"Not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach, the 19 stories in this new best-of annual anthology feature episodes of graphic gore and violence—including torture, dismemberment, self-mutilation, and home abortion—that are designed to push buttons as well as boundaries...strictly for hardcore horror fans."—Publishers Weekly Excerpt from the Introduction: Editors Randy Chandler and Cheryl Mullenax put the call out to horror writers and editors of extreme stories, the hardcore stuff that breaks boundaries and trashes taboos, the transgressive tales you can't "unread" (as Chuck Palahniuk says). We staked out our territory and nailed this to the wall to guide us: YEAR'S BEST HARDEST HORROR Not your mama's best-of horror annual. This stuff comes from the edge of the abyss, stories you read at your own risk because you feel the abyss looking right back into you through the tainted lens of each twisted tale. Some of the stories you'll find here are loaded with very graphic descriptions of violence, sex and depravities, while others may contain only one shocking moment of brutality. In others, the hardcore aspect may be less graphic and subtler than you might expect. Some of these quieter tales offer the reader some time to recover from the more disturbing ones preceding. Most of the stories collected here are from small and specialty press anthologies, with a few from periodicals, like the prestigious Splatterpunk Zine in the UK and Thuglit here in the US. Bizarro is also represented with a couple of tales from the unlikely anthology Blood For You: A Literary Tribute To GG Allin from Weirdpunk Books. (If you're not familiar with the late GG Allin, you can find snippets from some of his outrageous and obscene punk shows online, which will increase your appreciation of those two tales.) So for now, forget about that neighbor you suspect is a serial killer, don't worry about the drunk driver that could take you out on your next trip to the store, push those troubling news stories to the back of your mind and immerse yourself in the imaginary horrors at hand. But don't be surprised if you sense something dark staring back at you from between the lines. That is to be expected when you enter these forbidding realms. With any luck, you may find something useful to help you survive the approaching Apocalypse. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction: The Year That Was "Worth the Having" by Michael Paul Gonzalez "Awakening" by Jeff Strand "Readings Off The Charts" by Adam Cesare "Reborn" by The Behrg "What's Worst" by David James Keaton "Dead End" by Kristopher Triana "What You Wish For" by Lilith Morgan "King Shits" by Charles Austin Muir "Cleanup On Aisle 3" by Adam Howe "Bath Salt Fetus" by Jorge Palacios "Bored With Brutality" by MP Johnson "Exposed" by Monica J. O'Rourke "Eleanor" by Jason Parent "The Scavengers" by Tony Knighton "The Most Important Miracle" by Scott Emerson "Hungry For Control" by Clare de Lune "Clarissa" by Robert Essig & Jack Bantry "Where The Sun Don't Shine" by Pete Kahle "Blackbird Lullaby" by George Cotronis

ENTER DARKNESS IN THIS BRAM STOKER AWARD®-NOMINATED VOLUME OF HORROR. Just beyond the veil of perception is a darkened plane where ultimate evil resides. Dark Visions: A Collection of Modern Horror - Volume One is thirteen critically acclaimed tales of terror written by some of the most visionary authors writing genre fiction today. -- A boy comes face-to-face with evil in 'the most haunted town in America'... -- A series of gruesome murders are linked to religious fanaticism... -- Boyhood friends on an English estate battling malevolent forces of the occult... -- A down-on-his-luck author faces the most terrifying decision of his life... -- A mysterious tapestry in a historic hotel may be the doorway into darkness... -- A man with a deadly disease resorts to unthinkable options... -- And so much more. FEATURING: -- Mister Pockets: A Pine Deep Story by Jonathan Maberry -- Collage by Jay Caselberg -- The Weight of Paradise by Jeff Hemenway -- Three Minutes by Sarah L. Johnson -- Second Opinion by Ray Garton -- The Last Ice Cream Kiss by Jason S. Ridler -- Scrap by David A. Riley -- What Do You Need? by Milo James Fowler -- The Troll by Jonathan Balog -- Delicate Spaces by Brian Fatah Steele -- Raining Stones by Sean Logan -- Show Me by John F.D. Taff -- Thanatos Park by Charles Austin Muir Proudly presented by Grey Matter Press, the multiple Bram Stoker Award-nominated independent publisher. Grey Matter Press: Where Dark Thoughts Thrive

