happy holidays!

If you’re like us here at LitUnd Towers, you really prefer doing Black Friday and your subsequent shopping from your couch, watching silly movies and drinking cocoa. Fortunately, we are all set up to help you get your shopping done without leaving that wonderful couch!

We have a few suggestions for your list, as you might imagine. Can’t make up your mind? We now offer GIFT CARDS! Click here to pick up a gift card that lets your loved ones pick out some really awesome reading AND help support small presses and their authors.

Remember that when you buy from The Literary Underworld, you are buying from the authors and small presses directly, so they will get to keep much more of the sale price. Every little bit helps your favorite author keep creating those fascinating new worlds.

Happy holidays from all of us here at Literary Underworld!

All shipping is $8 flat rate OR free with $49 purchase!

 

Newer releases from the Underlords! Dreadmire by Elizabeth Donald. Tam is a Moor Knight whose dearest love, the half-elf Wynter, has vanished into the haunted Dreadmire on a quest to destroy the evil at the center of the swamp and set free the people terrorized by its half-dead creatures. But it has been a long time since anyone heard from Wynter. Tam and his best friend, Kancethedrus, enlist the help of guide Alesia and seer Angiss to help them find Wynter – and perhaps complete her mission to destroy the evil Somesuch that has controlled the life, death and unlife of the swamp for so many years. But the way through Dreadmire is not easy, and that’s not just because of monstrous mosquitoes, sentient weregators and cannibalistic undead elves living among the predatory flora and fauna of this twisted bayou. What’s more dangerous than a demonic tree that can eat you alive? The perils of the human heart… and what a man will risk for the woman he loves. 13 Octobers by Alexander Brown. In this mixed bag of treats … and tricks, readers will return toI/ older times. Back when oral tradition warned of grisly things that lurked about on autumn nights. A bygone era when people heeded superstitions and lore, and few dared to brave the forbidden. Readers will encounter thirteen chilling stories presented in four decades of vintage life. These horrors include: ghosts, unlucky animals, murderers, creatures, and the devil himself. Lost Colony: Alliances is the first science fiction adventure from new Underlord Diana Morgan. Tristan Travs never wanted to be an Admiral. He wanted to serve his time as a top-notch pilot and retire early in comfort on his rich family’s dime. But all that changed five years ago when the Aveeys—humanity’s greatest advancement in AI technology— rebelled and destroyed the planet. He’s now left as the highest-ranking officer of Terran Colony, the only survivors. They move from planet to planet, trying to find a new home, on the run from Aveeys, and pirates—those who live on the fringes of civilized society. Livia Icini never wanted to be a pirate. She wanted a normal life before the Aveeys destroyed everything. Now, she’s finally found a way to get that again, by seeking asylum in Terran Colony. Life is far from normal, and Livia has secrets beyond her pirate past. She may be seeking asylum, but she may also be the key to the Colony’s survival. If she can get the Admiral to trust her without killing him first. Pirates and killer robots aren’t the only thing out to destroy the last of humanity. There are other things among the stars. Tangle and Fen from Crone Girls Press. On the European front, there are worse things stalking the battlefield than enemy soldiers. A laid-off ad exec’s second career takes a turn for the bloody. The halls of Shy Rock High welcome the Class of 2005—but why so few attendees to this shadowy gala? The stories in this anthology are the glimpses of the dark places between the forest and a dream. Tangle & Fen is an anthology of dark fiction, featuring tales from the borderlands of horror, speculative fiction, and the nightmare fears that linger even after you turn on the lights. Baby Monster by John McFarland. Return with us to Ste. Odile, a cursed town indeed. We will also be lured to other areas of the world during periods of history that were dark, foreboding, and unsympathetic to humankind in general. You will find recognizable characters within these pages when we revisit their unfortunate situations. You will also be introduced to some new ones who are unique enigmas on their own. A familiar scientist is conducting a study on teeth, using participants from the women’s wing of St. Mathurin’s Home for the Insane. A resolute woman must perform an unspeakable act to save herself from a life-ending condition. An abandoned and crumbling orphanage hiding a horrific secret, a woman’s obsession with speaking to the dead, and her husband trying to save their son from potential murder come together in a thunderous storm of shock and terror. Step into the end of intimate acquaintances and the beginning of tenuous relationships. Mysterious men, undaunted women, warped creatures, maddened minds, human atrocities… all await you in McFarland’s second volume of harrowing short stories, including two novelettes, published here for the first time. Then consider picking up the previous Ste. Odile books, The Black Garden and Mother of Centuries. Bladespell by Steven Shrewsbury. On the east coast of antediluvian Africa, the warrior Rogan escapes the gallows via the magicks of a wizard. She professes to be the spirit of Jezebel Lilith, a mage that has traveled back in time to learn the location of an enchanted sword. Thinking her mad, Rogan tries to find his partner on his journey, the spearman Thyssen. Learning Thyssen has been sold up the river to be part of a sacrifice at the temple of Dagon, Rogan vows to free him. Rogan is accompanied by Lilith and her group of warriors, along with a shaman from the gallows, Oliver Haddo, who also claims to be from the future. Upriver at the temple of Dagon, as a volcano rumbles, Rogan encounters wizards and others seeking to trigger a terror that will create children to guard the sleeping place afar off at R’lyeh for their god, Cthulhu. A tale of action, twisted wizards, and Lovecraft mythos, Bladespell shows that sometimes those that manipulate others often get more than they bargained for. A new edition of A Night at Death’s Door by Jim D. Gillentine. Horror-comedy with a touch of romance at Death’s Door, a mysterious and trendy nightclub that actually cloaks the hidden domain of a vampire planning the Rising… only $8!

