Maxima Library

Magic and mayhem. Vampires and gods. Cops and werewolves. The binding thread of mysticism in the modern world and acts of kindness, small and large, random and focused. Join these ten authors as we travel through their worlds.

Steampunk is fascinating. There’s something compelling about the shine of clicking brass clockwork and hiss of steam-driven automatons. But until recently, there was something missing.

It was easy to find excellent stories of American and British citizens… but we rarely got to see steampunk from the point of view of the rest of the world. Steampunk World is a showcase for nineteen authors to flip the levers and start the pistons and invite you to experience the entirety of steampunk.

Edited by Sarah Hans, this anthology’s nineteen authors bring us the very best steampunk stories from around the world. The full list of the award-winning authors – including the introduction’s author, Diana M. Pho, founding editor of the oldest-running multicultural blog Beyond Victoriana – can be found below. The cover artwork is by James Ng.

The contributors have won a wide range of awards for their previous work, including the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, World Fantasy Award, Bram Stoker Award, John W. Campbell Award, Steampunk Chronicle Reader’s Choice Awards, SteamCon Airship Award, Octavia E. Butler Scholarship Award, Goodreads Award, Parsec Award, and the Origins Award.

This sixth anthology in the adult fairy-tale series by acclaimed editors Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling presents another diverse collection of stories and poems loosely based on folklore traditions around the world. Readers familiar with previous books in the series will recognize the names of many regular contributors, including Tanith Lee, Jane Yolen, Esther Friesner, and Joyce Carol Oates, as well as works from Neil Gaiman, Charles de Lint, and others. Tanith Lee's "Rapunzel" opens the collection with a charmingly simple reconstruction of that classic fairy tale. Esther Friesner's "Big Hair" takes the same theme into the present with less cheerful results. Greg Costikyan considers the fate of an ensorcelled sleeping beauty dug up by archaeologists centuries later in "And Still She Sleeps," while Jane Yolen's "Snow in Summer" turns the tables on Snow White's evil stepmother with a deep-dish apple pie and a fry pan. Scott Bradfield's "Goldilocks Tells All" is especially memorable for its Jerry Springer-like portrayal of the ultimate dysfunctional family. Leah Cutter considers the loneliness of living under a curse in her Texas two-step story "The Red Boots." Severna Park's feminist "The Golem" revives a Jewish folktale, while Bryn Kanar's haunting "Dreaming Among Men" draws on Native American legend. Howard Waldrop's "Our Mortal Span" is perhaps the most unique story here, a surprising blend of black comedy, killer-robot story, and fairy tale. While on the whole this collection isn't as strong as previous volumes, it still delivers a fine array of thoughtful writing on some of the best-known-and yet unknown-stories we love. 

— Charlene Brusso.

A collection of stories and poems relating to shapeshifting — animal transfiguration — legends from around the world — from werewolves to vampires and the little mermaid, retold and reimagined by such authors as Peter Beagle, Tanith Lee, Lucius Shepard, Jeffrey Ford, Ellen Kushner and many others. Illustrated with decorations by Charles Vess. Includes brief biographies, authors' notes, and suggestions for further reading.

The first three volumes of The Best Horror of the Year have been widely praised for their quality, variety, and comprehensiveness.

With tales from Laird Barron, Stephen King, John Langan, Peter Straubb, and many others, and featuring Datlow’s comprehensive overview of the year in horror, now, more than ever, The Best Horror of the Year provides the petrifying horror fiction readers have come to expect — and enjoy.

“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”

This statement was true when H. P. Lovecraft first wrote it at the beginning of the twentieth century, and it remains true at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The only thing that has changed is what is unknown.

With each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. But this “light” creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year, edited by Ellen Datlow, chronicles these shifting shadows. It is a catalog of terror, fear, and unpleasantness, as articulated by today’s most challenging and exciting writers.

The best horror writers of today do the same thing that horror writers of a hundred years ago did. They tell good stories — stories that scare us. And when these writers tell really good stories that really scare us, Ellen Datlow notices. She’s been noticing for more than a quarter century. For twenty-one years, she coedited The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, and for the last six years, she’s edited this series. In addition to this monumental cataloging of the best, she has edited hundreds of other horror anthologies and won numerous awards, including the Hugo, Bram Stoker, and World Fantasy awards.

More than any other editor or critic, Ellen Datlow has charted the shadowy abyss of horror fiction. Join her on this journey into the dark parts of the human heart. either for the first time. or once again.

A boy's eleventh birthday heralds the arrival of a bizarre new entourage, a suicidal diva just can't seem to die, and a washed up wrestler goes toe-to-toe with a strange new foe. All of these queer marvels and more can be found at the Nightmare Carnival!

Hugo and Bram Stoker award-winning editor Ellen Datlow (Lovecraft Unbound, Supernatural Noir) presents a new anthology of insidious and shocking tales in the horrific and irresistible Nightmare Carnival! Dark Horse is proud to bring you this masterwork of terror from such incredible creative talents as Terry Dowling, Joel Lane, Priya Sharma, Dennis Danvers, and Nick Mamatas!

The sassy ladies of sexy Romantic Comedy serve up some spooky and spicy Halloween fun.