Classic Literature Dark

It began in the graveyard.... Ever since her boyfriend Nathan had died in a tragic accident, Emma had been coming to the graveyard at night. During the day she went through the motions at her prep school, in class, with her friends, but that’s all it was. For Emma, life had stopped with Nathan’s death. But tonight was different. Tonight Emma and her dog were not alone in the cemetery. There were two others there - Eric, who had just started at her school, and an ancient woman who looked as though she were made of rags.

Once a city of enormous wealth and culture, Prague was home to emperors, alchemists, astronomers, and, as it’s whispered, hell portals. When music student Sarah Weston lands a summer job at Prague Castle cataloging Beethoven’s manuscripts, she has no idea how dangerous her life is about to become. Prague is a threshold, Sarah is warned, and it is steeped in blood. Soon after Sarah arrives, strange things begin to happen.

She was just a lost girl when they found her. The circumstances are odd, that much is true. But she's just a child. She needs protecting. She needs guardians. Before long, strange magic manifests from the small girl, equally awe inspiring as it is terrifying. Does she control the fire and light? Or do they control her? Shadows are rising from Alfuria, the very world beneath their feet. Sometimes they call, wishing for an unending embrace. Dragons have risen as well, from myth and legend, stalking land and sky.

My name is Sam Ryder. I was abducted from Earth and brought to a planet called Tor, a world of dying goddesses and deadly monsters. I was leveled up - twice now - transformed from a slightly overweight gamer with no real career prospects into a man-beast capable of slinging a massive hammer around like it's made of feathers and cotton. At this point I've already faced one of the massive demon overlords known as the Morgoss - those who are responsible for the overthrow of the Three goddesses and the predicament we find ourselves in. But I survived, along with several of my allies.

Miriam Black knows when you will die. Still in her early twenties, she’s foreseen hundreds of car crashes, heart attacks, strokes, suicides, and slow deaths by cancer. But when Miriam hitches a ride with truck driver Louis Darling and shakes his hand, she sees that in thirty days he will be gruesomely murdered while he calls her name. Miriam has given up trying to save people; that only makes their deaths happen. No matter what she does, she can’t save Louis. But if she wants to stay alive, she’ll have to try.

Gwynn Austin has no idea why her father has disappeared on a mysterious trip to Scotland. When she goes on a desperate mission to search for him, she finds more than she bargains for in a ruggedly handsome, wickedly exciting Highlander who exudes danger and mystery. And when she discovers her own link to Scotland, she'll have to trust her heart to help lead her.

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.

Here are 23 terrifying tales, dark reflections of the silver screen from both sides of the camera. James Dean gets a second chance at life and death. The Wicked Witch is out of Oz, and she's made some very unlucky friends. When God decides reality needs an editor, what and who gets cut?

Lily McCain is cursed. With just one touch she can see a person’s future, whether it’s a good fortune or a terrible fate. Afraid of the potent visions she foresees, she distances herself from the world, succumbing to a life of solitude. But at the touch of a mysterious stranger – who has powers of his own – Lily sees a new, chilling future for herself: one where she is fated to make a terrible choice.

Gifted with courage, strength, and the intelligence to know when to fight, Sun Wolf is the greatest mercenary in a land overrun by war. With his first lieutenant, Starhawk - a woman more deadly than any man - at his side, he has laid waste to countless cities, taking the best of their treasures for himself, and distributing the rest among his bloodthirsty crew.

Dr. David Lephmann lived a normal existence until he was attacked by a shifter. Thrust into a world of violence and mistrust, he must battle for a place among his new people. Only strange new alliances can keep him alive. A powerful master vampire may help him take his revenge on the shifter who destroyed his life. There's only one distraction from his mission: an intriguing shifter woman who opens up his world to werewolf romance.

One of the most popular novels released in the 1920s on the hedonistic Jazz Age, Gentlement Prefer Blondes was declared "the great American novel" by Edith Wharton. Told from the point of view of a blonde flapper named Lorelei in the form of her diary, this novel follows her adventures around the world in search of a gentleman companion who can elevate her position within society. As Lorelei cycles through multiple men, she discovers things about herself and the way that she lives her life in retrospection....

Eight years ago, Emmie Silvey was born on Halloween during a full moon. Raised in Providence by her widower father, she's a strange, yellow-eyed girl, plagued with visions of impossible worlds and fabulous beings. Inextricably linked with a violent young woman named Soldier, together they must face the monsters and unearthly forces that have shaped their lives and threaten their futures.

In a small village outside the city of Vision, the people know no sorrow or grief. But this seemingly idyllic community is hiding a terrible secret. As a young child, Nalah did not know why she was told to bring a cake to the mute girl known as the Voice whenever she was upset, only that doing so made her feel better. Now grown, Nalah understands the dark truth, and yearns to escape from the oppressive village that has been her life-long home.

The fifth novel in the Jesse Sullivan contemporary fantasy series.

No time like the present to figure out one's future. That's a nice platitude, but what if you are a demon? And the former Queen of Hell? Pandora saved an angel, Katie, when she could have stayed in hell and all but assured Earth would fall to Moloch. But now, she has a conundrum. Further complicating things, Katie is acting very out of character, and Pandora needs to help her friend find her bearings once more.

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.

Artificer General Sebastian Nemo has faced myriad dangers while serving his king and kingdom, but none so fascinating and sinister as the Convergence of Cyriss. In the wake of an unprovoked attack on the Cygnaran town of Calbeck, Nemo and his forces hasten to confront the strange clockwork soldiers and machinery led by a young warcaster prodigy named Aurora, Numen of Aerogenesis. Nemo soon learns of the Convergence’s plans to transform Caen and its people to suit their enigmatic goddess, who favors machines over the living.

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.

This story of raging comedy and despair centers on the tempestuous marriage of an heiress and a Vietnam veteran. From their "carpenter Gothic" rented house, Paul sets himself up as a media consultant for Reverend Ude, an evangelist mounting a grand crusade that conveniently suits a mining combine bidding to take over an ore strike on the site of Ude's African mission.