Gary A. Braunbeck

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About Gary A. Braunbeck

Gary A. Braunbeck is a prolific author who writes mysteries, thrillers, science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mainstream literature. He is the author of 24 books -- evenly divided between novels and short-story collections; his fiction has been translated into Japanese, French, Italian, Russian, German, Czech, and Polish. Nearly 200 of his short stories have appeared in various publications.

He was born in Newark, Ohio; the city that serves as the model for the fictitious Cedar Hill in many of his novels and stories. The Cedar Hill stories are collected in Graveyard People, Home Before Dark, and the forthcoming The Carnival Within, all published by Earthling Books.

His fiction has received several awards, including 7 Bram Stoker Awards: the first for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction in 2003 for "Duty"; the second -- also for Superior Achievement in Short Story -- in 2005 for "We Now Pause for Station Identification"; his collection Destinations Unknown won the Stoker for Superior Achievement in Fiction Collection in 2006; and 2007 saw Gary winning 2 Stoker Awards; the first for co-editing the anthology 5 Strokes to Midnight, and the second for his novella "Afterward, There Will Be a Hallway." (5 Stokes to Midnight was also nominated for The World Fantasy Award that same year.) In 2011 his non-fiction book, To Each Their Darkness, received the Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction; and at the recent 2013 Stokers, his novella "The Great Pity" took home the Long Fiction Stoker. His novella "Kiss of the Mudman" received the International Horror Guild Award for Long Fiction in 2005.

As an editor, Gary completed the latest installment of the Masques anthology series created by Jerry Williamson, Masques V, after Jerry became too ill to continue.

He also served a term as president of the Horror Writers Association. He is married to Lucy Snyder, a science fiction/fantasy writer, and they reside together in Columbus, Ohio.

Gary is an adjunct professor at Seton Hill University, Pennsylvania, where he teaches in an innovative MFA program in Writing Popular Fiction.

His nonfiction book To Each Their Darkness has been used as a text by several college writing classes. Gary has taught writing seminars and workshops around the country (including a week-long stint as the Writer in Residence at the 2011 Odyssey Writers Workshop) on topics such as short story writing, characterization, and dialogue.

His work is often praised for its depth of emotion and characterization, as well as for its refusal to adhere to any genre tropes; some joke that the term "cross-genre fiction" may have been invented to describe his work -- a rumor he does everything in his power to propagate.

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Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer Nov 1, 2010

by Robert Swartwood, Natalie McNabb

( 72 )

$9.99

A story collection that proves less is more.

The stories in this collection run the gamut from playful to tragic, conservative to experimental, but they all have one thing in common: they are no more than 25 words long. Robert Swartwood was inspired by Ernest Hemingway's possibly apocryphal six-word story—"For Sale: baby shoes, never worn"—to foster the writing of these incredibly short-short stories. He termed them "hint fiction" because the few chosen words suggest a larger, more complex chain of events. Spare and evocative, these stories prove that a brilliantly honed narrative can be as startling and powerful as a story of traditional length. The 125 gemlike stories in this collection come from such best-selling and award-winning authors as Joyce Carol Oates, Ha Jin, Peter Straub, and James Frey, as well as emerging writers.

Other Formats: Paperback

Hellbound Hearts Sep 27, 2009

by Paul Kane, Marie O'Regan, Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean, Mike Mignola, Kelley Armstrong, Barbie Wilde

( 105 )

$15.99

Clive Barker's iconic masterpiece The Hellbound Heart, the novella adapted into the film Hellraiser, unleashed a new mythology of horror, brilliantly conceived and born of the darkest imagination. Now, enter this visionary world -- the merciless realm of the demonic Cenobites -- in this collection of stories inspired by The Hellbound Heart. Featured here is the graphic work "Wordsworth," from bestselling author Neil Gaiman and artist Dave McKean, who unlock an explicit way to violate innocence -- one torturous puzzle at a time.... New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong logs on to a disturbing website for gamers, where the challenge is agonizing, and the solution beyond painful. When his father disappears, an Oxford student returns to his family's mansion, where a strange mechanism in the cellar holds a curious power, in a haunting illustrated work by Christopher Golden and Mike Mignola.

