They were the kind of musical notes men and woman once swayed to-even worshiped to-or so Jasper had told him, ground from an instrument called an "organ"-which had once been common, or so he'd said, but had vanished from the face of the world. So, too, were there cymbals, which echoed throughout the crew compartment of the War Wagon like tinsel-if tinsel could be said to have a sound-and mingled with the steely whispers of their muskets and tanks and other gear as the truck rocked and their harnesses held them fast."When a maaan loves a woman, " sang a hearty and soulful voice both inside and outside the compartment, and Jeremiah knew they were close, else the driver wouldn't have cued the music, and when he scanned the other Witch Doctors, strapped in six to a bench in the wagon's cramped confines, he knew that they knew it too. What was more, he knew that, however fearsome they looked in their black jumpsuits and white flame-retardant vests, their goggled respirators, their buckled hats-they were frightened, too.

Enter the Witch Doctor - The Witch Doctor Trilogy, #1

First came the time-storm, which erased half the population. Then came the dinosaur apocalypse. How did it all begin? That depends on where you were and who you ask. In some places it started with the weather-which quickly became unstable and began behaving in impossible ways. In still others it started with the lights in the sky, which shifted and pulsed and could not be explained. Elsewhere it started with the disappearances: one here, a few there, but increasing in occurrence until fully three quarters of the population had vanished. Either way, there is one thing on which everyone agrees-it didn't take long for the prehistoric flora and fauna to start showing up (often appearing right where someone was standing, in which case the two were fused, spliced, amalgamated). It didn't take long for the great Time-displacement called the Flashback-which was brief but had aftershocks, like an earthquake-to change the face of the earth. Nor for the stories, some long and others short, some from before the maelstrom (and resulting societal collapse) and others after, to be recorded. Welcome to the world of the Flashback, a world in which man's cities have become overgrown jungles and extinct animals wander the ruins. You can survive here, if you're lucky, and if you're not in the wrong place at the wrong time--which is everywhere, all the time. But what you'll never do is remain the same, for this is a world whose very purpose is to challenge you, for better or for worse. It is a world where frightened commuters will do battle with murderous bikers even as primordial monsters close in, and others will take refuge in an underground theme park only to find their worst enemy is themselves. Where ordinary people-ne'er-do-wells on a cross-country motorcycle trip, a woman on a redeye flight to Hell, a sensitive boy stricken with visions of what's to come--will find themselves in extraordinary situations, and a gunslinger and his telekinetic ankylosaurus will embark on a dangerous quest. A world where travelers will be trapped with an unravelling President of the United States and a band of survivors will face roving packs of monsters and men in post-apocalyptic Seattle; where rioting teenagers will face deadly predators (as well as their own demons) while ransacking the nation's capital; where a Native-American warrior will seek to bury his past--and offer an elegy for all the Earth--in what remains of Las Vegas. In short, it is a world where anything can and will happen. So take a deep dive into these loosely connected tales of the Dinosaur Apocalypse (each of which can be read individually or as a part of the greater saga): tales of wonder and terror, death and survival, blood and beauty. Do it today, before the apocalypse comes.

