Showing results by author "Tim Waggoner" in All Categories

It’s Todd and Heather’s 21st anniversary. A blizzard rages outside their home, but it’s far colder inside. Their marriage is falling apart, the love they once shared gone, in its place only bitter resentment. As the night wears on, strange things start to happen in their house—bad things. If they can work together, they might find a way to survive until morning...but only if they don’t open the Winter Box.

David is trapped in a nightmarish version of his hometown, pursued by crimson-eyed demons and insane cannibals, with no idea how he got there. At every turn, he's taunted by a mysterious youth named Simon, who knows far more than he lets on.

He finds her crying in the lobby of a movie theater and takes her home to his apartment, a strange, beautiful woman with no last name, a mysterious past, and a powerful sexual allure. He wants her, and she wants him. There's only one problem: the men upstairs. She used to belong to them—and they'll do anything to get her back.

A deserted R&D facility tempts the hungry new Guild, Leviathan, into sending a team to plunder its valuable research. The base was abandoned after a neighboring planet was devastated by an outbreak of Xenos-alien zombies—but that was a whole planet away. When the Guild ship is attacked by a quarantine patrol, both ships crash onto the deserted world. Only it isn't as deserted as they hope: a murderous new Xeno threat awakens, desperate to escape the planet. Can the crews cooperate to destroy this new foe? Will they be forced to sacrifice their ships and lives to protect the galaxy?

This year brings 22 more in-your-face stories that break boundaries and trash taboos, transgressive tales you can't "unread" (as Chuck Palahniuk says). Some of the stories you'll find here are loaded with very graphic descriptions of violence, sex, and depravities, while others may contain only one shocking moment of brutality. In others, the hardcore aspect may be less graphic and subtler than you might expect. Some of these quieter tales offer the listener some time to recover from the more disturbing ones preceding.

Meet Matt Richter. Pi. Zombie. Another case proves dangerous for zombie PI Matt Richter, in the underworld realm of Nekropolis. From his arrival at Nekropolis, Matt has found himself embroiled in disputes with the city's vampire lords, shapeshifters, golems, and other monstrosities. Nothing has prepared him for the Dark War. Tim Waggoner is a novelist and college professor.

Nearra does not know who she is or where she lives but she does know one thing: Someone wants her dead. Her only hope lies leagues away, in an ancient temple, where healing clerics may be able to restore her memory. A helpful young ranger, a failed warrior, a sneaky elf, and a kender wizard offer to accompany Nearra on her journey. She soon learns her newfound friends have secrets of their own. As goblins, an angry minotaur, and a vicious green dragon attempt to stop them at every turn, friendships are tested and all of if may come to ruin from the one Nearra trusts the most.

When Maintenance Surveyors Neal and Gina investigate a house saturated with Corruption, they expect the job to be fairly routine. What they don’t expect is for Gina to become psychically bound to a monstrously mutated woman called the Witch Lady. Nor do they expect the Witch Lady’s son Randall to come into possession of a dark tome of unimaginable power called the Insanitarium, which he uses to wreak havoc throughout Ash Creek. And there’s no way they could anticipate the arrival of Neal’s childhood friend Donnie.

The Horror Writer covers how to connect with your market and carve out a sustainable niche in the independent horror genre, how to tackle the writer's ever-lurking nemesis of productivity, writing good horror stories with powerful, effective scenes, realistic, flowing dialogue and relatable characters without resorting to clichéd jump scares and well-worn gimmicks. Also covered is the delicate subject of handling rejection with good grace, and how to use those inevitable "not quite the right fit for us at this time" letters as an opportunity to hone your craft.

Rachel Blackburn is back, and she’s more powerful–and terrifying–than ever. She’s now one of the Lightbringers, an ancient race of cosmic beings dedicated to “saving” the Omniverse from the ravenous Gyre by absorbing it into themselves piece by piece. But Rachel doesn’t give a damn about the Lightbringers’ mission. She intends to use her new powers to get revenge on the two Maintenance agents who stopped her from activating the Atrocity Engine–Neal Hudson and Gina Sandoval. And when she’s finished with them, she’s going to destroy Brother Nothing and the entire Multitude.

