A terrifying and chilling anthology of over 20 original stories exploring cursed and haunted books from award winning authors including Eric LaRocca, A. G. Slatter, and Alison Moore. You find it hidden in the dark corner of the bookstore; tucked away in a box in the attic, desperate to be read; lurking on your bookshelf, never seen before. Crack the spine, feel the ancient pages. Read it aloud, if you dare. This anthology brings together horror's best and brightest to delve into the pages of cursed books, Eldtritch tomes and haunted bookstores. Featuring stories from: Adam Cesare Eric LaRocca Alma Katsu Zin Rocklyn Alyssa Cole Nadia Bulkin Danny Robins Isy Suttie Charlie Higson Angeline Morrison A. G. Slatter Priya Sharma A. K. Benedict Guy Adams Lucie McKnight Hardy Ramsey Campbell Alison Moore Laura Mauro Reggie Oliver Anna Taborska Kim Newman

PART STORY, PART GAME - PURE ADVENTURE! "A new way of telling stories and in many ways the birth of modern gaming, these books captured the imaginations of a generation of kids - it's great to think that a new generation are going to be similarly captivated" bestselling author Charlie Higson A long-time fan of Fighting Fantasy, Charlie Higson brings his own brand of heart-stopping action, terrifying monsters and page-turning plotting to Allansia... expect the unexpected! In this addition to the multi-million-copy-selling Fighting Fantasy series, YOU - the hero - must respond to a call for help from the people of Allansia. Your quest to the Temple of Miracles in the Invisible City will be challenging and dangerous, and your simple mission will soon take a darker turn as you face the legendary Gates Of Death. On the other side waits the Queen Of Darkness, Ulrakhaar. To stop her, and save Titan from destruction, you will have to venture further than ever before... to the Kingdom Of The Dead. ABOUT THE SERIES The multi-million copy globally bestselling choose-your-own-adventure series is repackaged and reignited for a brand new generation of children. All you need is a dice and you can choose which way the story goes Be careful - the main character can die at any point! 20 million copies sold worldwide in 32 languages Perfect for kids who love gaming A great way to encourage children away from gaming on screens and get them back into reading books!

Stan has found himself a starring role as superhero in a popular TV show. He’s absolutely terrified. After surviving a holiday to Italy without his parents (which included jellyfish and giant watermelons), Stan reckons he deserves a bit of a break. Or at a least a break in between trying to act in his school play. But when he’s offered the chance to take a tour around a TV studio, he thinks it can’t do any harm. How wrong he is. Before Stan can say ‘Boy of Steel’ he’s landed himself a part as a main character in one of the most well-known TV shows there is – as a brainy superhero. Convinced he’s going to embarrass himself in front of millions of people – and worried about leaving his friends to face a school play on their own – can Stan find a way to use his new-found fame for good? Or will he be the Worst. Superhero. Ever . . .

Charlie Higson's The Enemy is the first in a jaw-dropping zombie horror series for teens. Everyone over the age of fourteen has succumbed to a deadly zombie virus and now the kids must keep themselves alive. When the sickness came, every parent, police officer, politician - every adult fell ill. The lucky ones died. The others are crazed, confused and hungry. Only children under fourteen remain, and they're fighting to survive. Now there are rumours of a safe place to hide. And so a gang of children begin their quest across London, where all through the city - down alleyways, in deserted houses, underground - the grown-ups lie in wait. But can they make it there - alive? 'Higson has got the balance of blood and gore just right' Daily Mirror 'Clever...fast-paced...inventive' Guardian Charlie Higson is the author of the bestselling Young Bond series of novels for young readers, including Silverfin and Double or Die, and the spine-tingling, teen zombie-horror series The Enemy. Can't wait for the next instalment? This edition contains the first chapter of the mind-blowing first chapter of the second book The Dead. Check out www.the-enemy.co.uk for more blood, more zombies and more terror.

The Dead is the second book in Charlie Higson's jaw-dropping zombie horror series for teens. Everyone over the age of fourteen has succumbed to a deadly zombie virus and now the kids must keep themselves alive. A terrible disease is striking everyone over the age of fourteen. Death walks the streets. Nowhere is safe. Maxie, Blue and the rest of the Holloway crew aren't the only kids trying to escape the ferocious adults who prey on them. Jack and Ed are best friends, but their battle to stay alive tests their friendship to the limit as they go on the run with a mismatched group of other kids - nerds, fighters, misfits. And one adult, Greg, a butcher, who claims he's immune to the disease. They must work together if they want to make it in this terrifying new world. But when fresh disaster threatens to overwhelm London, they realize they won't all survive... 'Lord of the Flies with zombies...tons of nail-biting action' Rick Riordan, creator of Percy Jackson 'Higson has got the balance of blood and gore just right' Daily Mirror Charlie Higson is the author of the bestselling Young Bond series of novels for young readers, including Silverfin and Double or Die, and the spine tingling, teen zombie-horror series The Enemy. Can't wait for the next instalment? This edition contains the first chapter of the thrilling third book in the series The Fear. Check out www.the-enemy.co.uk for more blood, more zombies and more terror.

