Part lawman, part tracker and part magician, the Wardens are monster-hunters—tasked with protecting people from the nightmarish creatures that have invaded the world of men. However, despite being descended from a long line of Wardens, Errol Magnus believes it to be the absolute worst job on the planet: How could a single occupation simultaneously be the most boring, abominably stupid and extraordinarily dangerous profession imaginable?

When Savannah moves home to the small town of Humble, Georgia, she has no intention of getting involved in a kidnapping investigation. But when her older brother Mac becomes the main suspect, Savannah launches a secret investigation in order to clear her brother’s name. Savannah has inherited a gift, one that might reveal who the culprit is if she can stay one step ahead of the killer, who is closer than she thinks.

The cost of my transformation is greater than I could have imagined. A cataclysmic upheaval shakes the foundation of my entire family, threatening to tear us apart. The toll nearly claims my beloved husband's life, pushing the boundaries of our endurance to their very limits. Unfortunately, I cannot escape this ethereal web of fate. Thrust into a role I never asked for, I have no choice but to evolve until I become a guardian of relics. I will carry the weight of ancient powers and hidden truths like a sentinel in a world teetering on the precipice of chaos, or I will perish while trying.

Breccan has struggled to adjust to his new life after a tragedy that cost him more than just his arm. To help him cope, his cousin introduces him to the Edge, the virtual reality world teenagers plug into when their bodies are sleeping. Avatar battles, mind-blowing levels, and a girl with a secret challenge his perspective. But when the security in the Edge begins to kill off avatars, Breccan finds himself caught up in a virtual battle that will impact their entire world.

It’s been a week without power. No phones. No computers. Nothing. Whatever shred of humanity is left in people is slowly dwindling away. Gangs are forming, people are starving, and the whole country is in a free-for-all. Accompanied by his neighbor, Nelson, Mike leaves Pittsburgh and heads to his family’s cabin in Ohio. For Mike, the only thing worse than not making it to the cabin is the fear of his family not being there when he does.

When Dani convinces her five sisters to sink everything they have into purchasing a dilapidated old plantation, it seems like a great idea at the time. They need a site to expand their business, and none of them are strangers to the occasional escapade. Little do they know buying Willowberry Plantation House will be the biggest adventure of their lives. As New Orleans natives, the sisters aren't at all surprised to find a ghost haunting their new house. What they don't see coming is their discovery that the land was cursed by a wrathful witch centuries earlier.

A space mission, to be the first humans to land on Jupiter's largest moon, turns deadly. Commander John Russell, second in charge of the Orion spacecraft, bears account of the horrors and inexplicable events that follow on his return journey back to Earth. Stranded near Mars, the crew fight for their survival as they face their worst fears.

In the aftermath of a devastating EMP blast, Lloyd and Al face a world plunged into chaos and darkness. Amidst this turmoil, a relentless blizzard adds to their ordeal as they navigate a lawless city, determined to reunite with their families. Battling ruthless gangs and braving the savage wilderness, their journey is a profound testament to resilience and courage. In a land where survival amidst the cold, merciless grip of winter is the ultimate victory, their relentless pursuit to find their loved ones becomes a beacon of hope.

It really is the four horsemen of the apocalypse, Death, Famine, War, and Conquest. Things a seventeen-year-old boy shouldn’t have to deal with. In those most infamous words, mistakes were made. It wasn’t supposed to happen. The asteroid was supposed to miss. Running for their lives, Ryan Conrad and Kelsey Morgan, race to escape the impact of a super asteroid and the apocalyptic world it left behind. Fighting to survive the aftershocks. The earthquake to end all earthquakes, the largest tsunami in human history, and worst of all, the EMP and loss of civilization.

In the ominous corridors of 1950, Eleanor Mayfield flees from her tormented past into the chilling embrace of an eerie mental institution. Each night, reality blurs as whispers and ghostly visions relentlessly stalk her. Accompanied only by a devoted security guard and a cryptic caretaker, Eleanor plunges into the institution's sinister depths, unveiling terrifying secrets that should have stayed hidden.

When Matt logged on to Zombie Wars Online, he expected another fun-filled night of zombie killing with his friends. Under the spell of the Felote, a gaming apparatus that forces the player into a controlled REM sleep, reality faded away, and a new life began. It was the perfect escape from the harshness of everyday life. But when a malicious hacker takes control of the game, a new nightmare begins, far worse than Matt and his friends could have ever imagined.

When Amanda Thomlin finds herself face-to-face with the reality that she may never see her mother again, the overwhelming uncertainty nearly immobilizes her. A kind father figure steps up and takes her under his protection, bringing her into his family.

In a post-apocalyptic world caused by a devastating solar flare, two sisters escape a traumatic past and find solace in a hidden refuge. Facing dangers and making tough decisions, they uncover the power of chosen family and the enduring strength of love and hope amid chaos. As news of society's rebuilding trickles in, their unbreakable bond serves as an unwavering beacon, signifying the resilience of humanity and the power of sisterhood.

It's been a week without power. No phones, no computers—nothing. The last remnants of humanity are vanishing, replaced by desperation and fear. Gangs are forming, people are starving, and the entire country is descending into chaos. When a global blackout plunges society into chaos, Judy Green's horseback quest becomes a beacon of hope. Amid biting cold and desolate small towns, Judy's 900-mile journey to her Ohio hometown transforms her into a fearless leader.

Self-Consumed contains the title story as well as Bagged, Tagged, & Buried. Both tales were featured in the out of print Journals of Horror anthology. They are both reprinted here for the first time and have been polished and edited. In Self-Consumed, a wealthy businessman who killed a young girl while drunk-driving discovers that guilt isn't the only thing that will eat someone alive.

