Type: Short story collection

Sam Hain – Occult Detective

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Sam Hain - Occult Detective
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After leaving a party late one Halloween, Alice Carroll has a run-in with something she would much rather forget. Haunted by nightmares and visions, she tries to carry on with her life as normal, all the while feeling as if she is losing touch with reality. Just as her visions become too much to bear, she is helped by the enigmatic Sam Hain, a self-proclaimed occult detective and alleged aficionado of the abnormal.

Together, they embark on a series of adventures, investigating paranormal cases, cracking clandestine conspiracies, exploring the ethereal, and battling with forces far beyond the real. Meanwhile, in the abyss of some unworldly dimension, an evil is stirring, and from across the void a darkness is coming…
If Alice thought her world had turned upside-down on Halloween, she hasn’t seen the half of it yet.

Sam Hain – Occult Detective: Volume I is the author’s preferred text, containing the first six stories in the Sam Hain series (All Hallows’ Eve, A Night in Knightsbridge, The Grimditch Butcher, The Regents, The Eye of the Oracle, Convergence) and features original artwork by Camilla Winquist.

“Imagine Constantine written by Douglas Adams for Doctor Who, and you’ll be roughly in the right area for this highly enjoyable series. Bron James skillfully weaves a thrilling tale of private detective Sam Hain and his plucky assistant Alice as they investigate murder, magic and other paranormal events.” -Jeremy Biggs, Subversive Comics

Occult Detective Quarterly Presents

Occult Detective Quarterly Presents
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Since the days of the Victorian Era, there have been a few brave, intrepid souls who stood fast in the battle against the unknown. They would come to be known as ‘Occult Detectives’ and their ranks swelled to include such legends as Carnacki the Ghost Finder, John Silence, Auguste Dupin among many others.

Here, for the first time, are eight ALL-NEW tales of those who, when others turn and run from horror, move forward often armed only with their own courage and wits. These stories run the gamut in settings and characters and showcase some of the best writers in the field today. I

ncluded are new tales by Charles R. Rutledge, Adrian Cole, William Meikle, Amanda DeWees and more. Included is an essay by noted scholar Mike Ashley on the formation of the Occult Detective genre and its history. When you hear that bump in the night will you shrink from fear or become, like the heroes within these pages, an Occult Detective and plunge fearlessly into the unknown? Perhaps your tale is yet to be told!

The Devourer Below: An Arkham Horror Anthology

The Devourer Below: An Arkham Horror Anthology
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The city of Arkham falls prey to ghoulish dread in this chilling anthology of action-packed adventure, from the bestselling world of Arkham Horror

Something monstrous has come to Arkham, Massachusetts. There have always been shadows here, but now a new hunger has risen from the depths and threatens those who dwell here. But there are heroes too – people who stand up and fight to stem the tide, even when it costs them everything. Explore eight shocking new tales of occult horror, captivating mystery, and existential fear – from a zealous new heroine to conniving cultists, bootleg whiskey to night terrors, and fiends that crawl from open graves. A nightmare has fallen across Arkham, and it will devour all.

The Naked and the Deadly: Lawrence Block in Men’s Adventure Magazines

The Naked and the Deadly: Lawrence Block in Men's Adventure Magazines
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Lawrence Block’s “lost” stories, complete and uncut for the first time since their original publication!

The focus and subject matter of mid-century men’s adventure magazines (MAMs) could be wide-ranging, and versatile storytellers able to confidently navigate genres, approaches, and authorial voices found regular, lucrative work in their pages. Among those talented writers was a notable newcomer: Lawrence Block-though his initial pieces would see print under various pseudonyms.

Not the Lawrence Block you know, who is among the most widely read, respected, and celebrated writers of crime and mystery fiction in the world. A writer internationally read and internationally honored, upon whom The Mystery Writers of America bestowed the title of Grand Master. A writer with over 65 years of professional experience in damn near every kind of writing, whose essays, magazine columns, and non-fiction books focused on the art, craft, and business of writing have endured to inform generations.

Not that Lawrence Block.

Not yet…

He-Men, Bag Men & Nymphos: Classic Men’s Adventure Stories

He-Men, Bag Men & Nymphos: Classic Men's Adventure Stories
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“Walter Kaylin, come back!” – Mario Puzo, author of THE GODFATHER

Scores of great authors wrote for men’s adventure pulps: Elmore Leonard, Jim Thompson, Richard Matheson, Lawrence Block and Harlan Ellison, to name a few. But the one writers for MAN’S WORLD and TRUE ACTION envied most was Walter Kaylin.

