Apocalyptic Short Stories

Some religions state that the very universe was created by words. The nation of America was founded using words. Words established the rights and freedoms this nation enjoys. The first of those rights is freedom of speech, which implies so much more than the right to use words. This anthology contains four stories from four authors. Each story pays tribute to either the ideals held by America’s First Amendment or to the concept that the words people use hold power. These authors took the concept of words and placed it in futuristic, apocalyptic, and fantasy settings.

In 1927, German filmmaker Fritz Lang brought to the screen one of the most ground-breaking sci-fi melodramas of all time, based on the screenplay he co-wrote with his wife, novelist Thea von Harbou. It is regarded as a classic and one of the first full-length movies in the genre. Five visionary new pulp writers have envisioned four dramatic tales to guide readers back to those vaulted, shining towers of Metropolis in this new collection inspired by Lang’s masterpiece.

Notions of the undead have fascinated and terrified humanity for centuries, and none more so than those tales revolving around zombies. From the very root of the zombie myth back in the Haitian slave days to a saturation through popular culture, zombies have crawled their way up out of their graves, refusing to stay interred. Now, as their hordes increase and their hungers grow, the undead plagues cannot be stopped. It isn't just a case of no room left on Earth. The apocalypse is here.

After eight years in the sandbox, former fighter pilot Brock Blount heads to Hollywood for his new life. Can a decorated hero find purpose in flying charters by day and starlets by night? Yes, please! Then a fat cat billionaire and his two much younger mistresses hire him for a last-minute flight to their secret bug-out bunker - just in time for the end of the world as we know it. Coincidence or mind game? A survival situation or a simulation? In a world where nothing is what it seems, Brock and his girls band together to make sure humanity survives.

Following the events of Planet of the Dead, survivors of the expanding outbreak take shelter in homes and bunkers and apartment complexes. Across the world, armed police and military struggle to maintain safety. Tensions mount as the worst imaginable comes to pass when nuclear weapons are used on civilian populations overrun with the living dead.

The End. Those two little words can mean so much. But how will things end...and will it hurt? That's what we really want to know. Delve into the darkness and join us at the end of the world. From a blighted sky to an invasion from beyond, from untethered time to one person driven beyond the edge of sanity, from a child's game to an unseen apocalypse...it's all imagined here, and imagined darkly.

Origins of the Outbreak follows the chain of infection from one person to another after a university researcher in a small Texas town unwittingly develops a disease that turns its victims into zombies and threatens to destroy the world as we know it.

The British government has been working on a highly dangerous top secret project. When their experiments go wrong, the whole world suffers. Kensington Holloway, the scientist tricked into unleashing this horror, must find a way to undo the terror he has unleashed upon the unsuspecting world before it is too late...before mankind goes extinct.

"Hello America, it is raining men out there, in the literal sense. It truly is the end of days - I have done the count, seven trumpets are in fact blowing. The storm extends from coast to coast and even across the pond. We aren't going to be seeing another sunrise as the population drops, and the dead come up beneath us. This is affecting all walks of life; the young and the old, the rich and the poor, it's even dashing summer time fun for folks at amusement parks."

In a story set in the distant future, Planet Earth is visited by strangers from Planet Xanadu, claiming to have been sent by our own future selves to warn present-day Earth of the dangers that lie ahead. After the initial shock and disbelief, followed by much debate, the world’s leaders agree to put their faith in these Future People, with the hope that they can help to avoid impending disaster and save Planet Earth and its inhabitants.

곽재식은 누구보다도 재미난 이야기 소재들을 사랑하는 작가입니다. 비단 SF뿐만 아니라 동서양의 판타지와 전설 등, 현실 밖의 꿈과 상상과 환상 속에 담긴 이야기들을 찾고 수집하죠. 다루는 소재를 고려하면, 곽재식은 확실히 '장르 소설가'에 속합니다. 전형적이라고 할 수도 있겠죠.

Waiting for Martin is set in a nebulous future-never in which catastrophic environmental change has returned ancient beings to Earth, as well as raining down a disastrous helping of new ones. A family of children try to make their way home to their older brother, who is their guardian, when a bit of environmental fallout gets in their way.

A hundred years ago, there was a cataclysm. Maybe a biological weapon was set off, or a parasite evolved...honestly, no one really cares any more. What matters is that the parasite was airborne, infectious, and could live in any warm-blooded creature. Those affected are driven insane and mutate, becoming a threat to those around them.

An Antarctic ice station comes under attack by a virus from outer space during a subzero blizzard. Venusians subject an Earthling to the torture of having to live over and over again his murder trial for the killing of his friend. An exorcist suspects a child is possessed, but who is doing it and why? Is it a demon or something even more terrifying? A Special Forces soldier with a death wish can't figure out why the government has saved him from his spaceship's crash landing. When he does, it's too late.

Nina wasn't always a bitch. But surviving an apocalypse has made her that way. It's the end of the world, and the dead have risen. Devastation reins and destruction lives. Mankind is holding on by bloody and desperate fingers. Death comes when you least expect it; in the quiet of the night or in the harsh light of day. It sneaks in and takes everyone and everything you ever loved, until you're left with nothing at all.

Perpetual Existentialism is a book of fictional short stories and tales of truth that lead down the rabbit hole of the soul to help those who know death is near, as it is always near. Take a journey with me and we will both arrive on the other side together, fascinated and healed.

The new coronavirus, which originated in China, has spread to Japan. An American expatriate journalist residing in Tokyo, Japan finds himself caught in between the zombies, as he catches up with his military expatriate buddy. The American expatriates, William and Cooper, overcome the sudden surprise of deadly zombies and also makes an encounter with the Japanese mafia.

Undead Tales: Fifteen Thrilling Zombie Stories is the audio version of the new zombie anthology, published by the best-selling authors, J. Thorn and Zach Bohannon. Get it now and start listening!

In 2025, neutron bombs wipe out much of the world’s drinkable water. For the next several years, survivors exist in deplorable conditions and their rations are dwindling. One woman arises from the camp, determined to improve conditions. Charlotte is ready to do whatever it takes to ensure clean water for her fellow survivors. Water is almighty. Whoever controls the water rules the world. Can Charlotte prevent the power from falling into the wrong hands?

The quirky mind of famous science fiction writer Lester del Ray gives us three wonderful tales ranging from zombies ("Dead Ringer"), time travel - how do you convince your earlier self it is safe to get into the time machine, eh? ("And It Comes Out Here") and eternal life ("The Dwindling Years"). Listen and enjoy.