From vampires in the Appalachians and leprechauns in the Smokies to mermaids in the Mississippi and bloodthirsty trolls in an Alabama trailer park the South makes a unique setting for the 20 stories in this anthology of redneck vampires, werewolves, wizards, elves, and other creatures.Featuring original stories by Gene Wolfe, Timothy Zahn, Chris Pierson, Mickey Zucker Reichert, Steven Savile, Elizabeth A. Vaughan, Jay Lake, Anton Strout, and many more.

Bridget O’Shea is a mother, a successful business woman, an expert on antiques…and a thief, a damn good one. But when she steals an ancient relic from a Manhattan apartment, she acquires a curse in the form of a Sumerian demon. The demon wants something from Bridget, killing people she cares about to force her cooperation, and it will continue to kill unless she meets its demands. Next in the demon’s sights? Bridget’s teenage son. Bridget must learn to communicate with the demon, divine what it wants, and satisfy it to keep her son alive. But she soon discovers that mollifying a creature from the pits of hell could damn her soul and send the world into chaos. Bridget never wanted to be a hero. That’s for suckers. But now, she has no choice. She has to find a way to best the beast and keep its kin from reemerging, or . . . well, there really isn’t an “or.” She has to win.**

How far can a hero fall? Far enough to lose his soul? Dhamon Grimwulf, once a Hero of the Heart, has sunk into a bitter life of crime and squalor. Now, as the great dragon overlords of the Fifth Age coldly plot to strengthen their rule and to destroy their enemies, he must somehow find the will to redeem himself. But perhaps it is too late.

Jean Rabe's long-anticipated return to Krynn continues! Escaping from the slave pens of a Dark Knight mining camp was no easy feat, but what awaits Direfang, a former hobgoblin slave who has become the reluctant general of a growing goblin army is every bit as perilous. From the cruel ogre mountains to the shores of Newsea, Direfang, Mudwort the shaman, and the Dark Knight wizard Grallik fight the natural and unnatural forces that seek to destroy them. Direfang is tested to his limits by once-friends and powerful foes as he undertakes a death march to the Qualinesti Forest. His eyes on independence, Direfang refuses to surrender, and pledges his life for a chance to be free, even as he learns that freedom is a deadly prize.From the Paperback edition.

Dhamon Grimwulf, cursed to live as a shadow dragon, yearns for his lost humanity. His quest for its recovery takes him from the depths of the dragon overlord Sable's swamp to the shores of ruined, flooded Qualinost. Along the way, he is reunited with Feril, a Kagonesti druid he once loved fiercely. The search becomes perilous for all involved, and the goal, if attainable, hinges on what lies at the very bottom of the massive, mysterious Lake of Death.

What if everything you knew about your life was wrong? What if your memories were fabrications? What if familiar faces were merely shades conjured up in a foggy dream? Carl Johnson must wrestle with his concept of self on a journey to discover his past and save his sanity … and maybe save Earth in the process.**

Jean Rabe returns to the world of Dragonlance with a tale of slavery, rebellion, and the struggle for freedom! When a series of earthquakes strike a Dark Knight mining camp, goblin and hobgoblin slaves take advantage of the bedlam and revolt. A fast and deadly rebellion erupts, pitting the Dark Knights against their slaves... and against the still-rumbling ground. Casualties on both sides climb as a leader emerges among the slave force --Direfang, a hobgoblin foreman with deep scars and a long, brutal history of servitude. He must rally the surviving goblins and hobgoblins and lead them out of Neraka, turning his rag-tag force into an army that will not allow itself to be enslaved again.From the Paperback edition.

The climactic conclusion to the Stonetellers saga! Goblin Nation concludes The Stonetellers trilogy, finding Direfang and his army of goblins and hobgoblins deep in the Qualinesti Forest. Although they are far from the Dark Knights' mining camp they escaped from, they are also far from safe. The forest is fraught with its own deadly dangers--with the entire world seemingly bent on keeping the goblins from founding their new homeland. But Direfang is resolute and will risk all their lives in a final bid for freedom.From the Paperback edition.

A SAVAGE KILLER STALKS THESTREETS...Someone-or something-is killing nightclub entertainers in Kings Cross, Australia. Striking from the shadows, methodical, heinous, the murderer has wrapped the bawdy, colorful community in a suffocating blanket of terror.Ninniniru "Ninn" Tossinn, a troubled private investigator, joins forces with Baraka, an elderly Aborigine shaman, to uncover the truth behind the malevolent force-and put themselves on the Cross Slayer's list. But can they defeat the darkness, survive Sydney's powerful mana storm, and reach the true heart of the evil threatening the city Their search takes them from gritty alleys filled with gang symbols and worse to beneath the squatter-filled harbor bridge over shark-infested waters.But as their investigation deepens, soon the Cross Slayer isn't the only foe stalking them. Ninn and Baraka have to put all their trust in each other if they're going to...