Apocalyptic Short Stories

Van Dorn is 18 and running solo, dodging the bloodthirsty hordes and militias that have emerged since the country went haywire. His dead father's voice rings in his head as Van Dorn sets his sights not just on survival but also on an old-fashioned system of justice. Meanwhile, a leader has risen among the gangs - and around him swirls the cast of brawlers from Donnybrook, with their own brutal sense of right and wrong, of loyalty and justice through strength. This is not the distant post-apocalyptic future - this is tomorrow, in a world Bill has already introduced us to.

Only a few nuclear weapons fell. But in the chaos of famine and plague, there existed a few pockets of order. The strongest of them was the state of Deseret. The climate has changed, and the lake has filled up. There, on the fringes, brave, hardworking pioneers are making the desert bloom again.

It's not the end of the world...only humanity! All five books in the haunting Humanity Series have been brought together in one digital collection. Follow Scott Beck in his quest to keep himself, those he loves, and humanity alive. Combining dystopian, post-apocalyptic, and cyberpunk fiction, The Humanity Series depicts a future in which humanity is on the brink of annihilation. Join the adventure before it's too late!

Broken Stories is a compilation of short stories and novelettes that accompanies the Broken World series. From California to Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Colorado, listeners will get a glimpse at what other people went through before, during, and after the zombie virus outbreak. Some of the characters featured in these stories have close ties to the main characters in the Broken World series, while others are brand-new.

You can't kill the dead! Like any good monster, the zombie has proven to be ever-evolving, monumentally mutable, and open to seemingly endless imaginative interpretations: the thralls of voodoo sorcerers, George Romero's living dead, societal symbols, dancing thrillers, viral victims, reanimated ramblers, video-gaming targets, post-apocalyptic permutations, shuffling sidekicks, literary mash-ups, the comedic, and, yes, even the romantic.

**A HORRIFYING SHORT STORY BY THE AUTHOR OF THE MAN FROM TAURED** Stockboro Island is located just off the coast of Maine. Idyllic, peaceful. A tourist attraction during the summer months. When a biological disaster on the mainland begins to spread across the globe, the residents watch in fear. What will happen to them when they can’t communicate with the mainland? More importantly, what happens if the mainland tries to reach out to them? The residents of Stockboro will need to make some very hard decisions quickly. How far will they go to protect themselves? Their island? How far will ...

In the Year 2889 by Jules Verne is a diary of the observations of Fritz Napoleon Smith, the editor of an influential futuristic newspaper. It is an action-packed tale of technological advances and science fiction scenarios. Some of the predictions were remarkably accurate.

For fans of the oral history genre phenomenon World War Z, a worldwide plague of insomnia creates a devastating new apocalypse. Sleep Over is collection of waking nightmares, a scrapbook of the haunting and poignant stories from those trapped in a world where the pillars of society are crumbling, and madness is slowly descending on a planet without rest.

The first collection by writer Matthew Hughes, and the perfect companion to his acclaimed novel Black Brillion, The Gist Hunter and Other Stories features nine stories taking place in the universe of The Archonate, as well as four non-series stories. The stories of Henghis Hapthorn, Old Earth's "foremost freelance discriminator", combine mystery and science fantasy while simultaneously recalling the arch irony of Gene Wolfe and the sly fancies of Jack Vance.

Morning in Whitehorse, and everything is normal. All too normal. A girlfriend who loves him; an evening at the farmer’s market in Shipyard’s Park. Idyllic, relaxing, peaceful. What more could a man want? John Lee isn’t sure, but stray thoughts intrude, and memories of a different time, a different place, a different world keep intruding. Angst-ridden, exhausting memories of a world of pain and struggle. Nothing like the paradise he lives in. Now, if only John wasn’t so attracted to them.

A celestial entity sets out on an extraordinary quest to breathe life into a barren planet, weaving the foundations of existence itself. But as creation takes shape, unforeseen challenges arise, testing the limits of its power and purpose. "What a great fiction book about the cosmos! From the very first page, the story immerses you in the fascinating life of the cosmic builder, whose ability to create planetary life for the first time is nothing short of awe-inspiring. The vivid descriptions and imaginative storytelling by the author immediately draw you into this cosmic realm, making you ...

For Jack Avery, living among the ruins of the outer zone and scavenging to survive is not the worst of nightmares. Something haunts him far more than any hunter patrol. In one short moment, two years before, something happened that changed him. This story is about his journey through the apocalypse, but also through his own regrets and doubts.

Man's best friend will stand by his side, even in the apocalypse. But when one becomes separated from the other, what transpires over the course of the next 24 hours will test the limits of even the best-trained canine. Will Oaklee still be man's best friend...After Z?

A fresh post-apocalyptic anthology: the end of the world seen through the salvage and ruins, featuring Emily St. John Mandel, Carmen Maria Machado, and more.

Now the Congress of Animals is in control, unforgiving, and debating the fate of the planet’s most reviled species. The popular ruling: Exterminate humankind without exception. But a curious mare, coming of age, is making a case for a seemingly gentle person she longs to save - a wish for mercy that could once again unbalance the new and righteous nature of the world.

In the world of the Stymph, humans have become prey. Survivors must hide every day and night, praying the Stymphs don't find them. If they do, there's no escape. Technology helps them to come back, to Reawaken after a Stymph feasts upon them... ...but what price does Reawakening exact? Follow Captain Yuen as he journeys to a place he never expected. Into the minds of fellow humans, once people he knew, now mentally damaged and trying to heal. But Captain Yuen will discover something on this journey...something that could rock all of humanity to its core. (This story takes place within the ...

Life in the Trench is harsh but simple - until a young girl braves an unknown path in a bracing coming-of-age short story by the New York Times bestselling author of Sweet Tooth and the Gideon Falls comics.

When Captain Jade Rhodes returns from a 50-year space mission, she expects a hero’s welcome. Instead, she finds a world she no longer recognizes—where history has been rewritten, space exploration outlawed, and humanity crushed under an iron-fisted regime. Branded a liar and traitor, Jade is thrust into the heart of a brutal rebellion led by Rax, a hardened freedom fighter with secrets of his own. Together, they must ignite hope in a society ruled by fear. But as the enemy closes in, Jade discovers that the resistance's survival depends on more than courage—it hinges on her lost ...

Here are eight of World Fantasy Award winner S.P. Somtow’s most controversial stories, including three previously uncollected ones. Each deals with a “sacred cow” of the Judaeo-Christian tradition and subjects it to the pitiless scrutiny of historian, mythographer, and fantasist. Violent, sometimes kinky, these stories nevertheless reach surprising epiphanies about faith and redemption. A curiously sympathetic Antichrist hunts down the next messiah with the aid of a unicorn. St Paul ponders about whether, in order to make his miraculous new religion work, he needs to get rid of an ...

Adrian Ring is in a coma. Shot by a traitor in his midst, he has slipped into an existence where his consciousness is neither alive nor dead. He has gone to the other side. Bolstered by the presence of the friends he has lost since "that day", Adrian embarks on exploring this frozen landscape of dreams and nightmares. Transported through time and space, Adrian sees a hunting trip firsthand with Gavin and then relives one of Gilbert's worst firefights during his Vietnam era. Then, he sees something that hasn't happened yet, but will. And what he sees will change the world forever.