Horror Fairy Tales

Conner Ambrose is not what you would think as your typical vampire. No. This man, if you can call a supernatural being a man, has walked the Earth for over 1,000 years. The son of a being from the very beginnings of man's history fought in countless battles to keep his kind protected from the forces of man. Yet all was not to be for this pure-blooded vampire, not with Lilith as the man's mother. After 900 years, Conner thought he had found the one he has sought for all that time, only to be betrayed by the ones he thought he could trust.

Enjoy this short story by Mace Styx. George heaved a great sigh, dragging a hand over his face. “Rebecca...do you recall when your mother was pregnant with Orin?” he asked. “I don’t suppose you do”. Rebecca frowned in thought, then shook her head. “Not very well”, she said. “I would have only been around eight years old at the time. But I remembered she was bedridden during the last couple of months, wasn’t she”? “She nearly died”. George replied, and Amelia visibly flinched".

It started out as a simple drive down a country road. Oh sure, Hillman was thinking about suicide. Oh sure, the dead woman is in his back seat was goading him on. What was the point? Why bother living? Who am I? It turns out Coyote has something to say about that. Coyote...and a troll.

In 1691, the town of Crossfall taught the witch Thessaly how to die. They beat her; they shot her; they hung her - but nothing worked. When they finally tried to bury her alive, Thessaly set the field against them. The first man died as a gust of wind harrowed the meat from his bones. A root, flung like a dirty javelin, cut a second man down. Many more deaths followed. The Preacher Fell impaled the witch upon her very own broom, but she dragged him down into the field to wait for three more centuries.

Hammurabi Road is a dark redneck-noir novella of retribution, backwoods justice, and getting closer to a black bear than was ever dreamed possible. We start off with the eternal triangle - four men ride out in a pick-up truck; three in front and one duct-taped and bound in the back. It is a clear-cut case of Northern Ontario railroad vengeance, served up as cold as a frozen hunting knife. Fans of the movie and television series Fargo are going to love Hammurabi Road.

You can smell that long-dying aroma of Autumn in the air. Kids are talking trick or treat and the leaves are already screaming at you in red and yellow and deep golden rust as they prepare for one final parachute down into the dirt. The tombstones are talking amongst themselves and winter is hiding just around the corner. It is the time of the year when people draw around the wood stove and the campfire and whisper stories of death and omens and ghosts and things that don't even have a name.

"The light from the fire against the tent cast some strange shadows, but nothing out of the ordinary, as Tony whispered that it was probably Bumi going to pee in the foliage. Leaning slowly to one side I raised the flap of the tent and stared out. Panic gripped me when I suddenly realized that the tent opposite, Bumi’s tent, was empty. Not only that, but his backpack was missing. Why would he take his stuff if he’s just going to pee? I asked myself and then Tony, out loud. In response he told me not to panic. Surely wherever Bumi had gone he would be back by morning".

Detours are amazing creatures. A detour can cut your existence short or it can lead you down a long road that will linger far into the distant reaches of eternity. These unexpected tangents, which people stumble across nearly every day, will haunt you in a frighteningly familiar fashion. I offer you 18 eerie tales of fantasy, horror, science fiction, and all around strangeness that will take you to the edge of the map and then nudge you just a little bit further.

In 1673 the first European explorers to travel down the Mississippi River spot on the high, sheer bluffs the painting of a huge, winged monster. Where does it come from? Why did somebody take the trouble and risk to paint it on the bluff face? The Indians told them the terrifying story of a man-eating, dragon-like creature, and the brave chief who killed it.

While the image of Boris Karloff slowly shuffling across the screen with wraps of what looked like toilet paper wound around him may not have frightened me. The less well lit corners of esoteric magic did. As a scholar of history and particularly folklore, I had occasion to research the origins and uses of ritual magic within the Middle Ages. I was stunned by how much of what we think of as "medieval" magic actually finds its roots with the Ancient Egyptians.

Darian Mason grew up in an orphanage in Denver, knowing from birth that she possessed a special power. She could see into the souls of others; see their fears; read their thoughts. Darian honed this special gift through the years as she grew to become an attorney. Darian had never lost a case, and she knew how to persuade a jury with merely a glance and the use of her special power.

For the past 19 years, Rumpelstiltskin has kept his promise to Laila, the miller's daughter. Her son, Tristan, must never know the dark deal they made surrounded by straw and gold. But keeping the truth from a curious Tristan is the least of his troubles. He can't escape the chill of bodiless eyes watching him. Wanting him. Hunting him. When an oracle confirms his greatest fear, she also confirms his greatest hope. A hope and desire he believed long dead. Laila lives.

As "Wicked" comes calling the alarm goes out to Freya's army. The scramble for all the ally's to reunite for the fight of their continued existence. Wicked is coming for them all, but Wicked doesn't know they have Devine guidance and are forever Freya's immortals.

Amalia had always heard the music of the night in her dreams, but it wasn't until one day, when she was traveling back from town, did she find out what the true source of it was: a strigoi. The last thing she remembers is being bit, then finding herself back at her camp. Everything seemed strange from then on, but why was that? Was it all a dream? Or did she really come in contact with one of the most feared creatures of her people?

Blue Moon of Ake is a dark fairy tale about a magical OG (Original Goddess) named Jinabadi from the west, ancient America. Known as Badi for short, she experiences a couple of lives on her destructive journey. Blue Moon of Ake shows the early stage of the evil immortal queen building her kingdom to rule over all of ancient Africa (Ake). However on her deadly path she gets confronted with a different type of magic that traps her, and puts a pause on her wicked journey.

Um die Eine zu erobern gibt es viele Möglichkeiten. Weil alle anderen Versuche nicht glücken, will der Student Norbert einen Pakt mit dem Teufel eingehen, um die Frau seiner Träume zu erobern. Dass er das Ritual an Halloween durchführt, soll ihn schützen, denn nur an diesem Tag steht dem Teufel als Gegenleistung nicht seine Seele zu. Zusammen mit seinem besten Kumpel setzt er seinen Plan in die Tat um und tatsächlich scheint es zu funktionieren.

A Year in the Borderlands writer Kevin Candela's wild second excursion into alternate realities includes 17 tales, twelve of which have appeared in previously released anthologies and are collected here for the first time. These short stories combine with five never before released works, including the novella It's Only Funny if You Laugh, to produce a wide-ranging panoramic view of the worlds and realities that exist beyond our own. Playing With Reality is another vividly detailed page in the Atlas of the Unknown.

Eccentric, infamous and exceedingly wealthy, the romantic novelist Cassandra Tipp has, it seems, vanished. In her large, rambling house sits a pile of paper addressed to her niece and nephew. It is a letter. Cassie has been a murder suspect twice in her life. Her family have long been convinced of her guilt. Could the letter be her confession? Or might it be her last will and testament? It turns out to be not quite what anyone expected....

Hannah is shaken to the core after the mysterious death of her husband, Captain Hovey. A man that was as cruel as he was loved. Shunned by her neighbors and the town, Hannah is lonely and desperate. Some believe she was a witch. Others believe she was an outcast.

Justene Bell always wanted to travel, to escape the valley she had existed in for many years. Her spiritual mother, Odesa Freewoman Bell expects the same sacrifices from this girl, the one she had stolen as her own daughter. Together they claim the Bell House, for in the backyard lies a horrible family secret.