Showing results by publisher "Spoken Realms" in Fantasy

No good deed goes unpunished. Detroit is a hole where even a werewolf's sins can be buried. Or so Jake Brennan hopes. Hiding from his hunters, shooting heroin to negate the effect of the full moon, he is beginning to turn things around. And the day he is witness to a brutal attack on ER doctor Gwen Cheevey, Jake is forced to transform into something new: a hero. But when a clip of his good deed goes viral, Jake's days of hiding are over. To keep Gwen safe, Jake will need to embrace the beast within.

World War I infantry captain Ulysses Paxton is transported to Barsoom, where he encounters evil scientist Ras Thavas and his diabolical brain transplant experiments. Paxton falls in love with the beautiful Valla Dia, whose body has been swapped with the cruel Xaxa, Jeddara of Phundahl. Can Paxton save Valla Dia from a hideous fate and win her hand?

An odd but well-loved short story following steps into madness. A country doctor has had more work than he can handle, and the stress seems to have taken him to a place that seems as at home in nightmares as in the madness of an overworked mind. Kafka's work often lends itself to the turmoil of the human mind. In this respect the story does not fail to impress.

Classic author H.G. Wells turns his attention to a mystery at sea and a litany of creatures that seemed bent on the destruction of human life. A short story that may leave you feeling the beach and ocean may not be as safe as you thought.

A gentleman enjoying the morning over the River Seine waves to a steamer, and the nightmare begins. He believes he may be going insane, but then he begins to feel there is an entity that he cannot see invading his mind and his home. The entity is perhaps an invader from another world. Guy de Maupassant's tale of classic horror will enthrall you.

The city of Parole is burning. Like Venice slipping into the sea, Parole crumbles into fire. The entire population inside has been quarantined, cut off from the rest of the world, and left to die—directly over the open flame. Eye in the Sky, a deadly and merciless police force, ensures no one escapes. Ever. All that’s keeping Parole alive is faith in the midst of horrors and death, trust in the face of desperation… and their fantastic, terrifying, and beautiful superhuman abilities.

A lovable but mischievous marionette hopes to become a real boy, but first must learn to work hard, overcome peer pressure, and stop telling lies before his wish is granted. Pinocchio has enraptured the hearts of children and adults alike since 1881. The tale revolutionized Italian children's literature by using comedic characters and minimal adult intrusion to tell a story with a moral lesson. Published as a serial in the Giornale per i bambini, or "Children's Magazine", the stories were compiled into one volume in 1883.

Skillfully narrated by voice actor Mark Turetsky, The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers is a classic in the field of the supernatural. The series of 10 short stories is named after a fictional play of the same name which induces madness in the minds of those that read it. The Yellow King and Carcosa were often alluded to in a popular TV series True Detective, where evil and madness are often a theme.

John O'Brian travels to Dagon's Cave to murder Richard Brent for the love of Eleanor Bland. Eleanor is a beautiful blonde who won't commit to Brent or O'Brian so John has decided to settle it for her. The cave is a really creepy place with lots of local myths surrounding it including mysterious Little People, the prehistoric beings of British legend. Celts and Saxons battled in the area for decades. O'Brian wanders into the cave and manages to fall headlong down a flight of stairs knocking himself unconscious. To say he wasn't himself when he came to is an understatement.

Five years after the Rise of the Furies, the walking dead are dying out. Bites don't infect...but anyone who dies, turns. Skilled outdoorsman Tom Vanicek wants a future for the two children he's protected so fiercely through years of living hell. Now a part of the reconstruction efforts in the decaying ruins of Columbus, Ohio, the Vanicek family see the risks (and the rewards) of their new life. Tom tries to keep to himself so he and his children can get ahead. But in the aftermath of the bloody Uprising by the City's dissident Lefthanders paramilitaries, life will never be the same.

