Margins
2012
First Published
3.88
Average Rating
176
Number of Pages

19 amazing tales by the masters and rising stars of speculative fiction. Includes all new stories by Piers Anthony, Jeff Strand, Joe McKinney, Lisa Morton, Jeremy C. Shipp, Gary McMahon, Aric Sundquist, and many more! You don’t want to miss this staggering collection of horror and dark fantasy! Complete TOC: INSIDE THE BOXES by Jeff Strand DOWN IN THE WOODS TODAY by Emily C. Skaftun DOLLHOUSE by Craig Wallwork POOR ME AND TED by Kate Jonez A LITTLE CRIMSON STAIN by Joe McKinney I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE by S.S. Michaels DREAMS OF A RAGGED DOLL by Cate Gardner ATTIC DOG by David Raffin WHEN HARRY KILLED SALLY by Lisa Morton LIVING DOLL by Piers Anthony THE WHITE KNIGHT by Aric Sundquist THE DOLL TREE by Amelia Mangan A LITTLE TERROR by Phil Hickes GIVE IT A NAME by Gary McMahon DISCARDED by Nancy Rosenberg England GOOGLY by Jeremy C. Shipp RUBIK'S CUBE by Melanie Mascio A BRIGHTLY-COLORED BOX FILLED WITH STARS by Dorian Dawes THE TEA-SERVING DOLL by Mae Empson

Avg Rating
3.88
Number of Ratings
147
5 STARS
33%
4 STARS
32%
3 STARS
27%
2 STARS
4%
1 STARS
3%
goodreads

Authors

David Raffin
David Raffin
Author · 1 books

Contributor to Funny Times, Rosebud magazine, etc. Edited the journal Vision? Nary!, of which MAXIMUMROCK'N'ROLL said: "A sarcastic, funny magazine that takes it to you with humor about the general fucked-up-ness of America- down home heartland America" These people said the following about David Raffin: "A cross between Garrison Keillor and Salvador Dali." – The Northwest Examiner "Intelligent, humorous, and highly imaginative– always a pleasure to read." – Peter Bacho, Author "Cebu" "Dark Blue Suit" "His perversions are oddly analytical." - Jodi Lamm, Author "Titan Magic" "David's style is absurdist bordering on the surreal. [...] Certainly, David is a virtuoso at not delivering what an audience might expect. As such, he shows his remarkable skills as a satirist." – Evergreen State College "He's not your average comedian." - The Daily Olympian

Emily C. Skaftun
Emily C. Skaftun
Author · 2 books

Emily C. Skaftun’s tales of flying tigers, space squids, and evil garden gnomes have appeared in Clarkesworld, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Asimov’s, Daily Science Fiction, Strange Horizons, and more. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing and attended the Clarion West Writers Workshop in 2009. Emily lives just north of Seattle with a mad scientist and their Cat, Astrophe. She is the former editor of a Norwegian newspaper and practices norsk bokmål by translating comic strips. Emily has cuddled a crocodile in Cuba, attended Elf School in Reykjavík, swam in a Yucatán cenote, and flown over an active volcano.

Amelia Mangan
Author · 7 books

My first novel, RELEASE, was published by Nightscape Press in 2015. I'm also the author of a number of short stories, including "I Love You Mary-Grace", as featured in The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Eleven (ed. Ellen Datlow, 2019). This story was also audio-adapted by Jason Hill, of Chilling Tales' Horror Hill podcast, and can be listened to here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5xBr... Some of my stories can be read online, including: "The Bridegroom" (stand-alone ebook, published by The Book Smugglers, also available for free on their site: http://thebooksmugglers.com/2015/10/t...) "Blue Highway" (Yen Magazine #65; winner of their first short story contest; available to read for free online: http://www.yenmag.net/artery/blue-hig...) "These Blasted Lands" (After The Fall, ed. Alex Davis; available to read for free online: https://boohoobooks.files.wordpress.c...)

Aric Sundquist
Aric Sundquist
Author · 4 books
Aric Sundquist is an author and editor of speculative fiction. His stories have appeared in numerous publications, including Fearful Fathoms Vol. 1, The Best of Dark Moon Digest, Night Terrors III, Evil Jester Digest Vol. 1, and Attic Toys. He is also the owner and editor of Dark Peninsula Press, an indie publishing company specializing in horror and thriller anthologies.
Dorian Dawes
Dorian Dawes
Author · 3 books
Dorian Dawes is just trying to survive late-stage capitalism and the ongoing climate crisis. They also write very strange and sad stories for very strange and sad people.
Gary McMahon
Author · 27 books
Gary McMahon lives, works and writes in West Yorkshire but posseses a New York state of mind. He shares his life with a wife, a son, and the nagging stories that won’t give him any peace until he writes them.
Mae Empson
Mae Empson
Author · 2 books

Mae Empson has a Master’s degree in English literature from Indiana University at Bloomington, and graduated with honors in English and in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she received the Robert B. House Memorial Prize in Poetry in 1995. She lives in Seattle, Washington. Recent publications appear in print in anthologies from Prime Books, Innsmouth Free Press, and Dagan Books, and on-line in The Pedestal Magazine and Cabinet des Fees. Mae Empson is a member of the Horror Writers Association, and of HorrorPNW – the Pacific Northwest chapter of HWA. Follow Mae on twitter at www.twitter.com/maeempson. Read Mae’s blog at http://maeempson.wordpress.com.

