We come from dust, and to dust we return… Earth is steady. Solid. Reliable. It is the source of life and the thing which sustains it. But it’s not always serene and peaceful. It takes a lot to stir the earth but when it does, things get dramatic. Quakes swallow cities. Oceans rise. Mountains crumble. Earth is not weak, and it knows no pity. Learn the strength of Earth and its creations in these eighteen stories, including: rusting dragons; mysterious summer jobs; magical inheritances; and dryads engaged in a bitter war. Featuring: Jane Yolen; Chadwick Ginther; Kevin Cockle; Damascus Mincemeyer; Laura VanArendonk Baugh; Catherine Macleod; Mara Malins; Steve Toase; Suzanne J. Willis; Blake Jessop; Buzz Dixon; David L. Craddock; Rose Strickman; Gregory L. Norris; Tamsin Showbrook; Sarah Van Goethem; Tim Ford; and V.F. LeSann.

The ability for people to control (to some extent at least) fire has long been held as one of the major events that contributed to human evolution, but when fire eludes or escapes our control it is also one of the most destructive forces on earth. Associated with passion, power, transformation and purification, fire is a ferocious element with an unquenchable appetite. Discover the power of Fire and the creatures that thrive on it in these twenty-one stories, including: the true inspiration behind Jim Morrison’s songs; a special weapon used in World War II; the secret in the depths of a mortuary furnace; a fantastical card game; and a necromancer out on what may be his last job. Featuring: Blake Jessop; Kevin Cockle; Lizbeth Ashton; Dusty Thorne; V.F. LeSann; K.T. Ivanrest; Hal J. Friesen; Laura VanArendonk Baugh; Krista D. Ball; Marla Malins; Claude Lalumière; Susan MacGregor; JB Riley; Damascus Mincemeyer; Heather M. O’Connor; Gabrielle Harbowy; R. W. Hodgson; Chadwick Ginther; Wendy Nikel; Annie Neugebauer; and J.G. Formato.

A teenage girl's classmates begin disappearing only to haunt her dreams, ships full of ghostly passengers in need of release test those who are tasked to give them peace, psychopomps whose job is guiding the spirits of the dead to the other side meet in a support group, and more fill these pages. Featuring work by Pete Aldin, Andrew Bourelle, Stephanie A. Cain, Beth Cato, M.L.D. Curelas, Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman, Amanda C. Davis, Roddy Fosburg, Joseph Halden, Lynn Hardaker, L.S. Johnson, Michael M. Jones, Jeanne Kramer-Smyth, Samantha Kymmell-Harvey, C.S. MacCath, Jonathan C. Parrish, Alexandra Seidel, Samantha L. Strong, Michael B. Tager, Rachel M. Thompson, Laura VanArendonk Baugh, Sarah Van Goethem, Xan van Rooyen, Lilah Wild, Suzanne J. Willis and BD Wilson. These twenty-six ghost stories, each with a unique perspective and style, explore hauntings and specters in ways both new and familiar.

A car accident shattered sixteen-year-old Morgan's family. Now her brother's dead, her mom's paralyzed in more ways than one, her dad lives at work and her seven-year-old sister Amy tries too freaking hard to salvage everything. What's more, high school is its own special kind of hell, where her ex-boyfriend delights in spreading rumors that shred her reputation and make her feel like a loser.When she finds an old camera in a creepy abandoned hospital, it seems like her luck is finally changing. And it is changing—from bad to worse. Because of course it is. Each time Morgan photographs one of her classmates they become corrupted versions of themselves. It's like the camera steals their goodness, their essence, and leaves them hollow.Then her sister uses the camera to take a selfie. No matter what the cost, Morgan will find a way to reverse the effects of the cursed camera and save Amy, before her already-fractured...

There are no damsels in distress here!A city guard in a world where sunlight is the greatest currency must choose between what's done and what's right when she meets a woman from the other side of the wall who's caring for a strange brood. A teen girl is inducted into a secret society that slays mythological creatures. A woman and her daughter compete in a race where dragons pull chariots. A very special librarian guards a very special hoard. These and other stories of dragons and empowered women (and empowered women dragons!) fill the pages of this anthology.Featuring stories by Krista D. Ball, Kevin Cockle, M.L.D. Curelas, Aurora B. C. Donev, Jennifer R. Donohue, Candas Jane Dorsey, Megan Engelhardt, Joseph Halden, Blake Jessop, Gwen C. Katz, Amanda Kespohl, Jennifer Lee Rossman, Stephanie Lorée, Damascus Mincemeyer, JB Riley and Laura VanArendonk Baugh.

