What could be better than five zombie stories? What could be more awesome than 10 stories of the living dead? What could be cooler than 15 tales of leg shuffling walkers? Would 20 stories be cooler? How about… 25?!?! That’s right, Zombies Don’t Read contains not five, not 10, not 15, not even 20 but 25 zombie stories, yours for the taking. Zombies may not read, but you can...Getting accepted into an Irish music session is not simply about turning up and playing the tunes. Jos Cardy learns something about the tradition and what it means for those who play it.

The city of Ludlow is gripped by the hottest July on record. The asphalt is melting, the birds are dying, petty crime is on the rise, and someone in Hannah Wagnor’s peaceful suburban community is killing girls. For Hannah, the summer is a complicated one. Her best friend Lillian died six months ago, and Hannah just wants her life to go back to normal. But how can things be normal when Lillian’s ghost is haunting her bedroom, pushing her to investigate the mysterious string of murders? Hannah’s just trying to understand why her friend self-destructed, and where she fits now that Lillian isn’t there to save her a place among the social elite. And she must stop thinking about Finny Boone, the big, enigmatic delinquent whose main hobbies seem to include petty larceny and surprising acts of kindness. With the entire city in a panic, Hannah soon finds herself drawn into a world of ghost girls and horrifying secrets. She realizes that only by confronting the Valentine Killer will she be able move on with her life—and it’s up to her to put together the pieces before he strikes again. Paper Valentine is a hauntingly poetic tale of love and death by the New York Times bestselling author of The Replacement and The Space Between.

Samuel, a man without memory, awakens in a room with no entry or exit. Waste, a monster of unimaginable power, awaits the return of an unknown enemy from his past. As the two draw closer to one another, their confrontation becomes inevitable.Lightship Chronicles is a young adult adventure set on a mysterious world. Carpatia is a harsh desert land, but one with spectacular vistas and populated by two very different yet resilient people, the Carpati and the Bitani. Both believe in competing myths of their history. Myths of great ancient battles fought over by a clan of mysterious Sacred Warriors against magical Light-Fairies. Under the glowing warmth of their red-giant sun, it's easy for the Carpati to believe in their beautiful myths. They spend most of their long 36 hour days living a simple farming lifestyle in the Township built on the lower slopes of the mighty Table Mountain. The Bitani meanwhile rule over the Carpati from their futuristic city atop the massive pillar-like tabletop of a mountain, and have a very different, and quite mysterious perspective. For the Carpati the only respite from the drudgery of their simple days are the monthly lightship races. The hovering lightships speed at more than 700kph over a 600km course that runs up the sides of mesas, through the canyons of the Crags, over the 10m waves of the Great Salt sea, over the Long Straight, the Dunes, and through the Eastern Hills and its many giant Baobab threes. It's a spectacular race unlike anything else and the favorite pastime of Andee and his little brother Mykee. Both dream of being lightship pilots while watching the race from their favorite hangout, the 1000m high Outcrop overlooking The Crags. Join the adventure now, because this is growing into an epic tale years into the making. Visit LightshipChronicles.com for more in depth details of the race circuit, including images of the course, the outcrop, and the lightships.

This story focuses on the monsters that aid in the hunt as Kothrec, a minotaur, and Megyn, a siren, face off against a flaming being from beyond.A Story of a young girl who came out of all odds to walk in the path she wants to go. Domestic violence, Rape, Child abuse - If you are the one who is going through any kind of abuse or struggle, know that sometimes, the "right someone" could be you to help you. Find your strength, you have the power to end it. Stay strong you will make it through. Much love to you. Best wishes.

A weird short story : Alison, an opera singer is going to play her first part, but the whole thing is going to turn out in a strange way.Colleen has lost him once. She doesn't want to let it happen again. A professional American racing driver in Europe on a shoestring budget, Dan Thornton is gifted behind the wheel. But when the former love of his life turns up, his feelings get complicated, and the Mille Miglia, a thousand mile race around Italy, demands full attention. Someone at the pinnacle of the Nazi hierarchy has hatched a devious plot, as the Holy See and Pope Pius XI’s statements on racial science and National Socialism are unwelcome and a threat to Nazi ambitions. Still very much in love with Dan, Colleen Bryant must use him for the sake of truth and freedom, at the risk losing Dan a second time.

