Though he has authored more than eleven novels including, Cassandra Singing, The Suicide’s Wife, Abducted by Circumstance, and the recent London Bridge in Plague and Fire, David Madden has been publishing short stories for all six decades of his active career. The Last Bizarre Tale consists of works that appeared in journals but that have not appeared together as a collection. Madden used two stories, “The Singer” and “Second Look Presents: the Rape of an Indian Brave,” as chapters in his 1980 novel On the Big Wind. “The Headless Girl’s Mother” was first published as a chapter in a serialized novel entitled Hair of the Dog. Two other stories developed out of longer versions of Madden’s novels. “A Demon in My View” is part of a sequel, not yet published, to Bijou. All of the stories in David Madden’s third collection are distinguished by variety of content and by shifting styles and often innovative techniques. They are to varying degrees and in various ways bizarre in their characters and their relationships, in the kinds of internal and external conflicts, and in locales and themes. The title story, The Last Bizarre Tale, involving a corpse that has hung on a hook in a funeral home garage for decades, is evocative of Poe and, in its dark, grotesque humor, Flannery O’Connor and Carson McCullers. “Process is as important as product to David Madden,” writes editor James Perkins, “and one can learn as much about the process of writing as about the human condition by a careful reading of these stories.”

Dickens' short stories are often overshadowed by his well-known novels. This book contains ten stories of strange and intriguing events.

From ghost towns to circus performers to mass hysteria, the Bluegrass State is no stranger to the strange. Read stories of famed President Abraham Lincoln you've never heard before. Find possible solutions to the mystery of Pearl Bryan's missing head and decipher the outrageous hoaxes involving an unsolvable puzzle and monkeys trained to perform farm work. Learn about the time when the author wrote to Charles Manson as a joke and Manson wrote back--four times. Join author Keven McQueen as he recounts some of the weirder vignettes from Kentucky lore.

A small-town psychic’s trailer burns, leaving little in the wreckage but her lovely green couch. A great find for a couple who make their living scavenging and selling secondhand items. Yet Madame Cruller’s couch is imbedded with something unpleasant, and we’re not talking fleas. A young man, accompanied by a shadowy specter since birth, unwittingly exacts revenge against those who threaten him. A hoarder learns that dogs can sometimes be loyal to a fault. A dark and terrible secret threatens the plans two brothers have of racing their car in a television-themed challenge. A pony and a steer have had enough of their arrogant owners and decide to take the “bull by the horns,” so to speak. Thanks to the couple who own her town, Christmastime has become an annoyance for Donna Wilson. But during this year’s command-performance Yuletide party, Donna discovers a nightmare that rivals any holiday horror story she’s ever read. Surviving the brutal 1968 Vietnam War riots in Chicago, a desperately optimistic man travels cross-country to join a commune…only to realize that “peace” can be as dangerous as violence. A peculiar and devastating plague rapidly spreads across the globe, throwing the survivors into a battle for their sanity and their lives. These are some of the stories in this chilling new collection by two-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author, Elizabeth Massie. ***** “Elizabeth Massie is personally one of my favorite authors.” - Bentley Little, author of The Town, The Bank “Elizabeth Massie never fails to engage the heart and mind.” – Jack Ketchum, author of The Girl Next Door, The Lost

'Bizarre' is a collection of 13 short stories...each one laced with an element of surprise for you. The unexpected twist in the tale for a soldier, a curious night at a hospital, the bizarre love story, the weird archaeological expedition, the edgy journey, and a lot more. This is the fourth book by Author Maneesha Agrawal (MVG) who has created a niche for herself in literary works of fiction through her simplistic and very elegant writing style

A book about all sorts of strange stories. These stories have to do with curses, kids being kids and more. All of these stories aren't any normal stories, that is for sure.

The author of Horror in the Heartland delves deep into the dark and sordid annals of the region where Hoosier history began. Prepare to take a tour of some dark, strange moments of southern Indiana’s history. From the scheming wife who wanted her dull husband out of the way to make room for a young love affair and the husband who stomped his wife to death because she wouldn’t stop singing an irritating song, to the man who murdered an entire family to pay off some farming equipment and the case of a mistaken-identity murder, author Keven McQueen relates the sinister (or not so) motives and gruesome details of nine murders that occurred in southern Indiana between 1880 and 1912. With a detailed, if macabre, look at each story as well as the ambiguities surrounding the criminals and punishments, McQueen illuminates the darker side of Hoosier history. Includes photos!

The ancient port town of Malacca is an old town rich in history. Since the beginning of Malacca, its community was made up of a colourful potpourri of cultures and beliefs. The different communities have their own understanding of the powers of the supernatural. As far back as the year 1421, there was a written account from Chinese records of the strange and paranormal witnessed in Malacca. These stories continued in Portuguese, Dutch and British eras, up to modern times. There were accounts about hauntings, poltergeists, cryptozoology, giants, spirits, sorcery, witchcraft, shapeshifting creatures, simulacra, magical cures, strange phenomena, unusual human powers and other bizarre tales. Many of these stories have now become obscured and forgotten to us. This book contains a collection of 60 strange and paranormal stories reported from past reports, news, accounts, statements and descriptions that were officially recorded in books, journals, articles and newspapers.

And Finally... is the injection of cheer we all need in these rather depressing times. This heart-warming book takes a look at the very best ‘...and finally’ segments of the news – those funny, silly and often eccentric stories the newsreaders save until the end of the programme, to leave on a high note.