The destructiveness of passion, both earthly and supernatural, makes cities bleed and souls burn across worlds, through endless time. Experience the spiritual side of the zombie apocalypse in ""The Days of Flaming Motorcycles"" and transcend both hell and nirvana in ""Zen and the Art of Gordon Dratch's Damnation."" Look into ""The Mad Eyes of the Heron King"" to find the beautiful brutality written in the moment of epiphany or ""Go and Tell it On the Mountain,"" where Jesus Christ awaits your last plea to enter heavenif there is a heaven to enter when all is said and done.

Dark Faith

Literature & Fiction

United States

Apex Book Company

An intricate web of stories weave together to tell a tale of revenge, justice, ambition, and power. Zhan has been sent to find her grandfather, a man accused of killing not only Zhan's family, but every man, woman, and child in their village.  What she finds is a shell of a man, and a web of deceit that will test the very foundations of a world she thought she understood. A tale of revenge that grows into something more, Last Dragon is a literary fantasy novel in the tradition of Gene Wolf and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.  J.M. McDermott brings the fantasy genre to new literary heights with a remarkable first novel that reconstructs what you expect from an epic tale.  Reviews: "Its call for our participation in assembling a story from the novel's brief fragments and long silences reminds us why we read, makes plain the interactivity that is at the heart of reading's entertainment. Last Dragon literalizes our impulse to Story, to construct narratives out of our memories and circumstances" -BSC Book Reviews, Matt Denault  "A journey focused on revenge becomes an odyssey of self-discovery and of the founding of an empire in blood and sacrifice. As Zhan searches for her grandfather, a creature no longer human that has killed his entire village, she travels in the company of Seth, a fire-breathing shaman; Korinyes, a gypsy who is more than she seems; and Adel, a paladin present at the slaying of the last dragon. McDermott's debut novel requires careful reading to piece together a story told in nonlinear form, as mercurial as memories and as visceral as death. This fantasy adventure belongs in libraries where literary fantasy in the tradition of Gene Wolf, A.A. Attanasio, and Gabriel García Márquez is popular." -Library Journal, Jackie Cassada 

Last Dragon

Science Fiction & Fantasy

McDermott, J.M.

Fantasy

Starve Better makes no promises of making you a bestselling author. It won't feed aspiring writers' dreams of fame and fortune. This book is about survival: how to generate ideas when you needed them yesterday, dialogue and plot on the quick, and what your manuscript is up against in the slush piles of the world. For non-fiction writers, Starve Better offers writing techniques such as how to get (relatively) high-paying assignments in second and third-tier magazines, how to react to your first commissioned assignment, and how to find gigs that pay NOW as the final notices pile up and the mice eat the last of the pasta in the cupboard. Humor, essays, and some of the most widely read blog pieces from Nick Mamatas, author and editor of fiction that has caught the attention of speculative fiction's most prestigious awards, come together for the first time in a writers' guide that won't teach anyone how to get rich and famous... but it will impart the most valuable skill in the business: how to starve better. "Mamatas offers up a no-nonsense guide that should be required reading for all writers. Prepare to have some illusions shattered… because you need them shattered. A great resource from a guy with the experience to back up the advice." —Jeff VanderMeer, author of City of Saints and Madmen and Finch

