Dark Fantasy Short Stories

A collection of twenty-eight horror/thriller stories with surprise endings to thrill you and chill you. The creepers include: JIMMY SAID IT WAS THE BOOGEYMAN: His mother and older brother have been brutally murdered, and Jimmy says the boogeyman did it. CREATURE FEATURE: Bruce agrees to have plastic surgery to become the star of a monster movie. VESPA: Kurt marries a beautiful woman who prefers to dress as a goth and live in a house suitable for the Munsters and The Addams Family. THE AMATEUR: A mild-mannered commuter suddenly has the overpowering desire to kill people and seeks help from a...

Wounds is a confounding, strange, and utterly entrancing collection of six stories, including one new novella from Shirley Jackson Award-winning author Nathan Ballingrud. From the eerie dread descending upon a New Orleans dive bartender after a cell phone is left behind in a rollicking bar fight in The Visible Filth to the search for the map of hell in “The Butcher’s Table”, Ballingrud’s beautifully crafted stories are riveting in their quietly terrifying depictions of the murky line between the known and the unknown.

From paranormal plots to stories of the supernatural, tales of the unfamiliar have always fascinated us humans. To keep the tradition alive, fantasy aficionado Paula Guran has gathered the most delightfully disturbing work from some of today's finest writers of the fantastique! No two mysterious shadows are alike, and the same can be said for the books in this series. The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, Volume 4 contains more than twenty stories. Listener beware and indulge if you dare, because these chilling tales are sure to spook and surprise!

A Sci-Fi Short Story In the far reaches of the Orion Expanse lies a mystery older than civilization—a silent forest no ship has ever returned from until now. The Dark Forest Protocol is a gripping, atmospheric sci-fi short story that explores the chilling theory that the universe may not be empty but hiding. With compelling characters, rich world-building, and thought-provoking themes, this tale will keep you hooked from the first page to the last. Perfect for fans of hard sci-fi, space exploration, and cosmic suspense, this short story delivers a powerful narrative in a fast-paced format...

The latest thrilling collection of “Vampire for Hire” stories featuring vampire private eye, Samantha Moon, including: Silver Hammer - When a silver hammer appears in the hands of one of Samantha Moon’s closest friends―along with a bloodthirsty need to use it―the vampire detective is about to discover just how clever the Universe can be... When Sam Met Santa - When Santa Claus shows up at Sam Moon's door, it's hardly the strangest thing that's ever happened to her. What happens next, however, is another story... One Swallow - A murdered wife. A desperate husband seeking revenge. ...

Samantha Moon is back and fighting crime! Hired for what seems like another cheating spouse case, Samantha couldn’t be more surprised when the target of her surveillance seemingly walks in on a bank robbery. Is he somehow involved? Sam doesn't know, but a few twists and turns later, she soon finds herself hanging from a helicopter’s landing skid... and heading out to sea. Turns out, this is no ordinary cheating spouse case. Luckily, Sam is no ordinary private eye. Click BUY NOW or READ FOR FREE today!

A group of mountain climbers, caught in the dark, fight to survive their descent; in the British countryside, hundreds of magpies ascend into the sky, higher and higher, until they seem to vanish into the heavens; a professor and his student track a zombie horde in order to research zombie behavior; an all-girl riding school has sinister secrets; a town rails in vain against a curse inflicted upon it by its founders; and much more.

A fast-paced fifty-page short story book about two budding astronauts, a space hound named Chewie and a rather pissed off creature in the form of a Kraken. Contains epic storytelling, dark humor and general silliness.

A thrilling collection of the first eight Samantha Moon short stories, including: Teeth - What happens when a child is born with a rare throwback gene, a gene that produces two exceptionally long teeth? Vampire Nights - Samantha Moon meets someone unexpected on a late night trip to Denny's, someone who seems to know all her secrets and has all the answers. Vampire Blues - Samantha Moon discovers that even a routine case can offer a few surprises―and that not all men are created equal. Vampire Dreams - Samantha Moon sets out to find the answer to a mysterious, haunting dream...a dream in ...

Villains take center stage in this collection of 19 dark and magical stories. Listeners will be cheering for all the wrong heroes as some of the most fearsome, devious, and brutal antagonists perform savage deeds towards wicked ends. And why not? These characters are the champions of their own stories - evil is a matter of perspective. Contributors also include Mark Adler, Bradley P. Beaulieu, E.V. Morrigan, Peter Orullian, Matthew Ward, Kaaron Warren, Deborah A. Wolf, and Janny Wurts.