They're among us. They live down the street, in the apartment next door and oftentimes in our own homes. They are the real monsters. And they stare back at us from our own bathroom mirrors. Peel Back the Skin is a powerhouse anthology of horror from Bram Stoker Award-nominated editors Anthony Rivera and Sharon Lawson that strips away the human mask from the real monsters of our time -- mankind. Featuring a star-studded cast of award-winning authors from the horror, dark fantasy, speculative fiction, transgressive, bizzaro, extreme horror and thriller genres, Peel Back the Skin is the next game-changing release from Grey Matter Press. Including fifteen all-new works of fiction from Jonathan Maberry, Ray Garton, Tim Lebbon, Graham Masterton, Yvonne Navarro, Ed Kurtz, Durand Sheng Welsh, James Lowder, Joe McKinney, Lucy Taylor, Charles Austin Muir, Erik Williams, Nancy A. Collins, John McCallum Swain and William Meikle. Praise for Peel Back the Skin: "Peel Back the Skin investigates the horrific behavior of humanity, but does not revel in it. The entertainment is dark and pulpy, but never exploitive. Peel Back the Skin reveals why horror is necessary today." -- Karl Wolff, New York Journal of Books "Every single story in the book is in a class of its own. Thematically, Peel Back the Skin is a thing of brilliance, each story complementing or enhancing the stories around it. Top-notch, accessible and entertaining dark fiction." -- Shane Douglas Keene, This is Horror "This collection of short stories serves both to entertain and provoke thought. I can recommend this collection of spooky delights as a great way to spend a few fall nights." -- Michele Galgana, FANGORIA Proudly presented by Grey Matter Press, the multiple Bram Stoker Award-nominated independent publisher. Grey Matter Press: Where Dark Thoughts Thrive

Psychotic killers, devious ghosts, alien monsters, howling storms, undead creatures, and other dark forces haunt the highways and the truckers who drive them in these 18 chilling tales! Contains the Bram Stoker Award winning story "Happy Joe's Rest Stop" by John Palisano. A ghostly voice on a trucker’s CB radio knows more about his life than it should… Two drivers find their cargo gives them inhuman appetites… A boy in a truck stop encounters a supernatural force that threatens to destroy the world… The hypnotic singing lulling a driver to sleep might not be coming from the tires… A fender-bender between a big rig and a four wheeler is not as accidental as it seems… The sinister cargo lurking in a rock and roll band’s fleet of trucks is unleashed at their final show... Hit the road with this anthology of trucking horror fiction!

After reading this book please bring this tome back to your local library. Seriously! This is an extremely important book and if you do not bring this book back, you risk letting out a chaos magick spell that will destroy the world, as beasts bring destruction to life itself. That includes bunnies. Do you really want to face killer bunnies, and don't think Charlize Theron will save you. She won't! So read this extremely important horror book and then bring it back, and also don't look at Internet porn at your local library, it's rude and attracts succubi! Sincerely, CLASH Books Librarian

Follow your ghostly host, Igor Allan Pug, "The Treat Master," as he takes you on a private tour of his one and only PUG MONSTER GALLERY in this coloring story book for children (ages and 8 older) and adults alike.

Telepathic hospice workers... a Danish prince haunted by his immortality... a naked mercenary with the ultimate bioweapon... a ghostly gunslinger in a showdown with the Devil's bandits... a writer losing his dog and his mind... a wormhole with a cure to every human ill... Inspired by the author's wife and her struggle to overcome cancer, Slippery When Metastasized is a collection of absurdist, cross-genre, darkly comedic fiction that explores the fears, sorrows, joys, and wonders of living in a universe that has shattered every human illusion. With literary influences ranging from Donald Barthelme to Franz Kafka to Ray Bradbury, the sixteen pieces of prose and poetry offer a blend of strangeness and humor across the genres of horror, science fiction, bizarro, and even spaghetti western, laced with metafictional techniques, social satire, and archetypal transformations of pop culture.

BACK COVER COPYSEE! the Ipsissimus Arachnus, the wall-crawling, occult commando unitBEHOLD! the Catholic church which changes into an automatonGAZE! upon self-love via a meta, sci-fi epistolaryGIRD YOUR LOINS! for Charles Austin Muir's debut collection, an unfiltered and utterly gonzo mutation of short fiction. A satire of satire, Bodybuilding Spider Rangers and Other Stories will surprise even the most seasoned readers of the absurd."Highly satirical. Massively funny. Strangely positive." -Jeff O'Brien, author of the BigBoobenstein series and Journey to the Center of the Flat Earth"¿synonymous with muscles and madness." -G. Arthur Brown, author of God's Mean Older Brother and The Long Night of the Eternal Korean War"A surreal and gorgeously sleazy military masterpiece; swollen with pop-culture references and jacked-up on steroids¿" -Chris Kelso, author of The Black Dog Eats the City