Urban Short Stories

In the dark corners of an obscure bookshop, where forgotten tales gathered dust and whispered secrets, there lay a peculiar collection. It was a compendium of bizarre and unsettling tales, shrouded in mystery and curiosity, known only as the “Uncollected Oddities.” Many claimed that these macabre stories were the creation of Edgar Allan Poe himself, his lost works banished from the public eye.

Many a confident urban lesbian in New York, San Francisco, and Chicago was once a wide-eyed newcomer. Every year thousands of young women arrive in these queer-friendly cities, seduced by downtown life and its erotic possibilities. In Where the Girls Are, D.L. King collects explicit memoirs and stories about these newly arrived country girls. Here are stories of first times, initiations, bars, dance clubs, and parties, reading (or misreading) the codes - and sometimes teaching those city girls a thing or two in the process.

A superb collection of 15 stories by an American master, E. L. Doctorow - the author of Ragtime, The March, The Book of Daniel, and Billy Bathgate. He has been called "a national treasure" by George Saunders. Doctorow's great topic, said Don DeLillo, is "the reach of American possibility, in which plain lives take on the cadences of history".

Following in the footsteps of its successful predecessors, Around the Way Girls Seven showcases three popular Urban Books authors and their versions of some very tough, street-smart girls. Nina and Mouse are a couple just trying to survive the hater nation. Only problem is Nina's a little paranoid when it comes to other women, and Mouse is usually guilty as charged. Fed up with Mouse's cheating, Nina begins to creep a little herself, but will her revenge blow up in her face?

Ivy Morgan and Jack Harker have been through the worst the world has to throw at them…and they’ve come out stronger and more in love on the other side. They’ve finally reached their happily ever after. They just have a few mysteries to survive before they embrace the big finale. This three-book omnibus includes: Wicked Honeymoon, Wicked Whispers, and Wicked Forever.

This collection contains three short stories: "The Vampire Hunter", "The Undead", and "The Gatekeeper".

Patrick Lafcadio Hearn, was an Irish writer known also by the Japanese name Koizumi Yakumo. His book Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, comprises two parts, the first being the "Kwaidan Proper" and the second, "Insect-Studies", which consists of an essay each on ants, butterflies and mosquitos. According to the author, most of the folk tales and ghost stories in the first part were translated from old Japanese texts. The themes encompass resurrection, sacrifice, magic, and the realm of dreams.

From best-selling author W.J. May - each shade is a different genre of the fantasy, paranormal and romance - all from different series!

What if you were raised to be a hooker and, worst of all, your father was your pimp? In "Keepin' It in the Family", this isn't just a nightmare for the Collins daughters, this is reality. Raised without the guidance of their mother, Diamond, Essence, and Chanel were forced onto the streets at a very young age. They were expected to make that money by any means necessary or face the wrath of their daddy, Dallas Collins. Can the girls band together to free themselves from Dallas?

Whether you believe in ghosts or not, it’s tough not to get freaked out when you’re alone and you hear something bump in the night or even hear a voice. The stories below will freak you out so it’s best to read these with someone. Preferably a friend and not a stranger you’ve decided to creep up behind on the street. My house was built in 1904. It is a single family home, wood frame setting on a concrete block foundation. I have been living here for about 12 years. Of all the weird things that my siblings and me have seen or heard in this house this one event is my favorite.

It’s bad enough that Hazel and Gray have defied the demands of Hazel’s foul stepfather. The Monster has forbidden their romance. Now they’ve awakened in the forest, phones dead, hours past curfew. But not far away is a grand estate in the middle of nowhere. The door is open. In this short story about choosing your own path, the fury of the Monster that awaits them back home may be nothing compared to what lies ahead.

That there is darkness at the heart of the Yuletide season should not surprise. Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is filled with scenes that are unsettling. The hideous children - Want and Ignorance - beneath the robe of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. In the finest versions of this story, the best parts are the terrifying parts. Best-selling author and editor Christopher Golden shares his love for Christmas horror stories with this anthology of all-new short fiction from some of the most talented and original writers of horror today.

Tessa Graham has loved Malus for years. They were once a wildly popular band, topping the charts and leaving broken hearts in their wake. But for the past five years, they've been playing the same old hits, incapable of creating anything new. As an assistant working for the band's record label, Tessa is given the opportunity of a lifetime. Her boss informs her that she must help the band write and record a new album - and she only has seven months to do it. If she succeeds, she's in line for a huge promotion. If she fails, she's fired. And so is the band.

Werewolves, vampires, witches, voodoo, Elvis - and weddings An "ordinary" wedding can get crazy enough, so can you imagine what happens when otherworldly creatures are involved? Nine of the hottest authors of paranormal fiction answer that question in this delightful collection of supernatural wedding stories.

A magical Christmas tale with supernatural paramedic Dean Flynn. Bryce, a Christmas elf, fell from his shelf. His leg is broken and he can’t give his report to Santa in time for Christmas Eve. Lucky for him, Extreme Medical Services paramedic to the supernatural Dean Flynn is on the job. With a few of his friends along for the ride, Dean responds to the call for help. Will he help Bryce in time to meet the “Big Guy” and his sleigh? Find out in this heart-warming Christmas tale. Pick up this urban fantasy holiday short story now!

On a hot summer’s day in Boston, US Marine turned Homicide Detective Reid Halsey finds himself in the middle of a deadly shootout with a murder suspect. When Lucas Soul, a seemingly innocent victim, rises from the dead moments after a fatal gunshot wound to the head, Reid comes to the shocking realization that the world he believes in may very well be a carefully fabricated lie masking an unearthly reality.

The (black) magical season is here - and whether it's a solstice seance gone demonically wrong with the incomparable Kim Harrison, a grossly misshapen Christmas with the remarkable Lynsay Sands, a blood-chilling-and-spilling New Year's with the wonderful Marjorie M. Liu, or a super-powered Thanksgiving with the phenomenal Vicki Pettersson, one thing is for certain: in the able hands of these exceptional dark side explorers, the holidays are going to be deliciously hellish!

From cakes to stakes, a celebration of everyone's favorite bloodsucking subculture by a baker's dozen of favorite authors. Each of these 13 original stories offers a fresh and unique take on what birthdays mean to the undead. From Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse attending a birthday party for Dracula to Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden battling bloodsucking party crashers, these suspenseful, surprising, sometimes dark, sometimes humorous stories will ensure paranormal fans will never think of vampires or birthdays quite the same again.

The Collection, Volume 2 contains the following 17 terrifying stories from Bentley Little's The Collection: "Monteith", "Paperwork", "Pillow Talk", "Roommates", "Skin", "The Baby", "The Idol", "The Mailman", "The Man in the Passenger Seat", "The Murmurous Haunt of Files", "The Phonebook Man", "The Pond", "The Potato", "The Sanctuary", "The Show", "The Washingtonians", "The Woods Be Dark".

The three awarded short stories for 2016: a short story full of suspense and thrilling events showing how to murder someone, pinning the kill on someone else; a quasi-biographical short story revealing embarrassing moments in a woman's life and her decision to take her life back (better later than never); the revelation of a quirks in the life of the inhabitants of a building that is about to be sold, the owner not knowing what he'd bring upon himself, had he sold the building.