Dark Fantasy Short Stories

At World’s Edge: Seven Liminal Stories from the Edge of Reality Beyond the borders of maps and memory lie worlds that obey no known rules. In this haunting anthology of speculative fiction and dark fantasy, seven stories explore what happens when reality thins—where time unravels, identity dissolves, and the familiar becomes unrecognizable. From a girl who returns from a doorless frame altered by the realm she crossed, to a lighthouse powered by memory guarding against something older than night, these tales are eerie, poetic, and charged with slow-blooming dread. Each story is a ...

This small collection of short stories takes place in a world not unlike our own, but different in so many ways. These six standalone stories are a hint at things to come for this world where hope burns bright. Welcome to Aearth Aearth was once a place of magic and wonder. A world where the gods were said to walk among its people and gift champions with great power. Aearth, once so powerful and grand, fell to the Great War over two-thousand years ago. When the Gods created Aearth, they gave a country to each of their races. The forest of the north to the elves and fawn folk. The mountains ...

Nobody likes getting bullied, and Donny has had enough. Deciding to take matters into his own hands, he solicits the help of the old Asian man at the end of his street to teach him Karate. During a grueling two days of training, Donny earns belt after belt, until he finally becomes a Karate Master.

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 ...

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.

In The Dinosaur Tourist, Caitlín R. Kiernan’s 15th collection of short fiction, 19 tales of the unexpected and the uncanny explore that treacherous gulf between what we suppose the world to be and what might actually be waiting out beyond the edges of our day-to-day experience. A mirror may be a window into another time. A cat may be our salvation. Your lover may be a fabulous being. And a hitchhiker may turn out to be anyone at all.

How does a con man survive with no one around to fool but himself? Who does a knight battle when the demons in the dark begin to pale next to his own? And what, exactly, does a minotaur do when he finally gets a vacation day? Here you’ll find scenes that didn’t have a place in the main series, with new events that fall between the first three books to expand the lore and give fresh insight into some of your favorite characters - all with the same snarky and sinister mix you know and love. And maybe a few secrets too, if that’s your kind of thing.

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.

From the haunted hills of Roman Britain to the sewers of occupied Warsaw … in the bloodied streets of Revolutionary Paris, and the anarchy World War II Shanghai … out of the wilds of America, India, Africa and Europe … down the long savage darkness of the centuries, monsters have fed upon us. They are shapeshifters, vampires, sorcerers and spirits—things named only in myth, and things for which we have no name. They are our demons, our reflections, our desires and our nightmares. And all too often, they are … only human.

Divining the difference between reality and the fantastic may not be as simple as it seems. Because the world you think you know may not actually exist… STORIES is a collection of six short stories loosely based on legends and folklore. Each is set in a modern context, giving the reader an unusual take that yields interesting insight on these traditional tales. The Snow Woman: a spirit in Japanese folklore who traps people in snowstorms, then uses her icy breath to leave them frost-coated corpses. The Slit-Mouthed Woman: a figure from Japanese urban legends who, mutilated by her husband, ...

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.

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 ...

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.

An all-new collection of eight "Vampire for Hire" short stories featuring everyone's favorite vampire detective, Samantha Moon! It’s all inside, including: Vampire Requiem - Samantha Moon gets up close and personal with her dead ex-husband’s mistress, Nancy, who might be a woman who knows too much. Moon Love - Sam and Kingsley Fulcrum set their sights on a romantic weekend getaway to Big Bear, California, only to find themselves on the hunt for a runaway boy. Moon Musings - Sam is back and... blogging? Turns out the vampire mama has a lot to say on the subject of life, death, and ...

From the critically acclaimed author of Sea of Rust and Queen of the Dark Things comes a hair-raising collection of short fiction that illuminates the strange, humorous, fantastical, and downright diabolical that tantalize and terrorize us: demons, monsters, zombie dinosaurs, and Death itself.

She inherited a house, but discovered something far more valuable within the haunted walls... When Lyra inherits Fairlane Manor from her late great-uncle, she never imagined the secrets it held within its timeworn walls. The legacy of a once-renowned artist lingers like a specter, his eerie and lifelike animal paintings haunting the minds of those who dare to behold them. In a whispered legend, a traveler sought refuge at Fairlane Manor, only to become ensnared in the painter's mysterious masterpiece. Trapped within the canvas, he was cursed to roam as a fearsome werewolf, his fate forever ...

Here there be gods and monsters—forged from flesh and stone and vengeance—emerging from the icy abyss of deep space, ascending from dark oceans, and prowling strange cities to enter worlds of chaos and wonder, where scientific rigor and human endeavor is tested to the limits. These are cosmic realms and watery domains where old offerings no longer appease the ancient Gods or the new and hungry idols. Deities and beasts. Life and death. Love and hate. Science and magic. And smiling monsters in human skin.

Created as an homage to the 1980 classic horror anthology, Dark Forces, edited by Kirby McCauley, this collection contains 12 original novelettes showcasing today’s top horror talent. Dark Stars features all-new stories from award-winning authors and up-and-coming voices like Stephen Graham Jones, Priya Sharma, Usman T. Malik, Caroline Kepnes, and Alma Katsu, with seasoned author John F.D. Taff at the helm. An afterword from original Dark Forces contributor Ramsey Campbell is a poignant finale to this bone-chilling collection.

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.

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