Ever hear of Maxus R. Crowther? Well, very few have!Matthew M. Bartlett, the Prince of Nightmares, explores one of America's unheralded cult fiction writers, Maxus R. Crowther, a man torn between the real world and the fantasy narratives of his creation. Bartlett's precise prose nails the fateful last days of this iconic American author as he disengages from reality and fully embraces his alter ego, MAXUS.Illustrated by the venerable Mike Dubisch, the master of the macabre....

Clark Ashton Smith -- widely regarded as the third of the "Big Three" to emerge from the early days of the pulp magazine Weird Tales (after H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard) -- published dozens of weird fantasy tales. "The Abominations of Yondo" is one of his finest.

The weird, the uncanny, the strange: these are the local conditions of dead weather.And these are stories based on dreams and nightmares, on things barely glimpsed in the moonrise, on places perfectly normal by day but haunted by the light of winter stars.Along with stories that appeared in "All Hallows" (edited by Barbara and Christopher Roden) and in the ROC anthology, "Alone on the Darkside" (edited by John Pelan) are tales that have never seen the light -- but now, as d...

He comes from Scyllia's Wasteland, Guile the wanderer. He prefers to be alone, but Fate has other plans for him.

Written in one night and, since, unedited, Carey tells the story of a man becoming lost. Within The Desperate Light, he captures the spirit of the truly desperate man, the embodiement of a soulless thing searching for something he is destined never to find. Once again, Carey eschews simple exposition in favour of a character's madness.A short story from the writer of Adjective Narcissism and God Metaphor.

A woman named Haroula, tormented by her past, journeys to a far planet to seek the Touchstone, who is rumored to be able to discern ultimate truth. When she encounters the Touchstone and the strange creatures called glims that surround him, she is confronted with a far stranger truth than she had thought possible.

The gods have played the Great Game for eons, and worlds have hung in the balance. Some worlds have survived, some have been destroyed, and some of the playing fields have existed in a draw.The last game nearly brought about the destruction of man anf god alike, requiring drastic measures to reset the board. Now, the current iteration of the Great Game draws to a close, the winner nearly decided. All the gods have played their parts, save one.The God o...

Joe guides a nameless warrior through an underground cavern....This is the first 2000 or so words of a story from my next collection.

From behind bars in Federas' jail, master thief Van Raighan shows Pevan a vision of her as his lover. Before he can explain, his allies among the Children of the Wild attack the town to rescue him.Pevan is left with the choice: protect her home, or chase the truth.

In this demonical issue -a story of unspeakable horror by William F. Nolan, co-creator of Logan's Runsword versus sorcery in Ken Bulmer's Ice and Firebestselling writer Brian Lumley's The Man Who Felt Pain*...*and news and views from the world of fantasy

This journey through many lives, seemingly unconnected is more powerful than any army could dream of being. Solitary face after solitary face in life weave an intertwined whole. Our past informs our future while those alive in the present remain ignorant of sacrifice. He gave his soul so everyone would have a life and an afterlife. The wizard gave himself, peace now reigns where demons once tread.

A Rising Knight: Vol2, Iss1Welcome back to the war. It missed you. Follow Vlad’s declaration of revolution it’s time to put up or shut up. He’ll have to fight through a fully manned military strong hold as a one man raiding party. Will the memory of burning towers and smoke blacked skies cripple him or will he find a better way.ExcerptAn arc of blood soared through the air, gushing from the torn throat of a man Wraith had just killed. His first barrage of spells had ...