Dark Ages Fiction

A clever but obnoxious teen (think Youth in Revolt's Nick Twisp) is stuck in his parents' basement during a uniquely literary yet crowd-pleasing apocalypse. It involves not zombies but a breakdown in general logic and order. Lloyd's mother, a William Blake scholar, goes mad in a flurry of Blakean invective. Lloyd's neighbor clips toenails on her lawn. An acting group believes a tribute to Dennis Hopper might save the world.

Life is short. Jimmy's life may prove shorter. His gang mates have grown up and shipped out, and the nine to five is grinding Jimmy into a person he no longer recognizes. There has to be more to existence than waking up every Saturday with a half-eaten kebab and empty wallet. The wide blue skies of America sing a siren's song, and Jimmy decides he's ready to give life a do-over - even if it means leaving his childhood sweetheart Kelly behind.

This is a touching coming-of-age tale about a young man struggling to deal with his father's cancer diagnosis. As Dad edges ever closer to his destiny, the relationship with his son reaches boiling point, but how will their final encounter pan out? Gently fusing the humorous with the tragic, this London-based drama will have you crying both tears of joy and sadness.

Nina does not have a drinking problem. She likes a drink, sure. But what 17-year-old doesn't? Nina's mum isn't so sure. But she's busy with her new husband and five-year-old Katie. Nina's almost an adult, after all. And if Nina sometimes wakes up with little memory of what happened the night before, then her friends are all too happy to fill in the blanks. Nina's drunken exploits are the stuff of college legend. But then one dark Sunday morning, even her friends can't help piece together Saturday night.

Spokane, Washington, is nearly perfect for most people, but Jack Fitzpatrick is not one of them. Hours after graduation and armed with his final paycheck from his nemesis, Jack heads for Southern California. Dreams are a dime a dozen in the City of Angels. Broke, barely scraping by, and hating his life as a temp, L.A. is definitely not what Jack expected. But after reading "Best Paying Jobs of 1987" in Time magazine, he decides to go after the only one he thinks he has a shot at: institutional bond broker.

Ever since they were orphaned, Tyler has kept close tabs on his sister, Shannon. He has to, considering her weird and risky obsessions. Now she has a new one: an inexplicable crush on an odd-looking stranger. And what Shannon wants from her unwitting “honey boy,” Tyler can’t begin to fathom. Not until he follows his sister into the darkest corners of her desires.

Danny Garvey was a 16-year-old footballing prodigy. Professional clubs clamoured to sign him, and a glittering future beckoned. And yet, his early promise remained unfulfilled, and Danny is back home in the tiny village of Barshaw to manage the struggling junior team he once played for. What’s more, he’s hiding a secret about a tragic night, 13 years earlier, that changed the course of several lives. There’s only one Danny Garvey, they once chanted...and that’s the problem.

How do you keep going when you feel like your life is over? Maggie never thought she’d see Clay again. So, she attempts to put her life back together after her heart has been shattered to pieces. Moving on and moving forward, just as Clay wanted her to. Clay never stopped thinking of Maggie. Even after ripping their lives apart and leaving her behind to get the help he so desperately needed. He is healing - slowly. But his heart still belongs to the girl who tried to save him.

What would you do if you knew you only had 100 days left to live? For Lucio Battistini, it's a chance to spend the rest of his life the way he always should have - by making every moment count. Imperfect, unfaithful, but loveable Lucio has been thrown out of the house by his wife and is sleeping at his father-in-law's bombolini bakery when he learns he has inoperable cancer. So begins the last hundred days of Lucio's life, as he attempts to right his wrongs, win back his wife (the love of his life and afterlife), and spend the next three months enjoying every moment.

“Eyes to the horizon” were the last words the king spoke to his wife before the abrogator channeled dark power and murdered them both. Their deaths activated an enchantment that concealed their two sons’ identity and allowed the king’s brother, Kaellor, to escape from Aarindorn with the heirs to the Southlands.

A land has fallen. An escape was made. It's a victory, but at what price? Shaleigh has made a terrible mistake - one she may not ever be able to fix. Lost and in a strange land with anger and death all around her, she must navigate her way through treacherous lands on her quest for redemption.

May Lynn was once a pretty girl who dreamed of becoming a Hollywood star. Now she's dead, her body dredged up from the Sabine River.

Sue Ellen, May Lynn's strong-willed teenage friend, sets out to dig up May Lynn's body, burn it to ash, and take those ashes to Hollywood to spread around. If May Lynn can't become a star, then at least her ashes will end up in the land of her dreams.

Alicia Erian's characters are brave, disarming, affectionate, and deeply flawed. They inhabit the not-so-very-wide space between a good intention and a bad outcome. The Brutal Language of Love challenges traditional notions of right and wrong with what has become Erian's signature—an achingly stylish humor and a deep understanding of the brutal truth about human nature. These surprising, provocative, and deeply resonant stories marked the emergence of a major talent.

Rikki, a teenager being raised by her grandmother in Queens, has a secret. She can't remember her mother. Whenever Rikki asks her grandmother about her mother's death, the older woman refuses to answer. Desperate to learn the truth, Rikki finds a hidden album with family photographs. Can the boy in the picture with her mother be a long lost uncle? Determined to unlock the mystery, she embarks on a journey to meet Harry, a writer who is struggling with his own issues of identity.

Derrick, Luther, and Jenny go to the cemetery to lay a trap for the sheriff, only to watch in horror as the sheriff is dragged down into the darkness by vengeful ghosts.

Derrick, Linda, Luther, and Jenny go to the local cemetery to try and contact the restless spirit of Kyra Talbot to find out who her killer really was.

Luther and Jenny are happy in their new home and marriage until Luther begins hearing voices again. Jenny thinks he is imagining things until he finds the corpse of a young girl floating in his favorite fishing spot.

Luther Biggs was born in Pearl City, Indiana, a small, run-down community of ramshackle houses and derelict trailers nestled in between the town levee and the Wabash River basin. His mother, Lula, once sold Luther to a woman who'd brought him back, claiming he wasn't even smart enough to pull a plow or bait a fish hook. What nobody knew was Luther Biggs was smarter than people gave him credit for. He had special talents. Like being able to communicate with the dead.

A meeting of the minds is held at Derrick's place, with Lester, Lincoln, Luther, and Jenny in attendance. Before the night is over, Derrick realizes with terrifying clarity that Kyra Talbot's killer has still been on the loose all along - and it is a member of the local community that nobody would have ever suspected.

Now full grown and a successful horror writer, Brian Davis - better known as Derrick Dark - is working on a new book when his whole world is turned upside down by the news that Kyra Talbot's killer may still be on the loose.