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The Day of the Triffids
by John WyndhamThe influential masterpiece of one of the twentieth century&’s most brilliant—and neglected—science fiction and horror writers, whom Stephen King called &“the best writer of science fiction that England has ever produced.&” &“[Wyndham] avoids easy allegories and instead questions the relative values of the civilisation that has been lost, the literally blind terror of humanity in the face of dominant nature. . . . Frightening and powerful, Wyndham&’s vision remains an important allegory and a gripping story.&”—The Guardian What if a meteor shower left most of the world blind—and humanity at the mercy of mysterious carnivorous plants? Bill Masen undergoes eye surgery and awakes the next morning in his hospital bed to find civilization collapsing. Wandering the city, he quickly realizes that surviving in this strange new world requires evading strangers and the seven-foot-tall plants known as triffids—plants that can walk and can kill a man with one quick lash of their poisonous stingers.
The Ghost Stories of Muriel Spark
by Muriel SparkEight spooky stories from the mistress of the unexpected. I aim to startle as well as please," Muriel Spark has said, and in these eight marvelous ghost stories she manages to do both to the highest degree. As with all matters in the hands of Dame Muriel her spooks are entirely original. A ghost in her pantheon can be plaintive or a bit vengeful, or perhaps may not even be aware of being a ghost at all. One in fact is the ghost of a man who isn't even dead yet. Another takes the bus home from work, believing she is still alive, though she is haunted by an odious tune stuck in her head (which her murderer had been relentlessly humming), and distressed by a "feeling of incompletion." And a reflective ghost recalls her mortal days of enjoying "the glory of the world, as if it would never pass. Spark has a flair for confiding ghosts: "I must explain that I departed this life nearly five years ago. But I did not altogether depart this world. There were those odd things still to be done which one's executors can never do properly." In her case the odd things include cheerily hailing her murderer, "Hallo George!" and driving him mad. The remarkably nonchalant stories here include some of her most wicked and famous"The Seraph and the Zambesi," "The Hanging Judge," and "The Portobello Road"and they all gleam with that special Spark sheen, the quality The Times Literary Supplement has hailed as "gloriously witty and polished."
Azrael
by Andrew WoodcockAzrael, the queen of the witches. This title is bestowed upon a young girl, groomed following a personal disaster by the mysterious Master, two of three central characters to this story. Two young women brought together by personal tragedy, unleashed with frightening evil powers by the Master, to wreak havoc upon an unsuspecting London. The classic battle between good and evil, which for the majority of the story, is an uneven battle won convincingly by the evil side. The side who seems to have all the answers and solutions. Relief for the powers of good seems to come in the form of divine intervention, with a final haunting conclusion as the tide finally turns. But does it? There is a frightening twist to this tale, when everything we are safe and comfortable with is brought into question. A thought-provoking page-turner, laced with horror and humour in equal measure, sharply observed and with truly terrifying moments, Azrael is a slap in the face for anyone looking for a comfortable read.
The Birds: and Other Stories (Virago Modern Classics #2164)
by Daphne Du Maurier"Anyone starting this book under the impression that he may sleepily relax is in for a shock...continually provokes both pity and terror." --The Observer (UK) A classic of alienation and horror, The Birds was immortalised by Hitchcock in his celebrated film. The five other chilling stories in this collection echo a sense of dislocation and mock man's dominance over the natural world. The mountain paradise of 'Monte Verità' promises immortality, but at a terrible price; a neglected wife haunts her husband in the form of an apple tree; a professional photographer steps out from behind the camera and into his subject's life; a date with a cinema usherette leads to a walk in the cemetery; and a jealous father finds a remedy when three's a crowd . . .
The Birds And Other Stories (Vmc Ser. #535)
by Daphne Du MaurierFROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF REBECCA'How long he fought with them in the darkness he could not tell, but at last the beating of the wings about him lessened and then withdrew . . . 'A classic of alienation and horror, 'The Birds' was immortalised by Hitchcock in his celebrated film. The five other chilling stories in this collection echo a sense of dislocation and mock man's sense of dominance over the natural world. The mountain paradise of 'Monte Verità' promises immortality, but at a terrible price; a neglected wife haunts her husband in the form of an apple tree; a professional photographer steps out from behind the camera and into his subject's life; a date with a cinema usherette leads to a walk in the cemetery; and a jealous father finds a remedy when three's a crowd . . .
