From Homer's Odyssey to Pirates of the Caribbean, Mermaids have fascinated popular culture for centuries.Among the Mermaids is an enchanting collection of classic stories, facts, and tales of mermaids from around the world that will thrill every lover of this romanticized mythological creature.Compiled by Book of the Bizarre author and Magical Creature devotee Varla Ventura, Among the Mermaids includes turn of the century tales of merfolk from Bret Harte, T. Crofton Croker, and W.B. Yeats, along with tantalizing trivia, facts, first-hand accounts, and speculations about mermaids in popular culture.Some facts about the fluid and the fair from the book:Many people believe today that early explorer sightings of mermaids were manatees. (Scurvy + many days away from your lady = a blubbery creature looking supple and bodacious.)Blackbeard, the fierce and terrible pirate, was afraid of his crew being lured into a watery grave by mermaids, so he ordered his ships to...

More information to be announced soon on this forthcoming title from Penguin USA.

Ever fallen in love? Ever fallen out of love? Ever fallen in love with someone you shouldn't have...? Nine authors write about first kisses, love, heartbreak and everything in between in this short story anthology.

When a game warden is murdered in the Michigan U.P., Gertie Johnson is hot on the trail. She is hampered by pin-curled Kitty and man-hungry Cora Mae. Worse, Gertie’s son, the local sheriff, seems more concerned with arresting his mother for cruising without a driver's license than catching a killer.

Two novella-length tales of the twisted and the bizarre...the frightening and the deranged...the mad and the macabre... KUTTER by Jeff Strand: Charlie, a vicious, heartless serial killer, takes home a stray Boston Terrier he finds in a park. Can this dog make him into a better person? REMAINS by Michael McBride: The discovery of human remains prompts a new search for seven missing theology students. To learn what happened, their families must recreate their final days and decipher a series of cryptic clues, but nothing can prepare them for the truth. [McBride] desplays pitch-perfect pacing and creates interesting, believable characters, resulting in a tale that's gripping and yet at times also philosophical." -- Robert Morrish, Cemetery Dance "Jeff Strand beautifully crafts a heart-wrenching tale of a man and his dog...and his unquenchable thirst for murder."

The Nike and other Fleet units are convoying a small fleet of civilian ships to Cancri system. When one of their number goes up like a flashbulb, it quickly becomes clear that the enemy has developed some new and very stealthy little ships. The civilian vessels can run and scatter, but flagship Nike's duty is clear. The one thing they will not do is turn their backs. A short story.

Other Stories of the Four Million: A Madison Square Arabian Night; The Rubaiyat of a Scotch Highball; The Pendulum; Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen; The Assessor of Success; The Buyer from Cactus City; The Badge of Policeman O'Roon; Brickdust Row; The Making of a New Yorker; Vanity and Some Sables; The Social Triangle; The Purple Dress; The Foreign Policy of Company 99; The Lost Blend; A Harlem Tragedy; The Guilty Party — an East Side Tragedy; According to their Lights; A Midsummer Knight's Dream; The Last Leaf; The Count and the Wedding Guest; The Country of Elusion; The Ferry of Unfulfilment; The Tale of a Tainted Tenner; Elsie in New York; and the title story.