Dark Library

Revolting rhymes - Did you think Cinderella married the prince and lived happily ever after, or that the three little pigs outsmarted the wolf? Think again! Master storyteller Roald Dahl adds his own darkly comic twists to six favorite tales, complete with rambunctious rhymes and hilarious surprise endings. Dirty beasts - Roald Dahl's inimitable style and humor shine in this collection of poems about mischievous and mysterious animals. From Stingaling the scorpion to Crocky-Wock the crocodile, Dahl's animals are nothing short of ridiculous.

A year ago, Cal Thompson was a college freshman more interested in meeting girls and partying than in attending biology class. Now, after a fateful encounter with a mysterious woman named Morgan, biology has become, literally, Cal's life. Cal was infected by a parasite that has a truly horrifying effect on its host. Cal himself is a carrier, unchanged by the parasite, but he's infected the girlfriends he's had since Morgan. All three have turned into the ravening ghouls Cal calls Peeps. The rest of us know them as vampires.

Amala has spent her whole life trying to be the perfect princess: delicate, quiet, obedient. But when she’s murdered on the night of her wedding, her story is cut short before it begins. Kha’dasia has been told her whole life that she is too rough, too loud, too much. She’s no ordinary princess but a ruthless warrior on a quest to fulfill her late brother’s dying wish. Except she dies before reaching her destination. When both girls wake up in a cursed forest, the gods offer them a second chance at life—if they can find true love’s kiss.

On the mean streets of Altdorf, Guard Captain 'Filthy Harald' Kleindeist investigates a series of gruesome murders that take him into the upper echelons of Imperial society and expose horrors beyond imagining.

Eighteen-year-old Xifeng is beautiful. The stars say she is destined for greatness, that she is meant to be empress of Feng Lu. But only if she embraces the darkness within her. Growing up as a peasant in a forgotten village, Xifeng longs to fulfill the destiny promised to her by her cruel aunt, the witch Guma, who has read the cards and seen glimmers of Xifeng's majestic future. But is the price of the throne too high? Because in order to achieve greatness, she must spurn the young man who loves her and exploit the callous magic that runs through her veins.

In the dark and dangerous Warhammer world, the desperate and the depraved live hand in glove. In this anthology of stories, reacquaint yourself with some of its more morally ambiguous denizens, including ‘Filthy’ Harald Kleindeinst and the scryer Rosanna Ophuls, Baron Johann von Mecklenberg, playwright and self-confessed genius Detlef Sierck and, of course, the vampire Genevieve.

In rural Caball Hollow, surrounded by the vast National Forest, the James women serve up more than fried green tomatoes at the Harvest Moon diner, where the family recipes are not the only secrets. Like her sisters, Linden was born with an unusual ability. She can taste what others are feeling, but this so-called gift soured her relationship with the vexingly attractive Cole Spencer one fateful night a year ago . . . A night when Linden vanished into the depths of the Forest and returned with no memories of what happened, just a litany of questions.

Merrick Darling’s life as daughter of the Manor Lord of Sussex is better than most. Unlike the commoners, she is immune to the toxic fog that encroached on England generations earlier. She will never become a Phantom—one of the monstrous creatures that stalk her province’s borders—and as long as the fires burn to hold them back, her safety is ensured. She wants for nothing, yet she will never inherit her family’s Manor. She must marry smartly or live at the kindness of her elder sister, Essie. Everything is turned on its head, though, when Merrick’s father dies suddenly.

Jess Wong is Angie Redmond's best friend. And that's the most important thing, even if Angie can't see how Jess truly feels. Being the girl no one quite notices is OK with Jess anyway. If nobody notices her, she's free to watch everyone else. But when Angie begins to fall for Margot Adams, a girl from the nearby boarding school, Jess can see it coming a mile away. Suddenly her powers of observation are more a curse than a gift.

