The Fright Stuff

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Don’t let the descriptions of these three novellas fool you; even the most heartwarming story can take a grisly turn. That’s certainly the case in Bridget D. Brave’s “A Piasa for Christmas.” Told in blog posts, it follows a woman pursuing a romance with an inter-dimensional deity. In P.L. McMillan’s “eyeofmoth.exe,” a space station’s crew is driven to madness by an ancient Earthling. And in “Once Upon a Time in Turu” by Ryan Marie Ketterer, a jackalope’s murder sends a detective racing through a wide cast of cryptid characters, any one of whom could be the killer.

Pound for pound, pistol shrimp are some of the strongest creatures on Earth. Their punches can generate temperatures up to 8,000 degrees Fahrenheit and disguise submarines’ sonar signals. Thank goodness they’re only two inches long. Or were. Until now…

Speaking of hungry, let’s talk about the Donner Party, shall we? Alma Katsu’s The Hunger examines what might have transpired in the Sierra Nevada all those years ago. As the wagon train’s food supplies dwindle in the snowy pass, neighbors begin to turn on each other. But none of them is prepared for the entrance of a legendary monster that makes men crave manflesh.