Billy Budd, Sailor and Bartleby, the Scrivener are two of the most revered shorter works of fiction in history. Here, they are collected along with 19 other stories in a beautifully redesigned collection that represents the best short work of an American master.As Warner Berthoff writes in his introduction to this volume, "It is hard to think of a major novelist or storyteller who is not also a first-rate entertainer . . . a master, according to choice, of high comedy, of one or another robust species of expressive humour, or of some special variety of the preposterous, the grotesque, the absurd. And Melville, certainly, is no exception. A kind of vigorous supervisory humour is his natural idiom as a writer, and one particular attraction of his shorter work is the fresh further display it offers of this prime element in his literary character."

LeRoy S. Hodges, Jr., has written a lively and informative biography of a Black writer of merit whose works have not enjoyed the wide readership they deserve. Interweaving discussion and criticism of William Gardner Smith's literary work with an account of his life, Hodges provides summaries and critical evaluations of Smith's novels and his nonfiction. He gives us insight into the experience of Black writers who chose to live abroad and looks searchingly at the problem of alienation.

Selected and Introduced by M.J. Elliott. That is not dead that can eternal lie And with strange aeons even death may die Millenia ago, the Old Ones ruled our planet. Since that time, they have but slumbered. But when a massive sea tremor brings the ancient stone city of R'lyeh to the surface once more, the Old Ones awaken at last. The Whisperer in Darkness brings together the original Cthulhu Mythos stories of the legendary horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. Included in this volume are several early tales, along with the classics 'The Call of Cthulhu', 'The Dunwich Horror' and 'At the Mountains of Madness'. Arm yourself with a copy of Abdul Alhazred's fabled Necronomican and prepare to face terrors beyond the wildest imaginings of all, save H.P. Lovecraft.

When six-year-old Jerome Talbot is abducted by the mysterious 'Lady' his disappearance sparks a series of events that will plunge him and his mother into a nightmare of possession and psychic terror from which there seems no escape. During two sweltering summer weeks in an idyllic Sussex cathedral town, police officer Rose Platt and child psychiatrist Sharif Mohammed find themselves fighting for the boy's sanity and their lives during an overwhelming assault by ancient magic seeking bloody revenge. A promise has been broken and powerful dark spirits have risen to protect a secret path that crosses the time worn landscape. The town must pay the price.

Bestselling true-crime author M. William Phelps, star of the new investigative television series "Dark Minds," takes readers to his own backyard in these eight bloodcurdling murder cases. Think New England is all bucolic landscapes and Robert Frost poems? Think again. In Murder, New England, Phelps explores different motives, themes, and community reactions to horrific crimes: ** Murder by Blood: The Strange Death of Rebecca Cornwell (1673, Narragansset Bay, RI). A 73-year-old widow burned to death in front of her bedroom fireplace...** William Beadle: Husband, Father, Murderer (1782, Wethersfield, CT). A man murders his wife and kids before taking his own life... ** The Angry Man: Murder in Manchester (1821, Manchester, NH). A poor widow killed in her home by a "ruffian" looking for food and drink...** Better Off in Heaven: John Kemmler Kills His Three Children (1879, Holyoke, MA). After losing his mill job, a man kills his daughters because he fears they will become prostitutes... ** Birth of the "Big Seven": Gaspare Messina's Mafioso (1917, Boston). An ol' fashioned Mafia murder tale...** Electronic Kill Machine: "Forensic Files" Murder (2001, Somerville, MA). Teenage slackers, the show "Forensic Files," and the murder of a grandmother blamed on TV, youth, drugs, sex, money, and rock-n-roll...** Sings of Life (2006, Lanesborough, MA). A woman employs the help of her cocaine-snorting daughter and Goth son to help her get rid of their step-father.** Sesame Street Murder: Death on Big Bird's Estate (2008, Woodstock, CT). A young woman out for a jog murdered by the groundskeeper of an estate owned by the puppeteer who played Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. [Page Two of spread] A chilling scene unfolds on the Woodstock, Connecticut, estate of the Sesame Street puppeteer who played Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch: Near the end of the access road was a picnic area with a large pagoda-like structure topped by an A-framed roof. Two paddle boats were stored under the ceiling of the open-air building. The pagoda had that sacred, spiritual look one would expect of a place to relax and meditate. Here was a haven separated from the main living space where one could retreat and disconnect from the world. What upset the serenity of the scene was the trail of blood. It lead from the roadway directly to the pagoda-and yet stopped in the center of the ground under the ceiling. The paddle boats, investigators noticed, had blood spatter and smudge marks on them. But what did it mean that the trail of blood just stopped? As they continued to search, troopers looked above them and spied a set of pull-down stairs. There was a storage area or attic within the pagoda's A-frame. The blood trail had stopped directly beneath the pull-down stairs.

