World Myths

“In the beginning, God created the earth, and he looked upon it in His cosmic loneliness. And God said, "Let Us make living creatures out of mud, so the mud can see what We have done." And God created every living creature that now moveth, and one was man. Mud as man alone could speak. God leaned close to mud as man sat up, looked around, and spoke. Man blinked. "What is the purpose of all this?" he asked politely. "Everything must have a purpose?" asked God. "Certainly," said man. "Then I leave it to you to think of one for all this," said God. And He went away.” –Kurt Vonnegut, ...

Living in the remote town of Tierra del Sol is dangerous, especially in the criatura months, when powerful spirits roam the desert and threaten humankind. But Cecelia Rios has always believed there was more to the criaturas, much to her family’s disapproval. After all, only brujas - humans who capture and control criaturas - consort with the spirits, and brujeria is a terrible crime. When her older sister, Juana, is kidnapped by El Sombrerón, a powerful dark criatura, Cece is determined to bring Juana back.

Join Aaron Mahnke, the host of the popular podcast Lore, as he explores some dreadful places and the history that haunts them. Mahnke takes us to Colorado and the palatial Stanley Hotel, where wealthy guests enjoyed views of the Rocky Mountains at the turn of the 20th century - and where, decades later, a restless author would awaken from a nightmare, inspired to write one of the most revered horror novels of all time. Mahnke also crosses land and sea to visit frightful sites with their own echoes of dark deeds, horrible tragedies, and shocking evil still resounding.

Black Tulip locates the ambiguous truth about Erich Hartmann and so much of the German Wehrmacht in general: that many of these men were neither full-blown Nazis nor impeccable knights. They were complex, contradictory, and elusive. This book portrays a complex human rather than the heroic caricature we're used to, and it argues that the tidy, polished hero stories we've inherited about men like Hartmann say as much about those who've crafted them as they do about the heroes themselves.

Leslie Marmon Silko's groundbreaking book Storyteller, first published in 1981, blends original short stories and poetry influenced by the traditional oral tales that she heard growing up on the Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico with autobiographical passages, folktales, family memories, and photographs. As she mixes traditional and Western literary genres, Silko examines themes of memory, alienation, power, and identity; communicates Native American notions regarding time, nature, and spirituality; and explores how stories and storytelling shape people and communities.

Every click could be your last. From shadowy message boards to cursed videos, Cursed Clicks dives into the dark web of digital folklore where modern myths are born. Riley Knox brings you a collection of disturbing tales inspired by the internet's most chilling corners. Whether it's the whisper of a forgotten username or a livestream gone wrong, these stories will make you think twice before scrolling again. Are you brave enough to click?

Discover the lore behind the fantastical world of Magnus Chase. Helgi - the hotel manager - created this book for each hotel guest so that he wouldn't have to answer so many questions at the front desk. It has short entries about the deities, mythical beings, and fantastic creatures from the nine Norse worlds and also contains bonus material including interviews, newspaper articles, short stories and more. The tone is humorous, complementing Rick's series.

Cece Rios and her friends have escaped Devil’s Alley, but the fight to save their world is just beginning. Despite her growing comfort with her curandera abilities, Cece is worried that she won’t be strong enough to stop her most dangerous enemy yet: her tía, Catrina. Desperate for power and revenge, Catrina has seized the throne of Devil’s Alley and set her sights on the living world.

Harmony can be hard to achieve. As the spell inside Elaria begins to burn out, taking her with it, she becomes desperate to find the third lover the spell needs to fuel itself. But love isn't the only thing eluding her. Someone is setting monsters loose on Earth, and even her spellsinging seems to be failing her. Can she stop the attacks before the spell stops her heart? Playlists for every book in the Spellsinger Series can be found on Spotify under Amy Sumida, or by searching for the book title.

When a nonbinary tiger spirit named Sebin finally gets their chance to follow in their Uncle Hwan's footsteps in the Thousand World Space Forces, it's more of a nightmare than a dream come true.

