Monster Fiction

In this striking and bleak, yet luminous debut collection, Nathan Ballingrud, winner of the inaugural Shirley Jackson Award, uses the trappings of the Gothic and the uncanny to investigate a distinctly American landscape: The loneliest and darkest corners of contemporary life. Ballingrud’s stories are love stories. They’re also monster stories. Sometimes the monsters collected here are vampires or werewolves.

As king of the ice giants, I must have heirs. But our customs do not satisfy me. I do not want a giantess who will bear me a child and then leave to be with another. I would much rather pursue a union the human way: find a partner who will share my bed, bear my children, and stay by my side. Until death do us part.

In this story, Jack and Annabelle meet the monster Barry and set out to find their new friend Marty. Monster World is counting on them to find Bellion, and they are determined to not let everyone down.

Noah Turner sees monsters. His father saw them - and built a shrine to them with The Wandering Dark, an immersive horror experience that the whole family operates. His practical mother has caught glimpses of terrors but refuses to believe - too focused on keeping the family from falling apart. And his eldest sister, the dramatic and vulnerable Sydney, won't admit to seeing anything but the beckoning glow of the spotlight...until it swallows her up. Noah Turner sees monsters. But, unlike his family, Noah chooses to let them in....

Seven years of exile. A burning fever. And the towering monster who might be my fated mate. When my heat forces me back to the Pack, I expect the sting of rejection and whispered judgment, not to be manipulated into a ceremony designed to break my spirit and strip away what little pride I have left. But fate has other plans. The legendary Wolfman—our Pack's feared boogeyman—rescues me from public humiliation. In his hidden sanctuary, I discover we're both outcasts, yearning to belong. His dangerous touch awakens something primal within me. His fierce protection challenges everything I ...

They say greed lit the match, that gold was at the root of this evil. The miners up near Devils Desk, Alaska, dug too deep, blasted too hard, and they broke something that can never be repaired. Quakes shattered ancient barriers creating a rift between worlds that had been sealed by an ancient race, and the domino effect of those first tremors rocked both the earth’s foundation and humanity’s.

Something old lives beneath the mountain. And it remembers everyone who enters. When down-on-his-luck land surveyor Will Farris takes a solo job in a remote Appalachian valley, he thinks it’ll be a quick payday—just map out an abandoned mining claim and be done. But the locals won’t go near the place. They mutter about Hollow Number 6. About claw marks in stone. About voices that call to you in the voice of someone you lost. Will ignores the warnings. Until the mine starts groaning. Until he finds bones in the dark. Until he sees something massive watching from deep in the shaft—...

London, 2053. One of the last remaining civilizations in the world. A decade on from the first wave of human-flesh-craving monsters that wiped out most of society, Noah finds himself stepping up to lead Squad E, part of London's East Regiment, fighting back against the creatures that threaten mankind. But between battling monsters, struggling with grief, and his rivalry with another lieutenant, Noah is sinking, fast. The last thing he needs is a young, weak conscript with an attitude problem to add to his issues. Especially when he can't seem to get him out of his head.

It's been three years since Aren seized the Ember Blade. Three years since they struck the spark they hoped would ignite the revolution. But the flame has failed to catch. The Krodans have crushed Ossia in an iron grip of terror. The revolution seems further away than ever. Far in the north, the Dawnwardens seek to unite the fractious clans of the Fell Folk and create a stronghold from which to retake their land. But even if they can overcome the danger of treachery from within, they still have to contend with the dreadknights.

The First Arc of Monster Girl Collection in one place! Auroro was a sinful man reborn by a goddess of romance. He found a new life in the world of Mistrim with no memories, a timer on his life he had to extend, and a mysterious, overwhelming power. This first adventure sees Auroro meeting dazzling heroines, terrifying heroes, powerful monsters, monsters that are hotter than they should be, and much more!

