Showing results for "Science Stories" in Dark Fantasy

Long lost to the public in out-of-print pulp magazines, dusty Victorian anthologies, and the pages of now defunct newspapers, these vintage vampire stories have truly proved immortal. Resurrected now for the year 2011, this is a stunning collection of nineteenth-century vampire stories by heavyweights such as Sabine Baring-Gould and Bram Stoker. These rare stories are arranged in chronological order from 1846 to 1913 and are compiled by two of the world's leading vampire anthologists and experts.

Who would suspect that the same mind that created the most famous literary detective of all time also took on the eternally popular genre of vampires? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a contemporary of Bram Stoker, gave us some fascinating works of vampire fiction. From the bloodsucking plant in "The American's Tale" to the bloodsucking wife in "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire," he reveled in the horror created by creatures who survived on the blood of men and women.

What do you desire in exchange for your soul? Everlasting youth? A million dollars? Women? Power? Bored high-schooler Adam Staples wants for nothing. Such an offer could only be a prank, right? Who would have thought that the prankster is a demon in disguise? After selling his soul and turning into a half-demon, Adam finds himself orphaned and dragged into a realm outside of the world he knew. Training under his benefactor and enrolling in a school made for those who were gifted with powers, Adam ventures around the Outworld to hunt down the demon that turned his life inside out....

These stories present electric messiahs, identity constructs, the Beatles, and even a nuclear Armageddon, which serve as comic foils for Lain's everyman characters. Here is an America where packets of Sea Monkeys arrive in the mail containing secret messages, and the girl next door can breathe underwater. With Last Week's Apocalypse, Douglas Lain arrives with a punch line and a warning.

Zombie, Indiana explores the impact of an invading zombie horde on a trio of Hoosier protagonists…each of whom have some dark secrets to keep. When the governor’s daughter mysteriously disappears on a field trip, IMPD Special Sergeant James Nolan, scholarship student Kesha Washington, and Governor Hank Burleson must all come together not only to find the governor’s daughter, but also to undertake a quest to redeem the very soul of the state itself…all while under constant attack from the living dead.

At the heart of these stories, as with all the best of Lovecraft’s work, is the belief that the Earth was once inhabited by powerful and evil gods, just waiting for the chance to recolonise their planet. Cthulhu is one such god, lurking deep beneath the sea until called into being by cult followers who – like all humans – know not what they do.

The first three novels and the prequel novella in the Preternatural Chronicles: I'm Glad You're Dead, Dawn and Quartered, Shadow of a Doubt, and Deliverance.

Prepare to meet the wicked progeny of the master of modern horror. In Lovecraft's Monsters, H. P. Lovecraft's most famous creations--Cthulhu, Shoggoths, Deep Ones, Elder Things, Yog-Sothoth, and more--appear in all their terrifying glory. Each story is a gripping new take on a classic Lovecraftian creature. Contributors include such literary luminaries as Neil Gaiman, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Karl Edward Wagner, Elizabeth Bear, and Nick Mamatas.

Violet has one job: protect humans from dangerous magical creatures. It's a job she's good at - until the cute human guy whose life she just saved follows her into the fae world. Now she's broken faerie law, risking her future at the Guild of Guardians. She needs to get Nate home and make him forget everything he's discovered. If only someone wasn't intent on hunting him down.

When the Blackout arrives, Dax Harper finds himself alone and fighting for survival on the chaotic streets of New Orleans. He is on the run, desperately searching for his estranged sister as the riots intensify. An unexpected encounter with his ex-girlfriend thrusts Dax into a leadership position—one he's not sure he can accept. As the hours pass, the city floods, pitting Dax in an epic battle against time and a mysterious new enemy threatening the future of humankind.

Seabury Quinn's short stories were featured in well more than half of the pulp magazine Weird Tales' original publication run. His most famous character, the supernatural French detective Dr. Jules de Grandin, investigated cases involving monsters, devil worshippers, serial killers, and spirits from beyond the grave, often set in the small town of Harrisonville, New Jersey.

One moment, everything was normal. Then the World Core woke up and slaughtered almost everything alive so it could harvest their Chi. After that, it rebuilt everything and put the survivors in a game-like environment, pitting them against monsters and each other. The rules are different now. Chi power is as important as being able to fight. I'm one of the survivors. With my knowledge of martial arts and my special Chi skill, I'm turning myself into a force to be reckoned with. And the women I meet along the way? Let's just say there's more than one advantage to joining my party.

The battle has been fought and won, and all have been transformed by the struggle. Imago of Lockwood has become Lord Mayor of the City Imperishable, though at a price beyond his wildest imagination. Bijaz the Dwarf has been imbued with a godlike power and a responsibility he scarcely understands. And Jason the Factor, resurrected from death at the hands of his sister, the Tokhari sandwalker Kalliope, has become the sula ma-jieni na-dia, the fabled Dead Man of Winter.

Emerson Clarke: Sarcastic. Independent. Possibly losing her mind. Because that's the only explanation for why she occasionally sees things that aren't there, right? But one night, an impossible power erupts from her, and Em realizes the truth is crazier than she ever thought: she isn't losing her mind; she's magical.

The supernatural, the surreal, and the all-too real . . . tales of the dark. Such stories have always fascinated us, and modern authors carry on the disquieting traditions of the past while inventing imaginative new ways to unsettle us. Chosen from a wide variety of venues, these stories are as eclectic and varied as shadows. This volume of The Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror offers tales from some of today's finest writers of the fantastique. Sure to delight as well as disturb!

Dahlia's lies have been discovered, and now she must suffer the consequences. Trapped and alone, her pleas for help remain unheard. When Dahlia is finally ready to let go and give in to the darkness calling her name, there is a flicker of hope. A continental summit is called in the face of a looming threat, and an opportunity is presented. A way out. A way to make things right. A way to make them so much worse.

Deep in the dark forest, in a cottage that spins on birds’ legs behind a fence topped with human skulls, lives the baba yaga. A guardian of the water of life, she lives with her sisters and takes to the skies in a giant mortar and pestle, creating tempests as she goes. Those who come across the baba yaga may find help, or hinderance, or horror. She is wild, she is woman, she is witch—and these are her tales.

""I loved making the acquaintance of SirHereward and Mister Fitz. If you haven't met them yet, you are in for a treat. They are the best partnership in the world of fantasy since Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser.” — George R.R. Martin, co-editor “A Cargo of Ivories” New York Times bestselling...

Veos has quickly proved to be far more capable than your average Dungeon Core. In the eyes of his challengers, at least. He's instinctive and motivated, with a drive to craft an intricate story and create obstacles for all those who seek to explore what lies beneath Nerian-Silex. Though Veos is certainly an unusual dungeon, what truly sets him apart is unknown to most—even himself. But now he's stumbled upon intel about the realm's dark history that, if tampered with, could reawaken a horrific enemy.

"Has your life here been so difficult? You seem to fail upward at every opportunity." So says Careena, the hag teaching Clyde Hatchett how to use magic. It certainly doesn't feel like that to Clyde, who's still got a day job scraping mud (at least he hopes it's mud) out of monster pits. And yet, Clyde's found himself at the center of a massive conspiracy to kill the Emperor. He's the only one with proof that could save the man, and take down an entire network of corrupt nobles, evil slavers, and power-hungry despots.