Darker Than Weird: Fourteen Tales of Horror

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dark horse /ˈdärk ˈˌhôrs/ noun 1. a candidate or competitor about whom little is known but who unexpectedly wins or succeeds. "a dark-horse candidate" Join us for a bi-monthly tour of writers who give as good as they get. From Read more

The Wild Adventures of Cthulhu

Ten Titanic Terror Tales in the Lovecraft tradition! Before recorded history, they were. Cthulhu. Nyarlathotep. Azathoth. Yog-Sothoth. Shub-Niggurath. Nug. Yeb. And Others. The Great Old Ones. Lurking just outside our reality. Powerful. Potent. And exceedingly patient. Awaiting the inevitable hour when the Read more

From celebrated fantasist John R. Fultz comes a collection of dark and varied tales of horror. As did his 2021 fantasy collection, Worlds Beyond WorldsDarker Than Weird showcases Fultz’s talent for creating compelling characters and stories in fantastic and inventively horrifying worlds. Dark science fiction, Lovecraft-inspired terrors, strange apocalypses and other dooms abound in these pages—a true delight for the horror devotee.

Behind the torn facade of the living world lurks a realm of vivid darkness. Strange currents ebb and flow in the stellar void, spawning monsters, ghosts, and abominations beyond human understanding. Darker Than Weird collects ten years of weird fiction that defies and sometimes utterly destroys the boundaries of genre. From dystopic nightmares to gruesome science fiction, modern terrors to ancient gods, horror is the common thread in this dark tapestry of tales. Fourteen unsettling explorations of the supernatural, the ghastly, and the existentially grotesque. Read them at your own risk.

With a foreword by Don Webb and illustrations by Dan Sauer

“John R. Fultz is a powerful and creative writer very much in the Weird Tales tradition. He is well worth your attention.” —DARRELL SCHWEITZER, former editor of Weird Tales

“Fultz has rapidly matured into a major fantasist.” —LAIRD BARRON, Author of Occultation and Black Mountain

“…a master of his craft.” —DON WEBB, Author of Building Strange Temples

“Fultz delivers the goods.” —HOWARD ANDREW JONES, Author of The Ring-Sworn Trilogy

“…an author with an exceptional talent for characterization and world building.” —The Library Journal

Empire Of The Undead

Empire Of The Undead
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The Roman Empire was built at the expense of a thousand extinguished rivals, and during the reign of Domitian its long-forgotten enemies join together to enact a terrible curse. The dead began to walk, creating a plague of undead that sweeps across the Empire. And even the elite Roman forces, bolstered by war elephants, cannot hold them back.
The only hope of stopping the lifeless monsters is a disparate group of misfits and rogues led by the most ruthless Senator in Rome.

Collecting Death: Supernatural Horror with Scary Ghosts & Haunted Houses (Haunted Collection Series Book 1)

Collecting Death: Supernatural Horror with Scary Ghosts & Haunted Houses (Haunted Collection Series Book 1)
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The eyes of a cuddly child’s toy glow with demonic fire…

Exhausted from an academic conference, mild-mannered historian Victor Daniels wants nothing more than to return to his loving wife. But when he finally arrives home, he finds only tragedy and heartbreak. His wife has been brutally murdered. And the only clue is a blood-soaked stuffed toy, with a sinister gleam in its eye…

Overcome with rage and guilt, Victor teams up with a paranormal expert to track down the origins of the strange toy. And together they discover a tangled web of haunted collectibles and bloodshed, all pointing towards one man—Stefan Korzh…

A tragic childhood and a mansion filled with haunted antiques have driven Stefan mad. Each cursed item in his ancestral home carries a legacy of terror and death. Now, he seeks to unleash his family’s haunted collection upon the world, spreading chaos and fear.

The Claw of Craving: Book One of Lost Carcosa

The Claw of Craving: Book One of Lost Carcosa
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“Lovecraftian and Barker-esque… stunning truly.” – Steve Stred, Splatterpunk Award Nominated Author
of Mastodon and The Stranger

What is Carcosa?

For Alan Chambers, a jobless loner, it’s the answer to his problems. Or so he thinks…

Rejected by family and friends, and soon-to-be homeless, Alan makes his last desperate bid to discover the truth of this miserable reality by journeying to an occult brothel where it’s said the worthy might obtain passage to this fabled land of Carcosa.

Proving one’s worth is more dangerous than Alan could have imagined.

Prepare for an erotic and horrifying journey into the universe of the Yellow King…

The Claw of Craving is the first in the Books of Lost Carcosa series, an epic fantasy-horror that reimagines the astonishing mythos of Robert W. Chambers. Combining Clive Barker’s eroticism and fantasy with Stephen King’s pulse-pounding narrative, The Claw of Craving will please fans of ImajicaWeaveworldThe Dark TowerH. P. Lovecraft, Eric LaRocca, and Alistair Rennie.