Leaving an indelible mark on three decades of sweat-soaked pulp fiction, Walter Kaylin tackled testosterone-fueled subjects from Westerns to war, secret agents to sex sirens, Nazis to noir. His frequently over-the-top plots and characters scaled new heights of ingenuity and invention, while setting the standard for the kind of unapologetic savagery and excess that made men’s adventure magazines notorious, then and now.

“He looked like a divinity student, always buttoned up. Then the stories would come in. They were special … seamless and outrageous and wonderful. I let him do whatever he wanted and he rarely, if ever, disappointed. He really deserves a tribute. I think of him as a treasure.”
–Bruce Jay Friedman (STERN, LUCKY BRUCE), Kaylin’s editor at MEN and MALE

Robert Deis of MensPulpMags.com and Wyatt Doyle (STOP REQUESTED), editors of the acclaimed WEASELS RIPPED MY FLESH! anthology, rescue a whopping 15 high-intensity Kaylin classics from pulp fiction purgatory, along with the jaw-dropping illustrations that accompanied their original magazine publication … plus reminiscences by Kaylin, his family, and his former editor, writer Bruce Jay Friedman.

HE-MEN, BAG MEN & NYMPHOS rips the lid off the pulps’ best kept secret to introduce Kaylin’s unique brand of tension and tough-guy thrills to a new generation of readers. But be warned: These are not stories for the delicate, or faint of heart. HE-MEN, BAG MEN & NYMPHOS hits like a clenched fist; get yours or get out of the way!

A Handful of Hell: Classic War and Adventure Stories (Men’s Adventure Library)

A Handful of Hell: Classic War and Adventure Stories (Men's Adventure Library)
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“These stories were being read by men who’d been there, done that. I had to have the personalities and the details right. They wouldn’t tolerate having men like themselves overly glorified, or to have war made glamorous. . . .”  

Aviator, diplomat, and historian, Robert F. Dorr was uniquely qualified to write for men’s adventure magazines, bringing sweat-and-blood, nuts-and-bolts authenticity to his stories of risk, combat, and sacrifice. Best known today for his highly regarded historical works, Dorr’s stories for the men’s pulps also drew from jaw-dropping true accounts,  as action-packed as any imagined by his hard-boiled peers.

In this tense, gritty collection, the master storyteller drops readers squarely into the action’s fiery crucible, both in the cockpit and on the front lines. Each story includes full-color reproductions of the explosive vintage art from the stories’ original publication by some of the greatest names in illustration.

A singular collection in the author’s vast bibliography, A Handful of Hell highlights the best of Robert F. Dorr’s vivid, gripping tales of aerial conflict, battlefield heroism and action—some fact, some fiction, all adrenaline-fueled, white-knuckle adventure.

“Robert F. Dorr sets the standard for writing about aviation and adventure.”

Letters of cold fire (occult cases of John Thunstone)

Letters of cold fire (occult cases of John Thunstone)
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You’ve never meant a ghost hunter or demon slayer like John Thunstone. Defying the naysayers’ vision of a pale, basement-dwelling hobbyist, Thunstone is tall, broad shouldered, athletic, and handsome. He likes to spend his evenings in nightclubs, holding court and charming women.

But does he lack focus? No! Thunstone is also a serious scholar, deeply studied in the occult and dark arts, and carries a blade of silver inscribed with the motto, “Sic pereant omnes inimici tui” (“thus perish all your enemies”), forged by Saint Dunstan, patron saint of silversmiths, and one of the few men the Devil himself feared.

Thunstone’s battles with the darkest forces haunting our world are the greatest creation of Edgar-, World Fantasy-, and British Fantasy Award-winner Manly Wade Wellman (also the only dark fantasy author nominated for the Pulitzer Prize). //

You’ll accompany our imposing hero on four of his most chilling adventures in this, the first volume of this series, reprinting all 15 of his original, classic adventures from the pages of the 1940s Weird Tales

HE DECLARED A ONE-MAN WAR AGAINST THE SUPERNATURAL! // “Chilling!” Cedar Rapids Gazette //”Spooky!” Muncie Evening Press// Thrill to the adventures of John Thunstone, straight from the pages of the world’s greatest horror magazine—the legendary Weird Tales. //

Far Away & Never

Far Away & Never
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Ramsey Campbell, best known for his many works of horror and dark suspense, now invites the reader to yet another milieu, Far Away & Never. Through these eight tales of swords and sorcery—four of which feature the inexhaustible swordsman Ryre—the reader is taken on a ride through different times and unlike worlds, all filled with the fantastic creatures and thrilling action one would expect to come from Campbell’s imagination while writing in this realm. Anyone who has read Campbell’s completions of Robert E. Howard’s Solomon Kane stories recognize that he is very capable in this genre, and this collection only lends further evidence to his case.

