Classic Literature Dark

In a small Western Queensland town, a reserved young woman receives a note from one of her vanished brothers - a note that makes question her memories of their disappearance and her father’s departure. A beguiling story that proves that Gothic delights and uncanny family horror can live - and even thrive - under a burning sun, Flyaway introduces listeners to Bettina Scott, whose search for the truth throws her into tales of eerie dogs, vanished schools, cursed monsters, and enchanted bottles.

Screenwriter and noted film critic C. Robert Cargill continues the story begun in his acclaimed debut Dreams and Shadows in this bold and brilliantly crafted tale involving fairies and humans, magic and monsters - a vivid phantasmagoria that combines the imaginative wonders of Neil Gaiman, the visual inventiveness of Guillermo Del Toro, and the shocking miasma of William S. Burroughs.

Ever since the slaughter of the witches, the Fae—who should be shielding their long-lost cousins from danger—have ignored the needs of the rest of the world. And shadows are again gathering in the eastern villages—dark, potent shadows that threaten the lives of every witch, woman, and Fae. Only three Fae can stand against the growing madness and help prevent more bloodshed—the Bard, the Muse, and the Gatherer of Souls.

Rulke the Great Betrayer is free at last, to use the deadly construct he has spent a thousand years perfecting. To succeed he needs just one thing – Karan's sensitive talent. Karan and her lover Llian are lost in the Nightland, in an alien palace that is collapsing around them. Only Rulke can open the gate and send them home to Santhenar, but Karan is terrified that he will corrupt Llian first.

Beneath the streets of Seattle, a long-forgotten war is about to be renewed...Richard McAllister, a spiritually destitute homeless man and Knight of the Yn Saith, protects one of seven portals linking his world to that of Annwn, where the fey Tuatha de Dannan of antiquity have been relegated by a long-running religious war. Unknown to Richard though, powerful forces are aligning against him and all he stands to keep safe.

My name is Sam Ryder. I was abducted from Earth and brought to a planet called Tor, a world of dying goddesses and monsters. I was leveled up - thrice now - turning me from a slightly overweight gamer into a chiseled fighter with spidey senses who gets more play with the goddesses than an Xbox. At this point I've already faced two of the massive demons known as the Morgoss, those who are responsible for the overthrow of the Three goddesses and the theft of their powerful hearts.

My name is Sam Ryder. I was abducted from Earth and brought to a planet called Tor, a world of dying goddesses and monsters. I was leveled up - five times now - turning me from a slightly overweight gamer into a ripped god responsible for protecting three uber-hot goddesses and a retinue of alien women warriors. At this point in the yarn, we've recovered two of the three goddesses' hearts, but still have one to go. Oh yeah, and we're about to be attacked by the largest demon horde in the history of the universe. All in a day's work.

My name is Sam Ryder. I was abducted from Earth and brought to a planet called Tor, a world of dying goddesses and monsters. I was leveled up - four times now - turning me from a slightly overweight gamer into a man-beast demigod charged with the unfortunate tasks of kicking demon ass and getting busy with gorgeous goddesses and exotic alien women. At this point in the tale, we’re about to be attacked by a massive army of shadow monsters conjured from the depths of the underworld (yeah, that part sucks), but don’t worry, there’s hope. Because we’re awesome.

"Nachalo" roman Vasilija Mahanenko, pervaja kniga cikla "Paladin", zhanr fjentezi, LitRPG. Legko li vyzhit' v igrovom mire? Mozhno dat' utverditel'nyj otvet, esli ne znat' dopolnitel'nye uslovija. Oni neobychny: real'nyj mir, v kotorom ty zhil vsju svoju zhizn'. Vrag, zhazhdushhij tebja unichtozhit'. Sobstvennyj klass, kotoromu na tebja plevat'. Vse eshhe uvereny, chto vyzhit' legko? Togda dobro pozhalovat' v IGRU! Ona dokazhet vam obratnoe.

William "Kid" Collins was once a respected boxer. Now he's a drifter, on the run after escaping from a mental institution. One afternoon he meets Fay, a beautiful young widow. She is smart and decent - at least when she's sober. Soon Collins finds himself involved in a kidnapping scheme that goes drastically wrong almost before it even begins. Because the kid they've picked up isn't like other kids: He's diabetic and without insulin, he'll die. Not the safest situation for Collins, a man for whom stress and violence have long gone hand-in-hand.

