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"This ain't your granddaddy's western. Welcome to your next can't-put-down read." Jason J. McCuiston, author of The Brotherhood of Secret Darkness and Other Cults, Cabals, and Conspiracies A train station sits neatly at the top of Main Street, but train tracks are suspiciously absent. A false priest presides over an unusual amount of funerals. After a young man comes home from the Civil War, trees start to randomly appear in strange locations. From the moment Carter returns home to find his beloved western town and the people within it have disappeared and he must win it back, we learn things have gone strange in Scar Ridge, Arizona. The nine stories presented here are intimately intertwined in this isolated location, dusty and hot, a perfect place for the Landowner to work his strange magick. There's an unusual relationship between Jarvis, his hands, and the cattle of his ranch. Cattle drivers experience something during a monsoon storm that's seems to be not quite a deer. A cursed skull is stolen from Danzig's General Store. Each individual story will lead you to the ultimate terrifying conclusion, that there is something truly wrong within this town, within the people, and within this world that might just be part of our own. Welcome to Scar Ridge. And beware. "5 stars out of 5." John Watson, Horror Book R&R

"[McCuiston] did it. He made science fiction fun again!" ~ Philip Athans, author of Writing Monsters and The Best Fantasy Authors HandbookTHE GHOST OF THE FRONTIER IS LOST IN UNCHARTED SPACE!A desperate battle with space pirates cuts the Last Star Warden off from Quantum, the Ranger VII, and even the explored galaxy!The Forbidden City of Un Quan: Stranded on the deadly jungle world of Un Quan in an unfamiliar binary system, the Warden finds himself embroiled in a generational war between two rival factions. Though the primitive tribes each see themselves as unique, the Warden can''t help but see their similarities. The answer to the mystery of this age-old rift as well as any hope of returning to the Frontier lies in the Forbidden City, and the Warden must work with the scions of the two tribes to find it.The First Star Warden: Meanwhile, the architect of the rogue bridge that facilitated the Warden''s unexpected sojourn puts his plans of invasion into action. The Warden soon finds himself standing between his newfound friends on Un Quan and the man he most idolized in his youth. A man who has brought an army of cybernetically enhanced super soldiers to colonize the Bronze Age world.The Fate of Un Quan: As diplomats from the United Planetary Council arrive on Un Quan to negotiate with the natives, a powerful force from Uncharted Space moves to intercede. Reunited with Quantum, the Warden must juggle political responsibilities with an apocalyptic interstellar threat while dealing with his own profound personal loss.ACTION! ADVENTURE! MYSTERY! INTRIGUE! ROMANCE! All to be found inTHE LAST STAR WARDEN VOLUME II: THE UN QUAN SAGA"[This] is retro sci-fi at its best. A sense of wonder permeates McCuiston''s novel and makes readers long for The Last Star Warden''s next perilous mission." ~ Vonnie Winslow Crist, award-winning author of Dragon Rain, Murder on Marawa Prime, and other books"The Star Warden is a straightforward hero - no deconstruction, no metanarrative, no satirization... He''s a rarity in his world, and in this one as well." ~ Carl R. Jennings, Reviewer for Phantasmagoria Magazine and author of Just About Anyone

"The small town of Ste. Odile is about to host a new visitor. Perdita Badon-Reed has come to this place to hone her skill as a sculptress, but also to escape a life behind her, including a fiancâe, that she isn't sure she wants. For a woman in 1882, this is a huge risk, but her stong will determines she must take it. She believes staying at the home of her uncle, Father Condell, and taking on a commissioned sculpture will help her clear her emotions and find meaning to her need for escape. But all is not as it seems in this quiet community. Its secrets are dark and deep, and Perdita finds herself entangling in them. A young woman sentenced to death attaches herself to Perdita, an orphaned girl at the convent sees visions and illustrates them with a talent beyond her years, and a persistant strangeness hovers as to why Perdita's fiancâe's sister lost her life in connection to this town. But the most mysterious of all is Orien Bastide, an extremely wealthy man who seems to be a benefactor to Ste. Odile but is an enigma, nearly a legend, to the residents. Perdita's embroilment becomes an urgency to help those around her, to find answers to perplexing questions that continue to mistify. Her persistence and strength persevere, but will they be enough to save her from an unimaginable horror waiting in the shadows?"--

Double, double toil and trouble... Shakespeare began the tense apprehension with his melodic yet warning phrase. Ray Bradbury continued the dark and ominous foreboding that oozes between the words. Now, it has come to the North American Old West, a world with its severe terrain and hardened residents. The rules were harsher out here, the ethics and morals changed, the fight for life and liberty quite different than anything these pioneers, these outlaws, these six-shooters and rebel rousers, these unquestionably brave men and women had bargained for. For them, something wicked certainly rode. Like a hell-broth boil and bubble... In this anthology, we explore the Old West with a skewed view, showcasing the weird western genre through stories that explore the peculiar and the fantastic, the wicked that was and could have been. You'll experience spiritual nightmares, mythical monsters, cosmic outlaws, discerning gods, and science run amok. Even the North Pole Security division isn't immune to the supernatural strangeness that stalks the late 1800s. In the tradition of the pulp and western stories of a bygone era, these are thirty tales to intrigue, amaze, and perhaps down right spook you right out of your boots. So brew up some coffee, head out to the rocking chair on the porch, and tilt your hat to shade your eyes so you can read real close. Just be sure you keep one eye on the horizon and one hand near your holster. For... With dark intentions and creatures astride, Something wicked this way rides. Enjoy stories from these talented authorsGustavo Bondoni - Marilyn "Mattie" Brahen - Kenneth Bykerk - Dwain Campbell - Gregg Chamberlain - Vonnie Winslow Crist - Stuart Croskell - Lawrence Dagstine - J.B. Dane - Kevin M. Folliard - John A. Frochio - Steve Gladwin - L.L. Hill - Adrian Ludens - Stefan Markos - Jonathon Mast - Jason J. McCuiston - Gregory L. Norris - Q Parker - Peter Prellwitz - John B. Rosenman - Alistair Rey - Darrell Schweitzer - Bradley H. Sinor - Matias Travieso-Diaz - Charles Wilkinson - Martin Zeigler

"Literate and suspenseful... complex and lyrical... drawn from traditions of Southern Gothic horror." Elizabeth Donald, author of Nocturne, Setting Suns, and The Cold Ones. The small town of Ste. Odile in America has experienced the Great War in ways that no one should ever have to endure. Doctors must tend to births and deaths that make their most difficult cases seem benign. An 1880s schoolteacher is faced with the worst blizzard of her time and must save the children under her charge. A young man searches for his father the abandoned orphanage the older man owns... and both know they will despair at what they find. A primitive woman experiences colonization and the stereotypes of men, yet finds her own method of retribution. "McFarland's writing is lush and sensual, filled with textures, sounds, smells, and primal terrors that have lurked beyond the firelight since prehistory." Kenneth Anderson, Editor of Charon II John S. McFarland has slogged through his characters' woes and woven them into sweetly emotional yet acutely distressful tales. We as readers are forced to understand the pain, the despair, and sometimes the hope of his creations.We realize we are lucky to live in the era we do. We also realize anything can change to tear us apart. Is it fate? Destiny? Or do we bring about these changes on our own? McFarland will let us know. "McFarland tempers his frights with the mercy of familial love and sympathy for outsiders and victims. Horror readers will be riveted." Publishers Weekly