She gave herself to save her brother. He took her to make her kneel and then couldn’t stop watching her fall. Zoe walks into the ritual hall of the Black Veil to trade her dignity for her brother’s life. Stripped, displayed, and offered like a sacrifice, she expects cruelty. She expects pain. What she does not expect is Yuri, the Bratva enforcer masked in silver and control, who claims her with quiet authority and terrifying focus. He does not touch her first. He watches. And what begins as survival quickly spirals into spectacle, obedience, and obsession. Yuri was trained to control ...

Paranormal Women’s Fiction from bestsellers JR Rain and HP Mallory! All I wanted to do was go camping. Just to prove to myself that I could erect a tent and spend one night in the middle of BFE with only a few mosquito bites as souvenirs. What I really wasn’t planning on was getting attacked by the biggest… wolf I’ve ever seen—not to mention the fact that wolves have no business being in Louisiana. Fast forward to the wolf attack, and I’m now waking up to the second chapter of my middle-aged life as a vampire. Yep, you heard me right. Last I remembered, I was a forty-two-year-...

The kingdom of Cornucopia was once the happiest in the world. It had plenty of gold, a king with the finest moustache you could possibly imagine, and butchers, bakers, and cheesemongers whose exquisite foods made a person dance with delight when they ate them. Everything was perfect - except for the misty Marshlands to the north, which, according to legend, were home to the monstrous Ickabog. Anyone sensible knew that the Ickabog was just a myth to scare children into behaving. But the funny thing about myths is that sometimes they take on a life of their own.

To save her family, she must once again face her biggest fears…Haunted by tragedy, all Chloe Gietz wants now is to be left alone. But when an unexpected dilemma arrives at her doorstep, she must return to the one place where her nightmares began: the dangerous, crushing depths of the Arabian Sea. The deadly marine organisms are back—and they’re out in force. After a US Navy salvage operation goes horrifically wrong, a multinational task force is deployed. Their orders: wipe out these genetically engineered creatures from the world’s oceans. Yet all is not what it seems, for evil ...

The startling conclusion to the instant New York Times bes-tselling Something Dark and Holy trilogy The girl, the monster, the prince, the queen. They broke the world. And some things can never be undone. In Emily A. Duncan’s Blessed Monsters, they must unite once more to fight the dark chaos they've unleashed - but is it already too late?

Washington D. C., 1925. Clara Johnson talks to spirits, a gift that saved her during her darkest moments in a Washington D. C. jail. Now a curse that’s left her indebted to the cunning spirit world. So, when the Empress, the powerful spirit who holds her debt, offers her an opportunity to gain her freedom, a desperate Clara seizes the chance. The task: steal a magical ring from the wealthiest woman in the District.

From the “terrifyingly talented” (London Times) author of THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG-IN THE NIGHT-TIME and THE PORPOISE, eight mesmerizingly imaginative, deeply-humane stories that use Greek myths and contemporary dystopian narratives to examine mortality, moral choices and the many variants of love.

When homicide detective Vic Mitchum's fiancee, Kelsey Moss, vanishes while posing undercover as a prostitute, his race to find her leads him to a secret, hidden museum run by a mysterious group of billionaires. What he finds inside is horrific, shocking, and turns his lifelong beliefs upside down. Monsters exist. There is life after death. We're not alone in the universe. And only days remain-maybe hours- before Kelsey suffers an unspeakable fate.

A young boy with a special quarter makes life dangerous for a burned out mall security officer. A petty thief discovers there are worse things than old feuds. An abductee is put on trial for the ultimate crime of humanity. A loving wife has to make the choice between saving her soul and taking care of the monster she loves. Welcome to Urban Nightmares. In this slender tome you will find 4 stories of people pushed to the edge of human experience...and then beyond!

A forbidden love. A rising darkness. A coven of witches who may be her only hope. After escaping the High Council’s clutches, thanks to the rescue led by vampire Adrian de Lanier, Charlotte returns to Blackthorn Manor changed—her bloodline awakened, her magic stronger, and her connection to the Devourers trapped beneath the manor growing dangerously unstable. But as she struggles to control her newfound power, threats gather from every side. Victoria Blackwood-DuBois is preparing for war, the Supreme Council of Vampires is circling, and an ancient coven of seven formidable Salem witches...