Owen is a failed ocean-treasure-hunter, desperate to pay off his debts and save his boat.In a last bid to save his dying dreams, he lies to his grandfather, and sails out to a spot near the Cayman Trench abyss, where even the locals fear to tread, lookingto steal from the dead and salvage metal from sunken shipwrecks he has no claim to. Problem is … the pirates aboard the old, iron submarine that Owen accidently drags up from its salty grave, aren't about to let anything be...

Who Needs a Friend,When You Have a Familiar?Animals have been our companions since the dawn of time, but in science fiction and fantasy, often that bond is taken one magical—or technological—step further. In FAMILIARS we asked authors to put their own unique spin on this idea, resulting in this collection of fifteen stories that explore the range of familiar bonds—from cats to caterpillars, squids to squirrels, and everything in between. With settings from fantasy to scienc...

When the mask comes off, can you handle what's underneath?When your secret identity is revealed …When the monster is unleashed …When the superhero's child has no power …When Death himself is caught unawares …Pull back the mask to reveal 21 tales from seasoned and award-winning authors, of magical masks, gas masks, death masks, superheroes, secret identities, disguised robots, alien symbionts, a Napoleonic thief, a swindling demon—eve...

Set your cauldron to bubbling, and read these fifteen tales of magic, sorcery, and enchantment!What if you could smell magic—or go to a bar and get a shot of magic to go with your cocktail? Will an aging sorcerer’s last pupil ever learn anything? And what could possibly go wrong when a pair of witches enter the local chili cook-off?Includes stories by DeAnna Knippling, Leah R. Cutter, Robert Jeschonek, Debbie Mumford, Annie Reed, Rei Rosenquist, Alicia Cay,...

Is there hope for us all?Emily Dickinson's poem, "Hope," described it as "a thing with feathers." Third Flatiron Anthologies' latest collection of short speculative fiction, fantasy, and horror stories touches on the theme of hope, whether it's about taking flight filled with optimism for the future, venturing outside one's comfort zone, taking outsize risks in order to succeed, or finding it dashed on the rocks. Twenty-four authors give their entertaining takes on the subject, inc...

Some hauntings rise with the tide.From storm-lashed coasts to quiet springs, these fifteen stories drift through the spaces where water remembers. Beneath the surface: shipwrecks, spectral whispers, ancestral bargains, and the past still waiting in the pipes.What returns isn’t always flesh or phantom, but the echo of something left unresolved—love, vengeance, memory, regret. Water keeps the shape of what passed through it, holding stories long after the world forgets. Somet...

Some places you leave behind. Others never let you go.Step into forgotten train stations, lonely lakesides, hidden ballrooms, and crumbling mansions—spaces where the past lingers and the walls remember. Haunted Places gathers fourteen ghostly tales woven from memory, mystery, and the uncanny.In these stories, grief hums beneath the floorboards. Hope flickers like a lantern in an abandoned hall. Love, regret, and quiet magic drift through the rooms and river...

Are you ready to go on a journey to a place you have never been before? What would you like to do? Maybe a swim with dolphins, meet strange new creatures, or see John Dillinger behind bars? You could take a trip through time, visit a new planet, or hop on a train worn with memories. The possibilities are just a page away.So, strap in and get comfortable as we travel into the imaginative realm of possibilities. Together, we will journey into all things possible and impossible. Once ...

The veil is thinner than you think.In these fifteen tales, the dead whisper through static and drift through long-abandoned halls. Haunted homes remember. Libraries echo with footsteps no one else hears. And not all who vanish are truly gone.A ghost haunts the farmhouse where she died. A lost traveler stumbles through a fog that refuses to lift. A grieving detective must learn to trust his spectral partner.Hauntings gathers stories of prese...

Enjoy the urban fantasy stories of the Uncollected Anthology: Paranormal Pirates now collected in this bundle.Walk the plank or follow The Code. Fight demonic pirates and answer the door. Salvage a sunken ship wreck, take a trip on a cruise ship and beware of an undying lust for treasure.Explore the Uncollected Anthology with Paranormal Pirates!

The winter can be long, cold, and hard. Even the holidays can be terrible.Then, there comes a time of year when some places are no longer used.No longer needed.No longer wanted.It's the coldest part of the year, in nearly every sense.It is when a lot of the world is...Closed for the Season.Sometimes people go into those places anyway.Dare you follow them?Stories by:Lee F. Patrick, Rob Nisbet, Ross Baxter, D.H. ...

Welcome to the second year’s-worth of stories from the online magazine ZNB Presents published by the small press Zombies Need Brains. In these pages, you will find original science fiction and fantasy stories of awe and wonder, darkness and light, ranging through all of the subgenres, including urban fantasy, alternate history, space opera, future fairy tales, and more. They come from the most talented authors in the field today—new voices as well as trusted and familiar names. Join us as ...