Body Horror

Against all odds, former geneticist Benny White has survived the first Wave of the Game of Souls. But the rewards have come at a cost, and the games are far from over. New enemies have been introduced with eyes set on those calling the Blackstone Keep home. Not only do the contestants have to struggle against the Arketh-Takshi—a group of intergalactic vampiric pirates residing within scattered portals—but also with private outworlder factions whose motivations are anything but clear. Not to mention some threats that originate a little closer to home.

Whether for entertainment, under the guise of medicine, or to propel consumerism, heinous acts are perpetrated daily on women’s bodies. In Body Horror: Capitalism, Fear, Misogyny, Jokes, award-winning journalist Anne Elizabeth Moore catalogs the global toll of capitalism on our physical autonomy. Weaving together unflinching research and surprising humor, these essays range from investigative—probing the Cambodian garment industry, the history of menstrual products, or the gender biases of patent law—to uncomfortably intimate.

Full body transplants on sale here: the more you pay, the better the body. But can an expensive upgrade really fulfil the life-changing expectations of demoralised mortician Caroline McAleese? Caroline is desperate to be promoted to the sales team - but she's overweight and over 40, and in a world where attractiveness is prioritised ahead of intelligence, her prospects are slim. Then she hits the jackpot in the Citizens' Lottery, and gets the chance to trade up to the perfect new body: one that's young, lithe and beautiful.

In this chilling anthology, ten talented authors plunge into the darkest corners to explore the grotesque and unsettling. From grotesque mutations to psychological terrors, each story unfolds a unique and horrifying journey through the visceral landscapes of the human body. Brace yourself for a collection that will leave you questioning your own existence, as the authors unravel tales that linger beneath the skin. "Body Horror Anthology" is an exploration of the grotesque, where the boundaries between the body and the unknown are blurred, and the unimaginable becomes all too real.

Max Baker, a 31-year-old accountant, finds himself in a desperate situation after killing a prostitute in his hotel room. ‘I lost control of myself,’ he says. ‘I couldn’t get the thought out of my head!’ Panicking and unable to dispose of the evidence by himself, he calls on his long-time friend John Kasper for help. Kasper is horrified and hesitant to help at first, but he can’t abandon his friend during his time of need. Max’s family and future are at stake. Together, they devise and execute one plan after another, hopelessly trying to hide Max’s crime...

Step into the shadows where the line between flesh and nightmare blurs, where the body becomes both canvas and cage. In this chilling anthology, darkness reigns supreme as twisted minds explore the depths of human agony and transformation. From the grotesque to the surreal, each story delves deeper into the macabre, weaving tales of torment that will leave you breathless and disturbed.

The most terrifying thing that you can possibly imagine is your own body in the hands of a monster. Or worse, in the hands of another human being. In this definitive anthology of body horror selected by a World Horror Grandmaster, you'll find the unthinkable and the shocking: a couture designer preparing for an exquisitely grotesque runway show; a vengeful son seeking the parent who bred him as plasma donor; a celebrity-kink brothel that inflicts plastic surgery on sex workers; and organ-harvesting doctors who dissect a living man without anesthetic.

Take a daunting journey into the "dissection theater." This fictional story will give you chills and thrills while presenting you with a plausible moral dilemma.

Joyce Carol Oates assembles an outstanding cast of authors—including Margaret Atwood, Tananarive Due, and Megan Abbott—to explore, subvert, and reinvent one of the most vital subgenres of horror.

Mavis broke from her parents’ congregation years ago, but she still hasn’t recovered. Their impossible expectations and soul-shredding critiques have dug deep into her mind, and she’s taunted by the knowledge that even when she’s done nothing wrong, she’ll never be right. Now Mavis is afraid she’s about to lose the only thing she has: her husband, Jerrod. The man she’s always known was too good to be true. No one thinks she deserves him—not even after surviving the serial cheater they wanted her to stick by—and soon they’ll all find out they were right.

Thanksgiving can't end too soon for Victor Bayne, who's finding Jacob's family hard to swallow. Luckily, he's called back to work to track down a high-profile missing person. Meanwhile, Jacob tries to find a home they can move into that's not infested - with either cockroaches or ghosts. As if the house-hunting isn't stressful enough, Vic's new partner Bob Zigler doesn't seem to think he can do anything right.

This follow-up volume to the bestselling Ghosts from the Library resurrects forgotten tales of the supernatural by some of the most accomplished mystery authors of all time. Close the windows. Draw the curtains. Just don’t let the lights go out…

Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the 16-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world . . . and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Usually, when Victor Bayne is called upon to investigate a ghostly apparition, the “haunting” can be chalked up to a perfectly mundane cause. When he’s sent to check out some suspicious phenomena in small-town Iowa—and no one seems unduly alarmed—he’s hoping for more of a weekend getaway. Especially since he’s bringing along Jacob as his Stiff.

The air in the hospital was thick with the scent of antiseptic and something more primal, a lingering fear that clung to the walls like the shadows of the past. For years, I had been a caretaker, a healer devoted to the well-being of others, but the echoes of trauma and the weight of my own experiences began to manifest in unsettling ways. A new beginning was not just a transition; it was a reckoning with the darkness that lurked within the depths of my mind and the very fabric of the hospital itself.

Our greatest fears are of the unknown. Usually we think those fears are in front of us...or behind us. But perhaps the human body itself holds the greatest horror. What happens after death? Do our bodies have a new existence either in whole...or part? Will others seek to claim them and do unspeakable things? We don’t know. But our authors do. And they have the talents and wits to make these diabolical stories vehicles for horror, for terror, for the unimaginable....

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.

Andrew Perrault ist ein Märchenerfinder – und seine düsteren Geschichten gelten allein dem Jungen, der ihm alles bedeutet: Thomas Rye, sein bester Freund und Mitschüler, der Junge mit den tintenbefleckten Händen und Haaren wie Herbstlaub. Nach den Ferien ist Thomas nicht mehr derselbe. Seine Eltern sind auf mysteriöse Weise verschwunden, und er kommt mit Blut am Ärmel in die Schule.

Clancy Reynolds is about to propose to the woman of his dreams, but she dumps him for another man before he has the chance. Blinded by rage, he decides to take matters in his own hands. The plan ends in tragedy, and he's sent to a psychiatric hospital where his caretakers ask him to be part of a secret experiment. In exchange, he will have his freedom if he survives.

Horatio Nightingale, private eye, necromancer, pain in Detective Sergeant Jenn Amato’s backside, has a ghost problem. It’s driving him slowly insane. Perhaps the body in the museum will prove to be a suitable distraction.