The Primeval World - The Flashback Cycle, #4

"Ha! The flu. You should see 'em: pale and black-eyed as serpents, just lying there in the Rio Grande like zombies." She leaned toward him over the bar again and he caught a whiff of her fragrance, and there was a stirring in his groin he hadn't felt since, well, since he couldn't remember."What do you mean, like zombies?""I mean like zombies, like men who are dead but still walking, or lying there staring at the ceiling. See, something attacked us only a few weeks after the Flashback . something . new. At first everyone just assumed it was a rogue raptor, because it didn't have a pack-that was the first thing. But then it started talking, like a parrot, I suppose, saying things like 'Pig' and 'Eggsucker, '" She laughed her contagious laugh. "Can you imagine? A raptor calling you names as it attacked you? Deputies Creebald and Teller put up one hell of a fight, you can be sure, and they did eventually kill it, with Rimshaw's help, but all of them were wounded in the fight, and the deputies worst of all. After that, things started changing around here. At first it was just Creebald and Teller acting strangely, abusing their power, you might say, telling me not to forget to paint on my mole, or insisting Doc Allen wear that ridiculous little vest. But then Marshal Rimshaw started getting into the act, as well, and before any of us knew it we were living in a kind of police state. Decker was the only one who didn't pile on, which is funny, because he was the only one not wounded in the fight with the raptor. It all came to a head when Deputy Teller had his way with one of the saloon girls-Molly, was her name-after which there was a full-blown shootout between the Marshal and his deputies-not Decker, he tried to maintain the peace-and the rest of the town." She unscrewed the cap from a bottle of beer and took a swig, then concealed it behind the bar. "You didn't see that. Anyway, the town didn't fair so well, and now there's a row of graves out by Serpent's Butte." She paused, locking her beautiful brown eyes up in his own. "They were good men, Williams. The best I've ever known. And now they're just as dead as that raptor." She snapped the bar towel in her hands and then wiped the counter. "And that's why we all talk and dress this way." She indicated his empty glass. "You want another?""Sure, " he said. She pulled one from the wall and unscrewed its cap, sat it down in front of him. At last she said, "So what about you? What's your story? And how did you come to be travelling with an armored dinosaur?"

Tales from the Flashback: "The Ank Williams Story" - Tales from the Flashback, #4

First came the time-storm, which erased half the population. Then came the Dinosaur Apocalypse . How did it all begin? Well, that depends on where you were and who you ask. In some places it started with the weather-which quickly became unstable and began behaving in impossible ways. In still others it started with the lights in the sky, which shifted and pulsed and could not be explained. Elsewhere it started with the disappearances: one here, a few there, but increasing in occurrence until fully three quarters of the population had vanished. Either way, there is one thing on which everyone agrees-it didn't take long for the prehistoric flora and fauna to start showing up (often appearing right where someone was standing, in which case the two were fused, spliced, amalgamated). It didn't take long for the great Time-displacement called the Flashback-which was brief but had aftershocks, like an earthquake-to change the face of the earth. Nor for the stories, some long and others short, some from before the maelstrom (and resulting societal collapse) and others after, to be recorded. Welcome to the Lost Country. From "The Devil's Triangle": There were six of them, as I said-all of whom rushed us the instant our feet touched the ground. All of whom snarled and charged us like wolverines as we raised our weapons and fired-the flare gun cracking and hissing, blanching the scarlet haze (for the sun had painted everything red and gold), its projectile punching through one of the raptors' chests and lighting it up so that its ribs were backlit briefly and I could see, if only for an instant, its burning, beating heart. Yet still they came, another one leaping at me even as I dropped the gun-which clattered against the planks-as I dropped it and grabbed the thing by its neck-then brought the knife down with my other hand and stabbed it between the eyes. "Run!" I shouted, even as Amanda shot another-her second-and then bolted toward the shore, drawing the others so that I was able to snatch up the flare gun and quickly reload it; so that I was able to pursue them and to shoot one in the back-while Amanda turned and took out the last of them (shooting it in the head so that the back of its skull exploded like a spaghetti dinner thrown against the wall; so that it collapsed, writhing, about 10 feet in front of her-whereupon she quickly approached it and shot it again, just to be sure). And then she looked at me (as the dead and dying animals lay all around us) and I looked back: our chests heaving; our faces covered in sweat, our worn clothes bloody and disheveled, and I knew that she knew-which was that today we were the predators, the thing needing to be feared-the killers. And that neither of us needed to worry; not about food or other predators or mysterious lights in the sky or anything. Because we were the masters of our fate, we and no one else, not even God. And we were the master of the world's fate, too. At which she ran to me and we collided and I held her fast, there on the long jetty in the Atlantic Ocean (in the Bermuda Triangle), there beneath a day moon and the blood-red sky, in an instant in which it was good, so very good, not to be afraid, not to be alone. And as to what may or may not have happened in those breaths, those pulse points between that moment and the next-the next day, the next search, the next milestone; as to that, I offer only a quote from Gandhi: "Speak only if it improves upon the silence."