'Higson's new book will certainly get you through the night, though you may not get a lot of sleep...' Mark Billingham 'Terrific' The i 'Loud, bright, fast and funny - a perfect read' Guardian 'Hugely entertaining' Sunday Times 'A slick satirical thriller' The Sun Most people travel to Corfu to escape the real world for a couple of weeks. But not McIntyre. McIntyre's a fixer, specialising in getting people out of places they don't want to be with the minimum of fuss, publicity and violence. The job in Corfu should be easy - spring Lauren, a 15-year-old schoolgirl, from the luxury compound of the tech billionaire, Julian Hepworth. Hepworth's young, handsome and charismatic - he's also a suspected paedophile. But as McIntyre sets up his operation, things quickly start to slip out of control. Soon, he has to contend with Albanian gangsters, Greek drug dealers, psychotic bodyguards, flat earthers and spoilt, wealthy teenagers looking for dangerous kicks. Everything converges on a glamorous summer party at Hepworth's spectacular villa; can McIntyre play the different factions off against each other and get Lauren to safety without things going horribly wrong?

An XBox loving boy hits on a cunning plan to send a pig to school in his place. Soon the pig is Star Pupil and Freddy is growing ever more pig-like at home. A laugh-out-loud exploration of why what we wish for isn't always good for us, in a brilliantly accessible format specially designed for severely struggling, reluctant and dyslexic readers aged 8+. This title is hi-lo with a reading age of 6 and an interest age of 8-12.

'Charlie Higson's thrillers are major events' Mark Billingham 'An off-beat, atmospheric novel' Mirror 'Written with chilling perception' Time Out 'I do not believe that a man can be truly happy unless he fully understands what he is and can act accordingly... how can it be wrong to be happy?' These lines are taken from Will's diary, a seemingly innocuous exercise book which details his house-breaking activities. Will carefully selects houses - forty-seven so far - ensuring their owners will be in. As they cook their supper or watch television, Will (wearing surgical gloves and leaving no trace behind) enters not only their houses, but their secret lives. A secret museum, housed in his loft, is 'held together by sex'. All his trophies are carefully catalogued and he keeps a very precise diary of his activities and his thoughts. All his life Tom Kendall had lived as quietly and normally as possible ... but he gave people the creeps ... 'kids didn't like him, or the cat'. When Tom discovers Will's diary he decides to adopt the same quest for happiness. Tom has problems of his own - a difficult temper, problems with his girlfriend, Maddie, and an overwhelming sense of powerlessness. Perhaps Will's diary holds the key?

Everyone's favourite troublemaker is back and up to no good! William is always in trouble, but sometimes it really isn't his fault. It was Ginger who showed him the book about Robin Hood, and it was Violet Elizabeth Bott's idea to steal from the rich and give to the poor. Unfortunately the only rich person they know is Violet's father, so William's latest plan to right the world's wrongs is sure to lead to catastrophe . . . Richmal Crompton's William the Conqueror is a collection of thirteen brilliant Just William stories with an introduction by actor and comedian Charlie Higson, appealing contemporary cover art by Joe Berger, along with the original inside illustrations by Thomas Henry. There is only one William. This tousle-headed, snub-nosed, hearty, lovable imp of mischief has been harassing his unfortunate family and delighting his hundreds of thousands of admirers since 1922. Enjoy more of William's adventures in William in Trouble and William the Outlaw.

Young Bond: Blood Fever is the second book in Charlie Higson's high-impact, explosive Young Bond series. James Bond has discovered danger. Now it's come looking for him. An Eton boy's family disappears at sea. James uncovers a shadowy society operating in a hidden corner of the school. And far from England, in the bandit-infested interior of Sardinia, a sinister Italian count has built himself a mountain fortress. Is there a connection? Young Bond is about to find out - and face a lethal group of villains beneath the burning Mediterranean sun. 'Action-packed and not for the faint-hearted' Daily Mail 'Double-oh so good' Sunday Times ***www.youngbond.com***

Young Bond: Double or Die is the third book in Charlie Higson's bestselling Young Bond series. Kidnap. Violence. Explosions. Murder. No ordinary weekend. But then, James Bond is no ordinary boy . . . In a North London cemetery a professor is kidnapped at gunpoint. A suspicious letter crammed with cryptic clues arrives at Eton. To decipher the deadly mystery, James Bond must take a series of dangerous gambles. Once the code is cracked, he has just forty-eight hours to save the professor from the dark forces that threaten to destroy them both. And, if the professor can't escape, it's not only Jame's future under threat. It's the rest of the world's . . . 'Action-packed and not for the faint-hearted' Daily Mail 'Double-oh so good' Sunday Times ***www.youngbond.com***