Tales of Savannah's many ghosts will enlighten, frighten, and surprise readers. Who haunts the old homes in one of the South's most storied cities?

Serge A. Storms is back on the road in the latest zany Florida caper from the “wickedly funny” (Entertainment Weekly) Tim Dorsey.

After a long and arduous COVID-19 quarantine, Serge A. Storms is fully vaccinated and ready to hit the road. Along with his condo neighbors, he cooks up a wild plan to celebrate in true Serge fashion: each week, they rent a shuttle van and head out for funky Florida road trips and some serious revelry.

Meanwhile, a CIA revenge operation down in Honduras goes very, very wrong. The local liaison hired to help with the mission is the only witness to the disaster, and the CIA quickly sets a black ops contractor on his trail to eliminate him.

Forced to flee his home country, the witness lands in Miami with a new identity and passport. But the CIA is still on his tail, pushing him further and further south to the Florida Keys, where he runs into Serge’s convoy. With Florida’s most lovable serial killer involved, the real party is about to get started…

In haar eie woorde vertel Marguerite van haar wilde rooi hare, van Willem wat 'n meester is in die soenkunde, van Roderik uit wie se mond sy ’n tand geslaan het, van die monnik Zannekin wat stink soos 'n varkhok, van die vrye stad Brugge met sy knarsende uithangborde, van haar moeder se boeke met hul smagtende liefdesverhale, van die rooi sweertjies op haar toekomstige eggenoot se gesig en van die haat vir haar bloedeie vader.

From the Mardi Gras celebrations to the disasters of Hurricane Katrina, the city of New Orleans is filled with ghosts, mysteries, and spooky happenings. Anyone who picks up Haunted New Orleans is sure to get goose bumps.

"Over the past 30 years, Hoffman has received more than 30 nominations for a wide variety of awards...This collection of 16 fantastical stories, drawn from the latter half of her career to date and including one story not previously collected, highlights the talent that makes her a perennial nominee...Hoffman's skills shine at short lengths, and this collection of perfect, gemlike stories would complement any library." -Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

Selected & Introduced by David Stuart Davies. Traumatised by ghost stories in her youth, Pulitzer Prize winning author Edith Wharton (1862 -1937) channelled her fear and obsession into creating a series of spine-tingling tales filled with spirits beyond the grave and other supernatural phenomena. While claiming not to believe in ghosts, paradoxically she did confess that she was frightened of them. Wharton imbues this potent irrational and imaginative fear into her ghostly fiction to great effect. In this unique collection of finely wrought tales Wharton demonstrates her mastery of the ghost story genre. Amongst the many supernatural treats within these pages you will encounter a married farmer bewitched by a dead girl; a ghostly bell which saves a woman's reputation; the weird spectral eyes which terrorise the midnight hours of an elderly aesthete; the haunted man who receives letters from his dead wife; and the frightening power of a doppelganger which foreshadows a terrible tragedy. Compelling, rich and strange, the ghost stories of Edith Wharton, like vintage wine, have matured and grown more potent with the passing years.

