Maxima Library

Includes a never-before-published Sookie Stackhouse story!

What could be scarier than the first day of school? How about a crash course in the paranormal from Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner, editors of Home

Improvement: Undead Edition

? Your worst school nightmares — taking that math test you never studied for, finding yourself naked in school assembly, not knowing which door to enter — will pale in comparison to these thirteen original stories that take academic anxiety to whole new realms.

In #1

New York Times

bestselling author Charlaine Harris's story, "Playing Possum," Sookie Stackhouse brings enough birthday cupcakes for her nephew's entire class but finds she's one short when the angry ex-boyfriend of the school secretary shows up.

When her guardian, Kate Daniels, sends her undercover to a school for exceptional children, teenaged Julie learns an all-new definition of "exceptional," in

New York Times

bestselling author Ilona Andrews's "Magic Tests."

For those who like fangs with their forensics,

New York Times

bestselling author Nancy Holder offers "VSI," in which FBI agent Claire is tested as never before in a school for Vampire Scene Investigation.

And in

New York Times

bestselling author Thomas Sniegoski's "The Bad Hour," Remy Chandler and his dog Marlowe find evil unleashed in an obedience school.

You'll need more than an apple to stave off the creatures in these and nine other stories. Remember your first lesson: resistance is fruitless!

Includes stories by: ILONA ANDREWS, AMBER BENSON, RHYS BOWEN, MIKE CAREY, CHARLAINE HARRIS, DONALD HARSTAD, STEVE HOCKENSMITH, NANCY HOLDER, FAITH HUNTER, TONI L.P. KELNER, MARJORIE LIU, JONATHAN MABERRY, THOMAS SNIEGOSKI

"It's the most wonderful time of the year," the old song tells us. But that doesn't mean the people celebrating it are always so nice. Criminals get the Christmas spirit, too!

In this collection of hilarious short stories, you'll see what the thieves, killers, psychos and scumbags are up to come the holidays…and it's not caroling door to door. Well, not unless they're casing the neighborhood for a break-in, as a rag-tag gang does in the title story. You'll also meet a mall elf menaced by a very, very bad Santa (in "I Killed Santa Claus"), a London police inspector hunting for the man who murdered Ebenezer Scrooge (in "Humbug"), a trucker out to save his shipment of Cabbage Patch Dolls from bumbling hijackers (in "Special Delivery") and many more characters you'll never forget.

Originally published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, these nine tales from award-winning short story master Steve Hockensmith (Dawn of the Dreadfuls, Holmes on the Range) are sure to have you ho-ho-hoing from the first page to the last.

An anthology of stories

Holmes and Watson in America. Original short stories. A literary gem? Elementary, of course!

Sherlock Holmes makes his American debut in this fascinating and extraordinary collection of never-before-published crime and mystery stories by bestselling American writers. The world's greatest detective and his famous sidekick Watson are on their first trip across the Atlantic as they fight crime all over nineteenth-century North America. From the bustling neighborhoods of New York City and Washington, D.C., to sunny yet sinister cities like San Francisco on the West Coast, the world's best-loved British sleuth will face some of the most cunning criminals America has to offer, and meet some of America's most famous figures along the way.

Each original story is written in the extraordinary tradition of Doyle's best work, yet each comes with a unique American twist that is sure to satisfy and exhilarate both Sherlock Holmes purists and those who always wished that Holmes could nab the nefarious closer to home.

This is a must-read for any mystery fan and for those who have followed Holmes' illustrious career over the waterfall and back again. 12 b/w illustrations.

An anthology of stories

These all-new short stories of movies, music, murder, and mayhem by today's brightest talents will take you from vaudeville to Vegas, and make it chillingly clear that in the world of entertainment, if you want to make it, you may have to step on some people-or over their dead bodies…

Includes first-run stories from

€ Carolyn Wheat

€ John Lutz

€ Elaine Viets

€ Parnell Hall

€ Stuart M Kaminsky

€ Edward D Hoch

€ Annette Meyers

€ Angela Zeman

€ David Bart

€ Bob Shayne

€ Mark Terry

€ Gary Phillips

€ Suzanne Shaphren

€ Libby Fischer Hellman

€ Charles Ardai

€ Gregg Andrew Hurwitz

€ Steve Hockensmith

€ Shelley Freydont

€ Robert Lopresti

€ Mat Coward