The Lost Country, Episode Four: “The Devil’s Triangle” - The Lost Country, #4

Dark horse/'därk '?hôrs/noun1.     a candidate or competitor about whom little is known but who unexpectedly wins or succeeds."a dark-horse candidate" Join editor Robert Weller for a curated tour of nine writers who always give as good as they get. From hard science-fiction (James C. Glass' Singularity for Hire) to dark and brutal prehistoric apocalypses (Wayne Kyle Spitzer's A Survivor's Guide to the Dinosaur Apocalypse), from Lovecraftian horror (Bill Link's Torchlight Parade) to zombies and horror comedy (Andy Kumpon's Seeds of the Dead); from farcical romps near foggy moors (Ron Ford's Dr. Jekyll in Love) to lyric and whimsical interludes (M. Kari Barr's A Father's Legacy). Indeed, even from absurd capers (Kevin M. Penelerick's Brother Bob) to tales of unlikely compassion (Erik Schubach's Scythe), you'll be sure to find it here. So grab a seat before the starting gun fires, poor yourself a glass of strange wine, and get ready for the running of the dark horses .

Dark Horses: Nine Writers of the Fantastical You've Probably Never Read ... but Should

"Take the fatal shot, " said Horseshoe. He must have laid down his rifle because I remember him helping to steady my own. "Easy now, you'll own this forever-" I stared the thing in the eye and squeezed the trigger. It threw back its head, rising up. It gasped for breath, spitting more blood. It barked at the sky. Then it fell, head thumping against the deck. Its serpentine neck slumped. The rest of its blood spread over the boards and rolled around our boots and flowed between the planks. I was the first to step forward, looking down at the thing through drifting smoke. Its remaining eye seemed to look right back. I got down on my knees to look closer. The thing exhaled, causing the breathing holes at the top of its head, behind its eyes, to bubble. I waited for it to inhale, staring into its eye-I could see myself there as well as the others, could see the sky and the scattered clouds. The whole world seemed contained in that moist little ball. Then the eye rolled around white-it shrunk, drying, and the thing's neck constricted. And it died. Horseshoe slapped my back, massaged my neck. "How's it feel, little buddy?"But I didn't know what I felt. I could only stare at the eye, now empty.

Hunter and Hunted: Horror Stories of Predators and Prey

Erik peered out the window at the corpse, noticing how the falling snow was beginning to cover it, as it had his forgotten toys, and noticing, too, that the monsters, the velociraptors, which bore nothing in common with the plush toys he had in his bedroom, were nowhere to be seen. Nor were the lights of his father's car-or anything, for that matter; there was just the corpse (one hand of which seemed to reach for the sky like a twisted, dead tree branch) and the snow, which had whited out everything, rendered the world void.". this speaks for the most troubling aspect of what scientists are calling 'the Flashback': the sudden disappearance of people all over the world, including entire families ."He looked at the sky, at the ceiling of snow clouds, amidst which the lights mentioned on the TV pulsed and glowed, bleeding in and out of each other, shifting colors, none of which he recognized, and knew in that instant-the instant before the raptor came crashing through the glass with its splayed feet first-that nothing would ever be the same; that he would never see his father and sister again and would never return to school and would never, ever be a boy, not even for an instant. And then the raptor did come, and he was knocked backward against the floor with a violence he could not have imagined, and after a moment there was a flurry of gunshots which blew the back of the animal's head apart so that its full weight fell upon him and he was spattered with blood and brains. And the last thing he saw before blacking out completely was the monster's dying eye, which stared into his own, an eye which contained in it the same colors as the lights in the sky-until they, too, faded and became as the dead.

Tales from the Flashback: "And Let Loose the Beasts of Prey" - Tales from the Flashback, #5