RAIN HAS SEARCHED FOR A PLACE TO CALL HOME. BUT THERE'S NOWHERE TO HIDE WHEN THE NIGHT SKY LIGHTS UP WITH TERROR.... Torn from the embrace of her poor but loving family, Rain Arnold now lives surrounded by opulent riches but feels more like an outsider than ever before. Her heart's true passion -- the theater -- may prove to be her salvation, as she embarks on a journey to unmask a legacy of long-buried family secrets. Enrolled in one of England's most prestigious drama schools, Rain is sent to London to live with her great-aunt, Lenora, of the renowned Endfield family. Their estate is breathtakingly austere, filled with antiques and a long, storied history. But something isn't right. Rain hears footsteps at night, and the high-pitched laughter of a little girl. She sees strange lights in rooms that are supposed to be closed off. And everything about the place -- the air, the silence, even the somber household staff -- is as cold and soulless as a museum. Behind the icy sheen of wealth and privilege lies something unspeakable. Something that could turn Rain's most precious dreams into an inescapable nightmare....

How long would humanity survive a zombie apocalypse? How prepared are we as a society for even the simplest of disasters? Take a few moments to ponder that as you read this short account.She wanted her life to change... he wanted his to stay the same.Best friends share everything with each other. Or do they? Seventeen-year-old Ashlyn Frances Lanski is tired of her boring, single life. Spending time with her best friend Tatiana, dreaming about kissing Tatiana's twin brother Fin, and swimming competitively are her only sanctuary. The girls plan to leave their drab lakeside town far behind for college. But when Tatchi fails to return home after a family emergency, and no one knows where the family has gone, Ash chooses to do something drastic to find them. Ashlyn is about to discover what she'd thought to be true her whole life, wasn't, and the truth, too fantastical to imagine. Secrets lurk beneath the deep blue waters of Lake Tahoe, secrets that will change Ashlyn's life forever.

At the request of her ex boyfriend, Devilynn takes a small time writing job, documenting the lives of vampires. Devilynn gets more than she bargained for when she is plunged into a world of darkness, where a war, since the dawn of man, has raged fiercely. Caught up in the chaos Devilynn must choose life or death, heaven or hell.Alaric and Everet have begun their journey across the desolate Oresian plains back to the border, where they'll continue on to the Vasque Capitole to meet with Veld Martiale Hadryan. But issues more personal and pressing than a stalled treaty and the Holds' futures must first be addressed, and as the fury of a coming storm begins to mount, so too do the tension and uncertainty between the pair.

In the winter of 1952, Isabel Carey moves to the East Riding of Yorkshire with her husband Philip, a GP. With Philip spending long hours on call, Isabel finds herself isolated and lonely as she strives to adjust to the realities of married life. Woken by intense cold one night, she discovers an old RAF greatcoat hidden in the back of a cupboard. Sleeping under it for warmth, she starts to dream. And not long afterwards, while her husband is out, she is startled by a knock at her window. Outside is a young RAF pilot, waiting to come in. His name is Alec, and his powerful presence both disturbs and excites her. Her initial alarm soon fades, and they begin an intense affair. But nothing has prepared her for the truth about Alec's life, nor the impact it will have on hers ...

Compared by critics to Borges, Nabokov, and Kafka, contemporary fantasist Jeff VanderMeer continues to amaze with this surreal, innovative, and absurdist gathering of award-winning short fiction. Exotic beasts and improbable travelers roam restlessly through these darkly diverting and finely honed tales. In “The Situation,” a beleaguered office worker creates a child-swallowing manta-ray to be used for educational purposes (once described as Dilbert meets Gormenghast). In “Three Days in a Border Town,” a sharpshooter seeks the truth about her husband in an elusive floating city beyond a far-future horizon; “Errata” follows an oddly familiar writer who has marshaled a penguin, a shaman, and two pearl-handled pistols with which to plot the end of the world. Also included are two stories original to this collection, including “The Quickening,” in which a lonely child is torn between familial obligation and loyalty to a maligned talking rabbit. Chimerical and hypnotic, VanderMeer leads readers through the postmodern into a new literature of the imagination.

In Mary's world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future—between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death? Book Details: Format: Hardcover Publication Date: 3/10/2009 Pages: 320 Reading Level: Age 14 and Up

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

From the author of DESERT PLACES, ABANDON, and “Serial,” comes this short story which is an excellent and affordable introduction to the author’s work. In “On the Good, Red Road,” a group of four hard men trying to reach a remote 19th Century mining town become stranded in an early blizzard and resort to drastic, terrifying measures, to stay alive. *Note: This story is collected with others in the eBook, FOUR LIVE ROUNDS, which also contains a Foreword by J.A. Konrath and introductions to each story by Blake Crouch.