What do you get when you have a town addicted to meth and creatures who feast on them? TWEAKER CREATURES, of course. The new drug induced, gory, splatterpunk novel from horror author, Robert Essig. The Southern California town of El Cajon is overrun with a drug epidemic, altering the locals into vicious meth monsters that rule the seedy streets. Searching for her missing sister, Amber dives deep into a corrupt world she was once a part of, where the townsfolk are as brutal as the mysterious creatures who dwell within the shadows. If the speed doesn't kill you, the TWEAKER CREATURES will!

**2020 SPLATTERPUNK AWARD NOMINATED** Tip it on back… Some call it courage in a bottle while others perceive it as the devil’s cocktail. Alcohol comes in all types, bringing along with it the temptation of sin, the eagerness of confusion and the psychological bombardment on the mind forcing us to play a game between life and death. 15 authors dive deep in the subconscious where the demons swim, blinding our judgment and guiding us to make horrific decisions. ALL NEW STORIES BY: - Dustin LaValley & Edward Lee - Jeff Strand - Ryan Harding - Gerard Houarner - Armand Rosamilia - Christine Morgan - Jeremy Thompson - Stephen Kozeniewski - John Wayne Comunale - Robert Essig - Dev Jarrett - C.M. Saunders - Rachel Nussbaum - Bob Macumber

"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

**2023 SPLATTERPUNK AWARD WINNER - SHORT STORY (Stephen Kozeniewski)** **2023 SPLATTERPUNK AWARD NOMINATED** (Anthology) Dive deep into depravity and submerge yourself in 15 waterlogged stories that will leave you wet, delusional & deranged. Featuring new stories from: - Gerard Houarner - Christine Morgan - Wile E. Young - Stephen Kozeniewski - Jonathan Butcher - Robert Essig - Lucas Milliron - Bridgett Nelson - Matthew Weber - Sutter Kang - Steve Vernon - Alex Norcross - Shelley Lavigne - Alexander C. Bailey - Jack Feerick

**2022 SPLATTERPUNK AWARD NOMINATED** COUNTING BODIES LIKE SHEEP 18 authors tread through the muck and mud to add their own stories to the every-growing meat-pile of carnage and chaotic aftermath when bad decisions come full-circle. COUNTING BODIES LIKE SHEEP is the fourth extreme horror anthology from The Evil Cookie Publishing. Pushing the limits with fast-paced, high-gore elements and plots, this anthology holds no punches and blurs the line between sanity and insanity. FEATURING ALL NEW STORIES BY: - Edward Lee & Roman Neznayu - Stephen Kozeniewski - Gerard Houarner - Armand Rosamilia - Christine Morton - Robert Essig - Lucas Milliron - Dustin LaValley & Daniel J. Volpe - Jeremy Megargee - Sarah Budd - Bridgett Nelson - Richard Dansky - Josh Davis - Mike James Davis - Trevor Newton

"There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man ... a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination." -Rod Serling 13 cosmic horror-tinged tales by some of the best authors the indie horror world has to offer.

**2021 Splatterpunk Award Nominated** The Evil Cookie Publishing presents Gorefest, an extreme horror anthology. 14 Authors carve their path through the muck and grime to celebrate the art of gore. From a demented love triangle to the hollowed pleas of a blood-soaked savior, the following stories grip and grind through a labyrinth of demented deception of unflinching and often humorous betrayals of society. The only thing for sure is that after each encounter... only the stain remains. *Including the never before published, Stephen Kozeniewski’s 2x winning stories from 2016 & 2018 KillerCon’s Gross-Out Contests. ALL NEW STORIES BY: - Wrath James White - Stephen Kozeniewski - Armand Rosamilia - Wesley Southard - Jay Wilburn - Jonathan Butcher - Jack Bantry & Robert Essig - Patrick C. Harrison III - Amy Grech - Donnie Goodman - Natasha Sinclair - Lucas Milliron - Daniel J. Volpe

Post Mortem Press presents four novellas ... Number Six by Joseph Williams Have you ever been to Hell? Zach hadn't. Not until he lost his job, girlfriend, car, and home over the course of just a few hours. In his quest to find solace in isolation and introspection, Zach finds depravity beyond any fathomable nightmare. Zach has found the true meaning of freedom discovering it's not as wonderful as he figured. Freedom has consequences, and God isn't always the only one with a plan for you Cemetery Tour by Robert Essig Three college students decide to spend their Spring Break taking a driving tour of cemeteries across the southwest of America. When they discover a dug up grave in one of the cemeteries their trip becomes much more than they had anticipated. Mistress of a Higher Purpose by Daniel Pearlman In 2035, bad luck tosses beautiful Rose Langley from a prison in New York to a strange environmentalist slave-camp run by scientists in Idaho. A series of abusive men have frustrated her deepest desire--to have a child of her own--but her jailers in Idaho miraculously offer her this, and freedom too. The price is gigantic, however. Enslavement by Nicholas Conley Addiction is an easy trap to fall into. It starts out small. It turns into a habit. Given enough time, it becomes enslavement. Six individuals, each suffering from their own individual addiction, are kidnapped one night and wake up on an empty, moving train. There are no exit doors, no outside contact, the train is an endless maze of identical compartments and the group is terrorized by monstrous "Grey-Men." As they struggle to understand the unseen force that's thrown them together, it becomes clear that there's only one way off the train; they must either overcome their dark histories and self-doubts, or drown in them.

Post Mortem Press present four novellas ...Number Six by Joseph WilliamsHave you ever been to Hell? Zach hadn't. Not until he lost his job, girlfriend, car, and home over the course of just a few hours. In his quest to find solace in isolation and introspection, Zach finds depravity beyond any fathomable nightmare. Zach has found the true meaning of freedom discovering it's not as wonderful as he figured. Freedom has consequences, and God isn't always the only one with a plan for youCemetery Tour by Robert EssigThree college students decide to spend their Spring Break taking a driving tour of cemeteries across the southwest of America. When they discover a dug up grave in one of the cemeteries their trip becomes much more than they had anticipated.Mistress of a Higher Purpose by Daniel PearlmanIn 2035, bad luck tosses beautiful Rose Langley from a prison in New York to a strange environmentalist slave-camp run by scientists in Idaho. A series of abusive men have frustrated her deepest desire--to have a child of her own--but her jailers in Idaho miraculously offer her this, and freedom too. The price is gigantic, however.Enslavement by Nicholas ConleyAddiction is an easy trap to fall into. It starts out small. It turns into a habit. Given enough time, it becomes enslavement. Six individuals, each suffering from their own individual addiction, are kidnapped one night and wake up on an empty, moving train. There are no exit doors, no outside contact, the train is an endless maze of identical compartments and the group is terrorized by monstrous "Grey-Men." As they struggle to understand the unseen force that's thrown them together, it becomes clear that there's only one way off the train; they must either overcome their dark histories and self-doubts, or drown in them.

After an ancient tribe of sentinels disbands, the realm between Earth and Hell devolves into a land where vile beasts roam free and corruption reigns. In this aberrant land time is only relative, and pain can last forever. On Earth there are three strangers in search of something tangible, something real, something that gives meaning to their lives. Little do they know that a grisly murder in San Diego will mark the beginning of a series of events that will draw them to a world of madness, torture, and lawlessness where they will be forced to fight for their desires and their lives. Once in the realm of the In Between will they ever be the same again? Is there a way back home to Earth, or does Hell await? "Essig brings a fat slice of urban horror combines with his uniquely abstract vision of a hellish world. Endless suffering abounds! For fans of down and dirty horror!" - Daniel I. Russel, author of Come into Darkness