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Limbus, Inc. Apr 26, 2013

by Jonathan Maberry, Brett J. Talley, Joseph Nassise, Benjamin Kane Ethridge, Anne C. Petty

( 142 )

$9.95

Are you laid off, downsized, undersized?
Call us. We employ. 1-800-555-0606
How lucky do you feel?

So reads the business card from LIMBUS, INC., a shadowy employment agency that operates at the edge of the normal world. LIMBUS's employees are just as suspicious and ephemeral as the motives of the company, if indeed it could be called a company in the ordinary sense of the word.

In this shared-world anthology, five heavy hitters from the dark worlds of horror, fantasy, and scifi pool their warped takes on the shadow organization that offers employment of the most unusual kind to those on the fringes of society.

One thing’s for sure – you’ll never think the same way again about the fine print on your next employment application!

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Hardcover , Paperback

Limbus, Inc. - Book II Oct 24, 2014

by Jonathan Maberry, Joe R. Lansdale, Gary A. Braunbeck, Joe McKinney, Harry Shannon, Brett J. Talley

( 58 )

$9.95

“The world is a stage, life is a play, and we are the puppets. It’s better not to ask who pulls the strings.”

How lucky do you feel?

That question echoed through the world’s underground, scrawled on bathroom walls, spray-painted across subway tunnel exits, written on paper that fluttered through bleak side-streets in the winter wind, printed on cheap business cards tacked to corkboard displays in darkened hallways. But always beneath one name—Limbus.

Matthew Sellers revealed the truth of Limbus, Inc. to the world, and in his tales of time travelers, intergalactic beings, and human sacrifice, he thought he had told it all. But the story of the shadowy employment agency that operates on the edge of the abyss, always finding the perfect person for the perfect job—no matter what the cost—had only begun.

This shared-world anthology continues the story of Limbus, Inc., as told by five masters of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. But beware, for once you learn the truth of Limbus, Inc., your world will never be the same. So it's time to ask yourself . . .

How lucky do you feel?

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Hardcover , Paperback

Dark Faith May 1, 2010

by Jay Lake, Catherynne M. Valente, Brian Keene, Ekaterina Sedia, Gary A. Braunbeck, Tom Piccirilli, Mary Robinette Kowal, Nick Mamatas, Maurice Broaddus, Jerry Gordon

( 15 )

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2010 Stoker Award Nominee for Superior Achievement in an Anthology
2010 Black Quill Award Nominee
"Ghosts of New York" Nebula Award Nominee
"The Days of Flaming Motorcycles" WSFA Nominee

The destructiveness of passion, both earthly and supernatural, makes cities bleed and souls burn across worlds, through endless time. Experience the spiritual side of the zombie apocalypse in "The Days of Flaming Motorcycles" and transcend both hell and nirvana in "Zen and the Art of Gordon Dratch's Damnation." Look into "The Mad Eyes of the Heron King" to find the beautiful brutality written in the moment of epiphany or "Go and Tell it On the Mountain," where Jesus Christ awaits your last plea to enter heaven if there is a heaven to enter when all is said and done.

Horror's top authors and promising newcomers whisper tales that creep through the mists at night to rattle your soul. Step beyond salvation and damnation with thirty stories and poems that reveal the darkness beneath belief. Place your faith in that darkness; it's always there, just beyond the light.

