Critiques en avant-premièreJames Chambers

There are creatures lurking in our world. Obscure creatures long relegated to myth and legend. They have been sighted by a lucky—or unlucky—few, some have even been photographed, but their existence remains unproven and unrecognized by the scientific community.

These creatures, long thought gone, have somehow survived; creatures from our nightmares haunting the dark places. They swim in our lakes and bays, they soar the night skies, they hunt in the woods. Some are from our past, and some from other worlds, and others have always been with us—watching us, fearing us, hunting us.

These are the cryptids, and Systema Paradoxa tells their tales.

***

Ben Keep and Annetta Maikels have lived a quiet life since their first encounter with the unexplained, but when a copy of Natura Occulta falls into their hands—detailing strange phenomena that purportedly happened in their own backyard—they can't resist investigating further.

But perhaps they should have...

Not only does the secret they pursue come with a body count, but some involved want to add Ben and Annetta to that number.

Caught between two inexplicable forces, their only hope to reclaim their lives is to solve the mystery.

Innovation Goes Rolling Along, But Who Keeps the Engines Running?

In the midst of war and a changing world, you seldom hear tales of the dedicated souls that keep ingenuity and progress moving. The mechanics who not only hear the music of the machine but can tear them down and put them together again better than before. Those who love to get their hands dirty figuring out how things work, those without whom progress would grind to a halt. That changes now.

We give you Grease Monkeys: The Heart and Soul of Dieselpunk

With Stories By:

David Lee Summers, Aaron Rosenberg, John L. French, Heather E. Hutsell, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Ken Schrader, Misty Massey, James Chambers, Derek Tyler Attico, Maria V. Snyder, and Bernie Mojzes.

Once Upon a Time…

…tales of wisdom and warning were passed from one generation to the next. Tales of humble makers and ruthless nobles, of helpful fae and evil tricksters. Tales of making and unmaking, caution and magic... classics that still echo in our hearts and memories even to this day, told from old, cherished books or from memory at Grandma's knee.

Oh yes, tales have been told... but never quite like these. Journey with us through the pages of Grimm Machinations to rediscover timeless truths through lenses polished in the age of steam.

With tales by James Chambers, Jeff Young, David Lee Summers, Christine Norris, Bernie Mojzes, Gordon Linzner, Cynthia Radthorne, Patrick Thomas, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, and Michelle D. Sonnier.

Life and Death and All Points In Between.

Crows have seen it all, and though they haven’t always lived to tell the tale, still they play their part. We present ten tales inspired by the master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe, paying tribute to his undying fascination with mankind’s decaying state, both mental and physical.

In conjunction with the Tell-Tale Steampunk Festival, we bring you stories by:

Aaron Rosenberg * David Lee Summers * Judi Fleming * Dana Fraedrich * James Chambers * Jessica Lucci * Doc Coleman * Michelle D. Sonnier * Danielle Ackley-McPhail * Ef Deal

Introduction by Levi Leland and Virginia Poe of the Beyond the Oblong Box Podcast

A chronicle of survival in a world of the living dead.

There is no Heaven or Hell; there is only blood and the dust of flesh.

The Corpse Fauna Chronicles...

A vast, malevolent darkness streams across the cosmos. A plague of the living dead sweeps over the Earth. Those left alive scramble for survival like insects feasting on a corpse. And from dead flesh stare a million unnatural eyes. Will the balance of the world tilt to life—or death? Only a handful of the living will decide. Manipulated by undead powers, they travel rough roads of deprivation and danger, finding themselves snared in a web spun by saints and sinners with control of the reanimated dead.

Cornell, one-time bank robber seeking only freedom.

Della, nurse escaping the prison of her past.

Burke, former military scientist clinging to the last of his sanity.

Vale, abandoned, finding her true strength in the world of the dead.

These four and a handful of others must discover the truth behind what brings the dead back to life and what they desire from the living.

Forget the meek. Will the living or the dead inherit the Earth?

Find out in The Corpse Fauna Chronicles. Collected here for the first time in one volume is the complete Corpse Fauna cycle of novellas, short stories, and illustrations, a saga of horror and survival more than twenty-five years in the making.

A chronicle of survival in a world of the living dead.

There is no Heaven or Hell; there is only blood and the dust of flesh.

The Dead Bear Witness

Sentenced to life after a bank robbery gone bad, Cornell thought his worst nightmare had come true—and that he deserved it. After a stint in solitary, though, he learned his nightmare had only started: While Cornell rotted in isolation, all around the world the dead had returned to life.

Inside the prison walls, Cornell should’ve been well protected.

He didn’t reckon on the stone-cold killer who demanded his help breaking out, nor the fanatic warden who forced him to help “save the souls” of other prisoners. He didn’t count on being snared in a web of lies, violence, and betrayal. He didn’t expect his survival to depend on fighting his way back to freedom before the eyes of the watchful dead. Now as nooses sway over the prison yard, Cornell can almost feel one tightening around his neck, and freedom seems so far away….

The Stars Will Sing Our Songs Long After We Are Gone…

…but who will remain to listen? Who will hear the stories they tell of the wisdom of species dying to protect worlds against a cosmic threat, to witness the crisis of warriors faced with unconscionable acts and soldiers determined to cling to hope amidst violence and despair?

Open your ears to these tales of heroes both fantastic and ordinary, who travel among the planets or dwell deep in the canyons of city streets. Hear the voices of the stars as they speak of lost loves, long-slumbering guardians, brutal conflicts, wars beyond time, and the powerful ties that hold people together in the face of violence. Though humanity may one day vanish, the stars forget nothing. We can only hope they will be kind when they tell our stories.

"In death - no! even in the grave all is not lost." -Edgar Allan Poe

Wandering souls! Restless spirits! The vengeful dead! Those who die with unfinished business haunt the living and make their presence known from the world beyond:

• A scientist's invention opens a window onto a terrible afterlife.
• A New York City apartment holds the secrets of the dead.
• A grandmother sends text messages from the grave.
• A samurai returns to his devastated home for a final showdown with his past.
• A forgotten TV game show haunts a man with a dark secret.
• A tapping from behind classroom walls leads to a horrible discovery.
• The specter of a prehistoric beast returns to a modern-day ranch.
• And the one seeing eye knows all-including what you did.

Haunted from the other side, these stories roam from modern cities to the shadowed moors to feudal Japan to the jungles of Central America, each providing a spine-chilling glimpse into the shadows not even death can restrain.

Do you dare open these pages and peer into the darkness they reveal?

Stories by Marc Abbott, Meghan Arcuri, Oliver Baer, Alp Beck, Allan Burd, John P. Collins, Randee Dawn, Trevor Firetog, Caroline Flarity, Patrick Freivald, Teel James Glenn, Amy Grech, April Grey, Jonathan Lees, Gordon Linzner, Robert Masterson, Robert Ottone, Rick Poldark, Lou Rera, and Steven Van Patten.

The Stars Will Sing Our Songs Long After We Are Gone…

…but who will remain to listen? Who will hear their sagas of conflict and discovery, their hymns of honor in the face of political intrigue, their ballads of tough calls made against the opposition of friends and enemies alike? 

Open your ears to these unyielding revelations which sing of humanity’s place in the cosmos among distant worlds, of beings that exist outside our reality, and of shocking futures. Listen to their tales. Sometimes there are no good choices only hard calls. Though humanity may one day vanish, the stars forget nothing. We can only hope Vox Astra will be kind when they tell of us.