"A rural town finds itself under the authoritarian sway of a tree that punishes children. A pair of old friends navigate their fraught history as strange happenings escalate in a Mexican restaurant. A pair of narcissistic friends wreak havoc on an activist community. An aloof young man finds himself living through his lover's memories. And a day of LARPing takes a cosmic turn. In each of the seven stories in this collection, characters pursue their...

"Leslie Bruin is assigned to the backwoods township of Spar Creek by the Frontier Nursing Service to vaccinate the flock, birth babies, and weather judgements of churchy locals who look at him and see a failed woman. Forged in the fires of the Western Front and reborn in the cafes of Paris, Leslie believes he can handle whatever is thrown at him--but Spar Creek holds a darkness beyond his nightmares."--Back cover.

"This Skin Was Once Mine: When her father dies under mysterious circumstances, Jillian Finch finds herself grieving the man she idolized while struggling to feel comfortable in the childhood home she was sent away from nearly twenty years ago. Then Jillian discovers a dark secret that will threaten to undo everything she has ever known about her father. -- Seedling: A young man's father calls him early in the morning to say that his mother has passed...

Harlan Ellison's work shaped the science-fiction, fantasy, and horror genres in the 20th century, and this collection of his best-known and most-acclaimed stories is a perfect treasury for old Ellison fans as well as readers discovering this zany, polyphonic writer for the first time. Featuring these stories and many more: "'Repent Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" - Hugo Award winner "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" - Bram Stoker Award winner...

"Sisters Anna and Jennie live in a historic bungalow on the Chicago River. They’re tethered to a disquieting past, and with nowhere else to go, nothing can part them from their family home. Not the maddening creaks and disembodied voices that rattle the old walls. Not the inexplicable drownings in the area, or the increasing number of bodies that float by Anna’s window. To stave off loneliness, Anna has a podcast, spinning ghostly tales of Chicago’s...

"Deadhart, Alaska. Population: 673. Living. In a small Alaskan town, a boy is found with his throat ripped out and all the blood drained from his body. The inhabitants of Deadhart haven't seen a killing like this in twenty-five years. But they know who's responsible: a member of the Colony, an ostracized community of vampyrs living in an old mine settlement deep in the woods. Detective Barbara Atkins, a specialist in vampyr killings, is called in...

Carolanne wanted a perfect wedding, a perfect husband, a perfect family--but her desire to control the uncontrollable ultimately becomes her undoing.

"Nazis sequestered for generations in South America have engineered an army of vampires in preparation for a war against the living. But the Protestant-helmed Hellsing Organization and the Iscariot Agency of the Catholic Church stand in their way. The rival factions' best hope against the armies of the undead is to join forces, but can the Holy Church ever align with a group that uses unholy creatures like Alucard, the mightiest vampire of all?"--...

"Zephyr, Alabama, is an idyllic hometown for eleven-year-old Cory Mackenson--a place where monsters swim the river deep and friends are forever. Then, one cold spring morning, Cory and his father witness a car plunge into a lake--and a desperate rescue attempt brings his father face-to-face with a terrible, haunting vision of death. As Cory struggles to understand his father's pain, his eyes are slowly opened to the forces of good and evil that surround...

"In Knight Terrors, DC's heroes are taken past the land of the living, beyond the land of the dead, and directly to a new villain called Insomnia...who uses his powers to engulf every single hero and villain in their own dark and twisted nightmares. In this companion collection, see how Insomnia's Nightmare Wave affects four of DC's most popular characters: Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Punchline, and Zatanna! Enter the Harley Quinn Zone as Harley is...