Table of Contents
Introduction by Maurice Broaddus
"The Story of Belief-Non" by Linda D. Addison (poem)
"Ghosts of New York" by Jennifer Pelland
"I Sing a New Psalm" by Brian Keene
"He Who Would Not Bow" by Wrath James White
"Zen and the Art of Gordon Dratch’s Damnation" by Douglas F. Warrick
"Go and Tell It on the Mountain" by Kyle S. Johnson
"Different from Other Nights" by Eliyanna Kaiser
"Lilith" by Rain Graves (poem)
"The Last Words of Dutch Schultz Jesus Christ" by Nick Mamatas
"To the Jerusalem Crater" by Lavie Tidhar
"Chimeras & Grotesqueries" by Matt Cardin
"You Dream" by Ekaterina Sedia
"Mother Urban's Booke of Dayes" by Jay Lake
"The Mad Eyes of the Heron King" by Richard Dansky
"Paint Box, Puzzle Box" by D.T. Friedman
"A Loss For Words" by J. C. Hay
"Scrawl" by Tom Piccirilli
"C{her}ry Carvings" by Jennifer Baumgartner (poem)
"Good Enough" by Kelli Dunlap
"First Communions" by Geoffrey Girard
"The God of Last Moments" by Alethea Kontis
"Ring Road" by Mary Robinette Kowal
"The Unremembered" by Chesya Burke
"Desperata" by Lon Prater (poem)
"The Choir" by Lucien Soulban
"The Days of Flaming Motorcycles" by Catherynne M. Valente
"Miz Ruthie Pays Her Respects" by Lucy A. Snyder
"Paranoia" by Kurt Dinan (poem)
"Hush" by Kelly Barnhill
"Sandboys" by Richard Wright
"For My Next Trick I'll Need a Volunteer" by Gary A. Braunbeck

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Horror Library, Volume 3 Jul 13, 2021

by R.J. Cavender

( 8 )

$4.15

The +Horror Library+ anthologies are internationally praised as a groundbreaking source of contemporary horror short fiction stories--relevant to the moment and stunning in impact--from leading authors of the macabre and darkly imaginative.

Filled with Fears and Fantasy. Death and Dark Dreams. Monsters and Mayhem. Literary Vision and Wonder. Each volume of the +Horror Library+ series is packed with heart-pounding thrills and creepy contemplations as to what truly lurks among the shadows of the world(s) we live in.

Containing 29 all-original stories, read Volume 3 in this ongoing anthology series, and then continue with the other volumes.

Shamble no longer through the banal humdrum of normalcy, but ENTER THE HORROR LIBRARY!

Included within Volume 3:

- In "Extra Innings," a baseball game with stakes greater than anticipated seems never to end.

- In "Fish Bait," two hikers stumble into a small town's strange bar, where they're lured into playing a game with gruesome consequences.

- In "The Station," a married couple discover an abandoned gas station where corpses tell the future.

- . . . and more!

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Prodigal Blues Nov 13, 2011

by Gary A. Braunbeck

( 27 )

$3.99

From award-winning author Gary A. Braunbeck comes Prodigal Blues, his first foray into non-supernatural horror.

After he finds himself stranded at a truck stop in Missouri, Mark Sieber gets one of the biggest shocks of his life when he recognizes the face of a little girl on a Missing poster as belonging to the same little girl he saw only a few minutes before. Looking around for some sign of her, he comes back to his table in the restaurant to find the little sitting there, waiting for him.

"I'm sorry, mister," is all she seems capable of saying.

As the police and media begin to converge on the truck stop, Mark retreats back to his hotel room to call his wife and let her know what's going on, only to be taken hostage by the same people who released the little girl. But his abductors are little more than children themselves.

Ranging in ages from 12 to 19, Mark's abductors are in the process of escaping from a sadistic pedophile known to them only as "Grendel" a man whose practices include torture and mutilation specifically, mutilation of the face.

Mark's abductors have all been mutilated by Grendel who may be very close behind them and need someone with a "normal face" to help them carry out their plan for justice and returning home.

For the next few days, Mark will come to understand not only the inhuman horror that these children have suffered, but how they eventually learned to fight back and how they discovered that Grendel and his practices are at the center of a very complex network catering to those who tastes run toward the molestation and mutilation of children.

Prodigal Blues is perhaps Braunbeck's most suspenseful and emotionally powerful work to date; a story of suffering, depravity, redemption, and in the end the individual's compassion for his or her fellow human beings that can lead some people to finding reserves of courage and determination they never thought they possessed.

Terrifying, suspenseful, sometimes surprisingly funny, and ultimately moving, Prodigal Blues is quintessential Braunbeck.

