Short Horror

First published in the US in 1988 and in the UK in 1990, The Wine-Dark Sea contains eight unsettling stories that explore protagonists' fears and desires, at once illogical and terrifying, and culminate in a disturbing and enigmatic ending. Aickman's "strange stories" (his preferred term for them) are a subtle exploration of psychological displacement and paranoia; his characters ordinary people that are gradually drawn into the darker recesses of their own minds. For fans of the horror genre, Robert Aickman is a must read.

Wander through visions of the most terrible of angels, the Seven who would undo the world. Venture through Hell and back, and lands more terrestrial and darker still. Linger a while in childhoods, and seasons of change by turns tragic and monstrously transformative. Lose yourself amongst the haunted and those who can't let go, in relationships that might have been and never were. Witness in dreams and reflections, hungers and horrors, the shadows cast upon the wall, and linger in forests deep.

Few authors can claim to have marked a genre so thoroughly and personally that their words have leaked into every aspect of modern pop culture. Clive Barker is such an author, and the Books of Blood marked his debut - his coming out to the world - in brilliant, unforgettable fashion. Crossroad Press is proud to present Clive Barker's Books of Blood in digital for the first time.

Lovecraft in a Time of Madness is a collection of 21 horrifying tales, inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Featuring stories from across the globe, this anthology unveils a universe of macabre ritual, terrifying creatures, and those brave souls who dare challenge the nature of the unknown! From Arthurian legends to the very depths of the Mariana Trench and the darkest corners of the human mind, Lovecraft in a Time of Madness oozes with unique takes on some of Lovecraft’s most formidable creations.

Adolescence is a time of "firsts." First kiss. First love. First loss. First job. And in this case, a very different type of "first": murder. This short story collection of murder mysteries adds a sinister spin to the joy and pain of firsts that have always been a major part of life, whether it be high school cliques who take the term "backstabbing" too seriously, stumbling upon a body on the way home from school, or receiving a Snapchat message that promises something deadly.

A newborn’s absent face appears on the back of someone else’s head, a filmmaker goes to gruesome lengths to achieve the silence he’s after for his final scene, and a therapist begins, impossibly, to appear in a troubled patient's room late at night. In these stories of doubt, delusion, and paranoia, no belief, no claim to objectivity, is immune to the distortions of human perception. Here, self-deception is a means of justifying our most inhuman impulses—whether we know it or not.

Perfect for fans of Carmen Maria Machado and Kelly Link, Jo Paquette’s Stories I Told My Dead Lover contains eight searing tales of psychological horror that probe the darkest and most deeply buried parts of the human psyche. A child is forced to grow up too soon. A woman trusts her doctor too much. An abandoned woman isn’t as alone as she thinks. An idyllic holiday masks an unspeakable act of violence. Driven, desperate, fighting for the power to choose their own fate, Paquette’s characters dare to push back at the walls that hold them in.

An excellent collection of creepy ghost stories from some of the most notable names of early horror fiction, including: “The Willows” by Algernon Blackwood, “The Shadows On The Wall” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, “The Messenger” by Robert W.Chambers, “Lazarus” by Leonid Andreyev, “The Beast With Five Fingers” by W.F. Harvey, “The Mass Of Shadows” by Anatole France, “What Was It” by Fitz-James O’brien, “The Middle Toe Of The Right Foot” by Ambrose Bierce, “The Shell Of Sense” by Olivia Howard Dunbar, and more!

The Ultimate Ghost Stories Collection is a fully indexed collection of classic ghost stories, read by three Audie-winning narrators. Included here are stories by Henry James, M.R. James, Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Dickens, Edith Wharton and Washington Irving.

Another great book from Rusty Wilson, Bigfoot expert and storyteller. This is the third audiobook in Rusty's collection of Bigfoot Campfire stories, tales for both the Bigfoot believer and those who just enjoy a good story!

This audiobook is a compilation of three of Rusty's audiobooks ("Ten Intense Bigfoot Campfire Stories," "Six Short Bigfoot Campfire Stories," and "Hairy Trio of Bigfoot Campfire Stories").

Thirteen classic stories of horror and the supernatural by some of the greatest writers in the genre. This compilation includes a mix of well-known classics by authors such as Edith Nesbit, J. Sheridan Le Fanu and M. R. James, alongside several tales by less familiar names who were hugely popular and prolific in their day.

Brian Evenson’s hallucinatory and darkly comic stories of paranoia, pursuit, sensory deprivation, amnesia, and retribution rattle the cages of the psyche and peer into the gaping moral chasm that opens when we become estranged from ourselves. From sadistic bosses with secret fears to a woman trapped in a mime’s imaginary box, and from a post-apocalyptic misidentified Messiah to unwitting portraitists of the dead, the mind-bending world of this modern-day Edgar Allan Poe exposes the horror contained within our daily lives.

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.

What William Gibson did for science fiction, China Miéville has done for fantasy, shattering old paradigms with fiercely imaginative works of startling, often shocking, intensity. Now from this brilliant writer comes a groundbreaking collection of stories, many of them previously unavailable in the United States, and including four never-before-published tales - one set in Miéville’s signature fantasy world of New Crobuzon.

For fans of the oral history genre phenomenon World War Z, a worldwide plague of insomnia creates a devastating new apocalypse. Sleep Over is collection of waking nightmares, a scrapbook of the haunting and poignant stories from those trapped in a world where the pillars of society are crumbling, and madness is slowly descending on a planet without rest.

A small-town carpenter exterminates a nest of ravenous insects, only to find them building a new home deep within his flesh. A brilliant doctor’s medication unleashes supernatural vengeance upon a pair of remorseless killers. And a peaceful camping trip becomes a blood-soaked nightmare, when a local legend is unleashed….

A woman falling out of sync with the world; a king’s servant hypnotized by his murderous horse; a transplanted ear with a mind of its own—the characters in these 25 stories live as interlopers in a world shaped by mysterious disappearances and unfathomable discrepancies between the real and imagined, revealing the breadth and depth of Evenson’s uncanny vision.

This statement was true when H. P. Lovecraft first wrote it at the beginning of the twentieth century, and it remains true at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The only thing that has changed is what is unknown. 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. But this light creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year, edited by Ellen Datlow, chronicles these shifting shadows.

Welcome to Volume Five of one of the world's largest collections of high quality, classic horror short-story audiobooks. If you're at home, then get some logs ready and put on your most comfortable slippers, as we kick things off with Doug Bradley's well-researched introduction to the authors and stories featured in this volume....

Wellman’s work will be remembered, and should be preserved because it combines the dark gothic tradition of the American pulps with a detailed snapshot of regional history and culture. This mixture is shown through the lens of the American modernist tradition, revealing something that is larger than the sum of its parts.