Some women fear the fire. Some women simply become it. Ever since her parents were murdered and their home burned down with her inside it, Amara has been afraid of fire. Now, she'll face the flames again, this time in the form of a supernatural terrorist. A supervillain with the power to burn. But the fire-starter isn't the only one Spectra has to worry about. FEAR still hasn't caught Phantasma, and as the flames lick higher, something just as sinister is closing off her escape. Can the cynical superhero become what she fears most to survive or will fire win again? From the Author:...

What did Japanese mythology say about the beginning of the universe? How did Oedipus become the classic tragic hero in Greek mythology? Who brought about the origin of death in Maori mythology? With vivid retellings of famous legends, Myths and Legends makes it easier than ever before to understand the stories that are central to every culture.

In the hottest hour of the hottest day of the year, a fateful wind blows into Oaxaca City. It whistles down cobbled streets and rustles the jacaranda trees before slipping into the window of an 11-year-old girl named Clara. Unbeknownst to her, Clara has been marked for la Lotería. Life and Death deal the Lotería cards but once a year, and the stakes could not be higher. Every card reveals a new twist in Clara’s fate - a scorpion, an arrow, a blood-red rose. If Life wins, Clara will live to a ripe old age. If Death prevails, she’ll flicker out like a candle.

Throughout his life, Joseph Campbell was deeply engaged in the study of the Grail Quests and Arthurian legends of the European Middle Ages. In this new volume of the Collected Works of Joseph Campbell, editor Evans Lansing Smith collects Campbell’s writings and lectures on Arthurian legends, including his never-before-published master’s thesis on Arthurian myth, “A Study of the Dolorous Stroke.” Campbell’s writing captures the incredible stories of such figures as Merlin, Gawain, and Guinevere as well as the larger patterns and meanings revealed in these myths.

The land of the free. The home of the brave. But what has America achieved in the aim of ‘spreading democracy’ — except wreak havoc across the globe and establish a reckless foreign policy that serves the interest of few and has endangered all too many? In this timely book, Noam Chomsky writing with Nathan J. Robinson, vividly traces America’s pursuit of global domination, offering an incisive critique of the self-serving myths that dominant elites in the United States continue to push.

Every four years, two girls are kidnapped from the village of Gavaldon. Legend has it these lost children are sent to the School for Good and Evil, the fabled institution where they become fairytale heroes or villains. Sophie, the most beautiful girl in town, has always dreamed of her place at the School for Good while her friend Agatha, with her dark disposition, seems destined for the School for Evil.

From the dark reaches beyond mortal eyes, comes a prince. To him, he gathers battle hardened warriors, bought for lust, gold, and power. He has a single vision – to carve an empire out of blood and bones to rival the one of his father – Atlantis! Though this cruel prince commands more power than anyone among the kingdoms in Hyboria, he does not know that those few who will stand against him will upset even the long reach of the gods. Even though his divine mission is to subjugate, enslave, and bend to his will all that come before him, this usurper king underestimates two Cimmerians and...

Two brothers, Heung Bu and Nol Bu, lived as neighbors. One spring day when the brothers were out planting, Heung Bu finds a wounded swallow. He nurses it back to health and is rewarded with a single pumpkinseed. Heung Bu plants the seed and is rewarded for his kindness. Nol Bu, jealous of his brother’s good fortune, seeks out a wounded swallow of his own. Will he be rewarded like his brother?

To sing with your heart you must first learn to listen. Sirens are some of the most dangerous denizens of the Beneath. So when they start going missing, it's assumed that a supremely powerful being is behind the disappearances. But who and why? As Elaria struggles to find answers to the siren situation, even more questions arise. Questions like: what kind of magic did the witch relic leave within her? And: what should she do about the three men who have become so important to her? One is her past, one: her present, and the third wants nothing more than to be her future. Can she find the ...

“The People Could Fly,” the title story in Virginia Hamilton’s prize-winning American Black folktale collection, is a fantasy tale of the slaves who possessed the ancient magic words that enabled them to literally fly away to freedom. And it is a moving tale of those who did not have the opportunity to “fly” away, who remained slaves with only their imaginations to set them free as they told and retold this tale.