When horror-obsessed Riley Lawrence and his group of college friends arrive in the small town of Carousel for their Centennial Celebration, the few decrepit cars parked in the street don’t scare them. But when they enter a locked building, an animatronic usher hands them each a ticket, and the lights dim, Riley realizes they’ve entered the inescapable patchwork of a horror movie set. And they’ve each been assigned an archetype—Scholar, Athlete, Eye Candy, Final Girl—to play out as the curtains rise.

Since the day they unwittingly found themselves in the horror show of Carousel, Riley (the Film Buff), Antoine (the Athlete), Kimberly (the Eye Candy), Camden (the Scholar), and Anna (the Final Girl) have learned the rules of their horror-movie world. They've fought through story after story and come out alive—or at least preserved the storyline enough to come back to life. But their biggest challenge yet lies ahead.

It’s Drop Night, the one night every decade when the gods hand out cards to a lucky few. If you get a deck, you’re a deckbearer capable of wondrous feats within the Great Game system. You can control powerful monsters and summon mantles that let you fight alongside your beasts. Ethan Wolfe, top enforcer for the Grimm family mob, has already been overlooked on two previous Drop Nights. People of his ilk seldom receive cards, as the gods tend to favor people who follow their divine mandates, but that doesn’t mean Wolfe can’t hope.

Jack Atlas, self-proclaimed 'World's Best Assassin', had a simple plan: retire in style and marry the girl of his dreams. Then he gets placed in The Tower—a divine deathtrap where gods pit their creations against each other for the ultimate prize: eternal paradise for you and your friends. The catch? If you lose, well, let's just say your chances of finding a decent bar in oblivion are slim.

Giant fireblasts tear across the earth as the Gates of Hell are ripped open. In an instant, billions are killed. Human technology becomes utterly worthless in the face of the end of the world. Fortunately for Jaco, he barely survives the opening act of the Apocalypse. Unfortunately for him, he has to live through what comes next. Those who died in the initial blast are reincarnated as undead monsters. Massive fiery pits swallow up the center of every major city across the world.

Trapped in a new world. Targeted by everyone. He can either run, or embrace the mayhem! Ben finds himself stuck in the beta of Mayhem, forced to be an evil elf character by the system AI. Their race is universally hated due to their lust for destruction, bloodshed, and world domination, so, he’s understandably a bit irritated. His buddy Chip and his Rainbow Unicow Bessie, on the other hand, couldn’t be happier. Extreme violence is right up Chip’s alley and seeing as Bessie has gotten a taste for human flesh, she’s totally up for the bloodshed bit.

Brian Fieldings just buried his dad and lost the only job he's ever had. Waking up in an unfamiliar, pitch-black room the next morning feels a lot like the rotten cherry on a particularly awful sundae. Especially given the inhuman howling coming from the other side of the door. He's only been conscious for a minute or so, but Brian already has questions. Where is he and how did he get here? What is making those terrible noises? And why does the room he's in have an altar?

Transported from her normal life as a waitress, Sally finds herself in a terrifying new world where Monsters fight Players to the death. But which one is she? A System error means she's been split between both, crossing the line between the soulless zombies created by the System and the people brought here by the mysterious Architect.

Kyle Hawthorn never bows to anyone, not even in death. And he certainly isn't going to after being reincarnated into the vice city of Raktor. Most would rather spend eternity in purgatory than be reborn into this living hell—but not Kyle. Hell is exactly where he wants to rule. There's only one problem. Rival gangs have set their sights on his territory, and his few followers are no better than glorified meat shields. Kyle must find a way to salvage his struggling crew, evade authorities, and annihilate his enemies with the help of a mysterious system from a bygone era.

Seventeen-year-old Truth Medici scavenges for scraps to eat; weathers his parents' abuse; and battles derelicts, killer pimps, and demons in the soul-crushing stretch of desperation he calls home. Even the cops steer clear of the toxic Harban slums. But just across the canal live the magical elite, with their wealth, flying carpets, gorgeous mages, and custom spell beasts, all thanks to the patronage of the almighty Starbrite Corporation. Getting there, and taking his three vulnerable siblings with him, is Truth's only dream.