Praise for Joseph Sale’s other series

“What we have here is a totally original concept, a writer who is doing something new, a writer who has
been forged in the flames like the One Ring.”
 -Ross Jeffery, Bram Stoker Award Nominated author of
Juniper and Only The Stains Remain

“Dark, cerebral, and genre-bending.” -Brian Fatah Steele, author of Hungry Rain and Violation Hive

Psycho: A Novel by Robert Bloch

Psycho: A Novel by Robert Bloch
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“Icily terrifying!” —New York Times
Psycho all came from Robert Bloch’s book.” —Alfred Hitchcock
“Robert Bloch is one of the all-time masters.” —Peter Straub

The story was all too real—indeed this classic was inspired by the real-life story of Ed Gein, a psychotic murderer who led a dual life. Alfred Hitchcock too was captivated, and, the year after it was released, he turned the book into one of the most-loved horror films of all time.

If you love to be scared, or are a fan of classic movies, then you know the story of Norman Bates, his mother, and the dark and frightening Bates Motel. Alfred Hitchcock’s taut, shocking scare-fest starring Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh is a classic movie, as scary today as it was in 1960 when it was first released. The shower scene may be the most famous scene in movie history.

Here is the 1959 novel upon which the movie is based. Robert Bloch based his taut psychological thriller on the all-too-real story of Ed Gein, a psychotic murderer who led a dual life. It was here that the legend of the Bates Motel was born.

Norman Bates loved his mother, though she has been dead for the past twenty years. Or is she dead? Norman knows better. He has lived with Mother ever since leaving the hospital in the old house up on the hill above the rundown Bates Motel. One night Norman welcomes a beautiful woman who checks into the motel, and spies on her as she undresses. Norman can’t help himself. Mother is there, though. She is there to protect Norman from his filthy thoughts. She is there to protect him with her butcher knife!

The story of Norman Bates and his mother has become one of the best known in the annals of horror. But if you only know the Hitchcock movie or The Bates Motel prequel television series starring Freddie Highmore as Norman Bates and Vera Farmiga as his mother, then you don’t know the whole story, because it was Robert Block who first brought their story to the world.

Native Fear

“It’s a beautiful, brutal, complex, terrifying read.”
Scream Magazine

“Debut author [C. F.] Page presents an intricate horror novel . . . an inventive take on a rural place filled with unspeakable malice.”
Kirkus Reviews

Native Fear is a blistering and evocative examination of man’s darkness. A harrowing read.”
—Steve Stred, Splatterpunk-nominated author of Sacrament and Mastodon.

“Page manages to weave together strong undercurrents of cosmic horror, cult situations, splashes of sci-fi, and even some slasher flavors. There are creatures, mysteries, and creepy characters aplenty. . . . original and engaging, with nuanced characters that aren’t caricatures (and, in fact, mock the stereotypes).”
—Kyle J. Durrant, author of Beyond Dimensional Veils

“One of the most intelligent, compelling, and well-written horror novels I’ve ever read, full stop. The sophisticated prose is fluid and colorful enough to make every scene, character, and ungodly image vividly cinematic, and there’s a richness to the world that gives the story itself both a crushing weight to smash about and a delicate hand to do it with. Native Fear blends subgenres of horror so brilliantly that the transition from gnarly folk horror to epic cosmicism feels as natural as the ‘monsters’ in this book are unnatural. Clever, perfectly crafted, and innately subversive, this novel is one you won’t be able to put down.”
—Jay Alexander, author of Starving Grounds and The Lunchling

OTHER PRAISE

“Page’s writing is much like Lovecraft’s oceans: glassy smooth in places, terrifyingly brutal in others, ever dark and full of mystery. Atercosm seduces with its eerie wonders and horrifies with its glimpses beyond the veil, where fathomless revelations linger just beyond our comprehension. Those who read this collection will encounter Page’s unique brand of literary madness.”
—Felix Blackwell, bestselling author of Stolen Tongues

“A tour de force of the weird and the uncanny, C.F. Page’s Orphans of the Atercosm is a must read for fans of Ligotti, Lovecraft, and all things weird horror.”
—Richard Beauchamp, author of Black Tongue & Other Anomalies

Sword & Planet by Christopher Ruocchio

NEW STORIES IN THE GRAND SPACE FANTASY TRADITION!

SCIENCE FICTION? FANTASY? IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR BOTH?

