Chaos wrapped around love, hate, and despair. Question what you can as each page aches and saturates beyond your eyes. Destiny can't be perfect, but continue to rely on faith as the surreal is explored and documented in Empire Nothing. This realm speaks from you and back at you, living in experience and movements of thought that drip, and continue to drip, up and back again in a collective spiral of angst, vanity, memories and visions. Spectrum after spectrum on the cusp of bliss and agony rip away the fabric of a society that puts the "individual" second. Wars rage. Propaganda becomes actions and images instead of words. People love fear. The memories of the past are used as opiates to sweeten the present and ensure the forgiving future. But once inside, you learn more about the conditions we feel and the emotions we endure to express.

Providing easy access to information on nearly 450 short stories, this unique guide surveys a wide spectrum of world literature, canonical works, and contemporary fiction. Librarians and teachers will find multiple purposes for this expertly-compiled resource, which can be employed in much the same way as a standard bibliography. Educators will appreciate the concise annotations, arranged alphabetically by author, that form the core of this work. Insightful critical statements synthesize plot summaries and identify the thematic content of each short story.

A theme guide utilizes the nearly 100 theme headings matching those at the start of each entry, allowing the user to quickly locate story titles on related themes and construct reading lists based on individual interests and needs. Another component designed to aid librarians offers one bibliography that lists the anthologies from which the stories are drawn (Works Cited) and one comprised of a number of recent anthologies that can be adapted for the classroom (Further Reading). In addition to the theme index, the general subject and author indexes make this a user-friendly and invaluable resource.

Why was Elizabeth sitting alone in the chilling, unfamiliar room?

Odds And Ends is a collection of stories, essays, and poems. It is the author's second published book.

Nine tales of horror beginning with a novella about a married couple who decide to move to the country to get away from the pollution, noise and the crime only to find that the peaceful village of Jacobs Crossing has its own secrets and problems.

Some of the other stories include:

The Anomaly - A noise in the garage precipitates the discovery of a strange creature that comes for a visit and doesn't seem to want to leave.

V - A shipwrecked yacht captain is rescued by a passing cruise ship and his salvation does not go as planned.

The Cat's Meow - A small college has a feral cat problem that is controlled by an old lady who cares and feeds the animals. When she dies, the cats go in search for the missing necessities.

Chocolate - A NASA scientist goes in search for life on other planets. His research using space rocks, allows him to reach his goal with surprising results.

Swamp Magic - A college biology professor doing field research in the Louisiana swamps to discover the source of a new amphibian species. He discovers that magic not science controls the swamp.

In this dark and toothsome collection, Anna Vaught enters a strange world of apocryphal feasts and disturbing banquets. Famished explores the perils of selfish sensuality and trifle while child rearing, phantom sweetshop owners, the revolting use of sherbet in occult rituals, homicide by seaside rock, and the perversion of Thai Tapas. Once, that is, you've been bled dry from fluted cups by pretty incorporeals and learned about consuming pride in the hungriest of stately homes. Famished: seventeen stories to whet your appetite and ruin your dinner.

Mud Heaven is a collection of short stories. There are stories to make you laugh, to make you cry, to entertain you and to inform you. If you enjoy having a dog around, you are bound to enjoy this collection. If you aren't accustomed to having a dog around, then some of these stories may even mystify you. This book has reading flexibility. The stories are presented to you in the order the author chose; however, they may be read in any order you choose. Go ahead. Pick up the book, open it to any story and start reading. You will be hooked and find yourself needing to read one more and then, one more. All too soon the last story will have been read, leaving you looking for more. Just like good potato chips, you won't be satisfied with one.

Harold MacGrath (1871-1932) was a bestselling American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter.

The Tales of Agrey is a collection of stories made by the author to teach morals about things in the world that seem to not exist but do exist and to show rules of things in the world that seem to exist but do not exist, while explaining things that we ignore but should not be ignored and things that we do not ignore but should be ignored. After reading the tales, the readers could see the parts of the tales that they can relate to; the readers could compare the tales with their personal lives and extract knowledge from it. The author used his lesson of morals that could be understandable to both children and adults.

"Alert for danger, Laura Roth stands at the door of her sod house, anxiously watching a lone rider cantering toward her across the prairie. Dismounting, he removes his hat and bows slightly. His eyes-in striking contrast to his dark skin, black hair and beard-are an intense blue. He returns her gaze honestly. She sees nothing to fear.

As she dips a cup of water from the barrel by the door and offers it to the weary traveler, Laura never dreams that she and this man would share a mutual secret to the grave."

Thus begins the saga of John and Laura Roth and their descendents; their hopes and dreams, trials and tribulations through 110 years on the sweeping Kansas plains.

We meet:

Eva, spoiled and willful, who "does what she has to do" to survive the depression.

Silas, who chooses an unorthodox way to deal with his wife's infidelity.

Gerald who, haunted by a phantom from a boyhood indiscretion, also harbors a lifelong secret.

And more.

The land, located on the western fringe of "The Heartland," one of the richest wheat and gas producing regions in the world, is a significant protagonist in this Southwest Kansas saga.

PRAYER TALES is a collection of twelve straight-to-the-heart short stories. The settings, characters and adventures differ radically, but prayer plays an essential role in each. There are plenty of twists, turns and surprises just ahead---because not all prayer is equal --- so the outcomes will vary greatly Let the expeditions begin as we... Share the perplexing trials of an exotic young man, Observe the worshipers of a misshapen rock, Sit in on a bizarre executive placement interview, Join the desperate attempt to flee a dying planet, Sit down to a business luncheon at the Country Club, Cheer for our team in the NCAA football championship, Discover the fate of an ailing pornographer, Sit at a blocked railroad crossing with two frustrated trashmen, Go fishin' with a boy and his special little sister, Learn the life and death decision of a grieving widow, Take a once-in-eternity chance on winning The Prize, and Visit an older couple with grass too long to cut. As you navigate PRAYER TALES, I hope you'll be stirred to pray. As you pray, I hope you'll receive answers long sought. As you receive, I hope you'll welcome the One whose heart uniquely fits your own-the One who hears and answers all your prayers.

Looking up, he saw something whitish behind the shrine. The daylight was fading, and the shoemaker peered at the thing without being able to make out what it was. "There was no white stone here before. Can it be an ox? It's not like an ox. It has a head like a man, but it's too white; and what could a man be doing there?" He came closer, so that it was clearly visible. To his surprise it really was a man, alive or dead, sitting naked, leaning motionless against the shrine. Terror seized the shoemaker, and he thought, "Some one has killed him, stripped him, and left him there. If I meddle I shall surely get into trouble." Also includes "Three Questions," "The Coffee House of Surat," and "How Much Land Does a Man Need?"