Cucurbital 3 continues the series of of anthologies that provide a peek into the writing process itself. Authors are always asked two questions: "where do you get the idea for your story?" and "how do you go from idea to finished work?" This series offers insight into the second question by handing the book's authors the answer to the first one. Here are nine short stories that began with the same three prompts: MADNESS, DARKNESS, MATTRESS...

Concerned by the changing social climate in Gimul, Ryoma resolves to reinvigorate the city and take out whoever is orchestrating the city's decline. With the help of reinforcements (courtesy of the duke) Ryoma uses his connection with the city's residents to his full advantage, concocting revolutionary policies and businesses to clean up the streets of Gimul! Meanwhile, the nine gods call Ryoma to explain a key piece of information about slime magic... The slime-ridden slice of life contin...

Darkness surrounds us.We can find darkness anywhere: in a strange green stone etched with mysterious symbols; at a small town's annual picnic; in a ghostly house that is easy to enter but not so easy to leave; behind the dumpster in the alley where a harpy lives; in The Nowhere, a place where car keys, toys, people disappear to; among Polar explorers; and, most definitely, within ourselves. Darkness flies from mysterious crates; surrounds children whose nightlights have vanished; a...

Macabre meetings, sinister excursions, and deadly relationships; uncanny encounters; a classic ghost story featuring an American god; a historical murderer revived in a frightening new iteration; innovative Lovecraftian turns; shadowy fairy tales and weird myths; strange children, the unexpected, the supernatural, the surreal, and the all-too real . . . tales of the dark. Such stories have always fascinated us, and modern authors carry on the disquieting traditions of the past while invent...

The fourth volume of the annual Unidentified Funny Objects series features the theme of dark humor.What happens when you ask some of the genre's masters to interpret this theme? The enclosed twenty-three darkly humorous tales range from black comedy to biting satire to morbid irony and everything in between.Inside this book you'll find Faustian bargains gone awry, time-traveling ghosts, flawed supervillains, talking hamsters, and much more.Featuring stories by:

**The eagerly awaited follow-up anthology to award-winning Firebirds: an anthology of original science fiction and fantasy stories.“A gorgeous and rich collection.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review“A truly irresistible book, with highly memorable stories (and at least a few future award-winners, I’d bet) . . . not just for YA fans, but for short fiction fans in general.”—Realms of Fantasy**What you hold in your hands is more than a book. It i...

Set in modern-day Charleston. When a prominent man and his wife die suddenly, a cursed gift appears to be the culprit. Cassidy, Teag and Sorren must hunt a supernatural killer before it strikes again. This series of adventures spans over 500 years, from the 1500s to modern day as a small cabal of vampires and their human helpers battle supernatural enemies to find and destroy dangerous magical items and keep the world safe from dark forces.  

LIGHTSPEED is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine. In its pages, you will find science fiction: from near-future, sociological soft SF, to far-future, star-spanning hard SF--and fantasy: from epic fantasy, sword-and-sorcery, and contemporary urban tales, to magical realism, science-fantasy, and folktales. This month, we have original science fiction by Jessica Barber ("Coma Kings") and Carrie Vaughn ("Harry and Marlowe and the Intrigues at the Aetherian Ex...

SOMETIMES THE BIGGEST HORRORS COME IN THE SMALLEST PACKAGES…There's nothing better than a short, sharp slice of flash fiction to get the mind working. 99 Tiny Terrors is an anthology that the reader can dip into for something deliciously dangerous in a short amount of time, or spend an afternoon trolling through blood-soaked stories from all over the world, including Canada, England, Germany, Greece, Ireland, India, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the United Sta...

"Throughout [BLUD], McKibbens breathes brilliant life into language, forging lush, rhythmic poems that are both fiercely urgent and tightly controlled, dark and flickering with fairy-tale-like magic. . . . Stunning, unflinching, fearless."―Booklist Starred Review"Chicana poet, activist, and witchy folk hero of the disenfranchised. . . . [McKibbens] creates these spaces of witness with her feral and boundary-pushing poems that speak unflinchingly of topics often swept under...

For over 25 years, the Wild Cards universe has been thrilling readers the world over.Once an assassin and spy, superpowered ace Noel Matthews confronts unexpected enemies after discovering a dead body on the job.Now in development for TV: Rights to develop Wild Cards for TV have been acquired by Universal Cable Productions, the team that brought you The Magicians and Mr. Robot, with the co-editor of Wild Cards, Melinda Snodgrass a...