Showing results by narrator "Todd Menesses" in All Categories

Eight stories of literary dark fiction from a master storyteller. Exploring the shadow side of love, these are tales of grief, obsession, control. Intricate examinations of trauma and tragedy in raw, poetic prose. In these narratives, a woman imagines horrific scenarios whilst caring for her infant niece; online posts chronicle a cancer diagnosis; a couple in the park with their small child encounter a stranger with horrific consequences; a toxic relationship reaches a terrifying resolution . . .

The bold investigators of Arkham Horror are humanity's best hope against monstrous terrors from beyond the void in this second collection of extraordinary eldritch novellas.

Big Game Sniper follows Jared Moore, a sniper who finds himself transported to a strange world. He must navigate unfamiliar terrain, dangerous creatures, and a video game-like system that offers "enhancement and ascension" as he tries to survive and make his way in this magical new world, and gather some allies along the way. But is everything as it seems?

From the corpse of what was once the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, forgotten sins are stirring. Threats concealed in the dark corners of the old empire see their chance to emerge. Their insidious intentions have brewed in malevolent patience over eons, and now their hour has come. The kingdom so lovingly built and fiercely fought for is their objective, and there is no depth to which they won't stoop to take it for themselves. Benjy and Marty need to dig deep within themselves.

Not everyone is happy with what Benjy and Marty are building. Rather, they're unhappy that they're not the ones in charge. The birth pangs of a new community are hard enough to navigate, but what happens when jealousy leads to a rivalry that could strangle this newborn wonder?

It seems like lifetimes have passed since Benjy and Marty watched the old world die. Not everyone's caught up with the changes. For the moment it seems they might be the only ones who truly understand that nothing will ever be the same again. They both know that won't last long. Dragons have emerged from their eons-long slumber and the world must come to terms with it or perish in fire. Panic and chaos spring up in the wake of these living natural disasters and people are looking for a safe place to hide from their winged overlords.

A chance meeting between Benjamin Draig and Martin "Marty" Ambrose suggests the potential for a great friendship. Both were with different groups of friends just outside of Moab, both on their way to hike through the mountains. But then things went horribly wrong. It's all Benjamin and Marty can do to stay alive when the earth opens beneath their feet, and they're swallowed by the mountain. As a fire-spewing monster emerges and spreads its wings to blot out the sky, Benjamin and Marty learn that the comfortable illusion of the world they knew is gone.

The orcs are thirsty. And so are Captain Frank Gerber's swords, but apparently, you can't murder your customers. Stuck with a nightclub after a job gone wrong, Frank has to figure out how to rebuild something he never even wanted. That's just the first of his problems. Frank's blades will have a taste of blood again, but first, he has to party with orcs, barter with gnomes, drink with dwarves, and make shady deals with the scum of Sankta Varath, the greatest city in all of Steelheart Kingdom. And that's just the first week.

Frank and his team have their work cut out for them. The club needs new guests, drinks, trophies, and employees, not to mention a good mopping of blood after every shift. Guests love him, but the bounty hunters aren't pleased at all with Frank's success. Hector, their leader, knows just what it takes to knock his former friend down a peg or two. Just when Frank thinks things can't get any crazier, he gets invited to a bizarre nightclub owner meeting. New alliances will have to be forged, and dangerous waters will threaten to swallow him.

You know the drill, right? Die in an unfortunate accident and then get sent before a sultry looking goddess who sets you up for reincarnation. Todd was all set to return to earth and give his soul another ride through the roller coaster called life when something extremely unfortunate happened: the Earth was destroyed by a giant meteor. Already primed for Reincarnation, he was given only one other option, but it involved him rising again in an unknown land where magic wasn’t just in the stories.

Marvel Comics in the 1970s explores a forgotten chapter in the story of the rise of comics as an art form. Bridging Marvel's dizzying innovations and the birth of the underground comics scene in the 1960s and the rise of the prestige graphic novel and postmodern superheroics in the 1980s, Eliot Borenstein reveals a generation of comic book writers whose work at Marvel in the 1970s established their own authorial voice within the strictures of corporate comics.

Clint Rogan and his team did it. They survived the initial hardships of Terraria One and came out much stronger than anyone would have imagined. The human starting capital of Grimford had been rebuilt, new contestants had been trained to participate in the blood sport that entertained the Galaxy, and team Dread grew to legend status. A new threat emerged and overshadowed everything they had worked for. It was larger than anything they could anticipate, a threat from the very ring surrounding Hadran.

In the swirling sewers beneath Arkham, excavators uncover a crystalline formation that hints at dark events from the city's past. As the discovery makes headlines, so too does a series of bizarre murders. With no leads, the Arkham police are always one step behind. Acting on a hunch, down-on-his-luck former journalist Andy Van Nortwick reunites with adventurer Jake Williams and struggling filmmaker Maude Brion to unearth the truth. The trio know of the supernatural horrors that lurk beyond this world, and the reality haunts them.

Mace and his allies set off on numerous perilous adventures to discover the location of the legendary Five Sisters. Their journeys lead them into the heart of the Spitrotz, the home of the black dragons, and high to the craggy peaks where the ice goddess dwells. With his allies finally gathered and the army assembled, Mace is ready to face the demon lord Altirax once and for all. But not all is as it appears. Someone has been tampering with the coding of the game since Mace first joined and the final battle will finally reveal the culprit and their intention.

After Peter's explosive battle against the head of the Bo clan, he, his cadre of lovers, and his loyal allies are on the move as the dark forces from the ancient past rise up throughout the Empire. While things seem bleak, Peter has one thing that no one else in this strange land has . . . He knows the truth. The truth of the Empire's hidden past, a thread of knowledge that leads him on the trail of the ancient evil that threatens his new family and his new home.

Through financial smarts, the internal power gained from cultivating wealth, and a heaping of raw cunning, Peter has found his way from lowly Gold clan slave to master of the Bo clan's fiscal empire and a beautiful collection of lovers and wives. But his true purpose in this strange realm of magic and martial arts remains unknown. Until now. As the tendrils of darkness begin to strangle the country, Peter will find out the truth. To survive the dangers ahead, he will need to break through to the next level of cultivation, all while weaving through the minefield of Imperial politics.

Exploring the diverse landscape of American life, the stories in Blues and Trouble: Twelve Stories capture the lives of people caught between circumstance and their own natures or on the run from fate. Tom Piazza’s debut short story collection, originally published in 1996, heralded the arrival of a startlingly original and vital presence in American fiction and letters. Set in Memphis, New Orleans, Florida, Texas, New York City, and elsewhere, the stories echo voices from Ernest Hemingway to Robert Johnson in their sharp eye for detail and their emotional impact.

On Earth, Peter is a financial wizard, the accountant that could make your monetary missteps disappear in a sea of numbers, but he's trapped in a thankless job...until the day he's shot dead in his apartment...only to wake up in a body that isn't his and a world he doesn't know. Part of the hated Gold clan, Peter is now a servant in a land of cultivating martial artists, strange fantastical races, and warring clans. And while he might start at the bottom, the Gold clan gains their power through the accumulation of wealth...and making money is what Peter does best.

Nick was going to make something of himself. He was not going to be just another guy drifting through life. Then he died. Lucky for him he caught the attention of an eccentric god and gets to choose: reincarnation or travel beyond. Nick is reborn as a champion of Ki’darth people. He must learn their ways, stay alive, and work to understand the Titan system, one level at a time.

Gertrude Stein, in conversation with Ernest Hemmingway, once made the comment: “You are all a lost generation.” She was referring to the young adults who struggled to find their purpose in the wake of World War I, yet showed incredible resilience against all odds.