Horror Urban Fiction

Jane Finch wishes her problems ended with a bad commute and no coffee. But when she and her beloved Great Dane, Schrodinger, emerge from a locked room they discover a city changed for the undead. Zombies are everywhere. Some are endlessly cycling through their last actions, others have turned feral—and hungry. Jane and Schroddie's best chance for survival? Reaching her parents' bunker on the city's north shore. Not an easy commute on foot—when surrounded by zombies. Dodging stray bullets and feral zombies is one thing. But soon Jane realizes one of the zombies is following her.

Two sisters, haunted by more than their past... Just weeks after discovering each other’s existence, Jess and Hannah Ballard arrive at Fairhaven Hall, where they will learn the clandestine ways of the Durupinen, an ancient sect of women who control the Gateways between the worlds of the living and the dead. Though they are considered outcasts by most of their classmates, Jess and Hannah are determined to learn what they can to fulfill their responsibility to the many ghosts that haunt them. But danger, it seems, has followed them as closely as a shadow to their new home.

Necroscope®: The Last of the Lost Years, Volume 2, the 20th volume in Brian Lumley's Necroscope® series, contains two short novels, one long novella, one short story, and a closing piece entitled Resurrection. Each of these, except the short story, (Old Man With A Blade where Harry is pursued by the Grim Reaper), feature the Necroscope, Harry Keogh, during this final (?) period of his life known as "The Lost Years".

Something has stolen the darkling mage's face. Reports of arcane theft and violence are pouring in from all over Valero. They all have one thing in common: a perpetrator who looks exactly like Dustin Graves. But Dust has been hanging in the hideout, barely out of sight of his bloodthirsty companions. An impostor is clearly on the prowl, and soon a vampire clan, the Lorica, and even Dust's own allies are giving him hell for crimes he didn't commit.

Nikolai is a dragon shapeshifter who knows well the meaning of loss. Orphaned and raised to be a Dragon King, he never accepts defeat. Now, Nikolai prefers his solitude...until a beautiful, irresistible woman calls upon him for help - and Nikolai's whole world goes up in flames. Ever since MI5 agent Esther woke to discover her mind taken over with magic, she feels like a stranger to herself. She looks to a notorious dragon, one who has the power to help her find her memory. But as she and Nikolai come closer to discovering what really happened to her, a dangerous passion ignites between them.

Calcuta, 1932: el corazón de las tinieblas. Un tren en llamas atraviesa la ciudad. Un espectro de fuego siembra el terror en las sombras de la noche. Pero eso no es más que el principio. En la víspera de cumplir dieciséis años, Ben, Sheere y sus amigos de la Chowbar Society deberán enfrentarse al más terrible enigma de la historia de la ciudad de los palacios. La gente que puebla sus calles sabe que la verdadera historia fue escrita en las páginas invisibles de sus espíritus, en sus maldiciones calladas y ocultas.

Fifteenth-century Venice is a safe haven for the masterless dregs of the vampire world, a city where they can live without the fear of retribution for violating another's territory. Still, there are plenty of ways for a young vampire to die in the glittering city, a lesson that prince turned pauper Mircea Basarab must learn quickly. But there are opportunities, too - in the service of a secretive courtesan, in the bed of a beautiful senator, and in the hunt for an ancient assassin.

M.J., her partner Gilley, and their client, the wealthy, de-lish Dr. Steven Sable, are at his family's lodge, where his grandfather allegedly jumped to his death from the roof-although Sable says it was foul play. But the patriarch's isn't the only ghost around. The place is lousy with souls, all with something to get off their ghoulish chests. Now M.J. will have to quell the clamor-and listen for a voice with the answers...

Collector Benjamin Byrd has added a new and eerie item to his archives: a set of fangs embedded in silver. As he grows more and more obsessed with his new treasure, he finds himself experiencing dreams and visionary adventures. Soon Benjamin's normal, successful routine is transformed beyond anything he ever imagined; he has to confront the truth that he is no longer simply human.

Wynn Hygeorht arrives at the Guild of Sagecraft, bearing texts supposedly penned by vampires. Seized by the Guild's scholars without Wynn's consent, several pages disappear - and two sages are found murdered. Convinced the Noble Dead are responsible for the killings, Wynn embarks on a quest to uncover the secrets of the texts....

