Join LP Hernandez on an exploration of the terrain of haunted worlds and the souls of haunted people. A man becomes so detached from this world that he is claimed by another. An astronaut picks the worst possible time to leave Earth. A man for whom eternity is just the beginning. These stories present mankind at its most vulnerable. These are stories of triumph and of succumbing, of the dying and those already dead.

"I come from a long line of idiots." Those were the last words his father uttered before dying, and from what he knew of his family tree and the unfortunate end that came to so many of his ancestors, Del Honeycutt couldn't disagree. What he didn't know was that his family held dark secrets - secrets that were about to come crashing down upon him. A seemingly innocent date gone tragically wrong plunges Del into a web of murder, lies, greed, and a hidden fortune.

In his most dangerous and personal case yet, Denver homicide detective, Nick Teffinger, promises a mysterious young woman from Hong Kong that he will not let anyone murder her.

This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a scream. In the remote mountains of Northern Alaska, Dr. Riley Middleton and her team of archeologists discover a burial site containing mummified remains dating to the last ice age. None of them notice the warning carved into the entrance or realize that the tomb had been deliberately sealed from the outside until they’ve already released a virus that turns ordinary people into murderous monsters. But there’s something even more terrifying inside...something ancient...something unspeakably evil.

Ashville is a town with a secret history. Ancient structures lie hidden in the woods, and strange rituals are performed to keep the dead where they belong. For gravedigger Abel Cunningham, it is also a town filled with regrets. And when Abel is tasked with an unusual burial, he discovers there are more than just corpses in the cemetery.

It's been 15 years since Noose Holcomb perpetrated the Buzzard's Edge Train Robbery of 1872, leaving Rory Daggett an orphan. Settled in with a new family and a second chance at life, Rory never quite sheds the thirst for revenge. When one of the gang members returns to Buzzard's Edge, Rory's life is violently upended once more. Capturing the rogue spurs on a furious chain of events that pits Rory against each member of Noose's gang, every one more twisted and terrifying than the last, in order to work his way to their leader.

James Crowley met his mortal end in a hail of gunfire. Now, he finds himself in purgatory, serving the White Throne to avoid falling to hell. Not quite undead, though not alive either, the best he can hope for is to work off his servitude and fade away. His not-so-sacred duty as a Hand of God? Use his new abilities to hunt down demonic beings that have infiltrated the mortal realm. This time, the White Throne has sent him to the middle of nowhere: a Western town called Dead Acre with a saloon, a moldy church, and little else worth talking about. There isn’t even a sheriff.

American Ripper is the true story of Gerard John Schaefer, a Florida law enforcement officer who was a prolific serial killer in the late 1960s early 1970s. The decade that was thought to be filled with love, peace, and happiness became a new dark age, breeding more serial killers than any other time in US history including Charles Manson, the Zodiac Killer, the Son of Sam, John Wayne Gacy, and Ted Bundy, who was held in the same prison as Schaefer and whom he both idolized and resented for the recognition his crimes brought him, a recognition Schaefer never received.

Heaven has fallen, leaving behind a scarred visage of the world. The lands are now crawling with all manner of vile creatures: demons, werewolves, vampires, and other unimaginable horrors; all competing to control their own little niche in this new world. Humanity’s only defense against such evil are the hunters; men and women who stand face-to-face against all things that go bump in the night. Rod Calaway, a hunter of the southern territories, nicknamed the No Leaf Clover, tirelessly wanders the Wasteland eradicating these foul creatures.

Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania - derailing the War Between the States and changing the nation forever. In this new America, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Education Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead.

Almena Guillory, better known as the Grizzly Queen of the West, has plenty to recommend her for the noose, but US Marshal Apostle Richardson enforces the law, he doesn't decide it. When a posse tries to lynch Almena ahead of her trial, Apostle refuses their form of expedited justice - and receives a bullet for his trouble. Before escaping, however, Almena unexpectedly saves his life by absorbing his wound through the use of dangerous flesh magic.

In 1875, two young Sioux are lynched in Lockwood, Wyoming, by a makeshift posse for a crime they may or may not have committed. Ethan Ramsey knows he must act quickly to prevent a bloody retaliation from their Sioux tribe. Can he gain the trust of both the Sioux and the townspeople of Lockwood to allow enough time to unravel the mystery of the crime and ensure justice is fairly served?

He began his life as a slave. During the Civil War he escaped and lived among the Indians in the Oklahoma Territories. He learned to ride, shoot and track prey from his adopted people. When the war ended, he was recruited as one of the first black marshals in the history of the west.

Three young men emerge from a small town in the territory of New Mexico. They are bound by a pact and guided by mysterious powerful beings that no one else can see. Together they must face off against the Sheriff of Puerta de la Muerte, a wicked man who cannot be struck by bullets. Are they destined to become legends, or are they just mere noose jumpers?

The weird, wild west - an American frontier populated by gunslingers, rattlesnakes, outlaws, zombies, aliens, time travelers, and steampunk! Twenty-three of science fiction and fantasy's hottest and most popular authors create all-new tales, written exclusively for this anthology. Aliens and monsters, magic and science are introduced to the old west, with explosive results.