Showing results for "the world" in Anthologies & Short Stories

New research has uncovered deeply buried military secrets—both the Allied and Axis special operations during WWII included monsters. Did the Soviets use a dragon to win the Battle of Kursk? Did a vampire fight for the Canadians in Holland? Did the US drop the second atomic bomb on a kaiju? This collection takes real events from World War II and injects them with fantastical creatures that mirror the “unreality” of war itself. Each story—and two poems—feature mythical, mystical, and otherwise unexplainable beings that change the course of history.

A newborn’s absent face appears on the back of someone else’s head, a filmmaker goes to gruesome lengths to achieve the silence he’s after for his final scene, and a therapist begins, impossibly, to appear in a troubled patient's room late at night. In these stories of doubt, delusion, and paranoia, no belief, no claim to objectivity, is immune to the distortions of human perception. Here, self-deception is a means of justifying our most inhuman impulses—whether we know it or not.

Paris, France, is known as the City of Lights, a metropolis renowned for romance and beauty. Beneath the bustling streets and cafés, however, exists the Catacombs, a labyrinth of crumbling tunnels filled with six million dead. When a video camera containing mysterious footage is discovered deep within their depths, a group of friends venture into the tunnels to investigate. But what starts out as a lighthearted adventure takes a turn for the worse when they reach their destination - and stumble upon the evil lurking there.

Sixteen thought-provoking short tales that will make you question everything. Take a trip through alternate realities and into many possible futures. Your view of the world will never be the same again.

Patrick Lafcadio Hearn, was an Irish writer known also by the Japanese name Koizumi Yakumo. His book Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, comprises two parts, the first being the "Kwaidan Proper" and the second, "Insect-Studies", which consists of an essay each on ants, butterflies and mosquitos. According to the author, most of the folk tales and ghost stories in the first part were translated from old Japanese texts. The themes encompass resurrection, sacrifice, magic, and the realm of dreams.

It is said that books are written to bring sunshine into our dull, grey lives—to show us places we want to escape to, lives we want to live, people we want to love. But there are also stories that can only be found in the deepest, darkest corners of the library. Stories about the unexplained, of lost souls, of things that go bump before the silence. Before the screaming. And some stories just disappear. Stories printed in old newspapers, broadcast live on the wireless, sometimes not even published at all—these are the stories you cannot find on even the dustiest of library shelves.

Gather 'round for ominous tales of the paranormal that’ll have you looking over your shoulder to make sure you’re actually alone. The World’s Favorite Ghost Stories is a carefully curated collection of hair-raising ghost stories from around the world meant to thrill and ensnare you. Listen to this audiobook for unsettling ghost stories that’ll get under your skin. These peculiar tales from different corners of the world (including the United Kingdom, India, and the United States) are so vivid that they almost feel real. But they couldn’t be - could they?

From zombie apocalypse to hard science fiction, urban fantasy to Lovecraftian gothic horror, Chris' writing surely offers you something to enjoy. New Worlds features several short stories; "The Mother in the Lake" (a Lovecraft-inspired tale told by a teenage girl about her family and their lake house), "Roots Grown Deep" (a dark fantasy story about a tree deep in the woods that hungers for far more than water and sun); and more.

Since 2010, the world of Adrian Ring has grown, enveloping hundreds of thousands of listeners and readers, and creating a cast of characters that are both beloved, and reviled. Time for more. Only the Light We Make is the second anthology set in Adrian's world, and brings in new voices of some of the genre's most talented authors.

In Bloodlines by Jerry Purdon, a sheriff becomes distraught, taking drastic action after learning of a betrayal beyond anything he had imagined. In THE BULLET by Trevor Abbud, in the aftermath of a world ravaged by the mysterious virus known as “ The Bullet,” Luke Hart grapples with the challenges of survival, navigating the feral transformation of his son Jacob and the haunting complexities of his wife's infectation. In Coyote by Benjamin B. White, born into a mixed breed with a culture of opposing ideologies — which wolves you run with are up to you or are they?

A suicidal nudist strolls into traffic. An eccentric Buddhist claims he can occupy other people's bodies. All the while, whispers of a new form of entertainment blow through town. Prompted by these strange occurrences, Marty Raft, a not-so-gentle giant, investigates and discovers underground clubs peddling music that induces an out-of-body experience. Marty and a wannabe comedian, Corey, set out to prove these special frequencies are nothing more than a hoax, or at worst, a mass-drugging. Instead, they uncover a secret with world-ending possibilities.

A small collection of six short stories, each with its own darkness, born of a desire of one kind or another. For some, it is the desire of the unknown; for others, it is desire through obsession. Each short story is its own volume in the twisted library of desire. Each story a gateway to their new reality.

One day it started raining—and it never stopped... So began Brian Keene's Earthworm Gods, a novel that straddled the lines between the horror and bizarro genres. Fans have long marveled over that post-apocalyptic landscape—a flooded earth filled with strange and terrifying monsters. Audiences returned to that world in Earthworm Gods II: Deluge. Now, it's time for one last trip.

Based on Japanese literature and foldlore, Kwaidan contains 17 stories. The story of Loichi, the blind biwa player who was called to perform for the dead; of Muso, the journeying priest who encountered a man eating goblin; of the samurai who outwitted the ghost of a dead man. All these plus 14 other spooly tales are included in this collection.

The Place Between Worlds and Other Stories is the fifth collection of short horror stories from P.J. Blakey-Novis. From the frozen landscapes of Antarctica to deep beneath the North Atlantic, through dreamlike forests and rips in time, these short stories will take you beyond the familiarity of our world, into the place between.

It was Halloween again, October 31st, just like all the Halloweens before it. But this Halloween would change the world forever. The Devil decided to go against God's wishes of only having enough power to deceive our way of being able to choose between good and evil. The Devil said "Halloween Night is the only night of the year that my powers are the strongest." As the darkness set in and the trick-or-treaters headed out of their homes to get candy, the Devil entered every trick-or-treater's mind using mental telepathy.

Blackfoot storyteller Alex Soop plunges us into a shocking well of imagination in this collection of short stories, Midnight Storm Moonless Sky. From hauntings on the Highway of Tears to fearful gatherings of ghosts and the sorrows of racism, Soop combines the social anxieties of Indigenous life with spellbinding flights and frights of speculative fiction. Through these enthralling stories of reality mixed with terror, listeners get a wicked glimpse into the genre of Indigenous horror.

When Beatrix Brighton—a New Hampshire professor with expertise in demonology—receives a desperate call from her father about a fungal plague consuming his home, she expects to find another easily explained phenomenon. Instead, she discovers a city in the grip of something inexplicable: toxic spores blanket every surface, buildings sprout through with yellow growths, and the residents are slowly changing, their minds colonized by something that lurks in the bayou's depths.

"Brilliantly written . . . I couldn't put it down." What if you could predict the apocalypse—but no one would listen? Four years ago, Dr. Edie Becker's earthquake warning threw Los Angeles into panic. They called her crazy. Stripped her credentials. Drove her into exile. Now she's haunted by visions far worse than before—dreams of hell itself cracking through the earth's crust. And this time, they're not just nightmares. When Edie predicts another devastating quake, only one person responds: her wealthy sister Lola, who wagers $65,000 it won't happen.

This is a story from the The Body Snatcher and Other Stories collection.