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Tales of Jack the Ripper Jul 18, 2013

by Laird Barron, Joe R. Lansdale, Ramsey Campbell, Walter Greatshell, Ed Kurtz, Mercedes M. Yardley, Stanley C. Sargent, Joseph S. Pulver Sr., E. Catherine Tobler, Ross E. Lockhart

( 38 )

$5.99

1888: A killer stalks the streets of London's Whitechapel district, brutally--some would say ritualistically--murdering women. With each slaying, the killer grows bolder, his crimes more extreme. So far, there have been five victims (that we know of): Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly.

The story of Jack the Ripper captured lurid headlines and the public's imagination, and the first fictionalization of the Ripper killings, John Francis Brewer's The Curse Upon Mitre Square appeared in October of 1888, mere weeks after the discovery of Jack's first victim. Since then, hundreds of stories have been written about Bloody Jack, his victims, and his legacy. Authors ranging from Marie Belloc Lowndes to Robert Bloch; from Harlan Ellison to Maureen Johnson; from Roger Zelazny to Alan Moore have added their own tales to the Ripper myth. Now, as we arrive at the quasquicentennial of the murders, we bring you a few tales more.

From the editor who brought you The Book of Cthulhu comes Tales of Jack the Ripper, featuring new fiction by many of today's darkest dreamers, including Laird Barron, Walter Greatshell, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Ed Kurtz, Joseph S. Pulver Sr., Stanley C. Sargent, E. Catherine Tobler, and many more.

Other Formats: Paperback

There Comes a Midnight Hour Mar 8, 2021

by Gary A. Braunbeck

( 13 )

$6.99

One of the most respected voices of contemporary dark fiction, Gary Braunbeck, returns with all the gravity of an imploding star to chronicle the inescapable grimness of our human condition with There Comes a Midnight Hour. The full moon portending mysterious occurrences and nocturnal creatures as it illuminates your surroundings has had a shroud pulled over it by the author’s deft hand. In this midnight hour, there is no light to guide you, no matter how dim, as each story pulls you inexorably deeper into a desolate world paved with terror and smothered by an atmosphere of doom. Those fragile things ground into dust underfoot by your progress here are not twigs or dead leaves but your illusions of safety. While others map beaten paths on the literary landscape Braunbeck explores a veritable Marianas Trench where the sun never rises and toxic currents drag you through the bones of primitive things half-remembered—order, complacency, hope—making for a searing journey you’ll never forget.

This collection brings together some of the author’s most hard-hitting stories published over his celebrated quarter-century career, those with such a resounding emotional core you are left contemplating them long afterward. There Comes a Midnight Hour illustrates not only how profound an impact genre fiction can have on a reader, but also why Braunbeck’s work has influenced the next generation of horror authors. Discerning lovers of all things dark who have become jaded and are counting down the seconds for a volume of stories to distinguish their shelves…look no further. Your time has run out.

Other Formats: Paperback

Fear the Reaper Oct 19, 2013

by Gary A. Braunbeck, Crystal Lake Publishing, Jeff Strand, Gary Fry, Rick Hautala, Sam Stone, Jeremy C. Shipp, Richard Thomas, Eric S. Brown, Joe McKinney, Ross Warren, Marty Young, Taylor Grant, Dean M. Drinkel, Stephen Bacon, Steve Lockley, Mark Sheldon, Robert Shane Wilson, Lawrence Santoro, Rena Mason, Feo Amante, John Kenny, Joe Mynhardt

( 13 )

$0.99

But be warned, fellow traveler… this is not just a book—it is a journey into the very life of Death.

Listen to the tales of the afterlife: Halloween, vampires, Heaven, Hell, Armageddon, zombies, death-bringing angels, ghosts, cults, ritual killings, nightmares from Vietnam... The lists goes on and on.

Ever wondered if it was possible to cheat death? To kill Death?
Did you know Death was a girl?
Or that it’s possible to escape and even become death?

The fear of death is as real as you and I.

You’ll be forced to answer the hard questions, and find out the answers to so much more. Like why you’re really here. Or the secret behind our fascination with the afterlife, not to mention the horrors of the actual event. These are not just stories but horrific experiences of pain and death: the deaths of lonely people, famous people, entire worlds, the death of innocence, and the pain of those left behind as they await their turn, wondering what it will be like.

No one is safe from the Reaper!