She summoned him to a desperate world. Pulled from a mundane life by a beautiful stranger, Michael is offered what he’s always wanted: something to believe in, to care about, to fight for. But he’s no warrior. The people of Vendira have been oppressed by dark magic for centuries, any spark of resistance long since extinguished. They need a symbol of hope to push back against the malevolent forces that rule the world. Could he be what this world so desperately needs?

Fifteen vampire tales selected from my horror story collections, Black As Night, Shivers and Other Nightmares, Don't Look Behind You, Scary Stories- Vols. 1, 4 and 5, Midnight Snacks, and Scare Factory. Table of Contents: The Vampire Club: Something big in the basement has devoured Mike's neighbor's cat on loan to catch a mouse. The Babysitter: A psychotic teen impersonates a new sitter in order to obtain entrance to a wealthy estate. Vampire: After a woman and son move to town, a serial killer who drains his victims of blood begins a reign of terror. Tooth Fairy: A serial killer has driven...

There are things in this world that men and women aren't meant to understand. We aren't supposed to know these things exist, much less how to fight them. The things that go bump in the night, the monsters in the closet, the shadow out of the corner of your eye - that's where I live.

A collection of horror/thriller stories with surprise endings to chill you and thrill you to the bone. The creepers include: THE BLIND MAN: Two career criminals see a blind man with a wad of cash at the mall and follow him home. BAD TO THE BONE: Ted sees a gruesome accident, discovers he can't get enough death and dismemberment, and his graphic videos go viral on the net. DEAL OR NO DEAL: An author who lost his wife in a fatal accident meets a weird man at the bar who says he can bring her back for a price. IDENTICAL: A frightened and confused pregnant woman delivers three identical girls ...

A collection of twenty horror/thriller stories with surprise endings to chill you and thrill you to the bone. The nightmares include: BORN TO BE WILD: After working with a renowned geneticist for five years, a young Harvard graduate is frustrated by his mentor's failure to publish any of their discoveries. SANTA’S NOT COMING TO TOWN: An eight-year-old boy is pissed that Santa never brings him toys like his friends at school and seeks revenge THE LOSER: A disillusioned wife regrets marrying her loser husband who fathered two pathetic dolts and fantasizes how great life would be without ...

From a childhood as an abandoned orphan to life as one of the city’s most skilled burglars, master thief Rafiq has long lived high off the wealth of Avanasia—its trade, its jewels, and its women. The vaults of Avanasia's merchants are as open to him as the legs of its most beautiful courtesans. For in Avanasia, there is but one paramount truth: There are those who have, and those who take. And Rafiq is one of the latter. But when he steals an ancient heirloom blade from a powerful merchant, he sets in motion a series of events that will shift the balance of power in the city.

Sympathy with the sea, with the weird, and with monsters fills the stories of Imperfect Commentaries. Ruthanna Emrys' collection offers listeners feminist and #ownvoices Neo-Lovecraftian fiction, anthropological science fiction, and fantasies of belonging, plus miscellaneous deleted scenes, poems, and secret story origins. Listeners familiar with her novels (Winter Tide and Deep Roots) will see the first appearance of Aphra Marsh, an Innsmouth survivor, still recovering from her losses and making a life for herself in late-1940s San Francisco.

A man who commands dragons rises. The people call him a prophet, a savior...the one who will free them from the tyranny of the wizard class. They do not comprehend the threat he presents. The dragon priest rages across the land. Cities and rulers are helpless against his might. A pair of heroes embark on a dangerous quest, seeking a lost object of power. Without it, the dragon priest and his army will destroy the world. An army of metal golems invades another wizardom. These magic-powered automatons are the weapon of the last wizard lord—a madman who desires to rule the world.

Horror writer Michael Richards is disturbed from his daily grind by blood dripping from the ceiling, which steadily worsens. Soon, the blood becomes Michael's personal metaphor in a battle of denial. When a compulsive gambler is forced to seek out a loan shark rooted in myth, he discovers the dark saviour teaches more to his pupils than deliverance from debt. Trapped within a room of sinister dolls, an average man is forced to confront his very worst fears ... and quickly learns staring into the abyss does not grant you a reprieve from them. Interweaving horror into socially relevant ...

Welcome to Winterhaven ~ Almost Nothing Is What It Seems... But the Sex is Real and the Secrets are Many! Down and out on her luck, Verity answers an ad in in a small country newspaper. The job offer sounds almost too good to be true and the salary is much more than she made in the city. Even with her doubts, though, Verity visits Winterhaven and falls in love with the rural area... but behind the lush green beauty of the countryside lies ugly secrets! Winterhaven Manor holds many secrets, and all those associated with the grand old estate seem to have secrets of their own to protect. ...