Piers Anthony
Piers Anthony
Author · 170 books

Though he spent the first four years of his life in England, Piers never returned to live in his country of birth after moving to Spain and immigrated to America at age six. After graduating with a B.A. from Goddard College, he married one of his fellow students and and spent fifteen years in an assortment of professions before he began writing fiction full-time. Piers is a self-proclaimed environmentalist and lives on a tree farm in Florida with his wife. They have two grown daughters.

Jeff Strand
Author · 73 books
Author of a bunch of demented books, including PRESSURE, DWELLER, A BAD DAY FOR VOODOO, WOLF HUNT, SINGLE WHITE PSYCHOPATH SEEKS SAME, BENJAMIN'S PARASITE, FANGBOY, THE SINISTER MR. CORPSE, and lots of others. Four-time Bram Stoker Award finalist. Four-time Bram Stoker Award loser. Ten-time Bram Stoker Award Master of Ceremonies.
Phil Hickes
Phil Hickes
Author · 6 books

I live in Oregon at the moment, though I hail from the UK. Growing up in a house overlooking a graveyard, on the edge of the bleak and foreboding Pennine Hills, seems to have instilled in me an obsession with all things dark and spooky. The Vanishing of Aveline Jones is published in October 2022. Favourite authors include Robert Aickman, Stephen King (his early stuff), M R James, Susan Cooper, H P Lovecraft, Philip Pullman, Shirley Jackson, James Herbert, Lindsey Barraclough, Alan Garner, Neil Gaiman, Dennis Wheatley, Andrew Michael Hurley, Penelope Lively, Alan Moore, Mervyn Peake, Bernard Cornwell, Arthur Machen, Jane Austen, Cormac McCarthy, Roald Dahl, Jeanette Winterson, George R R Martin, Chris Priestley, Graham Joyce, Dan Rhodes, Robin Spriggs and many more.

Craig Wallwork
Craig Wallwork
Author · 9 books

Craig Wallwork was born in Manchester, England. He is the three times Pushcart Prize nominated writer of over 40 short stories, and the author of the books The Sound of Loneliness, Bad People, Labyrinth of the Dolls, Heart of Glass, Human Tenderloin, Quintessence of Dust and Gory Hole. He lives in West Yorkshire, England. Find out more about him via his official website: https://craigwallwork.com/ You can also subscribe to his newsletter and get a free book: https://landing-page.craigwallwork.com/

Shannon Giglio
Shannon Giglio
Author · 2 books

Shannon Giglio is a writer of literary, transgressive, and dark fiction. She has lived abroad, traveled widely, jumped out of an airplane, and driven a race car. She has worked in film and television. "Ally Forman, a young woman with Down syndrome and a burnt-out guardian angel, wins the lottery in this unusual work from horror scribe Giglio (Revival House). Twenty-four-year-old grocery bagger Ally is obsessed with pro wrestling, so when she finds out she’s won $314 million she vows to bring her favorite wrestler, the recently booted Stryker Nash, back into the ring. Determined to use her riches to finally make her own decisions, Ally—with the help of a few whispered words from her cynical spirit guide—fights for independence from a family that’s just as determined to convince her she can’t. And as the choices Ally makes take hold, she learns that being normal isn’t exactly what she thought it would be. In less sensitive hands, Ally’s story could have devolved into something unsatisfying and distasteful. But it never veers in that direction. Instead, what Giglio has presented is a compassionately written and uplifting tale of forgiveness and redemption." — Publishers Weekly "...No spoilers, but reading this book will make your heart a little lighter and your belief in karma a little stronger, especially after the plot twists. Also, you may stop on wrestling for a few seconds more when changing the channel, just to see all the drama that makes Ally smile." — Huffington Post “SHORT BUS HERO has it all: Down syndrome, hoarding, suicide attempts, heart attacks, betrayal, redemption, angels, winning lottery numbers, and big time professional wrestling. A dark, sweet, and poignant tale about what happens when you follow your dreams.” — S. G. Browne, author of BREATHERS, BIG EGOS, and FATED “If you were the big Lottery winner, what would you do first? Why, resurrect the career of your favorite professional wrestler, of course. Touching, violent, hilarious, tragic and surreal—Short Bus Hero is an inspiring and emotional story.” — Richard Thomas, author of STARING INTO THE ABYSS, co-editor of BURNT TONGUES “From a mind-bending cornucopia of eclectic ingredients–troubled lottery winners, pro wrestlers on the skids, and restless angels are just the tip of the iceberg–Shannon Giglio has expertly crafted one of the strangest, cleverest, and, yes, sweetest, tales I have ever read. This wonderful novel has it all: ingeniously imagined characters, rousing and poignant adventures, and, perhaps most importantly, the true heart of a champion. Anyone who enjoys great storytelling will love this book.” — Bill Breedlove, author of HOW TO DIE WELL "In REVIVAL HOUSE, S.S. Michaels treads the dangerous ground between real passion and dangerous obsession. A wonderfully twisted tale of undying love, true evil and zombies." —Jonathan Maberry, New York Times best-selling author of ASSASSIN'S CODE and FLESH & BONE "If you liked the coal-smeared hell that was Pollock's Devil All the Time, or the high octane horror of Brian Keene, or Lansdale when he's got all his razors out, then I have got a surprise for you. With Revival House, S.S. Michaels has penned a nightmare-infused blood letting that left me awe struck from the very first page. I don't scare easily, but this book was an all out assault on the senses. A first rate book. S.S. Michaels was my big find of the year, and I can't wait to see what comes next!" —Joe McKinney, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of FLESH EATERS and INHERITANCE

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