"Jesus, Corbin, your window!" shrieked Charlotte-too late-as one of the beasts' heads darted deep into the cab and began thrashing about violently. The Jeep careened against the shelves as Red lost control, first to the left, then to the right, causing groceries to cascade down the windshield and to roll off the hood, as Charlotte slid the pistol from her holster and opened fire on the velociraptor, which bucked and leapt, banging its head against the ceiling, before reversing itself back through the window and falling away. Corbin cranked up his window and looked at her over his shoulder as Red regained control, and said, albeit begrudgingly, "Thank you."But Charlotte was no longer looking at his face; instead she had focused on his shoulder-which had been laid open by the raptor's flashing teeth and now bled profusely over his policeman's uniform and down the side of his seat, causing Red to reach behind himself awkwardly and fish around for something even as he accelerated for the front doors of the supermarket."There's a First-Aid kit behind my seat, " he said, and Charlotte quickly joined in the search even as Red added, "It's right here, " and took his eyes off the wheel just long enough for Corbin to shout, "Red!"He'd scarcely had time to refocus on the wheel before he noticed a lithe figure awash in the headlights, a figure shorter than the average person and swathed in what appeared to be animal hides, holding a spear, who turned its head to face them and regarded them briefly as its-her-eyes flashed with terror and the Jeeps push bar collided with her body.

Flashback Dawn: "Naaygi" - Flashback Dawn: A Serialized Novel, #1

Scenes & Interludes ... from an Improbable End. Atticus, meanwhile, had been counting down. "Three . two . one." He sighed and lowered the megaphone-then lifted it to his mouth again. "The problem with you, Jaime, is that you just-don't-listen. Now I just explained to you what was going to happen if I reached 'one' and you hadn't come out, and goddamned if you didn't come out. So. What's going to happen now is that we're going to kill one of these people for every 30 seconds you remain inside the vehicle-starting immediately." He directed the bullhorn at the upper floors of one of the buildings. "Hershel? You awake up there?" "Get ready, " I said. "I'm awake, " came a voice, though it was impossible to tell exactly where from. "Fine, " said Atticus. "Hershel, in 30 seconds, I want you to place your site on the head of . that little girl, right there." He gestured at a storefront on our right side-Simply Seattle. "Green coat, last one on the end, right next to the display window. Copy that there, Chief?" The man didn't hesitate. "Twenty-nine! 28! 27 ." I toggled the loudspeaker myself. "We're coming out, " I said, suddenly, and glanced at Sam. "We're trying to figure out how." There was a silence as Atticus seemed to think about this. At last he said, "Well, how complicated could it be? Just open the door. Hershel, keep counting ..." "Twenty-three, 22, 21 ." "It's not that simple, " I hurried to say, "It's, like, pressurized or something." To the others I said, "On my mark, okay? Get ready." "We're at 18 seconds and counting, James, " said Atticus. "Best clean your glasses and get with it." "Seventeen, 16, 15 ." "Okay! Okay. We're depressurizing. Right . now." And then Sam was toggling the smoke as I gripped the joystick tightly and Nigel took over the loudspeaker and Lazaro opened the side door, after which we cursed loudly and bent to our tasks, and, together, threw wide the gates of Hell. A new series in the Flashback/Dinosaur Apocalypse Universe ...

A Survivor's Guide to the Dinosaur Apocalypse, Episode Three: "Ride" - A Survivor's Guide to the Dinosaur Apocalypse, #3

First came the time-storm, which erased half the population. Then came the Dinosaur Apocalypse . How did it all begin? Well, that depends on where you were and who you ask. In some places it started with the weather-which quickly became unstable and began behaving in impossible ways. In still others it started with the lights in the sky, which shifted and pulsed and could not be explained. Elsewhere it started with the disappearances: one here, a few there, but increasing in occurrence until fully three quarters of the population had vanished. Either way, there is one thing on which everyone agrees-it didn't take long for the prehistoric flora and fauna to start showing up (often appearing right where someone was standing, in which case the two were fused, spliced, amalgamated). It didn't take long for the great Time-displacement called the Flashback-which was brief but had aftershocks, like an earthquake-to change the face of the earth. Nor for the stories, some long and others short, some from before the maelstrom (and resulting societal collapse) and others after, to be recorded. Welcome to the Lost Country. From "The Primeval World": I stood abruptly and raised the back of my hand-but was restrained by Linda, who had inserted herself between us. "That's enough! Please-Chris. Enough. She's not going to tell us." She backed me away from the girl. "But I have an idea . if you want to hear it." I yanked away from her and began pacing, furious at the stranger but really angry with myself-for losing my cool in front of my crush, whom I'd liked since the moment we'd met (at the Coke machine in the Community Room, about a month before the Flashback). And for sending them-Penny and Fred-to the food mart in the first place, ostensibly to save time but really just so I could be with Linda. "I-I'm sorry. Jesus. It's just that-" She came to me and put a finger to my lips. "Shhh. Forget it. All right?" I tried to look away but she forced me to look at her. "All right? Listen. We know which direction they went. So . why don't we just-take Valerie here-and go looking for them?" She turned to face the young woman. "She'll point us in the right direction-won't you, Little Miss Sunshine?" She glared at her menacingly. "If she ever wants to see home again." And she was right, of course; I knew it and the girl knew it. And so I reconfigured her bonds so she could travel and we doused ourselves in rex urine- including Valerie (for who knew how far we'd have to go or how long we'd be exposed to potential predators), and we headed out; walking up South Union Avenue toward the capitol even as Compies watched from the undergrowth and I thought I saw a face: simian yet strangely human, animal, and yet somehow not-peeking at us briefly from between two fronds. Staring at us, passively, almost meditatively, like a great ape behind glass; or a manatee through green, hazy water.