Bloody Williamson
by Paul M. AngleThis is a horror story of native American violence. It carries a grim lesson for the whole country. Political doctrines have played no part in the violence and murder that have brought much ill fame to one corner of Illinois. On the map, Williamson is just another county. But in history it is a place in which a strange disease has raged for more than eighty years--a disease marked by a pathological tendency to settle differences by force. Fascinated by this, Paul M. Angle, the well-known historian, set out to discover what really had happened. Through enormous research he has been able to reconstruct the whole story in all its horrible, scarifying detail. Using the best techniques of reportage, without editorializing, without subjective coloration, he has produced a narrative beyond imagination. It begins with the "Bloody Vendetta," a feud that rampaged in the 1870s. It deals with labor's success in organizing coal mines in southern Illinois, an affair that twice blew up in violence. It covers the Herrin Massacre of 1922--perhaps the most shocking episode in the history of organized labor in this country--and the subsequent trials. The Ku Klux Klan provides material for four chapters that come to a climax in a fatal duel between the Klan and its opponents. And it ends with the story of the gang war between Charlie Birger and the Shelton brothers. It is a tale to shake the most phlegmatic reader.
The Last Houseparty: A Crime Novel
by Peter DickinsonIn this gripping novel by CWA Gold Dagger winner Peter Dickinson, the survivor of a manor-house crime delves into the past to solve a mystery At the elegant English manor known as Snailwood, tourists come daily to hear decades-old gossip about the second wife of the sixth earl. Zena was a remarkable young woman whose scandalous reputation has been dimmed neither by time nor by her bizarre death. In the 1930s, Zena was the star of a notorious party set whose members included playwrights, politicians, and Nazi sympathizers. They passed wild weekends at Snailwood, arguing about politics and drinking until dawn. At the center of their parties was the manor's magnificent tower clock. The clock stopped long ago, but the darkness of its legacy continues to spread. When a workman offers to fix the clock for free, the only remaining survivor of the old days is forced to revisit her memories of Zena's last mad party, when death came to Snailwood and Britain changed forever.
The Monk: A Romance
by Matthew G. LewisA pious monk is driven by sexual desire into the depths of sin and depravity in this eighteenth-century classic of Gothic fiction.Ambrosio is the abbot of the Capuchin monastery in Madrid. He is beloved by his flock, and his renowned piety has earned him the nickname The Man of Holiness. Yet beneath the veneer of this religious man lies a heart of hypocrisy; arrogant, licentious, and vengeful, he follows his sexual desires down the torturous path to ruin. Along the way, he encounters a naïve virgin who falls prey to his scheming, a baleful beauty fluent in witchcraft, the ghostly Bleeding Nun, an evil prioress, the Wandering Jew, and Lucifer himself.Matthew Lewis’s The Monk shocked and titillated readers with its graphic portrayal of lust, sin, and violence when it was first published in 1796. It was so controversial that the House of Commons—of which Lewis was a member—pronounced him licentious and perverse. A true classic of the Gothic novel, it left an indelible mark on English literature and has influenced such eminent writers as Byron, Scott, Poe, Flaubert, Hawthorne, Emily Brontë, and many others.This edition of The Monk, set from the unexpurgated first edition, includes an introduction by John Berryman.
