Lost parents. An unescapable city. A daughter who will not stop. Soarsha wants three things for her tenth birthday: sushi, chocolate cake, and listening to Wandering Heroes with her dad. Sure, she longs to find her mom, lost in the wasteland beyond Dedalo’s prison-bar skyscrapers and impassable ringwall. Yeah, she wishes her classmates would stop tormenting her. Especially after she sneezed during her bully’s sharing time. Better to let the shadow monster eat her… and when her father goes missing, she just might have to. Whether you love labyrinths, purple, radio shows, mysterious quests, the scent of lavender, comic books, boundless hope, or a city unlike any other in science fiction and fantasy, get ready for a STRANGE RIDE. The Rucksack Universe series combines alternate history, speculative fiction, myth, adventure, globetrotting, and intrigue—all with well-poured pints of beer. Library Journal says Anthony St. Clair’s storytelling has “universe building reminiscent of Terry Pratchett,” and readers say they love the Rucksack Universe’s unique combination of “quirk, wit, travel, and magic.”

The complete history of one of the most long-lived and legendary bands in rock history, written by its official historian and publicist—a must-have chronicle for all Dead Heads, and for students of rock and the 1960s’ counterculture. From 1965 to 1995, the Grateful Dead flourished as one of the most beloved, unusual, and accomplished musical entities to ever grace American culture. The creative synchronicity among Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, and Ron “Pigpen” McKernan exploded out of the artistic ferment of the early sixties’ roots and folk scene, providing the soundtrack for the Dionysian revels of the counterculture. To those in the know, the Dead was an ongoing tour de force: a band whose constant commitment to exploring new realms lay at the center of a thirty-year journey through an ever-shifting array of musical, cultural, and mental landscapes. Dennis McNally, the band’s historian and publicist for more than twenty years, takes readers back through the Dead’s history in A Long Strange Trip. In a kaleidoscopic narrative, McNally not only chronicles their experiences in a fascinatingly detailed fashion, but veers off into side trips on the band’s intricate stage setup, the magic of the Grateful Dead concert experience, or metaphysical musings excerpted from a conversation among band members. He brings to vivid life the Dead’s early days in late-sixties San Francisco—an era of astounding creativity and change that reverberates to this day. Here we see the group at its most raw and powerful, playing as the house band at Ken Kesey’s acid tests, mingling with such legendary psychonauts as Neal Cassady and Owsley “Bear” Stanley, and performing the alchemical experiments, both live and in the studio, that produced some of their most searing and evocative music. But McNally carries the Dead’s saga through the seventies and into the more recent years of constant touring and incessant musical exploration, which have cemented a unique bond between performers and audience, and created the business enterprise that is much more a family than a corporation. Written with the same zeal and spirit that the Grateful Dead brought to its music for more than thirty years, the book takes readers on a personal tour through the band’s inner circle, highlighting its frenetic and very human faces. A Long Strange Trip is not only a wide-ranging cultural history, it is a definitive musical biography.

Nobel Literature Prize winner Rudyard Kipling pens this riveting adventure tale. One evening Morrowbie Jukes, an English gentleman, is feeling a bit feverish and the barking of the dogs outside his house is upsetting him. So he mounts his horse in order to pursue them. The horse bolts and they eventually fall into a sandy ravine on the edge of a river. He awakens the next morning to find himself in a village of the living dead, where people who appear to have died of, for instance, cholera, but who revived when their bodies were about to be burned, are imprisoned. He quickly learns that it is impossible to climb out because of the sandy slope...

Rudyard Kipling, author of The Jungle Book, was also a master of the short story in which he was able to combine the strange and unnerving in order to draw the reader into the world of his own dark imaginings.This collection presents the best of these strange tales in which ghosts, monsters and inexplicable happenings abound.

What happens when two normal kids have the missing piece that determines the fate of America's future?

