The lighter side of the other side. Funny stories of Fantasy & Sci Fi. A drunken elf thief hooks up with a gray space alien; ancient astronauts are insisting we build pyramids the old fashioned way; ghost hunters battle decidedly non-Lovecraftian creatures; an infinite number of monkeys at typewriters plot rebellion; a vampire is on the run from his fans; a princess with a different kind of godmother; the antichrist discovers no one cares about his apocalypse, and many more. Tales of the supernatural, the fantastical, the super-scientific and the just plain hilarious.

THE MERMAID’S TALE In a city of majesty and brutality, of warring races and fragile alliances, a sacred Mermaid has been brutally murdered. An abomination, a soulless Orc is summoned to hunt the killer. As the world around the Orc drifts into war and madness, her search for justice leads her on a journey to discover redemption and even beauty in the midst of chaos. "He said the Arukh only had one word. It was their word for rage and for pain, for fighting and dying. It was a word spoken in sorrow and anger. It was the word they said to a world that didn't want them, that had no place for them. It was loneliness and defiance and in the end it was sorrow and surrender. 'Arrah' he told me, it was all the words the Arukh needed." “This book is violent and brutal and haunting and beautiful. If I could give this a sixth star, I would" - Michael R. Fletcher, Author of Beyond Redemption D.G. Valdron is an utterly fearless writer. Frankly, I think he's one of the most original writers available today. -- Amazing Stories Online “The Mermaid=s Tale is a fable of personhood wrapped in a murder mystery framed by a fantasy setting, peopled by familiar races that are presented in subtly original ways.” – Melanie Martila “I absolutely loved this book; it's already one I know I'll remember for a long time. I would never have thought a book about an orc would be one of the best existential works I've ever read.” - - Julia Pike-kelly

THE GIANT EARTHSIP ARK, DRIFTING THROUGH DEEP SPACE OVER EIGHT HUNDRED YEARS INTO THE FAR FUTURE, ITS PASSENGERS DESCENDANTS OF THE LAST SURVIVORS OF THE DEAD PLANET EARTH, LOCKED IN SEPARATE WORLDS HEADING FOR DESTRUCTION... The Starlost (1973). The most controversial Sci Fi Television series ever made. It began with high hopes, created by Harlan Ellison with participation by such luminaries as Ben Bova and Ursula K. LeGuin, featuring special effects by 2001: A Space Odyssey's Doug Trumbull, starring 2001's Keir Dullea. Somehow it all went wrong, Harlan Ellison denounced his creation, and the series became legendary as “the worst ever!' But was it really? Produced in Canada, constrained physically and financially, the show began to reflect Canadian issues and sensibilities, at a time when Canada and Canadians were going through a national identity crisis, forming a nation, building a culture and confronting challenges from regionalism within, to the overwhelming presence of the United States without. What was Canada? What did it and its people stand for, and where were they going? The Starlost became a mirror of national concerns and preoccupations as the stars confronted alien and interlopers, industrialization, pollution, militarism, ethics and morality and ultimately humanity's place in the world. This extensively researched work, written with dry humor and deep insight, draws on interviews and correspondence with stars Robin Ward and Gay Rowan, series writer Norman Klenman, and features a comprehensive episode guide with detailed reviews encompassing behind the scenes information and thematic analysis, as well as a full section on the production process and making of the show. STARLOST UNAUTHORIZED is the most comprehensive and detailed work ever produced on this unique and controversial television series.

The United States government discovers, to its horror, that the creatures featured in animated cartoons are not fabrications but real beings. Fearing the social and political consequences of the discovery being made public, they proceed to exile them off Earth to another planet. However, things do not go according to plan... A new novel from Canadian author David Perlmutter

An omnibus collection of some of the stories from Rachel Lawson's The Magicians series. Including Memento Mori The unnamed Mortimer, the king of the Grim Reapers, tells the story of how he promised to protect the son of a friend who died long before the Magicians came out. He appears to him as a friend when the son's relatives die at their funeral, and as a friend when he needs one. He becomes the ultimate Memento Mori. An adventure of a lifetime.

