There’s something magical about venturing out into the chill, something deeply comforting about returning to the warmth afterwards. And, of course, something vaguely sinister about the long darkness...

These stories capture all of those aspects of winter. Some are dark, with the kind of cold teeth that’ll gnaw off your flesh and turn your bones into crackling, disintegrating lumps of ice. Some are warmer, like sitting by a fireside and draining a cup of something hot and sweet while sleet pounds at the windows from outside.

Enjoy your adventures into winter’s depths. We’ll make sure you come home safe!

Includes stories by: L.T. Adams, Cormack Baldwin, B.K. Bass, Jacob W. Brannan, Alice Dryden, Elizabeth Guilt, Tessa Hastjarjanto, Debbie Iancu-Haddad, Mara Lynn Johnstone, Jack Kaide, Christine Makepeace, Steven M. Nedeau, Stephanie Parent, Kelly Piner, Miguel Alfonso Ramos, Dominic Rascati, Joette M. Rozanski, C.D. Storiz, and Nickolas Urpí.

When his world is suddenly torn apart, one man must learn to survive in What Once Was Home.

Jace Cox’s life is changed when an overwhelming alien force invades the Earth with no warning or provocation. In the years that follow, he must not only fight to survive, but also learn what it means to be a man and a leader. As the situation grows more dire and the weight of loss bears down on Jace, he realizes his greatest challenge isn’t the alien invaders or even his fellow man.

It is holding onto his own humanity despite living in a world gone mad.

The western landscape holds awesome and spectacular secrets. Between prairies and mountains, deserts and canyons, strange things happen. These are five tales of the fantastic, from the old west to the dystopian future, that share a glimpse of what might be if land told all.

Featuring:
The Hattersfield Dilemma by B.K. Bass
When Samuel Shepherd and his crew hole up in the town of Hattersfield for the night, they don't expect to find a town plagued with a mystery. And when they start picking that mystery apart, they find more lurking in the darkness than monsters.

Creeper's Wreath by D.W. Hitz
When Malcolm escaped, he was running for his life. When he returns as a necromancer, it's to rescue his love and settle an old debt.

Sheriff of the Dead by Jodi Jensen
A desert town full of zombies, a Marshall bent on their destruction, and the Sheriff of the Dead, determined to fight for their right to exist. Only a few will find sanctuary in Demise.

Freedom's Bounty by Crystal L. Kirkham
Monster Bountyhunter, Ella Fitzgerald has tracked her latest target to a booming mining town in the wilds of the British Columbia mountains. When the trail goes cold, an odd stranger offers to help, and what they discover is more than either of them expected.

Red by Eric Lahti
Between the poison dust and the killer angels, Earth's days look numbered. There's just one person who might have a solution. They call her a witch, but in these dark days any chance for salvation is worth the risk.

After escaping a life of slavery, Brego crosses the wastelands fleeing slavers and bounty hunters. Allying with an assortment of misfits, he must fight his way across the badlands to reach his people’s home in the Great Sand Sea. As he seeks to shed the iron bonds of his youth, he searches for something he has never known: a home.

In the process, he discovers something he never expected to find: a family.

New Angeles is in turmoil.

The government, the corporations, and the organized crime families have the city in an iron grip. As that grip tightens, the people decide they will not take it anymore. When the citizens rise up and the city burns, Harold sees an opportunity to exploit the chaos.

But is his crusade one of justice, or vengeance?

Peru: 1939

American treasure hunter Richard Jericho and British anthropologist Wilkins Chapman have uncovered antiquities from around the world. But in a long-lost jungle ruin, they discover something more than they expected. As war brews in Europe and the fabric of reality comes apart, they journey across the globe chasing clues. Answers leads to more questions as they piece together a puzzle older than primal memory itself.

And the more they part the veil, the more of what lies beyond the veil spills into our reality.