From the mind of John Smith to the pages of the Judge Dredd Megazine, eight stories are now together for the first time in this digital collection. From the sublime to the downright disturbing, these stand-alone short stories feature the worlds and characters from some of John Smith's best known series. The reptillian nun, conceptual artist and cosmic bounty hunter, Tyranny Rex, must survive Demonic forces, Occult organisations and dimension-hopping dream parasites if she wants to keep her tail in tact! Agents of the interdimensional INDIGO PRIME continue their work repairing (and often even rebooting) universes under threat from catastophic reality-shattering events including New York disappearing due to a mass LSD trip and a powerful Vodoo Priestess resurrecting Elvis Presley by way of Magickal haircuts. Meanwhile, vampiric Vatican agent, international celebrity and bon vivant, Devlin Waugh, finds himself the target of an obsessed stalker and diabolic entities...

∙ Earth scientists rocket to Mars, bearing a secret plan for future Martians. But the Martians have plans of their own. ∙ A devious AI runs amok. Mars's entire security apparatus can't pin it down. ∙ Through startling revelations, a lovelorn man uncovers the root of his wife's troubles. ∙ An old smartaleck Deadhead from Princeton University's maintenance garage harbours a top-secret story. ∙ A struggling artist finds unusual allies: bums and a witch. ∙ After 219 years, a warlock stumbles into his first love.

In the Hugo-award winning, epic New York Times Bestseller and basis for the BBC miniseries, two men change England's history when they bring magic back into the world. In the midst of the Napoleonic Wars in 1806, most people believe magic to have long since disappeared from England - until the reclusive Mr. Norrell reveals his powers and becomes an overnight celebrity. Another practicing magician then emerges: the young and daring Jonathan Strange. He becomes Norrell's pupil, and the two join forces in the war against France. But Strange is increasingly drawn to the wild, most perilous forms of magic, and he soon risks sacrificing his partnership with Norrell and everything else he holds dear. Susanna Clarke's brilliant first novel is an utterly compelling epic tale of nineteenth-century England and the two magicians who, first as teacher and pupil and then as rivals, emerge to change its history.

Rails Trails and Other Tales weaves the reader through the romance and adventure of hopping freight trains and being out in the wilderness. Along with others, there are stories of dogs, ducks and commentaries on the misunderstood mule. Stories lived and stories handed down, kept alive with the telling and given longevity with the pen. Adventure and experiences through which the reader can get an idea of how life in the open and on the move can get into ones psyche to the point that wondering becomes solace to a wayward spirit. Some experiences in life we pursue and acquire, others just come along and happen to us when we put ourselves in their paths. Either way experiences and adventures are elements in life that give substance to our memories. We may not be able to experience all we wish, but we can, visit some experiences lived by others. You, reader may not be able to wander in the fi rst person but here you can sit back and do some arm-chair wandering and have a look at some other tid-bits of life. Also you may get a little look into what can happen sometimes when one just casts his way into the winds of chance. Meynardie

From more than 150 short stories produced during four decades of professional writing, Barbara has picked twenty that show a variety of themes, from humour to tragedy, love to hate, revealing a wide range of human emotions and yearnings, and the highs and lows that make humanity such a fascinating study. The opening story, No Time for Pity, is a new look at an old crime: the murders of two young princes in the Tower of London, 1483. Australians are all too aware of the theme of Beached Spirit - the unwelcome arrival of beached whales. For light relief, The Cornish Pot introduces a real fairy, and in Whatever Happened to Love? the eccentricities of the aristocracy meet head-on with the end result of an ungentlemanly act. Malcolm, 15, goes to The Island to escape the irritations of family life, but the island's peace is transitory. The Old Bloke introduces us to a tramp, whose unchanging routine is shattered when he finds a dollar coin outside a fairground. How wrong can you be? The author in Breakfast in Paradise fancies himself as a student of human nature. But his confidence is deflated when breakfast at the Hotel Paradiso turns briefly into chaos. Are people ever what they seem? The final story, The Wallflower, has been included because of its special status in Barbara's career - it was the first she ever sold, and it was broadcast by the BBC.

THE BIOTECH REVOLUTION! It's the new frontier of scientific development: genetic engineering, the crafting of species, and the self-alteration of man himself. Here are nine stories at the cutting edge of the biotechnology revolution-"The Cure for Love," "Ashes and Tombstones," "Slumming in Voodooland," "The Color of Envy," "The Lady-Killer, as Observed from a Safe Distance," "Busy Dying," "The Man Who Invented Good Taste," "The Road to Hell," and "The Scream"-crafted by a talented writer who's conducted biological research himself. These tales are filled with memorable characters, unforgettable situations, and bold new ideas. Never before collected in book form! BRIAN STABLEFORD has written and edited over fifty volumes of science fiction, horror, fantasy, literary criticism, and reference, among others, many of them being published by the Borgo Press imprint of Wildside Press. He lives and works in Reading, England.

Some tall girls grow up to have perfect posture and are later seen gracing the pages of magazines. Some are natural athletes with toned legs that mask their overlarge feet. Then there are tall girls: the ones who are always tripping over themselves; who never look normal in any size of clothing; who literally don't fit in. Comedian Margot Leitman was one of these awkward giants, and Gawky is the painfully funny chronicle of her experiences growing up tall. Reaching five feet six inches in fourth grade—and approaching six feet in high school—Leitman realized early on that she'd always stand out from the crowd. To cope, she developed a thick skin and a sharp sense of humor, and instead of forever trying to blend in, she decided to embrace her center-of-attention status. Leitman wears funky, Ziggy Stardust-era jumpsuits (in the 90s); takes up any cause she can find (whether saving the public beaches or protesting prom); and generally makes as much use of her big presence as humanly possible. Leitman's memoir is a hilarious celebration of growing up gangly. Endearing and encouraging, is a cathartic release of everything awkward girls endure-and a tribute to a youth larger than life.

“I dreamt I was standing in the dark, looking up at the south-west tower . . . And our Kev was up there on top, in the dark, and screaming as if some wild beast was eating him.” When steeplejack Joe Clarke is hired to repair the stonework at Muncaster Cathedral, he is unprepared for the horror he will encounter. Something unspeakably evil in the medieval tower is seeking victims among the young neighborhood boys ... and Joe’s son may be next! An unsettling story with a horrifying conclusion, this eerie tale will chill young and old readers alike. Robert Westall (1929-1993) is one of the best modern writers of ghost stories in the tradition of the great M.R. James, and The Stones of Muncaster Cathedral, which won the Dracula Society’s Children of the Night Award, is one of his finest. This volume also includes a second ghostly tale, ‘Brangwyn Gardens’, published here for the first time in the United States, and a new introduction by Orrin Grey.

Creepy Vibes is a tome of everything forbidden; weird, scary, funny and dangerous. In these tales you are going to run into demons, aliens, witches to include Lucifer himself. This is also deep fried with a lot of my influences growing up which is heavy metal, horror movies, Twilight Zone, Tales from the crypt, Stephen King, Edgar Allen Poe, Danzig, the choose your own adventure books and Halloween. Are you brave enough to enter (I would say at your own risk but the sign has been reduced to splinters and thrown in the wind) and indulge yourself in a whole new literary experience? Warning: You will be taken to the unknown but if you decide to punch that ticket you are going to plunge yourself in a wicked mental amusement park, original and completely reckless. This is Imagination Unchained!