Perfect Gallows: A Crime Novel
by Peter DickinsonThe twisted circumstances surrounding an unspeakable crime, an old man's fortune, and a production of Shakespeare's The Tempest come to light four decades on in this masterful tale of greed, deception, and murder by CWA Gold Dagger winner Peter Dickinson Behind his practiced facade of cheerful sophistication, the renowned actor Adrian Waring is a haunted man. The ghost that torments him is from an earlier era, when a world war raged and Adrian was still Andrew, the guest and possible heir of his rich uncle, Arnold Wragge. Wragge had returned from the diamond mines of South Africa with a fortune and a loyal servant named Samuel Mkele, and when his own son vanished, presumably in the smoke of combat, the old man looked to his poor relation as a potential replacement. Andrew's true interests lay elsewhere, however, in applause and the attentions of eager young ladies, both of which he realized he could have by starring in his cousin's amateur production of The Tempest. But young Andrew's fledgling theatrics would prove merely to be the opening act of a horrific human tragedy, forcing him to keep a terrible truth locked inside himself--even four decades after a body was discovered hanging from a perfect dovecote gallows . . . A master practitioner of the literary art of mystery and murder, author Peter Dickinson stands tall alongside P. D. James, Ruth Rendell, Reginald Hill, and other luminaries of contemporary British crime fiction. A brilliant innovator unafraid to tamper with the rules of genre, he is at the very top of his game with this gripping, twisting, and altogether remarkable psychological thriller.
Satellite B.C.
by John Glasby Rand Le PageThe crew of the interstellar exploration ship Ultima Thule is menaced by a brain-eating alien.
Time and Space
by John Glasby Rand Le PageThere were many reasons why the Time Kings sent their warrior hordes back through the endless corridors of Time. The ancient spaceships had been destroyed by the wrath of a people smarting under the aftermath of the Galactic War. But though the lanes of space were deserted to them, the Time Kings possessed a weapon more deadly than any other - the Amphichron. Sweeping through the grey ages, the warriors destroyed and pillaged the peaceful eras of the past.
Walking Dead: A Crime Novel
by Peter DickinsonThis brilliant crime novel by CWA Gold Dagger winner Peter Dickinson is set in the Caribbean, where a researcher becomes trapped like a rodent in a maze When it comes to his rats, David Foxe is an expert. He decides when they eat, when they exercise, when they take their medicine--and when they die. For the sake of the Company, he performs all manner of experiments on his helpless subjects, testing various drugs designed to improve the animals' nature. After a particularly grueling series of tests, he is sent on a working vacation to the Southward Islands. This Caribbean paradise is ruled by the shadowy dictator Dr. Trotter, who is said to possess demonic power and whose mother is rumored to be a witch. Foxe may be a man of science, but he now finds himself in a world governed by the occult. When a dead body is discovered in his island laboratory, Foxe becomes the key suspect and is taken prisoner. The only way to clear his name is to carry out experiments on his fellow inmates. Amid radical insurgents, crazed prisoners, and a crumbling dictatorship, Foxe must now escape this most dangerous experiment of all.
Zenith-D
by John Glasby Paul LorraineTo the crew of the Exploratory Ship Canopus, outward bound on the first intergalactic voyage to the flaring suns of mighty Andromeda, the evil whisperings that spilled out from the nebula into deep space came as a warning. This was something far beyond their previous experience. Nor were they the only ones to come under the malignant influence of the alien intelligence. In the empty, murmuring void, virtually half-way between the two galaxies of stars, a solitary sun streaked away from Andromeda, dragging its lonely, ammonia-laden planet with it. And it was here that the explorers first gained their glimpse of the black horror that lay straddled across the intergalactic darkness. Something that had being. Something that existed where it seemed impossible that anything could.It fell on Klau-Telph, the only non-Terran on board the Canopus, to finally track down and destroy the inhuman monster that threatened to drive the inhabitants of a trillion planets over the red edge of madness. Not until it was done did he find that the hidden reason behind the insidious whisperings was not what it seemed. In fact, it was something that even he, with his strange double mind, had never thought possible...
Conjure Wife: Terror, Evil, Witchcraft And Violence
by Fritz LeiberA professor discourages his wife&’s witchcraft to disastrous ends in this Hugo Award–winning novel—that inspired three films—by the Grand Master of Fantasy. Ethnology professor Norman Saylor is shocked to discover that his wife, Tansy, has been putting his research on &“Conjure Magic&” into practice. She only wants to protect him from the other spell-casting faculty wives who would stop at nothing to advance their husbands&’ careers. But Norman, as a man of science, demands she put an end to it. And when Tansy&’s last charm is burned . . . Norman&’s life starts falling apart. First, Norman has a disastrous run-in with a former protégé. Then his student secretary accuses him of seducing her. He&’s even passed over for a promotion that had been certain. Plus he&’s become exceedingly accident prone: from shaving to carpet tacks to letter openers, hazards are suddenly everywhere. At his wit&’s end, he begins to worry that a dark presence is exploiting his fear of trucks. But the worst is yet to come—when Tansy takes his curse upon herself. Now, in order to save his wife, Norman must overcome his disbelief and embrace the dark magic he disdains. Winner of the 1944 Retrospective Hugo Award, Conjure Wife is widely celebrated as a modern classic of horror-fantasy and has been adapted for film three times: Burn, Witch Burn (1962), Weird Woman (1944), and Witch&’s Brew (1980).