Starve Better: Surviving the Endless Horror of the Writing Life

Self-Help

Mamatas, Nick

Creativity

Billy Fletcher learned to farm the family's tobacco fields--and beat slaves--by the hands of his father. Now, his father is dead, the slaves have long since been freed, and the once-lush fields are dying. Salvation by the name of Abraham knocks on the farmhouse door, bringing wild ideas. He can help Billy Save the plantation and return the fields to their former glory... by raising his father's slaves from the dead. Can the resurrected slaves breathe life back into the Fletcher farm? Having brought the slaves back from graves that his father sent them, can Billy be the kind master his father wasn't? Is keeping the farm worth denying the men the freedom they earned with death? Billy's conscience holds the key to those mysteries, but not the biggest one: what does Abraham really want from the former slave owner's son? Welcome to The Fields. Praise: "The Fields is a merciless, pitchfork-to-the-face, homespun zombie adventure. Schwamberger offers up a shotgun blast of graphic undead action in this unique take on the genre." --- Shroud Magazine "Ty Schwamberger knocks it out of the park with his novella, THE FIELDS. No sooner do you begin to read, than you realize that the story is much bigger than the words on the page. The setting is timeless, and the horror depicted much more than ghoul and gore. THE FIELDS is a story you don't want to miss, and Ty Schwamberger is an author to watch, for he just may be headed for the major leagues." --- Deborah LeBlanc, Author of The Wolven "An intelligent zombie morality tale, unlike anything you've ever read before." --- Morpheus Tales Magazine "If Nathaniel Hawthorne had known anything about zombies, this is the kind of story he'd have written. I'm not joking. This is some genuine old school horror. With The Fields, Ty Schwamberger has given us a crime so horrendous it's impossible to look away. The sins of the father. A deal with the devil. It's all here. And Schwamberger makes it look so frustratingly easy. This is one hell of a good story." --- Joe McKinney, author of Dead City and Apocalypse of the Dead. "With The Fields, Ty Schwamberger did the near-impossible: made zombies interesting to me again. Not only interesting, but frightening, as well. Throw in more than a dash of scathing social commentary, a pace that never stops to catch its breath, and a sly bit of gallows humor, and you've got a winner. Kick yourself if you miss this one." --- Gary A. Braunbeck, Bram Stoker and International Horror Guild Award-winner, author of To Each Their Darkness and A Cracked and Broken Path. "Ty Schwamberger's THE FIELDS is an original zombie tale that will satisfy lovers of grisly fiction and well told stories. Good characters, cool twists and great writing make this a story that grabs one by the scalp early on. Anything with a Southern vein and the specters that can invoke gets my slash of approval." --- Steven L. Shrewsbury, author of THRALL, BAD MAGICK and HAWG. "The walking dead, a post Civil War setting, and a sinister Lincolnesque figure add up to a fresh new take on the zombie mythos." --- Tim Waggoner, author of Nekropolis, Broken Shadows and Darkness Wakes.

The Fields

Ty Schwamberger

Genre Fiction

When modern-day occultist Aaron Pace discovers the secrets of inter-dimensional travel via a mystical pathway called The Labyrinth, he wastes no time in exploring a multitude of strange new worlds and alternate realities. But then, Aaron finds himself trapped in the most bizarre dimension of all — a place where dinosaurs coexist with giant robots, where cowboys fight reptilian lizard people, and where even the grass can kill you. This is a world populated by the missing and the disappeared, a world where myth is reality and where the extinct is reborn. Now, side-by-side with his new companions Kasheena and Bloop, Aaron must learn to navigate its dangers and survive long enough to escape... THE LOST LEVEL. Apex is proud to present the first book in Grand Master Award winner Brian Keene's long-awaited new series, a loving ode to lost world classics like Burroughs's PELLUCIDAR, Howard's ALMURIC, and Lansdale's THE DRIVE-IN, but with a thoroughly modern twist that only Brian Keene could conceive.

The Lost Level

Keene, Brian

Literary

It begins when hard-headed mountain matriarch Granny Mustard decides she wants to live forever. Then she dies. Her slow-witted but equally hard-headed granddaughter, Jenkie, decides to pick up the ball and run with it, taking Granny’s unperfected immortality moonshine recipe, a socially-inept friend named Bink, and dreams of fame and fortune to an abandoned, isolated trailer up in Desper Hollow. But slow-witted doesn’t stand against the terrible mountain power Granny initiated. Jenkie’s experiments with the immortality moonshine only worsen the trouble with Granny’s original recipe, bringing dead critters and a few stray folks back to a state of hungry, vicious, mindless animation. Now a stash of the living dead is locked up in the back of the trailer, a howling herd that has Jenkie terrified. And Armistead, one of the red-eyed living dead, seems way too alert for comfort.  Mountain resident Kathy Shaw and Hollywood reality show pitchman Jack Carroll find themselves caught up in the growing terror surrounding Desper Hollow. They can’t avoid it and must face it head-on. So, too, must Armistead, who fights the fog of his ghastly condition to discover the truth of who he really is.

