Resources running low, the population exploding, the planet is in danger: are we masters of our own destruction, or have we been invaded by aliens bent on mass extinction? Is this a pattern across the entire universe, or just our small sector of cosmic life? This new title in our successful Gothic Fantasy Short Stories series explores the theme of a dying planet, written by a fabulous mix of classic, ancient and brand new writing, with contemporary authors from all over the world. For the first time we've made a conscious effort to reach beyond our usual submissions seeking a broader voices. This book offers a glorious mix of American, British, Canadian, Italian, Indian, Spanish and Chinese writers with contributions from Elizabeth Rubio, John B. Rosenman, Francesco Verso, Marian Womack, Zach Shephard, E.E. King, Raymond Little, Ken Liu, Shikhandin, Alex Shvartsman and many more. In these pages too, first-time contributions jostle with the work of Camille Flammarion, Clark Ashton Smith, Stanley G. Weinbaum, Jack London, William Hope Hodgson, H.G. Wells and, stretching back much further, to the Norse Eddas and Sagas, and an Ancient Egyptian Myth on the death of humankind.

George R.R. Martin drew on Tolkien, who was inspired by William Morris, Medieval epics, and Norse mythology. This new collection of epic fantasy tales explores the classic themes of good vs evil, the low-born hero, and the arrogant overlord, and laced them with a taste of sorcery that reaches back to the early sources, and stirs them in with the brand new storytellers of today. This new title in our successful Gothic Fantasy Short Stories collection contains a fabulous mix of classic and brand new writing, with contemporary authors from the US, Canada, and the UK. Contemporary authors include Brian Bogart, Ramsey Campbell, Evey Brett, Leah Cypess, Kate Dollarhyde, Lucinda Gunnin, Joshua K. Haarstad, Anne Leonard, E.H. Mann, Alison McBain, Emily McCosh, Dan Micklethwaite, Wendy Nikel, Mary O'Donnell, Aimee Ogden, Cassandra Taylor, M. Elizabeth Ticknor and Nemma Wollenfang. Classic stories by William Beckford, Ernest Bramah, Eric Rucker Eddison, Richard Garnett, Robert E. Howard, C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne, Andrew Lang, George MacDonald, William Morris, Edith Nesbit, Howard Pyle, Clark Ashton Smith, Chretien de Troyes.