After the American Civil War ended, George W. Peck (1840–1916) became a newspaper publisher. His weekly newspaper, «Peck’s Sun,» contained Peck’s humorous writings, including his famous semi-autobiographical “Peck’s Bad Boy” stories. Peck died in 1916 at age 75, but his writing continued to win fans for years. The «Peck’s Bad Boy» stories became the basis for several films and a short-lived television show.<P> Included in this volume are: ...
Thanksgiving is an American tradition, celebrating the coming of autumn, the bounty of the harvest, the peaceful coexistence of the Pilgrims and the Native Americans, football, family – and, of course, the obligatory celebration feast. Here are 35 tales celebrating Thanksgiving in all its forms, by classic authors you know and love (O. Henry, Harriet Becher Stowe, Nathaniel Hawthorne) and others who may be new to you.<P> Included are:< ...
Thubway Tham is a small, short-tempered gnome of a man, a professional pickpocket with an annoying lisp. But he is no mere thief…he is the king of his chosen profession, a master «dip» who works only in the subways of New York City. Like all such villains, he faces a cunning adversary in Police Detective Craddock, who is always half a pace behind. Craddock has sworn to put Tham behind bars, where he belongs. But Tham is clever enough to always ...
British author John Russell Fearn was one of the most popular – and prolific – authors of the Golden Age of Science Fiction, selling work to all of the classic American science fiction magazines. Under his own name (and several pseudonyms), his novels and short stories appeared in Astounding Stories, Astonishing Stories, Startling Stories, Amazing Stories – and many more! <P>Included in this volume are 25 of his best works, selected by ed ...
"Michael McCarty's 'A Little Help from My Fiends' truly shines. His collection of short stories is a lovingly created, watered with blood and harvested at the peak of ripeness kind of work. The approach to the collection is so fresh that – were it a steak – you would note still a bit of warmth and even a faint pulse. You see, each story in this collection is co-authored with another excellent storyteller. Mark McLaughlin, Ter ...
What goes together like tea & sympathy, rock & roll, or a skull & crossbones? Sex & crime. Nineteen members of Sisters in Crime living in the Carolinas serve up stories around the universal themes of lust, love, and longing, and the criminal consequences of thwarting these human desires. Some stories are laugh-out-loud funny, others are evilly dark, but each packs a delicious read. Whether set in an ice cream parlor or an equestr ...
Katherine Mansfield Beauchamp Murry (1888 – 1923) was a prominent modernist writer of short fiction who was born and brought up in colonial New Zealand and wrote under the pen name of Katherine Mansfield. When she was 19, Mansfield left New Zealand and settled in the United Kingdom, where she became a friend of modernist writers such as D.H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf. She was the subject of the 1973 BBC miniseries A Picture of Katherine Mansfi ...
"Stranded in a High Peak transport cafe during a freak snowstorm, Jerry Howard finds himself in a vortex of Satanism. <P> Brenda was a motorway girl with a strange scar on her back. The Mark of the Beast. She knew the history of the Brindley legend. And she alone knew the rites. <P> She had been on Devil’s Peak before. Now it was Walpurgisnacht and the horned goat was expected. Events moved to a horrendous climax…" ...
Richardson had several guided tours that he alternated throughout the week. His favourite was a trip around the Old City, visiting several of the locations where over the years, apparitions had, allegedly, been seen. He would then lead his group into the tunnels and the catacombs beneath street level—into the so-called Undercity; a labyrinthine warren of vaulted, coarse-brick, underground chambers that dated back hundreds of years. In this dark ...