Framed for a casino massacre, Harmony and Jessie are on the run - in the real world and in their own. From the seedy casinos of Atlantic City to the steamy bayous of Louisiana and the imposing facades of Washington, DC, there's not a soul on earth they can trust. The only way they can clear their names is to take down the conspiracy from within and uncover the truth behind a secret that both the government and the powers of hell want to keep buried.

The Oblivion Guard is trying to kill Cain. That should be impossible. After all, Cain has a bargain with the summer and winter queens that keeps him safe from them directly or indirectly harming him. Cain discovers that many of these would-be assassins come from Alpha and Beta dimensions, and they seem to have found a loophole that allows them to kill him without harming the queens. Anyone associated with Cain is fair game, and Aura and Layla are forced to hide out at Sanctuary with Cain. But not even his secret hideout is safe anymore.

All Susannah Simon wants is to make a good impression at her first job since graduating from college (and since becoming engaged to Dr. Jesse de Silva). But when she's hired as a guidance counselor at her alma mater, she stumbles across a decade-old murder, and soon ancient history isn't all that's coming back to haunt her. Old ghosts as well as new ones are coming out of the woodwork, some to test her, some to vex her, and it isn't only because she's a mediator gifted with second sight.

This anthology details encounters with ghosts, loved ones that have passed, evil spirits, lost entities, devious spectors, and haunting encounters that’ll send a chill of dread tickling up your spine. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. There’s almost certainly a ghost or two reading over your shoulder now. This anthology makes a great gift for the horror fan in your life, perfect for the storyteller that loves to scare others around a campfire, or for anyone who thinks ghosts aren’t real!

If it was left to her, Ife Adebola wouldn’t be starting at Nithercott School. Because despite her being in the Urban Achievers scholarship program, her parents can barely afford the tuition. No matter who is trying to be friends with her, like her classmate Bijal, or how much the prestigious boarding school tries to pull her in, Ife is determined not to get caught up in any of it. But when another student, Malika, begins acting strange, Ife can’t help but wonder if there’s more going on at Nithercott than she realizes.

Gorgons might be stony-faced but they know how to rock. After his adventure in an apocalyptic alternate dimension, Cain is ready for some downtime and mangoritas. But when a gorgon asks Cain to help her remove the curse of Medusa from her bloodline, he sees an opportunity to learn about his origins. He might even be able to help Aura with her curse. Three birds with one stone seems like a pretty good deal. Their quest leads them to the Shalthaes Woodlands, a.k.a., the Dead Forest. Somewhere inside lies the lost city of Fyeth Elunore and its ancient library that may hold answers.

Dan Shamble, zombie PI, is on the case, trying to stop an all-out gang war between full-time and full-moon werewolves. As he combs through the tangled clues to hunt down the bald facts, things get hairy fast. Shamble lurches through a loony landscape of voodoo tattoo artists, illicit cockatrice fights, body builders assembling make-your-own human kits, and perhaps scariest of all, crazed fans in town for the Worldwide Horror Convention. Yet the reign of hair-raising terror grows longer. If Shamble can't snip this off at the roots, the whole world could end up howling mad.

Yig, known as the Serpent God, is older than humanity, and Yig’s reptilian children once ruled the Earth. Now they are stirring in their caves, walking the Earth in forms not quite human, slowly and patiently preparing their plans. Those who stumble on their secrets are in deadly danger...but only they can prevent the return of our darkest fears.

All the official reports say they are dead—extinct since the late ’80s, when a fed named Arkeley nailed the last vampire in a fight that nearly killed him. But Arkeley knows what most people don’t: there is one left. In an abandoned asylum she is rotting, plotting, and biding her time in a way that only the undead can. When state trooper Laura Caxton calls the FBI looking for help in the middle of the night, it is Arkeley who gets the assignment.

When Valora Keri was six years old, she was tired of being bullied. So she did what any kid in her shoes would do: She freed a cat-demon in exchange for the power to fight back. She might have accidentally killed her mother in the process. Since then, she’s tried to balance the scales by living a good life in post-collapse San Francisco, tending bar in a seedy club and acting as protector for the girls who work there.