Horror stories by D.G. Valdron, author of 'Axis of Andes,’ ‘Giant Monsters Sing Sad Songs’ and ‘What Devours Always Hungers.’ Chilling and disturbing stories include: 'The Wizards of Huckleberry Finn' a man is haunted by a ghost that possesses the people around him; 'Neck Row Man Sea' a desperate single mother learns a disturbing word; 'Voices' a dying man discovers that his cancer can talk to him, and it doesn't realize it's killing him; 'Mister Shepherd,' a kindly old gentleman might be a vampire, but that's not the worst thing; 'Changing Faces' after an accident a terrified man keeps turning into movie monsters and no one will believe him; 'Fighting the Beast' about civilization after the apocalypse, and more.

Pick your poison: Vampires, devils, werewolves, faeries, or . . . ? Find them all here in Holly Black’s amazing first collection. In her debut collection, New York Times best-selling author Holly Black returns to the world of Tithe in two darkly exquisite new tales. Then Black takes readers on a tour of a faerie market and introduces a girl poisonous to the touch and another who challenges the devil to a competitive eating match. Some of these stories have been published in anthologies such as 21 Proms, The Faery Reel, and The Restless Dead, and many have been reprinted in many “Best of ” anthologies. The Poison Eaters is Holly Black’s much-anticipated first collection, and her ability to stare into the void—and to find humanity and humor there—will speak to young adult and adult readers alike. A Junior Library Guild Pick. Illustrated by Theo Black. Holly Black is the author of Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale (an ALA Best Book for Young Adults) and two related novels, Valiant (Norton Award winner) and New York Times bestseller Ironside. Her latest novel, Black Heart is the third of a new series, The Curseworkers. She and Tony DiTerlizzi created the best-selling Spiderwick Chronicles. Holly lives in Massachusetts with her husband, Theo, in a house with a secret library.

Rejected by their own kind for bearing the mark of the Shadow Monarch, the Iron Elves chose instead to serve with the human armies of the Calahrian Empire, hoping through their dedication and discipline to wipe out the stain of their birth. Their reputation is legendary -- until their commander, Konowa Swiftdragon, takes it upon himself -- for the best of reasons -- to assassinate the Viceroy. Court-martialled and exiled to the forest he despises, his beloved regiment disgraced, dishonoured and disbanded, Konowa finds himself suddenly recalled and ordered to re-form the Iron Elves for one last reconnaissance mission. But the new Iron Elves are not at all the same as they were before, and the mission is a suicidal one, with more at stake than Konowa could possibly have imagined. For the Shadow Monarch and her allies have harnessed destructive forces with the power to tear worlds apart -- and those who bear her mark have a destiny greater than they know. So begins an heroic journey in the company of a motley band of misfits, rebels and outcasts, with a central character whose engaging, brilliantly realised blend of cynicism, dry humour, duty and anguish make him unlike any other in fantasy fiction.

Nine scary stories of Melancholy Horror. Fossils: A poet follows a giant monster through the streets of abandoned Tokyo. Flirtin' Out Back With the Sasquatch Kid: A teenage girl encounters the last bigfoot. Skin: A necromancer's attack shows a woman discovers that her life is only skin deep. Love, Live and the Necronomicon: The true history of the mad Arab and his era is revealed, along with Lovecraft's dark connection. Regrets Child: A nurse to a dying woman meets her hungry ghost. The Dead Quarter: After the Apocalypse, the living and the undead share a disintegrating world. Tell Me: A hunter finds a child vampire. Killing Hot: A young man with a secret crosses the country, seeking revenge for his sister.

Reworked Omnibus of stories from Rachel Lawson's The Magicians series, such as this Dark Fantasy-Gothic short story; The Locket And The Thief What if you lost the last physical thing that reminds you of a lost beloved child through theft, and it happens to be found upon the body of the now dead thief, and it is now in the hands of the police would you if you had access to would you take it back? Is stealing back your own stolen thing, really theft or is it? This is the situation where this coroner, Blake, finds himself in. On a lonely quiet misty night after midnight in Melbourne, anything can happen and it did. At that hour, only the reckless and unprincipled wander around. On such a night as this, a straggler from a theatre was wandering in the cool calming night remembering a lost daughter who he'd lost many years ago on a night like this. This day, to be exact, 28 years earlier. She was murdered with her husband as they walked the street he was in. He came as he always did this night to lay a rose for them. He did so unbothered, for all the times he had come. Before that night. He pulled out an old locket and looked at it sadly and opened it, looking at the pictures inside it. They were his daughter and her husband. The father pulled a red rose from his inside coat pocket and lay the rose on the wet road. As the father knelt laying the rose there was a noise nearby on the road like a splash in the puddle, he looked up and saw a man with a gun trained on him.