Welcome to Blackwood Academy: the legendary school located at the fringes of the afterlife, where students are fated to spend rest of eternity shepherding lost souls. Once a pupil enters the school's arched gates, there is no way out…except for the Decennial, a once-in-a-decade celebration that rewards nominees who pass its trials with a choice: formally graduate and join Blackwood's magical elite, or venture into the unknown and cross over to the mysterious Other Side.

The Nightbirds were once their city’s best-kept secret, but now the secret’s out. What’s more, they can do feats of magic no one has seen in centuries. They’re like the Fyrebirds of old: the powerful women who once moved mountains, parted seas, and led armies. Some say that when four join together, they become a force that shakes the earth and sends magic rippling through it. It does seem as if something has awoken in Eudea, but the four girls responsible don’t want the world to know the full extent of what they can do—at least not yet.

Mara Carlyle's senior year is going as normally as could be expected, until - wa-bam! - fellow senior Katelyn Ogden explodes during third period precalc. Katelyn is the first, but she won't be the last teenager to blow up without warning or explanation. As the seniors continue to pop like balloons and the national eye turns to Mara's suburban New Jersey hometown, the FBI rolls in, and the search for a reason is on.

Violet is a prophet and a liar, influencing the royal court with her cleverly phrased—and not always true—divinations. Honesty is for suckers, like the oh-so-not charming Prince Cyrus, who plans to strip Violet of her official role once he’s crowned at the end of the summer—unless Violet does something about it. But when the king asks her to falsely prophesy Cyrus's love story for an upcoming ball, Violet awakens a dreaded curse, one that will end in either damnation or salvation for the kingdom—all depending on the prince’s choice of future bride.

An inky beast attacks the library and bookshelves of a small mountain town. The Librarian and the Specialist must track the monster down before it obliterates every book in its sludgy path.

Fiercely feminist and set in a thrilling, intoxicating world evoking the Jazz Age—full of speakeasies with magic cocktails, sharp-edged, duplicitous glamour, and handsome rogue alchemists—Nightbirds is an exciting debut fantasy that dazzles as powerful girls emerge from the shadows to determine their own fates.

Somadina and her twin brother, Jayaike, are practically the same person: they finish each other's sentences and make each other whole. When the twins come of age, their magical gifts begin to develop, but while Jayaike's powers enchant, Somadina's cause fear to ripple through her town. Always an outsider, Somadina now faces blatant--and dangerous--hostility. And things go from bad to worse when her brother—the one person she trusted—vanishes. Somadina knows that no matter the dangers, she must track him down.

Prince Magnus has just witnessed torture, death, and miracles during the bloody confrontation that decimated the rebel forces. Now he must choose between family and justice as his father, the cruel King Gaius, sets out to conquer all of Mytica. All Gaius needs now are the Kindred - the four elemental crystals that give godlike powers to their owner. But the King of Blood is not the only one hunting for this ancient, storied magic...

After everything that went down at Steele House, Hendricks just wants her life to return to normal. Prom is coming up, and the school is in full preparation mode. Hendricks tries to pitch in, to mimic her best friend Portia's enthusiasm, but the events of the last few months still haunt her. Steele House. Raven. Eddie.

There are many secrets in the dark places of the Old World. From the cities of the Empire, where men huddle together in defiance of the darkness that sweeps across the land, to the vast, savage forests that house all manner of terrible beasts, everywhere you look there is a dark tale or ancient legend waiting to be unearthed. For the vampire Genevieve Dieudonné, several of these ancient horrors and blood-soaked nightmares are about to come to light, as she is plunged into battles for her life and her very soul across three linked novellas.

Cassel always thought he was an ordinary guy, until he realized his memories were being manipulated by his brothers. Now he knows the truth - he’s the most powerful curse worker around. A touch of his hand can transform anything - or anyone - into something else. That was how Lila, the girl he loved, became a white cat. Cassel was tricked into thinking he killed her, when actually he tried to save her. Now that she’s human again, he should be overjoyed. Trouble is, Lila’s been cursed to love him. And if Lila’s love is as phony as Cassel’s made-up memories, then he can’t believe anything she says or does.