To make room for her fancy new doll house, Tidy Castle, Cynthia banishes her old shabby dollhouse to the corner of the nursery, along with its shabby doll family, Meg, Peg, Kilmanskeg, Ridiklis, Gustibus, and Peter Piper. From there behind the door they dance and sing and have a grand time watching their fancy, snobby Tidy Castle neighbors in their fancy, snobby clothes. But one day Ridiklis learns a princess will be visiting the nursery....

In this modern retelling of the classic Greek myth, Pandora is created by the gods and sent to live among humans with a sealed jar and one simple command: do not open it. The jar sits in the corner of her new home like a question no one will answer. As days pass, curiosity grows heavier than obedience, and Pandora finally lifts the lid.

On the island of Crete, master craftsman Daedalus is trapped with his young son, Icarus, under the watchful eye of a ruthless king. With no road to freedom by land or sea, he turns to the only path left: the sky. By studying the birds and trusting his own genius, Daedalus builds wings from feathers and wax—an impossible invention that might carry them both to safety. But when Icarus tastes the thrill of flight, excitement drowns out caution, and a daring escape becomes one of the most enduring cautionary tales in history.

The aliens are back. France is under siege. As the Martians prepare to attack Paris, roving bands of rogue soldiers pillage the country, taking whatever they please. The nightmare has returned. Christian was a child when he lost his family in the first Martian attack. Now, he wants nothing more than to avenge their deaths and punish the murderous aliens and traitors who work with them.

Prince Anryn of Ammar has spent his life striving to please his father, the legendary Lightning King. He studies, fences, burns witches at the stake. But when assassins strike, he is left wounded and alone in the mountains, wondering if his father ordered his death. There he meets Maertyn Blackfire, a cursed witch who has lived too long. In Anryn he sees what no one else dares: a curse like his own, trapping a woman’s soul in a man’s body. Bound by survival, Maertyn vows to protect the prince on a quest to uncover the would-be killer.

"Dark Vengeance" is a captivating novelette by Fritz Leiber published in "Suspense" in the Fall of 1951 featuring the iconic duo Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Dive into the sinister world of Lankhmar, where malevolent birds besiege the city with a sinister agenda of plundering precious gems and trinkets from the town's noble women. These cunning avian thieves are not just after riches but pose a grave threat, wielding their sharp talons to inflict harm, even resorting to the gruesome act of plucking an eye from their victims.

Lean Times in Lankhmar, a gripping novella by Fritz Leiber Jr, follows the divergent paths of Faford and the Gray Mouser in the city of Lankhmar. The Gray Mouser becomes a Lieutenant for the city's top extortioner, dealing with the various religious sects on the Street of the Gods. Meanwhile, Fairford becomes an acolyte for the dottering apostle of the god, Issac of the Jug, setting the stage for a clash of interests between our two heroes. As the Issac of the Jug religion gains popularity and wealth, the Mouser is tasked with extracting funds from Fairford's mentor.

Journey into the treacherous world of Lankhmar alongside the fearless duo of Fafhrd the Barbarian and the Gray Mouser in Fritz Leiber Jr.'s novelette, "Thieves' House." Originally published in the pulp magazine Unknown Worlds in 1943, this gripping tale follows our protagonists as they navigate the dangerous headquarters of the Guild of Thieves and Murderers, as well as underground catacombs filled with intrigue and peril. It's not the human adversaries that terrify them—it's the supposedly long-dead beings lurking in the shadows.

Whether she was a woman or a devil, we will never know for sure, but when she stood before him in all her awful beauty, all thoughts of love and honor fled from his mind, and he arose to answer her call to embrace the blossom of fire.

Test Tube Frankenstein, a short horror story by Wayne Robbins appeared in the May 1940 issue of Terror Tales. It is interesting to draw connections between this pulp story and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Both stories involve a mad genius creating a creature that deceives and kills those around them. However, in this short story, the creature takes on the form and demeanor of its creator, Chester Vermis, which differentiates it from Frankenstein.