her clan sisters. In the legendary Floating World, wars are waged with wit, the strongest soldier can be bound with threads of silk, and flesh is the currency by which life, death, and freedom can all be purchased. Half-elf Jie bemoans her temporary assignment as a Night Blossom in the most sought-after house, even if it's the perfect cover for her real work as an assassin in the emperor’s service.

Weird Tales: Strange Stories from Egypt Embark on an extraordinary journey with "Strange Stories from Egypt," a collection of horror short stories that transcends clichés. Immerse yourself in authentic Egypt, where legends come to life, and the line between reality and fantasy blurs. The networks are buzzing: "A collection that takes us on a journey and gives us chills!" – Évasions Littéraires. "A captivating, magical, and chilling short story collection." – Lire Imaginaire. "A fantastically horrific short story collection, brilliantly written." – Books Feed Me More. "A collection ...

Rhona and her paladin brother, Alastar, belong to a holy people who have waged war on witches and warlocks and their clans from the highlands. But when she uses magic to save his life, their world is thrown upside down. On the run, having left all they knew behind, they have to rely on those who hate paladins. All magic is evil, the high paladin taught.... But Alastar starts to understand that he might have been misled.

Warning: This book contains graphic descriptions of sex that some people might find distasteful. All's fair in love and war. Megan and her man are truly in love. Amanda wants Megan's man. She has never lost to another woman in a fight for a man and she doesn't intend to start losing now. She comes up with a plan that she has never used before, a plan that has never been used before. An original plan.

For almost thirty years, Shirley Jackson Award–winning horror author Gemma Files has consistently served up tale after tale celebrating monstrosity in all its forms: the imperfect, the broken, the beautifully alien, and the sadly familiar. Her characters make their own choices and take their own chances, slipping from darkness into deeper darkness yet never losing their humanity—not even when they’re anything but.

Predatory kraken that sing with - and for - their kin; band members and betrayed friends who happen to be demonic; harpies as likely to attract as to repel. Welcome to a world where humans live side-by-side with monsters, from vampires both nostalgic and bumbling, to an eight-legged alien who makes tea. Here you'll find mercurial forms that burrow into warm fat, spectral boy toys, a Maori force of nature, a landform that claims lives, and an architect of hell on earth.

There are worse things waiting... Young maiden Perina escapes from a cruel dungeon and makes her way to King Gathelaus and reveals that he must defeat a mysterious foe that has become a tyrant ruling over a far-flung fiefdom. What strange powers does the tyrant hold to seem invulnerable and inhumane? How can he be defeated? How can Gathelaus beat an unbeatable foe? Blades of the Boneless is a sword and sorcery adventure mixed with a hint of body horror. Live the adventure in this exciting fantasy novella.

Markas hears news about dead people with weird symbols on their bodies. He decides to investigate symbols at the library to see if he can find anything. Shortly after he starts having dreams about the people and the rituals done on them. In one of such dreams, Markas sees visions of his own dad… Markas learns more data about the killer from his visions. A police investigation is also underway. As soon as possible, Marcus wants to bring his father the artifact that he found. As the sword gets closer, he suspects the visions will last longer.This is the third book of "The Demon King’s ...

From the author of Aevalorn Tales comes a story about the power of words, deception and subterfuge, and helping out an old friend. When esteemed emissary Ser Roham Baz falls victim to a mysterious curse that twists his words, it's up to his loyal friend, Joliver Barleywood, the clever Halfling Bard of the Aevalorn Parishes, to unravel the mystery. Joliver must use his cunning tongue to root out those who cursed Ser Roham, undo Roham’s affliction, and save the kingdom from falling into war. Set amid diplomatic negotiations fraught with tension and deceit, The Taunting Tongue weaves ...

This collection includes all three novels in The Shadow Changeling Series, a Colin McCool Junkyard Druid spin-off series set in M.D. Massey's Druidverse® urban fantasy setting. If you enjoy dark urban fantasy books featuring haunted antiheroes in the tradition of Snape, Walker Boh, and Constantine, you'll love this story about a shadow wizard who's searching for his long lost human family.

Lacey, William, Alex, and Suul return to Toronto to find that Earth is experiencing areas of mysterious radiation poisoning, just like what happened in the dark dimension... This is Book 5 of "The Lost Voice Of the Dark World" - the second series of the "Voice of the Mountain" saga.

Bad-tempered and hot-blooded Callista desperately wants to become leader of the Futa Mermaid Army. The 19-year-old princess thinks she has what it takes for the esteemed and powerful position, but the wise sorcerer disagrees and sends her on a unique mission to prove her worthiness. Callista is willing to face any challenge, and for the mission, she has to enrol in a college on Earth and find a certain person within a fortnight. There in the college, she encounters Courtney, a narcissistic and sex-crazed bully, and Mandi, a beautiful and sweet new girl. Would Callista be able to succeed in ...

Horror writer Michael Richards is disturbed from his daily grind by blood dripping from the ceiling, which steadily worsens. Soon, the blood becomes Michael's personal metaphor in a battle of denial. When a compulsive gambler is forced to seek out a loan shark rooted in myth, he discovers the dark saviour teaches more to his pupils than deliverance from debt. Trapped within a room of sinister dolls, an average man is forced to confront his very worst fears ... and quickly learns staring into the abyss does not grant you a reprieve from them. Interweaving horror into socially relevant ...

In this erotic romance novella, a portal takes Sarah, a young and beautiful high school teacher, to a heavenly planet called Aniki where she encounters its gorgeous hermaphrodite queen, Nika. What she saw before her rendered her utterly speechless. She was staring at the most gorgeous and fascinating person she had ever seen. The being was six feet tall and had the form of a woman with lovely blue skin. Her face was angelic with beautiful chiselled features and sparkling and intense light-blue eyes. Her long, straight and lustrous golden hair was open and ended at her hips. She had a very ...

The sequel to the best-selling Zombie, Ohio, this explosive supernatural thriller from Scott Kenemore tells the story of three Chicagoans who have been thrown together by a bizarre, interconnected series of events during the first 24 hours of a zombie outbreak in the Midwest's largest city. A partnership is crafted between a pastor from Chicago's rough South Side, an intrepid newspaper reporter, and a young female musician, all of whom are fighting for survival as they struggle to protect themselves and their communities in a city overrun with the walking dead.

29 Brand-New Sci-Fi Horror Stories. The future is now, and it's not what we were promised. The optimistic science fiction of old was wrong. Progress is not linear, technology creates as many problems as it solves, and the concept of a better tomorrow has become an abstraction that is in no way guaranteed. When looking at the future now, we no longer ask what is possible, we wonder how we'll cope. Contained within this anthology are 29 never-before-published works by supremely talented authors.

This is a SHORT STORY set within the ongoing THE UNSEEN franchise. Potential spoilers ahead! This short story stars the youngest character in the intense THE UNSEEN franchise, Hope Diaz. Her survival is one of heartache, terror, and perseverance, an event that occurs during book two of the main series, DESOLATION.

Josh Malerman is a master weaver of stories—and in this spine-chilling collection he spins five twisted tales from the shadows of the human soul.

Like the tanning of a leathered corpse, the inaugural release of Grimoire seeks to stretch the fleshy bounds of dark fiction and horror. Included within these unhallowed book are tales of medieval horror and cacophony, Lovecraftian delights and wretched Kaiju, accursed djinn and pestilential priests, all brought together for the very first time in one horrific collection. Engaging and provocative, these tales of the damned stalk the graveyards at night, crawl up from the empty and wet places of this world, and haunt the dreams of all who hear them.