On a typical day, on an average train platform, two warring sister goddesses found their avatars. One avatar, the young Yoshi, was swept away to the world of Ephemera to be a great hero of honor, courage, and light. The other, the not-so-young Seiji, was swept away to become a dark lord out to kill or conquer all in his path. But Seiji is in absolutely no mood for that nonsense. It's bad enough that on Earth he was a closed-off, misanthropic grouch with zero patience for other people. Now he's supposed to muster enough of a give-a-damn to lead vile hordes?

James Robard was a risk-taking con artist and thief before he turned over a new leaf as a loving husband and a dull suit in a law firm. He's never felt so unadventurous. That is, until the System descends upon Earth and he's initiated into a thrilling game world of magic and mayhem, training for exhilarating challenges that make him feel alive again.

"Congratulations! You are the last survivor of the Hell Games. You have gained back your freedom." Huh? One moment I was running from demons and other competitors trying to do me in. The next, I was thrown back into yet another realm. Before me, some Princess started explaining that she had asked the gods for champions to help save her world in these dire times… and I was one of the chosen heroes. Yeah, right! I had been in Hell long enough to know I shouldn't trust my senses when it all seemed too good to be true.

As a monster, Shrubley is forbidden from joining the adventurers guild. In a world where essence artists rank up in power and most monsters are feral beasts, Shrubley is among the weakest of creatures and is treated as an outcast. With curiosity essence bound to his spirit, Shrubley might be weak, but he's intelligent and determined. Against all the odds, he discovers a loophole from the Druid that gave him life—but there's a deadly catch. For a chance of ever being accepted as a true adventurer, he must challenge an otherworldly realm threatening to consume everything.

After the collapse of the known world, Rowan Wilder opened his eyes and found himself on the first floor of the Tower. With a flawless memory and a mere eight cards to his name, he must venture out and prepare himself for the coming calamity.

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.

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.

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.

Ashley Perrin is fresh out of college and starting a job as a community liaison for the Third District–the city’s only sector with more alien residents than humans. Ashley’s barely found where the paper clips are kept when she’s beset with constituent complaints–from too much noise at the Annual Lupidian Celebration Parade to a trip-and-fall chicken to a very particular type of alien hornet that threatens the very city itself. And if that’s not terrifying enough, Ashley is next up at the office karaoke night.

When horror-obsessed Riley Lawrence and his group of college friends arrive in the small town of Carousel for their Centennial Celebration, the few decrepit cars parked in the street don’t scare them. But when they enter a locked building, an animatronic usher hands them each a ticket, and the lights dim, Riley realizes they’ve entered the inescapable patchwork of a horror movie set. And they’ve each been assigned an archetype—Scholar, Athlete, Eye Candy, Final Girl—to play out as the curtains rise.

Since the day they unwittingly found themselves in the horror show of Carousel, Riley (the Film Buff), Antoine (the Athlete), Kimberly (the Eye Candy), Camden (the Scholar), and Anna (the Final Girl) have learned the rules of their horror-movie world. They've fought through story after story and come out alive—or at least preserved the storyline enough to come back to life. But their biggest challenge yet lies ahead.

Transported from her normal life as a waitress, Sally finds herself in a terrifying new world where Monsters fight Players to the death. But which one is she? A System error means she's been split between both, crossing the line between the soulless zombies created by the System and the people brought here by the mysterious Architect.

Trapped in a new world. Targeted by everyone. He can either run, or embrace the mayhem! Ben finds himself stuck in the beta of Mayhem, forced to be an evil elf character by the system AI. Their race is universally hated due to their lust for destruction, bloodshed, and world domination, so, he’s understandably a bit irritated. His buddy Chip and his Rainbow Unicow Bessie, on the other hand, couldn’t be happier. Extreme violence is right up Chip’s alley and seeing as Bessie has gotten a taste for human flesh, she’s totally up for the bloodshed bit.

All that stands between rowdy long-haul trucker Jill MacLeod (aka Junkmouth) and her family back in Boston is two thousand miles of asphalt. Well, that and the monstrous game the System has had her playing ever since it descended on Earth. The reward: mana. Jill's goal: kill, score, drive—and stay alive. Behind the wheel of a turreted forty-ton semi named Bertha, Jill hammers east from Montana through a gauntlet of every kind of chomping, hissing, rabid creature imaginable. Barreling forward in her magical soulbound big rig and chalking up a bumper crop of roadkill, Jill isn't alone for long.

