Dark Fantasy Short Stories

King Gelleran is facing a dilemma. The dangerous dark elf he holds captive and uses as his protection from the neighboring country of Kerbia has drawn the attention of Welmar, a kingdom even more powerful. The Welmarians have offered a generous sum for the prisoner; refusing the offer could mean war. As the king tries to find a way to handle this, he learns a devastating news: Things are not as they appeared, and the prisoner he thought securely jailed is playing a game of his own, threatening vengeance if it's not played by his rules.

After Claudia and Ben stumble upon Dorian's secret, they are taken prisoner. Food and supplies are running low, and Dorian's ultimate goal is survival of the race - and the fittest.

Imagine entering your first relationship with a powerful, wealthy, dominant man. He is smooth, charismatic, and intelligent, yet there are rules to be part of his dynamic life. Can you pass all the tests and follow the rules to be a part of something great?

Unsightly and awkward, Aoife Finnegan has never been successful in love, only in attracting the indifference or hostility of every man she’s ever met. After partaking in an experiment, she finds her luck has drastically changed - but while on an exotic cruise for singles, she may find her stark reversal in fortune is actually the rudest curse of all.

With the Imprecari crime organization vying for expansion to the west, drastic changes must be enforced to achieve global domination. Blade Bandit Desenius Dylandonai, while on a routine raid to the small town of Saluma, is brutally murdered by his long-time comrade Soltar Ulanus. But everyone deserves a second chance. Mysteriously arising from a burning pyre, Desenius makes his way back to his home city with one thing on his mind: find Soltar and make him pay for his betrayal.

There is a secret in the house of Ikari, a doll that can walk and talk made of porcelain and gold. She fulfills many roles, one for each family member. Will she manage to keep the family whole?

Betrayal. Ambition. Violence. Magic. Stranded in a winter wilderness, a young girl fights to survive after the massacre of her family. Her motto is simple: Always create opportunity. It's not long before she runs into an old friend, but can she trust him? This majestic fantasy short story defies cliché and stirs the soul.

The battle has been fought and won, and all have been transformed by the struggle. Imago of Lockwood has become Lord Mayor of the City Imperishable, though at a price beyond his wildest imagination. Bijaz the Dwarf has been imbued with a godlike power and a responsibility he scarcely understands. And Jason the Factor, resurrected from death at the hands of his sister, the Tokhari sandwalker Kalliope, has become the sula ma-jieni na-dia, the fabled Dead Man of Winter.

The alien but oddly familiar realm of Maradoum welcomes you home with a magical medley of stand-alone short stories. From the ancient mysteries of Gorodzmeya - the lizard city in the desert - to the deities who protect the people of Quing Tzu, from the hidden treasures of Shimyahein to the sacking of the Spardican coast, this sword and sorcery anthology will keep you at the edge of your seat with stories of comeuppance and revenge, of mighty warriors and creatures of evil, of the lost finding family, of omens and urchins, and of portals to realms beyond what is known.

Contains books three and four of Descendants of the Fall. Age of Gods: Pursued by the inhuman Tangata, Lukys flees on foot through the wilderness. He and his companions make for the ocean, a stolen ship their only hope - but even that may prove fleeting. For should they reach the island of Perfugia, a war is brewing between the kingdoms of humanity. Dreams of Fury: On the distant shores of Perfugia, Lukys and Sophia have finally found sanctuary - and an unexpected power left by their ancestors. But their refuge cannot last.

Written in the dark days of World War I, join Lord Dunsany as he spreads the dreams that we cannot leave to die. Dunsany was the most influential writer in the genre that came to be known as fantasy, which his stories set trends for that continue to this day.

A fourth anthology from the editors of Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears presents contemporary retellings of traditional fairy tales in Gregory Frost's "Sparks", "The Dog Rose" by Sten Westgard, and other works by Jane Yolen, Joyce Carol Oates, Nancy Kress, and John Crowley.

In their third critically acclaimed collection of original fairy tales for adults, World Fantasy Award-winning editors Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling present 21 new stories by some of the top names in literature today. Dark, disturbing and delightful, each story was written expressly for this superb collection of distinctly grown-up fantasy - a brilliant companion volume to Datlow and Windling's acclaimed anthologies, Snow White, Blood Red, and Black Thorn, White Rose.

Black Heart, Ivory Bones showcases 20 beguiling tales for the child who was and the adult who is, penned by 20 of the most creative artists in contemporary American literature. Here dissected are the darker anatomies of the timeless, seemingly simple stories we have long loved. Here wonder and truth have serious bite.

Audiobook contains: Accession of the Stone Born Death doesn't always ride a pale horse: Gavin Randall hasn’t been home in nearly thirty years. Upon his return, he discovers that he’s one of the rarest beings in the supernatural community - a Stone Born. Dust Walkers: When newly minted vigil Gavin Randall is summoned to a small town in New Mexico, the last thing he’s expecting is to have to fight a cartel of necromancers, and Shades of Fire & Ash: fanatics hellbent on destroying Gavin Randall, his friends, and the Archive itself have surfaced.

Tales from the Eerie Canal weaves the sinister mystery of Edgar Allan Poe with the dark humor of Edward Gorey. No canal. No Lake Erie. Just a stream of the disturbing splashed with bits of the absurd.

"Everything You've Always Wanted" by Mick Garris: It was supposed to be the night of his life - a celebration of his one hit slasher flick. But the price of admission is higher than this has-been filmmaker ever could have imagined. "The Land of Sunshine" by Kealan Patrick Burke: Although she was mute long before the affair that nearly wrecked their marriage, her silence has tortured her husband ever since. Now he will seek out what he has lost or be driven mad by remorse.

A mere child yet a precocious writer, young Freddie records a series of terrifying encounters with an inhuman being that haunts his life and seems to predict his death. When an award-winning horror writer on the downward slope of a long career receives an invitation to address the Essex County Science Fiction Group, he figures that he's got nothing to lose. Though she's adopted by the cool kids, the new girl at Renfield High School is most drawn to Nancy Wilhoit, who claims to be haunted.

"The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft contains all the original stories which Lovecraft wrote as an adult. It begins in 1917 with "The Tomb" and ends in 1935 with his last original work "The Haunter of the Dark." The book is ordered chronologically by the date the story was written.

Getrude Bennet has been called the "most important woman writer of fantasy between Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1759-1797) and C.L. Moore (1911-1987)". This is a complete collection of short stories by the woman who first explored the dark fantasy worlds of the modern era. This book contains tales that were originally published in Weird Tales, Argosy, and All-Story Weekly between 1918-1923.