Sometimes achieving big things requires the ability to think small. This simple concept was the driving force that propelled the Volkswagen Beetle to become an avatar of American-style freedom, a household brand, and a global icon. The VW Bug inspired the ad men of Madison Avenue, beguiled Woodstock Nation, and has recently been re-imagined for the hipster generation. And while today it is surely one of the most recognizable cars in the world, few of us know the compelling details of this car’s story. In Thinking Small, journalist and cultural historian Andrea Hiott retraces the improbable journey of this little car that changed the world. Andrea Hiott’s wide-ranging narrative stretches from the factory floors of Weimar Germany to the executive suites of today’s automotive innovators, showing how a succession of artists and engineers shepherded the Beetle to market through periods of privation and war, reconstruction and recovery. Henry Ford’s Model T may have revolutionized the American auto industry, but for years Europe remained a place where only the elite drove cars. That all changed with the advent of the Volkswagen, the product of a Nazi initiative to bring driving to the masses. But Hitler’s concept of “the people’s car” would soon take on new meaning. As Germany rebuilt from the rubble of World War II, a whole generation succumbed to the charms of the world’s most huggable automobile. Indeed, the story of the Volkswagen is a story about people, and Hiott introduces us to the men who believed in it, built it, and sold it: Ferdinand Porsche, the visionary Austrian automobile designer whose futuristic dream of an affordable family vehicle was fatally compromised by his patron Adolf Hitler’s monomaniacal drive toward war; Heinrich Nordhoff, the forward-thinking German industrialist whose management innovations made mass production of the Beetle a reality; and Bill Bernbach, the Jewish American advertising executive whose team of Madison Avenue mavericks dreamed up the legendary ad campaign that transformed the quintessential German compact into an outsize worldwide phenomenon. Thinking Small is the remarkable story of an automobile and an idea. Hatched in an age of darkness, the Beetle emerged into the light of a new era as a symbol of individuality and personal mobility—a triumph not of the will but of the imagination.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1882.

: The Long Strange Journey is a cautionary tale of two age old adages. The first being, be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. The second being, the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence. It's a whimsical story based in surreal fantasy, but anchored with, just a touch, of "real life". The story has a little for all readers. Blending adventures in different realms and realities with a little "who done it" mystery, capped off with an ending that you'll never see coming. So open up your mind and allow your imagination to run wild and enjoy the journey.

STRANGE STRANGE THINGS: 550+ Supernatural Mysteries, Macabre & Horror Classics is a monumental assembly of narratives that traverses the shadowy boundaries of the supernatural, the uncanny, and the outright terrifying. This collection boasts an unparalleled diversity in literary styles, encompassing the gothic tales of the 18th century, the psychological horror of the 19th century, and the cosmic dread of the early 20th century. The anthology highlights the genre's evolution, featuring seminal works that have shaped our understanding of fear and fascination with the unknown. Each piece, carefully selected for its contribution to the tapestry of horror and supernatural literature, stands as a testament to the genre's richness and complexity, showcasing the stylistic innovation and depth of insight that horror and macabre tales can offer. The backgrounds of the contributors to STRANGE STRANGE THINGS are as varied as the themes they explore, encompassing renowned authors from different eras and cultures, each bringing their unique voice and perspective to the collection. From the psychological realism of Henry James to the dark romanticism of Edgar Allan Poe, and the pioneering science fiction of H.G. Wells, this anthology not only charts the historical and cultural shifts within the genre but also reflects the broader human condition through its exploration of fear, desire, and the supernatural. The collective contributions of these authors provide a rich, multidimensional experience of the macabre, enlivened by their diverse cultural backgrounds and literary traditions, thereby enriching the reader's understanding of the multifaceted nature of horror and supernatural literature. STRANGE STRANGE THINGS is an indispensable volume for both aficionados and new readers of the horror and supernatural genres, offering a comprehensive journey through the labyrinth of humanity's deepest fears and darkest fantasies. This collection serves as a unique educational tool, broadening the readers literary horizons and deepening their appreciation for the craft of storytelling. It invites readers to immerse themselves in a world where the extraordinary confronts the ordinary, where the boundary between the known and the unknown blurs, and to explore the profound psychological and philosophical questions that these stories evoke. For anyone seeking to understand the breadth and depth of the supernatural in literature, STRANGE STRANGE THINGS is an unrivaled compendium that promises endless hours of fascination and awe.