The Lost Country, Episode Three: “The Primeval World” - The Lost Country, #3

First came the time-storm, which erased half the population. Then came the Dinosaur Apocalypse .How did it all begin? That depends on where you were and who you ask. In some places it started with the weather-which quickly became unstable and began behaving in impossible ways. In still others it started with the lights in the sky, which shifted and pulsed and could not be explained. Elsewhere it started with the disappearances: one here, a few there, but increasing in occurrence until fully three quarters of the population had vanished. Either way, there is one thing on which everyone agrees-it didn't take long for the prehistoric flora and fauna to start showing up (often appearing right where someone was standing, in which case the two were fused, spliced, amalgamated). It didn't take long for the great Time-displacement called the Flashback-which was brief but had aftershocks, like an earthquake-to change the face of the earth. Nor for the stories, some long and others short, some from before the maelstrom (and resulting societal collapse) and others after, to be recorded. These are the stories of a group of experienced survivors and their incredible machine, Gargantua: How they came to possess it, and what they did with it after. This is the recounting of a heist in Seattle in which they barely escaped with their lives ... and a journey to Lost Angeles to find their forever home--which just happened to be occupied when they got there. These are their Travels With Gargantua ...

Travels With Gargantua: A Post-Apocalyptic Road Trip

First came the time-storm, which erased half the population. Then came the Dinosaur Apocalypse . How did it all begin? Well, that depends on where you were and who you ask. In some places it started with the weather-which quickly became unstable and began behaving in impossible ways. In still others it started with the lights in the sky, which shifted and pulsed and could not be explained. Elsewhere it started with the disappearances: one here, a few there, but increasing in occurrence until fully three quarters of the population had vanished. Either way, there is one thing on which everyone agrees-it didn't take long for the prehistoric flora and fauna to start showing up (often appearing right where someone was standing, in which case the two were fused, spliced, amalgamated). It didn't take long for the great Time-displacement called the Flashback-which was brief but had aftershocks, like an earthquake-to change the face of the earth. Nor for the stories, some long and others short, some from before the maelstrom (and resulting societal collapse) and others after, to be recorded. Welcome to the Lost Country. From "Mesozoic Knights": I unsheathed Blood Zephyr and gave her a heft-relishing the touch and feel of her (even if it was steel on steel); appreciating her weight and balance. "No, Black Duncan. It is not possible. The Quest must not be surrendered-not for you or for anyone. You know that." "And again, I ask: Why? Why, when everything a man could possibly want exists right here, now, and in such great plentitude? Bah. This shard and purity nonsense . it's just that-nonsense. Why pursue it?" I watched as Mortigen drew his own blade and paused to admire it, as I had done. "What would you prefer?" I snapped. "To live as prisoners? To wither away in this very cell but for the chance at some sexual gratification?" Black Duncan guffawed. "They're not going to keep us here. Eve told me herself. It's only until they get to know us. Regardless, I think I should tell you, that, that ." He lifted his chin and squared his shoulders, as though having made up his mind at last. "That I'm staying. That, indeed, I did lay with my progen-my progen-" "Your progenitrix, " I said, curtly. "His hooker, he means, " quipped Mortigen. Black Duncan shot him a glance-one I wouldn't want directed at me. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. No; she was skilled in the art of love, it's true-but she was no prostitute. None of them are. What happened between us was genuine. It was real." He looked at me almost pleadingly. "Don't you see, Galaren, it was real. It wasn't like Ambergard-or Craxis-or the way we talk-or any of this other faux bullshit we've immersed ourselves in. No. This was nature, this was truth-real nature, not some phantasmagoria dreamed up by-by Them, " He nodded toward the ceiling and the sky. "Like the bees we saw coming in. They are trying to build something here, Galaren; something based on reality, not fantasy. Something authentic. And I'm not simply going to walk away from that. I mean, surely you can understand-" "What I understand is that we're getting out of here, " I said. "And that the test of virtue will be met. And what I suggest just now is that you-" "Your test of virtue, Galaren. Your test. I'm not leaving. I'll help you escape, but I'm not going to-" "Shh, " said Mortigen. "Someone's coming."

