Dark Paranormal Mystery

The Pageant is almost over, and Gwyneth West knows she can win - except the prince is a vampire, and some of the other contestants are turning out to be quite beastly. What do you do when the person you love might want to eat you alive? Struggling to hold onto her position in the palace, Gwyn knows her vampire prince could slip through her fingers in an instant. And when human rebels threaten to storm the vampire royals once more, Gwyn finds herself caught between two worlds: her people and the vampire she loves.

For more than 30 years, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror fans crave. Now, with the 11th volume of the series, Daltow's back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night. With each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. This light creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year chronicles these shifting shadows.

I'm a werewolf King who chose to step down out of grief for my mate. For centuries I've been alone, choosing to live a life of modesty despite the wealth surrounding me. I deserve to be punished. I crave things I have no business craving. And it is manifesting itself in a way I'm terrified I won't be able to control any longer. Especially since she arrived: a vampire orphan - beaten beyond recognition. My blood calls to her in a way that makes no sense. I'm a wolf. She's a vampire. The two don't mate.

When Kylie Galen entered Shadow Falls Camp, she left her old life behind forever and discovered a world more magical than she ever imagined. A place where you’re two best friends can be a witch and a vampire… and where love doesn’t happen the way you’d expect. When Kylie’s most powerful enemy returns to destroy her once and for all, there’s only one way to stop him - to step into her full powers and make a stunning transformation.

As a child, Henry Cadmus lived on Catalina Island, a scenic vacationland off the Southern California coast. But Henry's experiences were far from idyllic. Today, even though Henry has seen firsthand the horrors of war, the ghastly images that haunt his dreams are ones he associates with his childhood... and the island: a snarling pig-man holding a cleaver; a jackal-headed woman on a high balcony, dripping blood; strange occult rituals... and worse. If it was up to Henry, he would avoid the island entirely.

Ishmael Jones and his partner Penny have been despatched to assist a group of scientists who are investigating a mysterious black hole which has appeared on a Somerset hillside. Could it really be a doorway to another dimension, an opening into another world? When one of the scientists disappears into the hole - with fatal consequences - Ishmael must prove whether it was an accident - or murder. But with no clues, no witnesses, and no apparent motive, he has little to go on. Is there an alien predator at large, or is an all-too-human killer responsible?

In the war-torn rubble of the human world, can a rebel elf and a lost dragon prince find love, or will a dark threat tear them and their world apart forever? A new land, a new court, a new king, but some things never change. Broken in all ways, Akiem fled his life as the amethyst prince only to land at the mercy of the beautiful but deadly diamond king, Luceran. Akiem knows dragons. He knows he’ll die today, tomorrow, whenever Luceran’s executioner brings down his axe, and maybe it’s all he deserves.

Brenda Strange is back and is spooked by a fishy apparition that leaves wet footprints behind. During her most current murder investigation, she's got the living and the dead wanting a piece of the action.

Until next time. That was chilling promise made to Ollie, Coco and Brian after they outsmarted the smiling man at Mount Hemlock Resort. And as the trio knows, the smiling man always keeps his promises. So when the lights flicker on and off at Brian's family's inn and a boom sounds at the door, there's just one visitor it could be. Only, there's no one there, just a cryptic note left outside signed simply as - S.

Seth never expected he would want to settle down with anyone - but that was before Aislinn. She is everything he'd ever dreamed of, and he wants to be with her forever. Forever takes on new meaning, though, when your girlfriend is an immortal faery queen.

The gods never should have opened Pandora's Box...Nate Temple has been abducted by Zeus and is thrown into the middle of an Olympian family feud that could very well kick off the Omega War all by itself. There is one weapon that Zeus believes will turn the tide. Pandora's Box. But his neglect left it on earth for far too long, and Pandora has found a new master to serve. Nate Temple. Because Zeus put one thing inside the box that he never should have...hope. And hope is a dangerous thing to leave unattended...

Blasphemy is a victimless crime...Callie Penrose has taken over Castle Dracula all for herself, finally feeling like she has time to take a breath and relax. But the forces of Heaven and Hell have other plans. Callie quickly learns that removing her mother’s protection of binding Excalibur to her soul had very serious consequences. Namely, that it unleashed the Seven Deadly Sins on Kansas City. But they aren’t in town for mayhem - not directly. They came for a wedding. And a very dark prophecy that could bring the age-old Angel War to the streets of the City of Fountains.

Summer in New Orleans means hot days, humid nights, and the constant threat of hurricanes. Like most people in the Big Easy, Laz has weathered his fair share of storms, but the city is about to get hit by the biggest hurricane in recorded history, a hurricane with a supernatural source. As the people around him prepare to evacuate, Laz is pulled into a game of cat and mouse with the Norse god, Loki. To survive, he'll have to work with old enemies and make a few new friends. To win, he'll have to beat the trickster god at his own game.

In a quiet city in British Columbia, vampires stalk a hospital, looking for victims to milk, kill, or recruit as partial vampires that instinctively desire humans for their life-giving blood. Although Jude loves the power of being a partial vampire, which includes shapeshifting into whatever he wants, he struggles with guilt over the harm his vampiric nature may cause. His human side clings to his past, but as a vampire he has access to a world of power, immortality, and liberation from human limitations.

Big things are happening for Maeve and her tight-knit coven in Kilbeg, Ireland. Fiona lands a role on a TV show, Roe’s band is poised to hit the big leagues, and Lily is embracing a new style and outlook. Then there’s Maeve, whose magic is growing stronger all the time. Yet she finds herself increasingly lashing out, doing and saying cruel things without knowing why.

Ever since her sister became a man-eating spider and slaughtered her way through town, nineteen-year-old Ness has been terrified—terrified of some other Nightmare murdering her, and terrified of ending up like her sister. Because in Newham, the city that never sleeps, dreaming means waking up as your worst fear.

Erin: I've lost the love of my life. He's been captured by my father, the king of demons, and taken to the underworld, a place that is out of my reach. There's only one way to get him back. I have to restore the Soul Bond - the magical connection that binds Rey and I together. The bond I willingly broke. Rey: Being imprisoned in the underworld is no walk in the park. Torture and mind games are a daily thing down here. And I have a rotten feeling King Brikan has more planned for me than I'm willing to admit. To make my escape, I'll have to play dirty.

Mirella wants to be a normal college student...but she's far from normal. Since she was born, her mother has been hiding the truth. Mirella is a descendent of a powerful bloodline that spans centuries, a bloodline that gives her an uncontrollable sixth sense. Masked men desire her blood. Strangers long for her to join their cause, and a gorgeous man with magic of his own seeks to forge a forbidden bond between them.

Nineteen-year-old Ness used to have a vehement terror of Nightmares—people who’d been turned into their worst fears while they slept. Through two assassination attempts, an explosion, and a faustian bargain with a dream demon, she’s finally working through those fears.

Step into Shadow Falls, a camp for teens with supernatural powers. Here friendship thrives, love takes you by surprise, and our hearts possess the greatest magic of all. Kylie Galen wants the truth so badly she can taste it. The truth about who her real family is, the truth about which boy she’s meant to be with - and the truth about what her emerging powers mean. But she’s about to discover that some secrets can change your life forever…and not always for the better.