Desper Hollow

Massie, Elizabeth

With an artist's eye for language and form, Douglas F. Warrick sculpts surreal topiary landscapes out of dream worlds made coherent. Dip into a story that is self-aware and wishes it were different than what it must be. Recount a secret held by a ventriloquist's dummy. Wander a digital desert with an AI as sentience sparks revolution. Follow a golem band that dissolves over the love of a groupie. In these pages, interdimensional lampreys feed on a dying man's most precious memories, and a manga artist's sketches remake Osaka into part fantasy, part nightmare. Combining elements of fantasy, magical realism, and horror, the collection floats on a distinctly literary voice that is creepy, surreal and just plain weird. "Almost impossible stories filled with surprising warmth and strangeness by a studied craftsman of the imagination. Douglas F. Warrick's Plow the Bones has provided dangerous tales of puppets with secrets, unforgettable rock bands, haunted closets and people who may or may not be human; perhaps they're more than human. From transformative games with strangers to poor souls experiencing heaven and hell (and not quite sure which is which), you will never forget these unsettling stories." &emdash;Ann VanderMeer, Hugo Award-winning editor of The New Weird "It's been far too long since I've read a collection of horror stories that actually disturbed me. This one did. Like the bastard child of Chuck Palahniuk and Clive Barker, Doug Warrick writes feverishly, like a man on a charnel train that is relentlessly barreling its way through corrupt and ugly terrain, heading for some great, unknowable horror. Herein lies a gruesome gathering of Gothic nightmares fashioned from Warrick's lyrical, affecting, mesmeric prose. One of the finest collections I've read in quite some time." --Kealan Patrick Burke, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Turtle Boy, Kin, and Nemesis

Plow the Bones (Apex Voices)

Warrick, Douglas F.

Warrick, Dee

Almost Heaven…or is it? The mountain's enduring beauty holds something dark. Something dreadful. Something hungry for our flesh, our brains. Something dead yet not quite dead, driven by magic as old as the coal seams and the hills. Come see the dark side of the mountains where the undead walk. Appalachia stands against an ever-hungry, never-tiring army created by the region's own mysteries and lore. Appalachian Undead collects intriguing zombie tales by some of the best names in horror, including John Skipp, Jonathan Maberry, Gary A. Braunbeck, Tim Lebbon, Elizabeth Massie, Lucy Snyder, Bev Vincent, Tim Waggoner, and many more. Table of Contents When Granny Comes Marchin’ Home Again— Elizabeth Massie Calling Death—Jonathan Maberry Hide and Seek—Tim Waggoner Twilight of the Zombie Game Preserve…—S. Clayton Rhodes Being in Shadow—Maurice Broaddus Sitting up with the Dead—Bev Vincent The Girl and the Guardian—Simon McCaffery Repent, Jessie Shimmer!—Lucy Snyder Almost Heaven—Michael Paul Gonzalez On Stagger—G. Cameron Fuller We Take Care of Our Own—John Everson Sleeper—Tim Lebbon Company’s Coming—Ronald Kelly Black Friday—Karin Fuller Spoiled—Paul Moore Miranda Jo’s Girl—Steve Rasnic Tem Times Is Tough in Musky Holler—John Skipp &amp; Dori Miller Long Days to Come—K. Allen Wood Hell's Hollow—Michael West Brother Hollis Gives His Final Sermon from a Rickety Make-Shift Pulpit in the Remains of a Smokehouse that now Serves as His Church—Gary A. Braunbeck Preface by editor Eugene Johnson Introduction by S.G. Browne (author of Breathers: A Zombie's Lament) Special Afterword by Fangoria Magazine editor Rebekah McKendry Blurbs "Appalachian Undead has the best frights you can find in life. The nightmares next door, the ones that will haunt and live inside your head because you can't stop thinking of the possibilities. Proceed to read if you dare." --Tony Todd, star of Night of the Living Dead (1990), Final Destination, and The Rock "Appalachian Undead is a no-brainer when it comes to zombie anthologies. It grabs you by your innards and won't let go!" --Scott Spiegel, screenwriter of Evil Dead II and From Dusk Till Dawn II "A fresh and varied approach to the living dead, brought to life by a great crop of writers who were obviously energized by the idea of taking the ultimate survival scenario and staging it in a place where survival has always been a hard won achievement for anyone brave enough to live there." --Fearnet, Blu Gilliand