For your reading pleasure, we have assembled the following souls to share with you their grave stories: Gary A. Braunbeck, Joe McKinney, Rick Hautala, Gary Fry, Ross Warren, Marty Young, Stephen Bacon, Dean M Drinkel, Richard Thomas, Sam Stone, Eric S Brown, Mark Sheldon, Steve Lockley, Robert S. Wilson, Jeremy C Shipp, Jeff Strand, Lawrence Santoro, E.C. McMullen Jr., Rena Mason, John Kenny, and Taylor Grant. And even a bit of poetic justice from Adam Lowe.

Includes artwork by fellow travelers Ben Baldwin and Will Jacques, and an introduction by Gary McMahon.

So sit back and enjoy twenty thrillingly suspenseful horror stories that will allow you to stare into the eyes of the Grim Reaper:

The Life of Death by Mark Sheldon
Stumps by Jeff Strand
Death Squared by Rena Mason
Rapid Eye Movement by Stephen Bacon
The Final Room by John Kenny
The Culling by Richard Thomas
Crow by Steve Lockley
Instructions on the Use of The M-57 Clacker by Lawrence Santoro
The Death Catcher by Robert S. Wilson
Cedo Looked like people by E.C. McMullen Jr.
Spectres by Taylor Grant
The Tubes by Jeremy C. Shipp
A Life in Five Objects by Ross Warren
Death Comes for us All by Eric S. Brown
The Last Resort by Sam Stone
At the ‘Pay Here, Please’ Table by Gary A. Braunbeck
Der Engel der Liebe by Dean M Drinkel
The Frequency of Death by Marty Young
The Final Peace by Gary Fry
Do No Harm by Joe McKinney
Non-Returnable by Rick Hautala

This book is dedicated to posthumously to Rick Hautala and Lawrence Santoro. May their stories never be forgotten.

Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths

Fear the Reaper eBook categories:

Horror Anthology
Horror Short Stories
US Horror Fiction
Supernatural Thriller
Dark Fantasy Horror
Horror Suspense
Horror Poetry
Disturbing Suspense
Dark Humor
Metaphysical Horror
Apocalyptic Science Fiction

Other Formats: Paperback

Mr. Hands: The Cedar Hill Series Aug 18, 2016

by Gary Braunbeck

( 42 )

$4.95

It’s a quiet night at The Hangman’s Tavern just outside Cedar Hill, Ohio — that is until a disheveled stranger shows up and begins to tell the patrons a story, one that begins: “His full name was Ronald James Williamson, and he killed his first child when he was still a child himself …”

The stranger’s tale includes a little girl named Sarah Thompson, her mother Lucy, and how a tragedy would, in a way, bring all three of them together and result in the birth of a creature of myth, a Golem of vengeance, called Mr. Hands.

Here for the first time is the author’s preferred text of the third novel in the Cedar Hill Series, including new and expanded scenes. Also included is Braunbeck’s International Horror Guild Award-winning novella, Kiss of the Mudman.

Other Formats: Hardcover , Paperback , Mass Market Paperback

Halfway Down The Stairs Dec 4, 2015

by Gary A. Braunbeck

( 12 )

$7.95

Climb halfway down the stairs with Bram Stoker Award-Winning author Gary A. Braunbeck, into worlds that occupy the spaces between "here" and "there," where office workers become little more than scrolls of code and an ordinary man discovers that he has to help reassemble the missing face of God; from battle-scarred veterans who have to protect their village from encroaching spirits to a college experiment that may bring about the end of days, all of these stories feature Braunbeck’s trademark element: an unblinking eye for emotional detail that elevates the subject matter of each piece into the realm of the genuinely literary.

The stories span Braunbeck's thirty-year career from some of the very first tales of Cedar Hill to all-new stories, including the never-before-published author’s preferred version of the controversial, “The Sisterhood of Plain-Faced Women.”

Several stories herein are introduced by such luminaries in the horror/dark fantasy field: Ramsey Campbell, Laird Barron, Elizabeth Massie, Graham Masterton, and Jonathan Maberry, to name only a few.

Halfway Down the Stairs is a treasure chest of wonders for Braunbeck fans.

Other Formats: Hardcover , Paperback

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