Do Overs And Detours

Detours are amazing creatures. A detour can shortcut your existence or it can lead you down a forever long road that will linger far into the distant reaches of eternity. It is these unexpected tangents that people stumble across nearly every day that will haunt you in a frighteningly familiar fashion. Wander into a laundromat and find a kind of a time machine. Indulge yourself in a particularly nasty game of baseball. Hitch a ride on a freight train with the piggyback man or entomb yourself in a trailer walled with books or take a ride on a bus that is going nowhere fast or just lean over an empty ocean and wait for the very first mermaid you see. Detour around an overturned trailer of chickens and find a chance to do it all over again. Take a taxi ride with a very hungry passenger or just walk in the park and watch a juggler balancing severed heads. Reality will take you only so far and after that there is nothing to rely on but faith and fear. I offer you eighteen eerie tales of fantasy, horror, science fiction and all around strangeness that will take you to the edge of the map and then nudge you just a little bit further. "If Harlan Ellison, Richard Matheson and Robert Bloch had a three-way sex romp in a hot tub, and then a team of scientists came in and filtered out the water and mixed the leftover DNA into a test tube, the resulting genetic experiment would most likely grow up into Steve Vernon." – Bookgasm

If you’ve ever had your heart broken - then this book is for you. If you enjoy the taste of strong meat – then this book is for you. If you’ve got a sense of weird that is honed as sharp as a cutthroat’s knife – then this book is for you. Here are six of the strangest love stories you have ever read. WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT STEVE VERNON: "If Harlan Ellison, Richard Matheson and Robert Bloch had a three-way sex romp in a hot tub, and then a team of scientists came in and filtered out the water and mixed the leftover DNA into a test tube, the resulting genetic experiment would most likely grow up into Steve Vernon." - Bookgasm "Steve Vernon is something of an anomaly in the world of horror literature. He's one of the freshest new voices in the genre although his career has spanned twenty years. Writing with a rare swagger and confidence, Steve Vernon can lead his readers through an entire gamut of emotions from outright fear and repulsion to pity and laughter." - Cemetery Dance "Armed with a bizarre sense of humor, a huge amount of originality, a flair for taking risks and a strong grasp of characterization - Steve's got the chops for sure." - Dark Discoveries "Steve Vernon was born to write. He's the real deal and we're lucky to have him." - Richard Chizmar My Mom thinks I'm pretty cool, too.

In Simple Prosperity, Dave Wann showed readers how to have an abundant, sustainable life. In The New Normal, he challenges us to do some heavy lifting and transform our non-sustainable culture by transforming ourselves. For Wann, our current "old normal" lifestyle - buying water in disposable bottles, allowing the government to ignore global warming - will not preserve the planet. To nurture our world, he challenges us to rethink our lives, stand up for a healthy planet and move towards a "new normal" lifestyle in an agenda that includes: - Initiating local business alliances that actively lobby for local buying. - Creating an investment strategy that values the balance of nature. - Supporting the design, manufacture, and use of products made with natural chemicals. - Publicly advocating a more efficient use of water by placing a higher cultural value on wetlands, streams, rivers, and lakes. The New Normal is Dave Wann's way forward, a blueprint for a better life that preserves our world.

A doctor makes a late-night emergency call to an exclusive California riding school; a professor inherits a mysterious vase... and a strange little man; a struggling youth discovers canine horrors lurking beneath the streets of Albany; a sheriff ruthlessly deals with monstrosities plaguing his rural town; a pair of animal researchers makes a frightening discovery at a remote site; a sweet little girl entertains herself... by torturing faeries; a group of horror aficionados attempts to track down an unfinished film by a reclusive cult director; a man spends a chill night standing watch over his uncle's body; a girl looks to understand her place in a world in which zombies have overrun the earth; a murderous pack of nuns stalks a pair of Halloween revelers... What frightens us, what unnerves us? What causes that delicious shiver of fear to travel the lengths of our spines? It seems the answer changes every year. Every year the bar is raised; the screw is tightened. Ellen Datlow knows what scares us; the seventeen stories included in this anthology were chosen from magazines, webzines, anthologies, literary journals, and single author collections to represent the best horror of the year. Legendary editor Ellen Datlow (Lovecraft Unbound, Tails of Wonder and Imagination), winner of multiple Hugo, Bram Stoker, and World Fantasy awards, joins Night Shade Books in presenting The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Three.

The year's best, and darkest, tales of terror, showcasing the most outstanding new short stories and novellas by both contemporary masters of the macabre and exciting newcomers. As ever, this acclaimed anthology also offers the most comprehensive annual overview of horror around the world in all its incarnations; a comprehensive necrology of famous names; and a list of indispensable contact addresses for the dedicated horror fan and writer alike. The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror remains the world's leading annual anthology dedicated solely to presenting the best in contemporary horror fiction.

Half-Gypsy, Carnival carries his dead Poppa inside him as a perpetual adviser as he works as fortune-teller and occult troubleshooter, banishing demons and succubi with a carefree confidence born only of youth. His life journey takes a distinctly different turn when he meets Maya, an alluring female vampire. This novel details a dark version of the modern world, in which demons appear unbidden and where having a talent and using it successfully can mean either life or death. GYPSY BLOOD is a fast-paced, dark, funny and terrifying novel - like nothing that you have ever read before. The whole thing rolls like an avalanche of skateboards building to a climactic battle royal e between Carnival, a two-timing lady vampire, a she-demon with a mother complex, a social-climbing blood god, the collective spirit of the city and a mercenary mariachi band in a rickshaw. This is a fantasy for those folks who HATE fantasy! "If you have got a taste for over-the-top stories in the campy mode of the EVIL DEAD movies, then this is definitely a book that you should look into." - The Goreletter "If Harlan Ellison, Richard Matheson and Robert Bloch had a three-way sex romp in a hot tub and then a team of scientists came in and filtered out the water and mixed the leftover DNA into a test tube, the resulting genetic experiment would most likely grow up into Steve Vernon." - BOOKGASM "Gypsy Blood is for fans of dark fantasy who think they've seen it all. Where else are you going to find a novel that opens with life and death battle with a succubus, rolls into a vampire's palm reading session, which segues into a bathtub summoning ceremony and climaxes with a non-stop showdown between a blood demon, a city incarnate, and a mercenary band of mariachi armed with a homemade propane-powered kamikaze rickshaw and assorted armaments?" - Hellnotes "True originality is rare but you will find it every time that Steve Vernon puts his fingers on the keyboard." - Jeff Strand (author of PRESSURE)

Life is full of disappointments and detours. If the road you’re traveling is unexpected or you’re struggling to reconcile your new reality with dashed dreams, take heart. Jerry and Mary White have been there, and they know there are more options for the road ahead than what you can see right now. The best way to focus on areas of unfinished work in your life is through the lens of Scripture and encouragement. Gain perspective on your past and find hope for the journey ahead.