The Kraken Wakes
by John WyndhamAn &“ingenious, horrifying&” (The Guardian) first contact story by one of the twentieth century&’s most brilliant—and neglected—science fiction and horror writers, whom Stephen King called &“the best writer of science fiction that England has ever produced.&”&“Few books capture the obscure, elliptical way that threats move from the background to the foreground of reality like The Kraken Wakes. . . . Feels all too familiar in today&’s age of anti-vaxxer disinformation and QAnon conspiracists.&” —Alexandra Kleeman, from the Introduction What if aliens invaded and colonized Earth&’s oceans rather than its land?Britain, 1953: It begins with red dots appearing across the sky and crashing to the oceans&’ deeps. At first, many people believe that these aliens are interested in only what&’s down below. But when the polar ice-caps begin to melt, it becomes clear that these beings are not interested in sharing the Earth and that humankind might just be on the brink of extinction. . . .
Lamb to the Slaughter
by Dorothy EdenIn this page-turning novel of unparalleled romantic suspense by master storyteller Dorothy Eden, a woman disappears and her best friend is plunged into mortal danger Alice Ashton arrives in the middle of a fierce downpour to visit a longtime friend. But when she arrives, there&’s no sign of Camilla. The cottage&’s only occupants are a black magpie who quotes Poe and a yellow cat.And the intruder who just crept out the back door.With no one to turn to, Alice is forced to rely on her former beau, Felix Dodsworth, who left her for Camilla. Then a man called Dundas Hill arrives. Could the widower and single father be the mysterious D in Camilla&’s daily calendar? Or is it Dalton Thorpe, with whom Camilla may have eloped? Now Alice is the target, as a cunning killer leads her to her doom.
Mutant (Gateway Essentials #389)
by Henry KuttnerPeople called them BALDIES! ...a race of mutants, hairless with egg-like skulls and lashless eyes... ...a race hated by normal human beings, who hunted them with animal ferocity and killed them with religious fervour... ...a race that was even split amongst itself with some that wanted to establish rule by mutants... ...a race that had an extraordinary talent, the powers of telepathy ! So the baldies disguised themselves with wigs and waited for the day when there would be enough of them to stop their persecution by normal men !
The October Country
by Ray BradburyHaunting, harrowing, and downright horrifying, this classic collection from the modern master of the fantastic features: THE SMALL ASSASSIN: a fine, healthy baby boy was the new mother's dream come true -- or her nightmare . . . THE EMISSARY: the faithful dog was the sick boy's only connection with the world outside -- and beyond . . . THE WONDERFUL DEATH OF DUDLEY STONE: a most remarkable case of murder -- the deceased was delighted! And more!
Space Void
by John Glasby Victor La SalleThey came out of the void, from Venus, only to find there was no answer to their radio signals. Earth seemed dead. And on the Moon, Man's greatest achievement, the Lunar Military Base was a mass of rubble and blasted wreckage.Here, the crew of the Stellar Polaris, led by Commander John Forrest, discovered one sole survivor. He was mad! To their questions he could only answer that the children had destroyed the armed might of the Military Base.When they finally reached Earth, they found that what he had said was true. The children had taken over control of the world. But then, these were no ordinary children - and their little weapons were almost enough to overthrow the armed superiority of the Stellar Polaris herself!
