That’s what 27 writers want you to consider, here in this collection of the strange and terrible, the shocking and amazing, the frightening and awe-inspiring. Assembled here for easy perusal are some of the finest tales of ghosts, zombies, witches, cryptozoological freaks, monsters, and aliens of the past year.

Twenty-nine-year-old Imogen Banks is hashtag struggling. After a disaster ends her career, destroys her home, and burns up all the money she’s saved to open her own bakery, she enters a baking contest for an all-or-nothing last-ditch chance at getting her life together. But when she arrives at the mysterious island off the coast of France, she discovers all the inhabitants of the quaint town are magical, and if she wins the contest, she’ll become the next royal baker at the castle on top of the hill. No worries that the last royal baker appears to have been murdered.

After thousands of years, Cain awakens to find that the world has gone on without him. In his slumber, humans and people of power have stopped being afraid of, well, anything. Beyond that, they’ve become cruel for cruelty’s sake, fascinated with their ability to spread death through famine, war, and even plagues. In their minds, they have no equal. They’re wrong.

In the beginning, the gods destroyed the world. Five hundred years later, things haven’t gotten much better for humans. The demigods that were left behind to guard over humanity have been using them as fodder for an endless civil war between themselves, and the humans just go on dutifully slaughtering each other, battle after battle. It’s not all bad, though. Perry McGown makes his living off those bloody, stinking battlefields. He works on a crew that reclaims all the spent shell casings. But if anyone found out that he was a deserter from the war, he’d be executed for heresy.

Is a witch throwing curses your way? Something scary scratching at your window in the night? Then, I've got just the charm for you. Mostly, though, I find things. Lost treasures, missing loved ones...if you need something found, I'm your guy. So, when a grieving father hired me to track down a family heirloom stolen by a sticky-fingered hobgoblin, I was happy to help.

Charley Brewster is a horror movie fan, a kid with an active imagination. So, when he begins telling people that his new next-door neighbor is a vampire, no one believes him. Not the police, not his girlfriend Amy, not even the school weirdo Evil Ed. But Charley's seen the coffin and the bodies drained of blood and knows he will be the vampire's next victim.

An ancient vampire has descended on Isherwood, Indiana, turning its townspeople into a legion of bloodthirsty monsters, and only one man can stop them. Chris Stiles, once a Vietnam War soldier, is now the ultimate vampire hunter. With the help of the ghost of his dead brother, who was killed by the monsters, and an arsenal of high-powered weaponry, Chris is ready for a new war - this time not with the Viet Cong, but against an army of the Undead!

The night uncovers all we wish not to see. A troubled man enters a dusky park before sunset. A young woman follows, hidden in shadow. Both have returned to the park to take back something the past has stolen from them, to make right six long years of suffering, and to find justice or perhaps redemption - or maybe they'll settle for some old-fashioned revenge. But something evil is alive and awake in those woods, creatures that care nothing for human motivations. They’re driven by their own insatiable need: a ravenous, bottomless hunger.

Humanity listened to the night sky. What we heard shattered the world. Listen. Just once. That’s it. As soon as you hear it, it has you. And once it has you, it’s over. You may think you’re in control. You’re not. You want one more listen. You want to look at that strange spot in the sky. The one that’s been slowly growing. The one that didn’t make sense...until you listened. You want to listen again, and you will do whatever it takes to make everyone else listen. By any means necessary. Even if it kills you. Just one more listen. One more. Listen.

Welcome to Hopkins Bend, the remote little Tennessee town where the backwoods inhabitants are cannibals and the local law operates a sex-trafficking ring. Unlucky travelers are frequently ensnared in the town’s sinister web. Some are held captive and tortured while others face even more gruesome fates. And beneath it all is the town’s darkest secret, the curse of the depraved and mutated Kincher clan.

The world has two faces. The natural and the supernatural. The faces we see every day. The faces of hose filing past us in an almost zombie-like stupor, numb to the horrors of everyday life or driven to madness by the pain and agony of modern-day existence - and those are the people who aren't zombies or monsters! Cal McDonald is a detective with one foot in the real world, and one in the world of magic.

Mike Mignola's award-winning series Hellboy has earned fans all over the world, among them some of the most respected horror, fantasy, and mystery novelists in the field as well as some of Hollywood's most talented writers and directors. Now a who's who list of these writers are drawn together to tell their own tales of Hellboy, to play with the characters and worlds Mignola has created. As part of Dark Horse's celebration of Hellboy in 2004, Christopher Golden has brought together a stellar array of talents.

In a world devastated by alien invasion, Jarek and Rachel were never paragons of heroism. They survived, same as anyone else. They protected what was dear—Jarek with his exosuit and beloved AI companion, Rachel with her brother. They kept things simple... until the raknoth came and took it all away.