The Fallen by Charlie Higson is the fifth awesome book in The Enemy series. First the sickness rotted the adults' minds. Then their bodies. Now they stalk the streets, hunting human flesh. The Holloway crew are survivors. They've fought their way across London and made it to the Natural History Museum alive - just. But the fight will never end while the Enemy lives, unless there's another way. . . The kids at the museum are looking for a cure. All they need are medical supplies. To get them means a journey down unknown roads. Roads where not only crazed, hungry sickos hide in the shadows. SUDDENLY IT'S NOT SO CLEAR WHO - OR WHAT - THEY'RE FIGHTING. The fourth terrifying part of Charlie Higson's bestselling Enemy series. The Enemy is among us. . . ** 2013 is the year of zombies, with Brad Pitt's World War Z and Nicholas Holt's Warm Bodies films hitting cinemas. ** 'Lord of the Flies with zombies' - Rick Riordan, creator of the Percy Jackson series. ** Charlie Higson is the bestselling author of Young Bond, and creator of The Fast Show. ** Perfect for bloodthirsty fans of 28 Days Later and Darren Shan's Zom-B series.

It's James Bond's first day at Eton, and already he's met his first enemy. This is the start of an adventure that will take him from the school playing fields to the remote shores of Loch Silverfin and a terrifying discovery that threatens to unleash a new breed of warfare.

The Sacrifice is the fourth gruesome and horrifying book in Charlie Higson's brilliant zombie series. The sickness destroyed everyone over the age of fourteen. All across London diseased adults are waiting, hungry predators with rotten flesh and ravaged minds. Small Sam and his unlikely ally, The Kid, have survived. They're safe with Ed and his friends at the Tower of London, but Sam is desperate to find his sister. Their search for Ella means Sam and The Kid must cross the forbidden zone. And what awaits them there is more terrifying than any of the horror they've suffered so far . . . ** 'Lord of the Flies with zombies' - Rick Riordan, creator of the Percy Jackson series. ** Charlie Higson is the bestselling author of Young Bond, and creator of The Fast Show. ** Perfect for bloodthirsty fans of Darren Shan and 28 Days Later.

Just how scary can a holiday be? Very . . .

Twelve-year-old Stan is going on holiday. To Italy. He's not going with his family though, he's going with his best-friend Felix (although if Stan was honestly ranking his friends, Felix would be number five).

He's absolutely terrified.

Luckily, as well as emergency euros, Stan's mum has given him an emergency list that includes how to survive a shark attack, and what to do if he gets abducted by kidnappers.

Stan thinks that a better list would include how to cope with weird toilets, and what to do if he accidentally calls Felix's mum 'mum' in front of everybody.

And it soon turns out that Italy is full of strange food, difficult games, jellyfish and mosquitoes called Ian. Can Stan survive all this, as well as very complicated (and also, actually, very strange) grown-ups? One thing's for certain, Stan's not going to come back the same boy he left. He just hope he comes back at all . . .

Worst. Holiday. Ever is a story about facing fears, dealing with worries, and how it's OK to be anxious, scared, and sometimes a little bit brave.

'Charlie Higson's thrillers are major events' Mark Billingham 'Very funny and utterly unstoppable' The Times 'A sizzlingly paced modern thriller' NME A man kills a prospective buyer for his car. On the verge of becoming a name in the interior design world, he can't afford a scandal and must discreetly dispose of the body - not an easy job when the whole of London seems to be conspiring against him. Action, consequence, retribution: Getting Rid of Mister Kitchen is a sustained nightmare of thwarted ambition, a Dante-esque tour of a world at home with Tarantino and temazepam, where motive is meaningless and justice is just another victim.

THE DEAD begins one year "before" the action in THE ENEMY, just after the Disaster. A terrible disease has struck everyone sixteen and over, leaving them either dead or a decomposing, flesh-eating creature. The action starts in a boarding school just outside London, where all the teachers have turned into sickos. A few kids survive and travel by bus into the city. The bus driver, an adult named Greg, seems to be unaffected by the disease. Then he begins to show the dreaded signs: outer blisters and inner madness. The kids escape Greg and end up at the Imperial War Museum. A huge fire in South London drives them all to the Thames, and eventually over the river to the Tower of London. It is there they will meet up with the kids in THE ENEMY in Book 3, THE FEAR.

HE DOESN'T KNOW IT BUT DOGNUT IS ABOUT TO SET OFF A CHAIN OF EVENTS THAT WILL AFFECT EVERY KID IN THE CITY. The sickness struck everyone over the age of fourteen. Mothers and fathers, older brothers, sisters and best friends. No one escaped its touch. And now children across London are being hunted by ferocious grown-ups . . . they're hungry. They're bloodthirsty. And they aren't giving up. DogNut and the rest of his crew want to find their lost friends, and set off on a deadly mission from the Tower of London to Buckingham Palace and beyond, as the sickos lie in wait. But who are their friends and who is the enemy in this changed world?