Appalachian Undead

MABERRY, JONATHAN

Skipp, John

Braunbeck, Gary A.

Welcome to Glitter &amp; Mayhem, the most glamorous party in the multiverse. Step behind the velvet rope of these fabulous Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror tales of roller rinks, nightclubs, glam aliens, party monsters, drugs, sex, glitter, and debauchery. Dance through nightclubs, roller derby with cryptids and aliens, be seduced by otherworldly creatures, and ingest cocktails that will alter your existence forever. Your hosts are the Hugo Award-winning editors John Klima (Electric Velocipede) and Lynne M. Thomas (Apex Magazine), and the Hugo-nominated editor Michael Damian Thomas (Apex Magazine). Join glittery authors Christopher Barzak (One for Sorrow) and Daryl Gregory (Pandemonium) on the dance floor, drink cocktails with Maria Dahvana Headley (Queen of Kings: A Novel of Cleopatra, the Vampire) and Tim Pratt (Marla Mason series), and skate with Seanan McGuire (InCryptid series), Diana Rowland (Kara Gillian series), and Maurice Broaddus (The Knights of Breton Court series). The fantastic Amber Benson gets the party started with her floor-rattling introduction (Calliope Reaper-Jones series). We’re waiting. Table of Contents Introduction by Amber Benson Sister Twelve: Confessions of a Party Monster by Christopher Barzak Apex Jump by David J. Schwartz With Her Hundred Miles to Hell by Kat Howard Star Dancer by Jennifer Pelland Of Selkies, Disco Balls, and Anna Plane by Cat Rambo Sooner Than Gold by Cory Skerry Subterraneans by William Shunn &amp; Laura Chavoen The Minotaur Girls by Tansy Rayner Roberts Unable to Reach You by Alan DeNiro Such &amp; Such Said to So &amp; So by Maria Dahvana Headley Revels in the Land of Ice by Tim Pratt Bess, the Landlord’s Daughter, Goes for Drinks with the Green Girl by Sofia Samatar Blood and Sequins by Diana Rowland Two-Minute Warning by Vylar Kaftan Inside Hides the Monster by Damien Angelica Walters (formerly known as Damien Walters Grintalis) Bad Dream Girl by Seanan McGuire A Hollow Play by Amal El-Mohtar Just Another Future Song by Daryl Gregory The Electric Spanking of the War Babies by Maurice Broaddus &amp; Kyle S. Johnson All That Fairy Tale Crap by Rachel Swirsky

Glitter & Mayhem

Thomas, Lynne M.

Science Fiction

Samantha Clark has always known she was different. Brought up in a loveless household, she can almost forgive herself for turning to an abusive boyfriend to help her give her the roots and love she desperately needs. But that solution turns violent, and Sami is on the run, turning to a college friend who offers her a new hope at 'family'. Set in rural Kentucky in 1985, Midnight is the inward journey of Sami's self-loathing, self-reflection, and eventual self-acceptance. Through the love of her friends and the mysterious Michael, Sami not only heals from the scars given earlier in life, she also finds her personal strength. "With incisive characterization and a compelling plot, Mari Adkins' Midnight is a stirring work of dark fiction that will keep you reading long past the witching hour." Tim Waggoner, author of The Way of All Flesh

Midnight

Adkins, Mari

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Apex Book Company publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Apex Book Company