You’ve got to keep your head to survive in Nekropolis. It’s a shame Victor Baron couldn’t manage that. Now everyone wants a piece of him. Zombie detective Matt Richter and his glamourous she-vampire companion Devona are back on the case, with another wild and wonderful investigation. Tim Waggoner is a novelist and college professor.

Jayce's 20-year-old daughter, Emory, is missing, lost in a dark, dangerous realm called Shadow that exists alongside our own reality. An enigmatic woman named Nicola guides Jayce through this bizarre world, and together, they search for Emory, facing deadly dog-eaters, crazed killers, homicidal sex toys, and - worst of all - a monstrous being known as the Harvest Man. But no matter what Shadow throws at him, Jayce won’t stop. He'll do whatever it takes to find his daughter, even if it means becoming a worse monster than the things that are trying to stop him.

For Joan Lantz, it starts with a dream of a death cult’s mass suicide in the jungle of Suriname, followed by the discovery of a hidden basement in her new house, where heavy metal music echoes on humid tropical air. For Kevin Benecke, long-suffering employee of a mysterious organization known simply as Maintenance, it starts with the violent death of his coworker at the hands of a madman who tells him, "The Big Dark is coming for you." Cult leader and ex-rock star Mark Maegarr has returned from beyond the grave, and Joan and Kevin have front row seats to his apocalyptic comeback.

All Dan wanted was to be a good husband and father, to provide for his wife and daughter, to keep them fed, warm, and safe. But then the malevolent godlike beings called the Masters arrived, and their darkness spread across the world, reshaping it into a twisted realm of savagery and madness. In exchange for his family's protection, Dan now serves one of these alien gods, obtaining human sacrifices to feed his Master's eternal hunger.

A dark and disturbing psychological horror novel from four-time Bram Stoker Award–winning author Tim Waggoner, in which an insidious voice drives its victims toward unspeakable acts of self-destruction—all in service of the terrifying Unhigh. Welcome to the meat room. At first, it’s a...

Lonny lost his beloved sister Delia 30 years ago. Since then, he's sacrificed many lives in order to return her to the world of the living, but without success. His next target is Julia, a young women with a unfulfilled marriage and a passion for '80s horror films. She will soon discover that not only is real life more complicated than the movies, it's far more terrifying

It’s Todd and Heather’s 21st anniversary. A blizzard rages outside their home, but it’s far colder inside. Their marriage is falling apart, the love they once shared gone, in its place only bitter resentment. As the night wears on, strange things start to happen in their house—bad things. If they can work together, they might find a way to survive until morning…but only if they don’t open the Winter Box.

Armed with new weapons and a newfound confidence, Nearra and her friends plan to confront the wizard Maddoc. But before they can reach Cairngorn Keep, a skeletal griffin kidnaps Nearra and delivers her directly into the wizard's hands. As Maddoc prepares the final spell to unleash the Evergence, Davyn and the others struggle to rescue Nearra. But in the confines of Maddoc's keep, appearances deceive. Friends become enemies. Dark dreams become reality. And naive Nearra may not be as innocent as she seems.

Lirra Brochann is second-in-command to a force conducting secret military experiments on the creations of Xoriat, the Realm of Madness. When the government threatens to withdraw support for the experiments, the alchemist in charge, Lirra’s own uncle, makes a drastic error and a portal to Xoriat is opened. In trying to stop the ensuing madness, Lirra becomes bonded to one of the experiments, a symbiotic tentacle whip with a will of its own.

Evil space plants, lecherous dragons, and the mysteries of the vampire haunt the stories of Weird Tales #364. Features: “Too Late Now” by Seanan McGuire, “Ellende” by Gregory Frost, “Hats” by Joe R. Lansdale, “Lightning Lizzie” by Marie Whittaker, “Last Days” by Dacre Stoker and Leverett Butts, “The Beguiled Grave” by Marguerite Reed, and much more.