Where does an angel go when he’s been to Hell and back? Renegade angel Bobby Dollar does not have an easy afterlife. After surviving the myriad gruesome dangers Hell oh-so-kindly offered him, Bobby has returned empty-handed – his demon girlfriend Casmira, the Countess of Cold Hands, is still in the clutches of Eligor, Grand Duke of Hell. Some hell of a rescue. Forced to admit his failure, Bobby ends up back at his job as an angel advocate.

The world is winding down. Centuries after humanity’s last stand against the Dark Filament, their servants - the bloodthirsty creatures known as Incarnates - hunt down anyone under the age of 18. Civilization is broken, and the remaining population is elderly, isolated, and hopeless. Sixteen-year-old Korden Bright has lived his entire life behind the Barrier, a mystical shield which hides him from the Incarnates. When the Barrier is breached, Korden will leave to journey across a post-apocalyptic America.

Travelling to the Ice Kingdom, along with her bodyguard Dylan - who continues to be bound to her - to where the holder of her magic dwells. The War of Faerie amplifies and her only chance to save it will be to resist the enchantments of the Ice King, one of the ancient rulers of Faerie. But he has his own agenda and will do anything to stop her from making it to the Summer Kingdom, with her family, to claim back her throne.

Landing in Darom, Startum Ironwolf is confronted by the devastation being wrought by the Chaos Storm alliance and is forced into a guild war of epic proportions. With the beginnings of a massive invasion from the northern tribes looming on the horizon, Star fights his way across the Kingdom of Kader to reach his friend. Along the way, the face of the true enemy is revealed with the deception of a close friend. Somehow, Star and his allies must survive the betrayal and the overwhelming odds stacked against them.

Victoria Winters at last feels she has a clue to her own identity when she meets elderly Henry Collins. He secretly gives her the jewels which once belonged to his lost love - a woman Victoria strangely resembles. After receiving the gift, Victoria is suddenly terrified by attacks on her life which are masked as accidents. Surrounded by danger, Victoria wonders if she is to be the victim of ruthless thieves - or a hidden murderer desperate enough to keep her from learning about her past.

Dinah has lost everyone she ever loved. Her brother was brutally murdered. The wicked man she believed was her father betrayed her. Her loyal subjects have been devastated by war. And the boy she gave her heart to broke it completely. Now, a dark queen has risen out of the ashes of her former life. Fury is blooming inside Dinah, poisoning her soul and twisting her mind. All she has left is Wonderland and her crown and her obsession to fight for both.

The rebellious son of a long line of pureblood cartographers and diviners, Valen has spent most of his life trying to escape what society - and his family - have ordained for him. His own mother has predicted that he will meet his doom in water, blood, and ice. Her divination seems fulfilled when a comrade abandons Valen in a rainy wilderness half-dead, addicted to an enchantment that converts pain to pleasure, and possessing only a stolen book of maps.

Phthor is the sequel to Chthon, less intricately structured and less complicated in plot, but still quite dark and ugly in theme and detail. Rather than flashbacks and flash-forwards, it has a Y outline, with the stem the initial story and the ends alternate futures, neither of which is acceptable to Aton's son Arlo. Arlo has his own encounter with a Minionette, and naturally, destruction is upon him and all with whom he associates.

A terrorist on the run hides in a brothel. Desperate for respite after evading authorities for days, he hires a prostitute even though he has lived his life as a chaste man. The well-off idealistic young man and the poor woman doing what she can to survive clash but also inspire each other in this dark tale of failed dreams.

Vampire P.I. Jack Fleming is playing babysitter to Gabriel "Whitey" Kroun, a dangerously unstable mobster-and newly-created vampire-with deadly secrets to hide. As Jack tries to unravel the mystery surrounding Kroun's undead state, he gets caught between his charge's violent outbursts and some syndicate torpedoes looking to rub them both out, leaving him vulnerable to an even deadlier threat- the return of an old enemy desperate to unlock the secrets of Jack's vampire immortality.