Israel and Erin are strangers who wake up in a dark sub basement with no memory of how they got there. As they work together to escape, they encounter the clandestine Sentry Group and are thrust into a hidden subculture of monsters, secret societies, and carefully concealed history. The truth of human history isn't the only surprise waiting for them, though, as the power hidden deep within their DNA suddenly manifests. A man cursed with a monstrous hunger. A woman who can bend space and time. Will Israel and Erin stand against the coming darkness or let humanity fend for itself?

The Flaherty Brothers Traveling Carnivale and Freakshow has come to the quiet town of Pleasant Hills, Tennessee. But this is no ordinary sideshow and these are not the usual "freaks" on display. As the unsuspecting townsfolk gather for an evening of strange spectacle, the slaughter is set to begin...

Mike Mignola's award-winning series Hellboy has earned fans all over the world, among them some of the most respected horror, fantasy, and mystery novelists in the field as well as some of Hollywood's most talented writers and directors. Now a who's who list of these writers are drawn together to tell their own tales of Hellboy, to play with the characters and worlds Mignola has created. As part of Dark Horse's celebration of Hellboy in 2004, Christopher Golden has brought together a stellar array of talents.

In 1994, Mike Mignola created one of the most unique and visually arresting comics series to ever see print: Hellboy. Tens of thousands have followed the exploits of the World's Greatest Paranormal Investigator in comics form and in prose. Now, fans of the comic can enjoy the world of Hellboy as seen through the eyes of some of the brightest creative lights in horror and mystery fiction.

Longtime contributor to the Hellboy mythos Christopher Golden brings together a crew of luminaries including Joe R. Lansdale and China Miéville, cross-genre sensation Barbara Hambly, celebrated mystery writer Ken Bruen, best-selling science-fiction and fantasy novelist Tad Williams, and a bevy of other skilled storytellers eager to spin a tale or two about the world's greatest paranormal detective. Some of the biggest names in horror, mystery, and fantasy come together to pay homage to Mike Mignola's Hellboy!

In 1901, Queen Victoria passed away and took over the responsibilities of the paranormal court. When Victoria ascends to the paranormal throne, she acquires the help of a human agent, code-named Rogue.

Ever come across a situation that simply wasn't right - where someone was getting the dirty end of the stick and you wished you could make things right but didn't know how? Fourteen-year-old Jack knows how. Or rather he's learning how. He's discovering that he has a knack for fixing things. Not bikes or toys or appliances - situations...It all starts when Jack and his best friends, Weezy and Eddie, discover a rotting corpse - the victim of ritual murder - in the fabled New Jersey Pine Barrens. Beside the body is an ancient artifact carved with strange designs.

"You have two days to pass your audition. You better pass it, feller. You’re joining the circus. Ain’t that the best news you ever got?" Delivered by a trio of psychotic clowns, this ultimatum plunges Jamie into the horrific alternate universe that is the centuries-old Pilo Family Circus, a borderline world between Hell and Earth from which humankind’s greatest tragedies have been perpetrated. Yet in this place - peopled by the gruesome, grotesque, and monstrous - where violence and savagery are the norm, Jamie finds that his worst enemy is himself.

A former mercenary turned blind priest, Ash is running from his amoral past - a victim of a power-hungry corporation, Titanus, which used him for mysterious experiments, discarding him when he lost his sight. Through its experimentation, Titanus unwittingly created a dark mirror world called Shade, a place where no human can survive - except for Ash. By opening a rift, Ash can escape into Shade. While attempting to implement a global teleportation system, Titanus makes a grave error and opens several dangerous rifts, which threaten to tear the planet apart.

In the beginning, the gods destroyed the world. Five hundred years later, things haven’t gotten much better for humans. The demigods that were left behind to guard over humanity have been using them as fodder for an endless civil war between themselves, and the humans just go on dutifully slaughtering each other, battle after battle. It’s not all bad, though. Perry McGown makes his living off those bloody, stinking battlefields. He works on a crew that reclaims all the spent shell casings. But if anyone found out that he was a deserter from the war, he’d be executed for heresy.

Rogue wizard Josiah Quinn never met a rule he wouldn’t break. Even though he knows he’ll face plenty of backlash from both good and evil, he braves the fires of Hell to spring Satan’s captive daughter. But before they return to their lives, he’s got to track down the missing pieces of her soul.... As he attempts to unite the fragmented spirit of the succubus by his side, Josiah has one little problem: a power-hungry wizard aiming to rule the underworld.

Fifteen of the biggest names in weird literature come together to pay tribute to Hellboy and the characters of Mike Mignola’s award-winning line of books! Assembled by Joe Golem and Baltimore co-writer Christopher Golden, this anthology boasts 15 original stories by the best in horror, fantasy, and science fiction, including Seanan McGuire (October Daye series), Chelsea Cain (Heartsick), Jonathan Maberry (Joe Ledger series), and more! The new writer of Hellboy and the BPRD, iZombie co-creator Chris Roberson, pitches in as well!