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission - and if he fails, humanity and the Earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

It’s 1984, and life has changed beyond recognition. Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, is a place where Big Brother is always watching, and nobody can hide. Except, perhaps, for Winston Smith. Whilst working at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history, he secretly dreams of freedom. And in a world where love and sex are forbidden, where it’s hard to distinguish between friend and foe, he meets Julia and O’Brien and vows to rebel.

Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits.

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive - and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet.

Jazz Bashara is a criminal. Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent. Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down.

"Early Adopter" is a collection of short stories from the edge of human progress. Eight stories hold dark mirrors to our own world—experience thought-provoking sci-fi, technologic tragedy, and pulse-pounding thrillers. To Run Again: Dr. Laura Brandie is ready to change the world. She's the lead researcher behind the KSE, a revolutionary cure for paralysis and neurodegenerative conditions. And now, by good fortune, she's found the perfect candidate for her first human trial: a man who suffers from locked-in syndrome.

Forty years later, the pain of his personal tragedy still echoes within John Hopper. He retreats to the small town, Ripley, West Virginia, and is content being alone and in peace. He spends his evenings as an amateur podcast host, anonymously broadcasting rants about what is wrong with the world. Through a faithful listener and scientist, Jarvis, John finds out about the impending comet impact, possibly, an extinction level event.

There is a time to weep and a time to mourn. For the CSV Lion of Judah, that time has not yet come. The war with the League of Sol ended in victory for the Terran Coalition. Major General David Cohen and his crew conclude their three-month goodwill cruise with one final FTL jump. But instead of returning home in a blaze of glory, the wormhole collapses and hurls them more than four million lightyears into the unknown.

Chronicler Tsai Yini monitors the tachyon communication system, which transmits data faster than the speed of light. When classified results from an astrobiologist's research are leaked to her, she cannot believe what she reads. The report reveals that intelligent life forms exist on a tropical planet in the Gliese system. Their civilization is still in its infancy but revolves around an artifact of unknown origin that seems to influence their body chemistry.

When Savannah moves home to the small town of Humble, Georgia, she has no intention of getting involved in a kidnapping investigation. But when her older brother Mac becomes the main suspect, Savannah launches a secret investigation in order to clear her brother’s name. Savannah has inherited a gift, one that might reveal who the culprit is if she can stay one step ahead of the killer, who is closer than she thinks.

In the enchanting town of Havenwood, Jovi is not just the beloved barista and owner of The Enchanted Brew – she is a beacon of magic and intuition, using her mystical knowledge to help her fellow villagers in ways both enchanting and extraordinary. With an intuitive understanding of the needs of those who step into her quaint coffee shop, Jovi brews not only the most exquisite coffee but also the perfect solutions to their problems, all infused with a touch of magic.

Brand Wright, a retired spy and his friend Bubba battle many enemies including The First People, Big Bill, Dragonfly plus others. The pyramid under the Antarctic ice was unlike any other on Earth. Unfortunately impossible to enter, until Brand and his team arrived. What does Red Mercury, the Philosopher's Stone and Mars have in common? Who is the Queen of Mars?

World-walking young surgeon Ryn Wilkie is trying to finish her residency here on Earth while also bringing modern medicine and antibiotics to a parallel but somewhat primitive Earth. She wants to improve the plight of women on that world - where they‘re treated as if they're property. It’s a world at about the technological level of our late 1800s. But she can find gold there in the same locations that history tells her they found it on Earth.

Dalton Grinder's life had unraveled in a brutal series of blows. First, the Army cast him aside. Then, his wife walked out, leaving him with nothing but the hollow echo of a once-shared life. As if that wasn't enough, his last remaining relative—his grandfather—passed away, closing the final chapter of his family history. Born and bred in the heat and humidity of Florida, Dalton now finds himself heading north to the cold, unforgiving woods of Wisconsin to settle his grandfather’s affairs. But fate isn't done with him yet.

The world changed the day the rifts happened. Trolls, elves, and other races from fantasy and myth emerged into a modern world, bringing magic with them. The world governments worked to segregate these new arrivals into refugee camps, which eventually became the nation of De’Vas. A nation of paranormals.

Rockland Barkclay has had a rough year. On top of everything else, his father has just passed, and Rocky has to go it alone on their annual trip. But his plans for drinking alone in Algonquin Park are rudely interrupted by a sea of cosmic energy that governs the universe. Ether, the driving force of creation, has returned. Now a confused Rocky must navigate odd hovering messages to survive.

A full-cast production of the science fiction classic featuring original recordings of Orson Scott Card

In the darkest part of the solar system lies a wormhole. Nether. Astrophysicist Cammie Skoura has joined the first research team traveling to the Nether anomaly, eager to understand the mechanics of the wormhole and to explore its possibilities as a shortcut to Alpha Centauri. But another race of ancient beings has already been here—an impossibly long time ago—leaving remnants of their vast complexes and gigantic temples built for horrific beings beyond comprehension.

Ever dreamt of waking up inside a novel? For Kim Roksu, this dream becomes reality when he finds himself in the shoes of Cale Henituse, the lazy, wine-loving son of a count--and punching bag for the novel's destined hero. Determined to dodge his grim fate, this new Cale Henituse vows to rewrite his story, aiming for a life of leisure far from heroic deeds and inevitable beatdowns.

Tired of sitting out the war on Psydon in a mobile office lab, Legion Lieutenant Washam agrees to undertake a covert and unsanctioned mission with a band of Republic Recon Marines. Inserted deep behind enemy lines, the strike force uncovers a surprise key to ending a bitter war. Now they must navigate a hostile jungle teeming with murderous alien rebels, pushing themselves to the limits of their abilities, to get this vital intel to Legion Command - if they can survive that long.