The distant future—like the distant past—is a place of myths, of legends, and of great heroes. Cyborg knights battle extraterrestrial demons to rescue a peaceful village. A young girl unlocks an ancient power to protect her world from offworld colonists. Here are stories not where magic is science, but with magic and science. Not knights and castles, but knights and starships. Wizards and ray guns. Swords and planets.

In D.J. Butler’s “Power and Prestige,” a pair of two-bit mercenaries are hired to solve a murder in a labyrinth beneath a crumbling city at the end of time. A young knight must face down an alien menace and awaken the power within in R.R. Virdi’s “A Knight Luminary,” and in “Saving the Emperor” Simon R. Green takes us deep into the Imperial City of Virimonde . . . and offers a glimpse at how the Deathstalker clan rose to power and fame.

Enjoy tales from Tim Akers, Jessica Cluess, L.J. Hachmeister, Susan R. Matthews, T.C. McCarthy, Jody Lynn Nye, and Tom Toner; a new world from Warhammer 40,000 author Peter Fehervari; and a new chapter in the Sun Eater saga from Christopher Ruocchio.

Hungers as Old as This Land

Hungers as Old as This Land
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The settlement of Grey’s Bluffs is a prosperous town. An independent community dwelling in the shadows of the mountains known only as The Hungers.

Esther Foxman and Siobhan O’Clery have grown up in Grey’s Bluffs, thriving out on the western territories in the aftermath of the Civil War. Devoted to one another and their home, the two set out to complete a regular pact at the Hungers to ensure that Grey’s Bluffs continues to prosper.

Cyril Redstone is a man who knows death well. Becoming a mercenary after the Civil War, Cyril leads the marauding Blackhawks from one slaughter to the next. Hired to destroy Grey’s Bluffs, Cyril cares little for morality, nor that he owes its founder his life.

Esther and Siobhan are left to defend the only home they have ever known from the Blackhawks, their confrontation driving them deep into the mountains.

Where the darkest secrets of the Hungers await them.

Haint: A Dark Vampire Horror Novel Featuring the Gallogly Family

Haint: A Dark Vampire Horror Novel Featuring the Gallogly Family
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Immerse yourself in the heart-stopping horrors of an isolated and crime-ridden Kentucky holler, where the lines between myth and reality blur, and a legendary creature awakens to stalk unsuspecting prey.

In the aftermath of a tragic mine collapse, Sheriff Hunter Gallogly finds himself caught between two worlds. A man of law, he must navigate the treacherous paths of his ancestral land while investigating a string of apparent murders. When the sheriff’s drug dealing cousins, Greg and Bob, become involved in an investigation into the killing of one of their dealers, the trio soon stumbles upon evidence that points to an impossible perpetrator.

As the body count rises and terror spreads, Hunter, Greg, and Bob form an unlikely alliance, bound by blood and driven by survival. Together, they embark on a perilous journey to confront a seemingly unstoppable creature and put an end to its reign of terror. But as they delve deeper into the hunt, family secrets are revealed that could tear them apart.

Against a backdrop of moonlit hollers and ancient superstitions, the sheriff and his cousins, accompanied by both deputies and criminals, wage a desperate battle for the survival of their town. As the creature’s power grows, and the community descends into chaos, the Galloglys must confront their own demons and find the strength to face the unimaginable.

Prepare for a heart-pounding narrative that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Will the Galloglys overcome their differences and put an end to the creature’s reign of terror? Or will they fall victim to the same legend that plagued their kinfolk generations ago.

In this gripping horror novel set in the depths of Appalachia, author Samuel Brower weaves a tale of bloodlust, family bonds, and the indomitable spirit of those who dare to face the darkness head-on.

The Vampire Archives: The Most Complete Volume of Vampire Tales Ever Published

The Vampire Archives is the biggest, hungriest, undeadliest collection of vampire stories, as well as the most comprehensive bibliography of vampire fiction ever assembled. Dark, stormy, and delicious, once it sinks its teeth into you there’s no escape.

Vampires! Whether imagined by Bram Stoker or Anne Rice, they are part of the human lexicon and as old as blood itself. They are your neighbors, your friends, and they are always lurking. Now Otto Penzler—editor of the best-selling Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps—has compiled the darkest, the scariest, and by far the most evil collection of vampire stories ever, with over 80 stories, including the works of Stephen King and D. H. Lawrence, alongside Lord Byron and Tanith Lee, not to mention Edgar Allan Poe and Harlan Ellison. The Vampire Archives will drive a stake through the heart of any other collection out there.

Other contributors include Arthur Conan Doyle, Ray Bradbury, Ambrose Bierce, H. P. Lovecraft, Harlan Ellison, Roger Zelazny, Robert Bloch, and Clive Barker.