Monster Horror

Professor Sutton Dupont's tenure at Avernia College is as complicated as his family's bloody history. Still, when the most irresistible temptation he's ever faced slinks into his classroom, Sutton finds himself desperate enough to risk it all. After years of trying to make a name for herself in Hollywood, Elle Anderson winds up a college freshman at twenty-five, running from her past and lying to everyone she knows—especially the green-eyed professor whose forbidden kiss has her starving for more.

Not all monsters are fantasy. Some are very real, and they walk among us. They're our friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers. They're the people we're supposed to trust...and they know it. Contained within this anthology are 35 never-before-published works by supremely talented authors and best-selling novelists. Brace yourself for the unexpected and unimaginable horror of...human monsters.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Haunted Forest Tour! Sit back, and enjoy a smooth ride in air-conditioned comfort as your heavily armored tram takes you through nature's most astonishing creation. The forest is packed to capacity with dangerous and terrifying creatures of all shapes, sizes, and hunger levels, and you'll get to observe these wonders in complete safety.

Rome Armanelli is supposed to be a monster—an enforcer for the strongest family in the Italian Mafia. Yet, when I saw him take a man’s life, he did it to save mine. Since then, Rome doesn't want me anywhere near him. Sparks may fly when we're in the same room, but his famiglia is all he cares about. He tells me to leave, but he, of all people, should know—the Mafia doesn't let anyone go. Blood, ties, and partnerships sink their claws in. And when we find out exactly why his family kept me around, there's no turning back.

31 Brand-New Dark Fantasy Horror Stories. Bloody corridors of ancient rock. A castle surrounded by poisonous thorns. A lost temple of traps and corpses. A subaqueous cave at the bottom of a cursed lake. These are the places where secrets are buried, where ancient evils are summoned, where beasts are imprisoned, where the insane lie in wait. These are tombs of darkness and nightmare, where if you stare into the abyss, the abyss will stare back. Heed the warnings of your elders and return from whence you came. Ahead lie monster lairs.

New research has uncovered deeply buried military secrets—both the Allied and Axis special operations during WWII included monsters. Did the Soviets use a dragon to win the Battle of Kursk? Did a vampire fight for the Canadians in Holland? Did the US drop the second atomic bomb on a kaiju? This collection takes real events from World War II and injects them with fantastical creatures that mirror the “unreality” of war itself. Each story—and two poems—feature mythical, mystical, and otherwise unexplainable beings that change the course of history.

This 7,100 word stand-alone tale of adventure, romance, and action was originally included in New York Times bestselling author Mike Stackpole's Chain Story Project. Each of the stories in the series begins with a scene set in The Wanderers' Club in London, where patrons take turns telling stories of their adventures and derring-do. Though the plots and characters of the various tales differ and each adventure is self-contained and independent, every story-teller starts out by referencing the story before his in some fashion before telling his own tale.

Robert "Bubba" Brabham never wanted to hunt monsters. He mostly wanted to drink beer, hunt deer, and chase women, like every other giant redneck in the world. But life interfered, and Bubba found himself holster-deep in the family business: monster hunting. Now he's the Southeastern Regional Hunter for the Holy Roman Catholic Church...Bubba has to save the world from the things that go bump in the night! Just as soon as he's done with his beer. And maybe after one more lap dance.

From werewolves and vampires, to demons and aliens, the monster is one of the most recognizable figures in horror. But what makes something, or someone, monstrous? Award-winning and up-and-coming authors like Richard Kadrey, Cassandra Khaw, Indrapramit Das, Priya Sharma, and more attempt to answer this question. These all-new stories range from traditional to modern, from mainstream to literary, from familiar monsters to the unknown . . . and unimaginable.

On a snowy winter evening in 1982, 21-year-old Mary Brown accepted a ride from a handsome stranger in the resort town of Breckenridge, Colorado. The trip ended with her brutally beaten and raped. Mary survived, but her predator's violence had only just begun. After 10 years in prison, Tom Luther was released a far more vicious criminal. Soon, from the Rockies to West Virginia, like Ted Bundy, Luther enticed a chain of women into his murderous trap.

One October morning, Laina gets the news that her brother has been shot and killed by Boston cops. But what looks like a case of police brutality soon reveals something much stranger. Monsters are real. And they want everyone to know it. As creatures from myth and legend come out of the shadows, seeking safety through visibility, their emergence sets off a chain of seemingly unrelated events. Members of a local werewolf pack are threatened into silence.

Stories of famous monsters in a new horror anthology featuring Joe R. Lansdale, F. Paul Wilson, Jonathan Maberry, Ramsey Campbell, and many others.

Five days after Owen Zastava Pitt pushed his insufferable boss out of a 14th story window, he woke up in the hospital with a scarred face, an unbelievable memory, and a job offer. It turns out that monsters are real. All the things from myth, legend, and B-movies are out there, waiting in the shadows. Some of them are evil, and some are just hungry. Monster Hunter International is the premier eradication company in the business. And now Owen is their newest recruit.

In the backwoods of the Miskatonic River valley, an unspeakable creature seeks to come through the veil into our world.

Adrian's dark past left him with a twisted imagination that takes him deep into the forest where he does unspeakable things. Kendra is new to town. She has a dark secret of her own—and an unhealthy obsession with a boy she hasn't even met yet.

Sarah is ecstatic. She has just received an email informing her that her first novel has been accepted by a publisher and will soon be published in all major bookstores. Her parents decide to book a trip to Barcelona, somewhere Sarah has always wanted to go, to celebrate. Sarah tells her friends at school then a boy she has had a crush on for years overhears her telling the good news and invites her out. Sarah cannot believe how everything is turning out so good for her.

Told in her own words, this is the story of serial killer Aileen Wuornos, who was portrayed in an Oscar-winning performance by Charlize Theron in the film Monster. There have been few female serial killers, but Aileen Wuornos, who was executed in 2002, was a remarkable example of this rare breed of death row inmate. All too often, female prostitutes have been the victims of male serial killers - Wuornos’ killings were the inverse of this pattern.

A student’s investigation into a secret cult leads to madness.

Revenge. It's all I've lived for. Revenge against those who stacked the cards against me from the start. But I'm changing the deck now. I'm getting even. Born to a vampire, I wasn't supposed to survive - but I did. My name is Cassidy. Cassidy Edwards. And I'm the first of my kind. The job: Trapping a 16th-century Scottish Highlander of a vampire who just might be seduction itself. The team: A firedrake with an attitude, a werewolf with a problem, and an imp in dire need of rehab.

Heidi Waters, CEO of billion-dollar startup Vitality+, is all the rage in Silicon Valley. Her company’s promises to roll out a neurochemical cure for caffeine-related anxiety are set to change the game, a godsend for anyone who’s ever got the jitters from upsizing their morning coffee order. There’s just one problem. There is no cure. The product doesn’t work.