Set in and around the dark, misty canals of Lichfield, Stephen Booth's incredible new novel is awash with mystery. When council officer Chris Buckley is approached by an odd old man demanding help in healing a decades-old family rift, he sends the stranger away. But then the old man is murdered, and the police arrive on the Chris's doorstep asking questions to which he has no answers. As Chris begins to look into the circumstances of the murder, he uncovers a deadly secret in the silt and mud of the local canals that he'll realise was better kept buried. PRAISE FOR STEPHEN BOOTH 'Makes high summer as terrifying as midwinter' Val McDermid 'A modern master' Guardian 'Crime writing of the finest quality' Daily Mail 'Ingenious plotting and richly atmospheric' Reginald Hill 'A first-rate mystery' Sunday Telegraph

"NEW YORK TIMES" BESTSELLER
"Ender, Katniss, and now Darrow."--Scott Sigler
" "
Pierce Brown's relentlessly entertaining debut channels the excitement of "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins and "Ender's Game "by Orson Scott Card.
""I live for the dream that my children will be born free," she says. "That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them."
"I live for you," I say sadly.
Eo kisses my cheek. "Then you must live for more.""
Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.
But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and lush wilds spread across the planet. Darrow--and Reds like him--are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.
Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society's ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies . . . even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.
Praise for "Red Rising"
" "
" A] spectacular adventure . . . one heart-pounding ride . . . Pierce Brown's dizzyingly good debut novel evokes "The Hunger Games, Lord of the Flies, "and" Ender's Game." . . . "Red Rising"] has everything it needs to become meteoric."--"Entertainment Weekly"
" A] top-notch debut novel . . . "Red Rising" ascends above a crowded dystopian field."--"USA Today"
" "
""Red Rising" is a sophisticated vision. . . . Brown will find a devoted audience."--"Richmond Times-Dispatch"
"A story of vengeance, warfare and the quest for power . . . reminiscent of "The Hunger Games "and" Game of Thrones."""--Kirkus Reviews"
" "
"Fast-paced, gripping, well-written--the sort of book you cannot put down. I am already on the lookout for the next one."--Terry Brooks, "New York Time"s bestselling author of "The Sword of Shannara"
"Pierce Brown has done an astounding job at delivering a powerful piece of literature that will definitely make a mark in the minds of readers."--"The Huffington Post"
" "
"Compulsively readable and exceedingly entertaining . . . a must for both fans of classic sci-fi and fervent followers of new school dystopian epics."--"Examiner.com"
" A] great debut . . . The author gathers a spread of elements together in much the same way George R. R. Martin does."--"Tor.com"
"Pierce Brown's empire-crushing debut is a sprawling vision."--Scott Sigler, "New York Times" bestselling author of "Pandemic"
" "
"A Hollywood-ready story with plenty of action and thrills."--"Publishers Weekly"

"From the Hardcover edition."

Young Naledi wants to trade her bantu knots for Nonhle Thema’s hair on the Dark and Lovely box. She wishes she looked more like her light-skinned mother too. Ledi grows up in Pimville with her strict grandmother Mama Norah, while her mother, Dineo, is out chasing the blesser lifestyle.

Bantu Knots follows Ledi as she navigates the pressures of her circumstances, womanhood and beauty ideals – and pursues her dreams in spite of it all.

Zeno Mayfield's daughter has disappeared into the night, gone missing in the wilds of the Adirondacks. But when the community of Carthage joins his frantic search for the girl, they discover the unlikeliest of suspects--a decorated Iraq War veteran with close ties to the Mayfield family. As grisly evidence mounts against the troubled war hero, the family must wrestle with the possibility of having lost a daughter forever.

Carthage plunges us deep into the psyche of a wounded young corporal haunted by unspeakable acts of wartime aggression, while unraveling the story of a girl whose exile from her family may have come long before her disappearance.

Dark and riveting, Carthage is a powerful novel that explores the human capacity for violence, love, and forgiveness, and asks if it's ever truly possible to come home again.