The Lost Country, Episode Five: "Mesozoic Knights" - The Lost Country, #5

Jonesing for a drive-in theater and a hotrod El Camino?It's the dawn of the 1970s and everything is changing. The war in Vietnam is winding down. So is the Apollo Space Program. The tiny northwestern city of Spokane is about to host a World's Fair. But the Watergate Hearings and the re-entry of Skylab and the eruption of Mount Saint Helens are coming.as are killer bees and Ronald Reagan. Enter 'The Kid, ' a panic-prone, hyper-imaginative boy whose life changes drastically when his father brings home an astronaut-white El Camino. As the car's deep-seated rumbling becomes a catalyst for the Kid's curiosity, his ailing, over-protective mother finds herself fending off questions she doesn't want to answer. But her attempt to redirect him on his birthday only arms him with the tool he needs to penetrate deeper-a pair of novelty X-Ray Specs-and as the Camino muscles them through a decade of economic and cultural turmoil, the Kid comes to believe he can see through metal, clothing, skin-to the center of the universe itself, where he imagines something monstrous growing, spreading, reaching across time and space to threaten his very world. Using the iconography of 20th century trash Americana-drive-in monster movies, cancelled TV shows, vintage comic books-Spitzer has written an unconventional memoir which recalls J. M. Coetzee's Boyhood and Youth. More than a literal character, 'The Kid' is both the child and the adult. By eschewing the technique of traditional autobiography, Spitzer creates a spherical narrative in which the past lives on in an eternal present while retrospection penetrates the edges. X-Ray Rider is not so much a memoir as it is a retro prequel to a postmodern life-a cinematized "reboot" of what Stephen King calls the "fogged out landscape" of youth. Want to go for a ride?

X-Ray Rider 3: Mileposts on the road to Childhood's end - The X-Ray Rider Trilogy, #3

He shook his head, dismissing the issue.   "I've no company, preferring instead the art of soliloquy and monologue. Joyung there is my only companion. We travel from town to town, up and down the banks of the River Dire, he making his music and I pacing the planks of whatever makeshift stage the sale of my baubles allows me to commission. When the performance is done, I send Joyung into the crowd with my hat, which, as you can see, has ample space for coins."His dark eyes dropped to where my hand rested on Rosethorn's pommel. Only the flowery hilt was exposed, the rest of the weapon remained hidden within the folds of my cloak. His eyes flashed and then he shrugged as if in disinterest."Ah, but how rude it is to talk only of one's self when in the company of a stranger as fascinating as you, boatman. You must tell me what it is that brings you to our Tinsel Forest, and without even your scythe to defend yourself.""You know me to be a ferryman, " I said, pushing the circlet up and over my forehead. "How?""Why, by taking one look at you, that's how! You've no mask, that much is true, nor have you a scythe, as I've said . you've the cloak, all right, but that can be purchased at even the lowliest of costume shops; I've one just like it in my wagon here, in fact. No, this is something in the face itself. It's an aura." He paused, appraising me coldly. "You've the heart of a ferryman."After a moment I replied, "I knew a woman once who said the very opposite.""A woman, eh? She must have feared you very much."

Livres