We come from dust, and to dust we return… Earth is steady. Solid. Reliable. It is the source of life and the thing which sustains it. But it’s not always serene and peaceful. It takes a lot to stir the earth but when it does, things get dramatic. Quakes swallow cities. Oceans rise. Mountains crumble. Earth is not weak, and it knows no pity. Learn the strength of Earth and its creations in these eighteen stories, including: rusting dragons; mysterious summer jobs; magical inheritances; and dryads engaged in a bitter war. Featuring: Jane Yolen; Chadwick Ginther; Kevin Cockle; Damascus Mincemeyer; Laura VanArendonk Baugh; Catherine Macleod; Mara Malins; Steve Toase; Suzanne J. Willis; Blake Jessop; Buzz Dixon; David L. Craddock; Rose Strickman; Gregory L. Norris; Tamsin Showbrook; Sarah Van Goethem; Tim Ford; and V.F. LeSann.

What do you get when you take the high tech/low life settings of cyberpunk and sprinkle them with the magic and possibilities of fairy tales? Trolls under teleportation bridges, masquerades held in virtual reality, princely avatars, giants and dwarves alongside hackers and androids. From retellings of traditional tales such as Rumpelstiltskin, in which a young woman is tasked with writing code instead of spinning gold, to original tales like the changeling-inspired story of a formless machine intelligence that hijacks human bodies, these cyberpunk fairy tales form a unique collection that is sure to satisfy connoisseurs of both genres. Original stories from Thomas Badlan, Suzanne Church, Beth Goder, Sarah Van Goethem, Nicola Kapron, V.F. LeSann, Angus McIntyre, Wendy Nikel, Ana Sun, Michael Teasdale, Alena Van Arendonk and Laura VanArendonk Baugh.

There's always something magical about horses, isn't there? Whether winged or at home in the water, mechanical or mythological, the equines that gallop through these pages span the fantasy spectrum. In one story a woman knits her way up to the stars and in another Loki's descendant grapples with bizarre transformations while fighting for their life. A woman races on a unique horse to save herself from servitude, while a man rides a chariot through the stars to reclaim his self-worth. From steampunk-inspired stories and tales that brush up against horror to straight-up fantasy, one theme connects them all: freedom. Featuring nineteen fantastic stories of equines both real and imagined by J.G. Formato, Diana Hurlburt, Tamsin Showbrook, M.L.D Curelas, Laura VanArendonk Baugh, VF LeSann, Dan Koboldt, J.J. Roth, Susan MacGregor, Pat Flewwelling, Angela Rega, Michael Leonberger, Sandra Wickham, Stephanie A. Cain, Cat McDonald, Andrew Bourelle, Chadwick Ginther, K.T. Ivanrest, and...

Three of Rhonda Parrish's beloved Aphanasian stories brought together in one collection for the first time! A Love Story: Z'thandra, a swamp elf living with the Reptar, discovers a human near the village. When she falls in love with him, she faces the most difficult choice of her life, a decision that will affect the Reptar for generations. Lost and Found: Xavier, the escaped subject of a madman's experiments, and Colby, a young lady on a mission to save her brother, must combine their efforts to elude capture and recover the magical artifact that will save Colby's brother before it's too late. Sister Margaret: A vampire hunter and a half-incubus swordsman are hired by a priestess to kill the undead pimp that is extorting, torturing and murdering vulnerable girls. **Review "Rhonda Parrish's descriptive and action-packed prose grabs you by the hands and doesn't let go. This is the kind of story that's so good you clutch right back because you don't ever want it to end." -- Carrie Jones, New York Times Bestselling author of Need "Straight fantasy has to be really good to hold my interest. "Shades of Green" is absolutely excellent! Among the best fantasies I've read, a tale that unfolded smoothly and drew me in from the start. You'll find yourself sincerely concerned for young Z'thandra and her plight. Parrish is one talented writer!" -- Marge Simon, Stoker winner, VECTORS: A Week in the Death of a Planet, 2008 About the Author Rhonda Parrish is driven by a desire to do All The Things.She founded and ran Niteblade Magazine, is an Assistant Editor at World WeaverPress and is the editor of several anthologies including, most recently, Equus and D is for Dinosaur. In addition, Rhonda is a writer whose work has been inpublications such as Tesseracts 17:Speculating Canada from Coast to Coast and Imaginarium: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing (2012 & 2015).She also co-wrote a paranormal non-fiction title, Haunted Hospitals, with Mark Leslie. 

Poetry about the spirit of the prairies and the spirits that haunt them.Deadly droughts, malevolent entities and snow drifts that keep secrets (at least until thaw) are just some of the encounters, spooky and otherwise, that await you in Prairie Spirit(s). Inspired by a bout of 'landsickness' (being homesick for the land where she grew up), nostalgia and an imagination that tends toward darkness, Parrish tackles the shadowy spaces of the prairie heart. Explore the darkness with her and discover the secrets of rakes forgotten in long grass, isolation, thin ice and ancient relics better left alone... but don't forget your flashlight.