Twenty-five years after its original publication, Far Away & Never is now back in print, with one additional story, “A Madness from the Vaults,” included. All told, there’s many a treat for the reader here—be they a fan of Ramsey Campbell or heroic fantasy in general.

Stories included:
“The Sustenance of Hoak”
“The Changer of Names”
“The Pit of Wings”
“The Mouths of Light”
“The Stages of the God”
“The Song at the Hub of the Garden”
“The Ways of Chaos”
“A Madness from the Vaults”

Wolfshead, And Other Stories:17 Short Stories by Robert E. Howard

Wolfshead, And Other Stories:17 Short Stories by Robert E. Howard
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Wolfshead, And Other Stories is the original short stories about stories of A De Montour story And Other Stories written by Robert E. Howard in 1922-1936. In this book contains 17 stories of A De Montour story, An Ace Jessel story, Thrilling Mystery, A Faring Town story, and more from Weird Tales magazine:

1.Wolfshead, First published in Weird Tales, April 1926. A De Montour story.
2.Apparition in the Prize Ring, First published in Ghost Stories, April 1929. Alternative title: The Spirit of Tom Molyneaux. An Ace Jessel story.
3.The Children of the Night, First published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in the April/May 1931 issue.
4.The Haunter of the Ring, First published in Weird Tales, June 1934.
5.The Fire of Asshurbanipal, First published in the December 1936 issue of Weird Tales.
6.The Thing On the Roof, First published in the February 1932 issue of Weird Tales.
7.In the Forest of Villefére, First published in Weird Tales, August 1925. A De Montour story.
8.”Golden Hope” Christmas, First published in The Tattler, the Brownwood High School paper, December 1922.
9.Sea Curse, First published in Weird Tales, May 1928. A Faring Town story.
10.Black Talons, First published in Strange Detective Stories, December 1933. Alternative title: Talons in the Dark.
11.Black Wind Blowing, First published in Thrilling Mystery, June 1936.
12.Moon of Zambebwei, First published in Weird Tales, February 1935. Alternative title: The Grisly Horror.
13.The Vultures of Whapeton, First published in Smashing Novels Magazine, December 1936. Alternativee titles: The Vultures, The Vultures of Wahpeton, The Vultures of Teton Gulch.
14.The Horror from the Mound, First published in Weird Tales, 1932.
15.Boot Hill Payoff, First published in Western Aces, October 1935. Alternative title: The Last Ride.
16.Skull-Face, First published in Weird Tales, October-December 1929.
17.Sleeping Beauty, First published in The Yellow Jacket, October 27, 1926.

Carnacki the Ghost Finder, The Voice in the Night, and Other Horrors: The Best Weird Fiction and Ghost Stories of William Hope Hodgson

Carnacki the Ghost Finder, The Voice in the Night, and Other Horrors: The Best Weird Fiction and Ghost Stories of William Hope Hodgson
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ne of the leading names in classic weird fiction, William Hope Hodgson remains an influential and powerful storyteller, remembered chiefly for his nautical horror stories and for his occult detective, Carnacki the Ghost-finder. Hodgson’s career – cut off prematurely in World War One – was extensive and elaborate, and this book contains the cream of the crop: the Sargasso Sea Mythos, a broad selection of his best maritime horror stories, printings of his lesser known strange tales (including The Baumoff Explosive and The Goddess of Death), five of the most striking Carnacki cases, and excerpts from two of his elaborate supernatural novels.

Illustrated and annotated, these stories include episodes of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and mystery: floating stone ships, derelicts teeming with man-eating rats, ghost pirates, mutant weed men, carnivorous trees, parasitic fungi, were-sharks (you read that right), a ship with a heartbeat, a cursed room that whistles in the night, a castaway who refuses to let his hideous face be seen, freakish mutations, deadly ghost ships, bloodthirsty octopi, demonic hogs, and more. Hodgson’s fiction reveals a level of anguished vulnerability that blends the cynical realism with fantastic romanticism, creating a borderland – a liminal doorway – that brings the anxieties of the every-day into contact with the fantasias of the nightmarish.

The landscapes of his fiction – the weed-choked Sargasso Sea, the steaming South Pacific, Irish manor houses, derelict ghost ships – act as borderlands whereby these uncomfortable thoughts and existential pangs can enter into our world – to haunt and infect it.

The illustrated, annotated stories included in this unique anthology – stories of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and mystery – are among Hodgson’s best and will not fail to disturb, amuse, and inhabit your imagination.