The Well of the Worlds
by Henry KuttnerWhen the curiously exotic millionairess Klai Ford started telling him about ghosts in a uranium mine, Sawyer knew he'd better be ready for anything in his investigations. But he didn't count on being drawn into a passage between dimensions and tossed adrift in a world of islands floating in the sky, where strange brute-like creatures were attacking the cities in a vast struggle for power. Lost in this new world, Sawyer realised that the key to everything lay in the mysterious Well of the Worlds - and that the future of the universe lay in its secret.
The Bad Seed
by William MarchWhat happens to ordinary families into whose midst a child serial killer is born? This is the question at the center of William March's classic thriller. After its initial publication in 1954, the book went on to become a million-copy bestseller, a wildly successful Broadway show, and a Warner Brothers film. The spine-tingling tale of little Rhoda Penmark had a tremendous impact on the thriller genre and generated a whole perdurable crop of creepy kids. Today, The Bad Seed remains a masterpiece of suspense that's as chilling, intelligent, and timely as ever before.
The Broken Sword
by Poul AndersonThis acclaimed fantasy classic of men, elves, and gods is at once breathtakingly exciting and heartbreakingly tragic. Published the same year as The Fellowship of the Ring, Poul Anderson&’s novel The Broken Sword draws on similar Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon sources. In his greed for land and power, Orm the Strong slays the family of a Saxon witch—and for his sins, the Northman must pay with his newborn son. Stolen by elves and replaced by a changeling, Skafloc is raised to manhood unaware of his true heritage and treasured for his ability to handle the iron that the elven dare not touch. Meanwhile, the being who supplanted him as Orm&’s son grows up angry and embittered by the humanity he has been denied. A pawn in a witch&’s vengeance, the creature Valgard will never know love, and consumed by rage, he will commit a murderous act of unspeakable vileness. It is their destiny to finally meet on the field of battle—the man-elf and his dark twin, the monster—when the long-simmering war between elves and trolls finally erupts with a devastating fury. And only the mighty sword Tyrfing, broken by Thor and presented to Skafloc in infancy, can turn the tide in a terrible clashing of faerie folk that will ultimately determine the fate of the old gods. Along with such notables as Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury, multiple Hugo and Nebula Award winner Poul Anderson is considered one of the masters of speculative fiction.This edition contains the author&’s original text.
Dark Andromeda
by John Glasby A.J. MerakEarth was threatened with attach from the huge space-fleets of the Hundred Suns of Andromeda - an attack that the Terran Fleet could not hope to defeat.Only one chance remained to prevent Earth's destruction, and that was the chance that a skilled and experienced saboteur might just have time strike his blow before the enemy could launch the attack.It was Captain Blair whose mission this became, and it was his ace-saboteur who raced against death in planet after planet, as the zero-hour approached when Earth would face the attacking fleets of DARK ANDROMEDA.
Dark Centauri
by John Glasby Karl Zeigfreid"My God!" he yelled. "What's happening now?" Stevens stared. Then he started abruptly to his feet. Even afterwards, when he looked back on the incident, he could never actually decide what really happened. He had a persistent, oddly unshakable memory of a man flowing suddenly into liquid. Inside the blue and gray uniform of the Interstellar Passenger Service, the man began to melt, to change into a thick gooey substance that dripped and trickled away between the rising pillars of steel. Desperately, he fought down the rising sense of nausea that tugged at the muscles of his stomach. The picture was so utterly impossible that he screwed his eyes tightly to shut it out of his mind. When he looked again, there was nothing there and Blair was looking across at him, his jaw slack and an expression of stark disbelief in his dark eyes.
Jizzle
by John WyndhamA collection of short stories from the master author of THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS and THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS.Giselle is a very talented monkey, although she goes by the name Jizzle. She can draw incredible portraits, as lifelike as can be. But Jizzle isn't just a camera. Jizzle has feelings. And Jizzle can take revenge, when she wants . . .This collection combines fantasy, science fiction, and horror to delight, astound and unsettle you.STORIES INCLUDED:"Jizzle""Technical Slip""A Present from Brunswick""Chinese Puzzle""Esmeralda""How Do I Do?""Una""Affair of the Heart""Confidence Trick""The Wheel""Look Natural, Please!""Perforce to Dream""Reservation Deferred""Heaven Scent""More Spinned Against"