Young Bond: By Royal Command is the fifth heart-stopping instalment in the phenomenal Young Bond series by Charlie Higson. Life for James Bond will never be the same again. Following a treacherous rescue mission high in the freezing Alps, James Bond is preparing for life back at Eton. But James is under surveillance; his every move is being watched. He alone holds the clue to a sinister plot that will bring bloodshed and carnage to his school - and his country. Life for James Bond will never be the same again. 'Action-packed and not for the faint-hearted' Daily Mail 'Double-oh so good' Sunday Times ***www.youngbond.com***

It all comes to an end in the final book in The Enemy series The sickness struck everyone over fourteen. First it twisted their minds. Next it ravaged their bodies. Now they roam the streets - Crazed and hungry. Sickos swarm the streets of London. Gathered in the centre of the city, they lie in wait. The survivors have one final epic battle to overcome. Together they must work out a plan of attack and end the grown-ups reign of terror before it's too late. The end is coming.

'Charlie Higson's thrillers are major events' Mark Billingham 'Piercing wit and accelerated action in finely paced style' Time Out 'Lively narration, a superabundance of action... gruesome and hilarious' Evening Standard Dennis 'The Menace' Pike, former wild man of Tottenham, is going grey and going straight. Anyway, it was hard work being a yob- the birds, the brawls, the endless beers- and he hasn't really got the energy any more for life on the edge. Then two old faces turn up from the past- the Bishop brothers, Chas and Noel. Famously inept, they were bad news then, and they haven't aged well. What's worse, they need Pike's expertise on a scheme wealth distribution really- offloading one of the old gang's ill-gotten millions. Robbing the robbers- now what's criminal about that? Pike, still haunted by what happened one wreckless night all those years ago, refuses to get involved. But old habits die hard, and when he suddenly finds his bank account tampered with, Pike is drawn back into a world he spent ten years escaping. Thug or mug, he is nevertheless forced to confront a man so psychotically unhinged that his own youth seems like mere kids' stuff... A slick, razor-sharp novel, FULL WHACK is packed full of searing wit, scurrilous characters and nefarious knock-about.

The Hunted is Charlie Higson's sixth terrifying installment in the thrilling The Enemy series The sickness struck everyone over fourteen. First it twisted their minds. Next it ravaged their bodies. Now they roam the streets - Crazed and hungry The others had promised that the countryside would be safer than the city. They were wrong. Now Ella's all-alone except for her silent rescuer, Scarface - and she's not even sure if he's a kid or a grown-up. Back in London, Ed's determined to find her. But getting out of town's never been more dangerous- because coming in the other direction is every SICKO in the country. It's like they're being called towards the capital and nothing is going to stop them . . . In the penultimate book in The Enemy series, the survivors' stories cross with chilling consequences.

Penguin Readers is an ELT graded reader series for learners of English as a foreign language. With carefully adapted text, new illustrations and language learning exercises, the print edition also includes instructions to access supporting material online. Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction, introducing language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content. The eight levels of Penguin Readers follow the Common European Framework of Reference for language learning (CEFR). Exercises at the back of each Reader help language learners to practise grammar, vocabulary, and key exam skills. Before, during and after-reading questions test readers' story comprehension and develop vocabulary. Visit the Penguin Readers website Exclusively with the print edition, readers can unlock online resources including a digital book, audio edition, lesson plans and answer keys. On Loch SilverFin in Scotland, a bad man lives in a castle with his son. James Bond and his new friend Red Kelly go to the castle. They must find Red's missing cousin, Alfie. But what do they find in the castle? Do they find Alfie, or is it too late?

'Charlie Higson's thrillers are major events' Mark Billingham 'Funny, very tough and full of action' Patricia Highsmith 'Uncoils with wit and imagination' Time Out It seemed straightforward enough. Sean had now consumed so much alcohol that everything seemed perfectly reasonable. He'd started planning the job already. The first problem was how to do it. Thirteen thousand pounds in an envelope seems a fair price for a man's life. Particularly if you don't know the man, he seems a nonentity, and you quite fancy his wife. And there's no chance of being caught. Sean is a drifter, working as a building labourer and waiting for something to happen. When Sean is offered easy money to tail someone and even more easy money to dispose of him, it's all more tempting than you might think. Except when you realize that you've been led up the garden path the whole way... King of the Ants is dark, disturbing and violently comic. In the tradition of both Joe Orton and Iain Banks, Charlie Higson pinpoints the casual vagaries of evil and its attendant powers. Unnerving, horribly accurate and wickedly enjoyable, it remains Higson's finest book.