Short Horror

Not all monsters are fantasy. Some are very real, and they walk among us. They're our friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers. They're the people we're supposed to trust...and they know it. Contained within this anthology are 35 never-before-published works by supremely talented authors and best-selling novelists. Brace yourself for the unexpected and unimaginable horror of...human monsters.

A WWI U-Boat attack strands a group of sailors on a mysterious landmass teeming with deadly scavengers. Quitting smoking turns out to be hazardous for your health, when a nicotine addict tries to break a shaman’s spell. And an FBI agent hot on the trail of a serial killer finds a string of terrifying clues, all leading to what he fears the most.

The Fogg River Seminary, a girls’ school in a small Illinois town, is supposed to be just another stop on Maryse and Vasyl’s endless travels. They’ve made lucrative use of Maryse’s “foreign” looks in their melodramatic séance act—and an act is all it is. Then, during their performance, a blizzard sweeps in and cuts them off from town completely. In the freezing halls, there’s a voice speaking the secrets of the dead, and Maryse has no choice but to listen…because this time, the voice is real.

It’s business as usual on the set of another cheap sword-and-sandal production by Pharos Pictures—until the lead actress suddenly falls into a deep, mysterious sleep. Jordan Harper can talk down high-strung starlets and knock sense into stuntmen, but this…this is the kind of uncanny problem that he’d usually bring to Mrs. Hope. Unfortunately, the preternaturally capable secretary is on a business trip with the studio head. Harper must get to the bottom of the mystery on his own before another cast member succumbs—or worse, they blow the budget.

Acclaimed throughout the underground horror world, J.R. Hamantaschen’s stories push the boundaries and refuse to conform to the usual conventions. A mix of nihilism, cosmic horror, and weird fiction, this collection is a must-read for anyone who craves the dark and disturbing.

Andrew Sachs reads these four classic stories of suspense - "The Signalman" by Charles Dickens, "The Haunted Doll's House" by M. R. James, "The Room in the Tower" by E. F. Benson, and "The Bus-Conductor" by E. F. Benson. These spine-tingling tales, from the golden age of the ghost story, are sure to leave you with a creeping sense of dread.

The tale of a man who unwittingly angers a sorcerer, who is assumed by some Monty scholars to be based on the self-styled 'Great Beast,' occultist Aleister Crowley. Montague Rhodes James was a noted British mediaeval scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918) and of Eton College (1918–1936). He is best remembered for his ghost stories which are widely regarded as among the finest in English literature.

This stunning anthology of classic colonial suspense fiction plunges deep into the native soil from which American horror literature first sprang. While European writers of the Gothic and bizarre evoked ruined castles and crumbling abbeys, their American counterparts looked back to the colonial era’s stifling religion, and its dark and threatening woods.

From the incomparable master of horror and suspense comes an electrifying collection of contemporary literary horror, with stories from 25 writers representing today’s most talented voices in the genre. Horror writing is usually associated with formulaic gore, but New Wave horror writers have more in common with the wildly inventive, evocative spookiness of Edgar Allan Poe than with the sometimes-predictable hallmarks of their peers. Showcasing this cutting-edge talent, Poe’s Children now brings the best of the genre’s stories to a wider audience.

Although werewolves are a classic monster standard, The Horror Zine’s Book of Werewolf Stories breathes fresh, terrifying life into the horrifying concept of human-to-wolf transformations. Packed with original, never-before published stories of unique and contemporary takes on lycanthropy, this spine-chilling anthology presents exciting, refreshing new ideas that won’t fail to impress even the most jaded horror fans. Brought to you by the established, award-winning ezine and print magazine, only the best and most suspenseful tales can be found here.

Two greedy brothers receive a chilling surprise when they try to take advantage of a homeless man. Something in the backyard wrecks vengeance when burglars break into a family's secluded home. And poker night takes a different turn when one of the players fall victim to murder….

Katie Berry, award-winning author of CLAW: A Canadian Thriller would like you to meet Kitty Welch, a working girl who never thought her day would end this way: On the run, and on the dinner menu. When an appointment with a client goes awry, working girl Kitty finds her day becoming much, much more than she ever bargained for, leading her on a wild adventure of greed, obsession, and a date with destiny. Now, all she has to do is survive....

It was the eye. The dull, sightless, vulture's eye that shredded his final nerve. But the murder was done so carefully, so perfectly, that only one thing could reveal the whereabouts of the body. B. J. Harrison gives a masterful reading of the famous murder that wouldn't keep quiet. This audiobook was the #3 best-selling audiobook in 2008 at the iTunes Music Store!

Jackson Arthur’s A Splash of Crimson is a thrilling collection of seven strange tales filled with creeping dread. A young couple on the brink of a breakup is drawn to an empty church, where they must confront the darkness within. When June King attempts suicide, she discovers a strange and impossible door, leading to unimaginable horrors.

SickEST B*stards continues from the end of SickER B*stards. To understand this short story and wrap up the events of Sick B*stards, you need to listen to the previous two titles.

It was a killer year for horror fiction of the harder kind. Authors, editors, and publishers presented readers with some startling works of horrific imagination, stories graphic in the extreme yet with subtleties suggesting larger meanings, tales that explore humanity by plumbing depths of soulless inhumanity and, in some cases, outright depravity. The stories here represent the best of them, disturbing tales that dig deep and take you into the dark heart of horror itself, unrelenting and unapologetic.

Editors Randy Chandler and Cheryl Mullenax put the call out to horror writers and editors of extreme stories, the hardcore stuff that breaks boundaries and trashes taboos, the transgressive tales you can't "unread" (as Chuck Palahniuk says). Some of the stories you'll find here are loaded with very graphic descriptions of violence, sex, and depravities, while others may contain only one shocking moment of brutality. In others, the hardcore aspect may be less graphic and subtler than you might expect.

An alien intelligence controls the minds of a doomsday cult. Dark gods manipulate a serial killer. A jungle cult sacrifices tourists to a giant snake god. A shadow creature feeds on a hapless woman. Be forewarned: as you step into The Temple of Battered Bones, these and other unique and spine-chilling tales will pull you deeper into its cryptic halls. Be prepared, for some who enter never truly leave…

Imagine Monty Python writes horror...Welcome to the wonderfully horrific world of Bizarro - that dark, forbidding corner of the horror genre where absolutely anything goes and one may delve into the farthest recesses of the authors' warped imaginations. Prepare yourself, dear listener, for a journey into the unknown reaches of terror, from which you can only hope you will return with your sanity intact...

From best-selling horror author Lee Mountford comes a terrifying short story collection that is certain to chill the blood. These short stories are guaranteed to have you sleeping with the light on. Dive into the perfect entry point to Lee Mountford's dark and twisted universe. An abandoned hospital that isn't as empty as it first seems. Two police officers pay a visit to an old industrial unit...and walk right into hell. A mysterious box that brings with it a terrible secret. A strange farm with an insidious past. These are some of the stories you'll find in this collection.