Weird Fiction

Welcome to a very special issue of Weird Tales. This issue celebrates the Bram Stoker Awards, the “Oscars” of the horror trade. They are presented every year by the Horror Writers Association (horror.org), a group founded in 1985 (and incorporated in 1987) by a collective of masters of that genre, including Joe R. Lansdale, Karen Lansdale, Robert McCammon, and Dean Koontz. This issue is packed with short stories, flash fiction, poems, and an essay—all written by past winners of the Bram Stoker Award.

Cameron Carson, member of the Geeks and Nerds United (GANU) club, has been secretly hooking up with student council president, cheerleader, theater enthusiast, and all-around queen bee Karla Ortega since the summer. The one problem—what was meant to be a summer fling between coffee shop coworkers has now evolved into a clandestine senior-year entanglement, where Karla isn’t intending on blending their friend groups anytime soon, or at all.

A.J. and the gang are celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day with all the classic activities. But when A.J. spots a little man dressed head-to-toe in green sneaking around, it can only mean one thing: a real-life leprechaun! And one that’s wreaking havoc all around the school! Will the Ella Mentry School kids be able to catch the leprechaun before he causes even more trouble?

SURREAL, SUPERNATURAL, PARANORMAL, TRANSCENDENTAL, UNCANNY?The Axe: The desolate Australian outback is not a place to become stranded without water. Is it the stone axe which leads the desperate man to think he has been saved? Or is it all in his mind and is death creeping up silently?Alfredo: Is it possible to place a curse on a violin, a curse which will hunt down the members of just one family? The Mist: The becalmed yacht drifts into a misty haze in the hour before dawn, gliding into the raging fires of an oily hell of wartime death and destruction. A wounded sailor in the water fights ...

The weird, wild west - an American frontier populated by gunslingers, rattlesnakes, outlaws, zombies, aliens, time travelers, and steampunk! Twenty-three of science fiction and fantasy's hottest and most popular authors create all-new tales, written exclusively for this anthology. Aliens and monsters, magic and science are introduced to the old west, with explosive results.

Here is a celebration of the bizarre and beautiful, and a marriage of unlikely worlds. From a reverence of the dead to the sacrifices the living make to unspeakable gods, from clockwork dreams to tales of merciless revenge, Kiernan blurs the artificial lines of genre, and shows us a world where there is no division between the light and dark.

A.J. and the gang from My Weird School star in this series of after-school, holiday-themed chapter audiobooks featuring brand-new hilarious stories and games, puzzles, and more. It's Christmas, and you know what that means! Santa Claus is coming to town! Or at least to the local mall. But what happens when kid rapper Cray-Z gives a Christmas concert at the same mall and all his fans go bananas? One thing's for sure - if A.J. and his friends from Ella Mentry School want to save the day, they will need a Christmas miracle.

Perebius Peddler is an inventor in a land dead-set on never changing. But that won’t stop him… Perebius has heard of the mythical city of Paragon across the mountains. And he wants in. Unfortunately, the Duke of this dreadful realm doesn’t want his subjects leaving. To win his freedom, Perebius must conquer three trials. And even then, hope may just be beyond his grasp… But freedom is worth fighting for. And Perebius is ready for the trials. The Trials of Perebius Peddler is a satirical short story written like a fable, drawing on inspirations like Monty Python and the absurdity of ...

Connor Mills is just trying to make a good life in a world he wasn’t born to. He may have broken the goblins’ hold over his town, but the fight isn’t over. The shadowy patron of the fallen goblin tycoon is out for revenge, and Connor has much more to lose now. His ranch is back on its feet, but the forces that rule Faerie aren’t done with him. When the bounty hunters come calling and darker things raise their heads, Connor must find allies to protect the people he holds dear – and take a risk that may cost him everything.

This collection comprises another 40 stories by and inspired by the originators of weird fiction. From White's seminal body-shocker, Lukundoo, through to Howard's dastardly Pigeons from Hell, and Benson's nightmarish The Room in The Tower. Time immemorial; worlds unimaginable.

J.R. Hamantaschen, a name synonymous with groundbreaking underground horror, returns with his latest collection. Channeling the essence of horror legends like H.P. Lovecraft, Thomas Ligotti, Clive Barker, T.E.D. Klein, and Dennis Etchison, this collection cements his status as a master storyteller in the realm of dark fiction, blending nihilism, the grotesque, and the philosophical in a way that only he can.

Seamlessly shifting between the speculative and the blindingly real, balancing the bizarre with the subtle brutality of the mundane, A Manual for How to Love Us is a tender portrait of women trying their best to survive, love, and find genuine meaning in the aftermath of loss. In these unconventional and unpredictably connected stories, Erin Slaughter shatters the stereotype of the soft-spoken, sorrowful woman in distress, queering the domestic and honoring the feral in all of us.

School’s almost out for the summer, and A.J. is dreaming about all the fun things he’s going to do on vacation. But A.J.’s dream quickly turns into a nightmare when three familiar spirits appear to show him summers past, present, and yet to come. Will they be able to convince him to leave his bad ways behind? Or will this summer end up being a total bummer?

When he first started seeing ghosts, Max mistakenly assumed everyone else could see them, too. Now, after years of being blamed for the pranks of mischievous spirits, Max is determined to do whatever it takes to make himself normal. But when he’s sent to spend the summer with his eccentric grandfather, Ramhart, being normal becomes impossible. Here in Glimmerville, bakeries sell enchanted pies, the lake is infested with mermaids, the town’s beloved ghosts roam free, and Ramhart himself is celebrated as the world’s most famous monster hunter.

Step into the unpredictable world of Short Stories Volume II by H.D. Ingles, a collection that weaves together gripping tales of intrigue and human nature. Each story pulls you into a different time and place, exploring the unexpected and the mysterious. With masterful storytelling and vivid characters, Ingles crafts narratives that linger in the mind long after the final page. Whether you crave suspense, science fiction, or a touch of the surreal, this collection delivers a compelling glimpse into the vast possibilities of fiction. Buckle up for a wild ride.

Who can tell sanity from madness when reality breaks? Something strange and terrible is happening to Randolph Stevens’s world. Pieces of it are disappearing, bit by bit. And he’s the only one who notices.

When Melvin moves from the city to Donut (a perfectly round island with a hole in the middle), he thinks it's the most rubbish place ever. Then he meets Rhubarb. Rhubarb is obsessed with mysteries and has her own school newspaper to investigate the strange goings on in Donut. (Unfortunately nothing ever happens in Donut so she's never had anything to write about.) But then Melvin notices that the kids at school are acting very strangely. Could it be something to do with the Donut Hole Monsters that everyone is collecting? Also includes Attack of the Haunted Lunchbox.

We Are All Weird is a celebration of choice, of treating different people differently and of embracing the notion that everyone deserves the dignity and respect that comes from being heard. The book calls for end of "mass" and for the beginning of offering people more choices, more interests, and giving them more authority to operate in ways that reflect their own unique values.

School’s out for summer! A.J. can’t wait to spend his days playing video games, watching TV, and forgetting everything he learned during the school year. But when his parents announce they’ve signed him up for sleepaway camp, his great plans slip away right before his eyes.

Almost every afternoon, the Woman in the Purple Skirt sits on the same park bench, where she eats a cream bun while the local children make a game of trying to get her attention. Unbeknownst to her, she is being watched—by the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan, who is always perched just out of sight, monitoring which buses she takes, what she eats, whom she speaks to.