It seems Max is one of many people abducted from Earth to participate in the Cosmic Games, conducted by the Intergalactic Consortium of Civilized Beings. Humanity and three alien species have been recruited to wage war on behalf of ICCB members in a conflict over resources. The species that wins the game for their benefactors will return to their home planets, rewarded with the knowledge to guide them to peace and immortality. The other, losing species will be made extinct.

After he died, conman Jake thought he made a good deal with the System. Turns out, the System swindled him. He woke up in an upside-down world with four furry legs and the powers of a mind-warping necromancer at his hoof tips. Humans are the servants, farm animals are the demon masters, and amid the mayhem, Jake finds meaning in his new life. Building out a barnyard kingdom and ritualizing the remains of his foes makes for some pretty sweet fire-breathing abilities.

Giant fireblasts tear across the earth as the Gates of Hell are ripped open. In an instant, billions are killed. Human technology becomes utterly worthless in the face of the end of the world. Fortunately for Jaco, he barely survives the opening act of the Apocalypse. Unfortunately for him, he has to live through what comes next. Those who died in the initial blast are reincarnated as undead monsters. Massive fiery pits swallow up the center of every major city across the world.

Matt's in the prime of his life. So when his doctor tells him he only has months to live, he figures it's just really bad luck. But it's about to get a whole lot worse. When Matt's Earthly form finally expires, a truck-avatar system gives him the opportunity to become a hero on the paradise world of Gaia, a supposedly verdant, rich land teeming with plants and potential. What he finds instead is a place completely bereft of life. A literal dead planet. Thanks a lot, truck.

The usual result of a human taking a runaway semitruck head-on is a very sudden, very fast track to the pearly gates. But for one newly noncorporeal man, there's another option: become a dungeon. Feeling sorry for the desperate angel assigned to him, the man relents. Heck, if it doesn't work out, he can always chat with Saint Peter about it later. Next thing you know, he's a dungeon. Admittedly, a small run-down, somewhat unimpressive dungeon (more of a house, actually), but you gotta start somewhere, right?

I know about my reputation as Never Harbor’s secluded single dad. But I have everything I need: my imaginative son, my dog, and our remodeled cottage by the sea. That is, until my nanny quits. My brother’s ex-fiancee, Wendy Darling, is an elementary-school teacher with a free summer. The last thing I need is to get tangled in his mess, but my family thinks she’s a perfect fit for the job. Turns out, she fits in better than I could have imagined. Wendy is nothing like I expected.

Handsome doctor Matthew Delaney and his wife Nicole have a perfect life. So when Matthew suddenly vanishes, Nicole is in shock. As Nicole searches for answers, she uncovers a trail of deceit leading straight to the mysterious Glasshouse – a staggering palatial home constructed out of cut glass and icy granite, clinging to the hillside in a gravity defying show of power and wealth. But the more Nicole learns about the Glasshouse and all its secrets, the more she begins to doubt her husband.

Nathan's life was defined by labs and lectures until an Archmage yanked him into Davrar and made him a tantalizing offer: master magic in exchange for Earth's scientific secrets. Yet, Nathan can't shake off the feeling that darker truths lurk beneath such promises. The world of Davrar is a dangerous place teeming with dungeons and monsters–ruled by levels, Talents, and a near-infinite progression of power. Nathan will need to rely on himself to survive, forging alliances and taking every advantage he can get against those that seek to control him.

Mat thought he hit the jackpot when he got reincarnated on a tropical island. Where his dreams of exploring mysterious lands and learning magic are a concrete possibility. But world of Elydes is as wild and savage as it is beautiful and magical. Though the mysterious Guide is impartial to all, Mat has the lowest starting point possible. Those like him rarely go far.

Blake never expected to meet beautiful women while studying archaeology — let alone a stunning Valkyrie. Dying was a bit of a bummer, but the chance to see Asgard with his own eyes was well worth it. Blake found himself one of the few, modern mortals found worthy of Valhalla, earning him the interest of the gorgeous battle maidens.