Are you laid off, downsized, undersized? Call us. We employ. 1-800-555-0606 How lucky do you feel? So reads the business card from LIMBUS, INC., a shadowy employment agency that operates at the edge of the normal world. LIMBUS's employees are just as suspicious and ephemeral as the motives of the company, if indeed it could be called a company in the ordinary sense of the word. In this shared-world anthology, five heavy hitters from the dark worlds of horror, fantasy, and scifi pool their warped takes on the shadow organization that offers employment of the most unusual kind to those on the fringes of society. One thing's for sure - you'll never think the same way again about the fine print on your next employment application

How do you catch a banshee? But more importantly, if you succeed, how can you hope to survive the ordeal? The consequences of such dark magic are high, and if you try to let go once you've got that tiger by the tail, it may cost your very soul Atlanta is a cosmopolitan, theater-going city that supports its fair share of the arts. But when a small theatrical company takes on the production of Christopher Marlowe's famous play, Dr. Faustus, in the century-old Janus Theater, things don't go as planned. Unexplained stage effects appear as cast members disappear, accidents seem more than coincidence, and an earthquake splits a busy downtown thoroughfare. Oh, and did we mention the rumored ghost in the basement? Paramedic Claire Porter thinks her volunteer prompter's job with the company will give her some relief from her stressful day job, and it is fun, at first. But as they say, the Devil is in the details.

Literary suspense from Anne Petty and P. V. LeForge. Shrimpboat captain Carla Conway thought her life was enough of a mess before she found the body of her old nanny tossed like a rag doll into the belfry of a long-abandoned church. With the help of her crusty first mate Comer-and little from the sheriff-she investigates the old woman's death. What she finds takes her deep into the myths and legends of the Florida swamps-and into the mystery of her own origin.

A spell gone wrong in a Queensland burial cave accidentally bonds a Quinkan, a shadow demon from the Australian Dreamtime, to a wicked mixed-blood shaman named Cadjer Harrow. Through his carelessness, the half-aboriginal conjure man has unwittingly cursed his entire family for centuries to come, and now there will be hell to pay. Treating the Quinkan as a familiar, when the shaman tugs on the demon's spirit cord the shapeshifter must follow, even if it means dropping a gutted meal in mid-swallow. Glued to the shaman's bloodline, the bloodthirsty Quinkan haunts its generations in maliciously inventive ways while seeking release from its black magic bondage. Young Ned spends his childhood in the north Florida swamps with his mother, a snake-handling root doctor. Unfortunately for Ned, his innate magic is much more powerful than his mother's, leading to her death in a wall of flame. But as Ned is to discover, fleeing his heritage is one thing he will never be allowed to do. The rest of his life will be spent trying to undo the curse holding him and his bloodline hostage. Alice Waterston, arts curator for a private North Florida museum specializing in global native cultures, knows all about Dreamtime legends. But when the Quinkan of legend suddenly confronts her in the waking world, Alice begins to question her sanity. The suspicious death of her uncle and the secrets surrounding her father's disappearance in the Outback lead her to unearth some very disturbing local history involving a certain Rev. Harrow. Alice begins to see connections she can't ignore, but is horrified to face. As Alice and her psychic daughter Margaret uncover more clues leading back to the origin of the curse, the furious demon gives them an ultimatum - find a way to break the centuries-old spell or die "Anne Petty's Wandjina's fantasies feature some marvelously drawn characters from modern Florida in collision with the world of Australian aboriginal dreamtime, via a collection of art and family mysteries. Readers of contemporary fantasy and horror will find an interesting freshness in these compelling tales." -Tolkien scholar and modern fantasy literary critic Douglas Anderson, The Annotated Hobbit; Tales Before Tolkien; Tales Before Narnia "Petty delivers again. In Shaman's Blood, the followup novel to Thin Line Between, Petty picks up where she left off with an engaging and suspenseful tale. This sequel furthers a storyline with vivid characters and descriptive settings. Petty has proven to be a major player in the horror/suspense genre." -Horror writer & Bram Stoker nominee Daniel N. Shields, Seasons, Switching Channels