For the fantasy fan…

Music City by Sara M. Harvey 

Banished from Ireland in the wake of an accident that snatched away both her mortal lover and her banshee voice’s power to sing souls to the beyond, Keela O’Reardon sets out to find the Oran na Céle, the original banshee song, whose power birthed the banshees themselves. The urge to sing is the very core of a banshee, and in Nashville, Keela does the one thing even more forbidden than dalliances with a mortal: she performs. In the spotlight, she discovers a new power to her voice. A power to entrance an audience. A power that others want. The strange Irish girl with the otherworldly voice is the talk of Nashville, but she’s not there to be a star, no matter how much a record producer wants to make her one. She wants to find the banshee song buried in a city without banshees. She’s not the only one.

Reckoning Day by Steven Shrewsbury

A tale of action, adventure, love, sacrifice, and war, Gorias staggers through a bloody trail that will tear his heart loose. Can Gorias combat these deadly forces and stand tall against an arch-demon on what will truly be his RECKONING DAY?

For the romance fan…

The Brothers in Arms series by Silke Campion. Get all eight titles in this hot, flirty, sweet and dirty Brothers in Arms series for only $35! No slow-burning angst here; just a steamy, quickly flourishing devoted love that gets right to the heat. Each title can also be purchased separately for $5!

Beloved Forever by Kit Tunstall is a classic tale of a newly-made vampire whose master believes she is the reincarnation of his first love, found and lost over and over for the last 800 years. Yours for only $5!

 

For the weird Western fan…

Mojo Hand by Steven L. Shrewsbury ($15) After a gun battle in an 1884 Peoria cathouse, one-armed ex-Confederate guerrilla Joel Stuart finds himself at odds with dire magical forces. He runs headfirst into an army of the undead, a demon guard, the persona of African god Damballah, and even finds himself beneath the lid of a coffin.

The Alamo and Zombies by Jean A. Stuntz ($5) is exactly what it says! Zombies at the Alamo, what else could you want?

For the horror fan…

Nocturne Infernum by Elizabeth Donald ($20) compiles the three books of the Nocturnal Urges series into one volume filled with heat, horror and intrigue. In this alternate Memphis, vampires are a dark underclass whose bite offers pleasure and pain in one sweet kiss. Humans take advantage of the pleasures vampires can provide, but call them friends? Lovers? The strain between human and vampire grows as death rises in the streets…

Paradise Earth by Anthony Mathenia ($12) is a deconstruction of faith at the end of the world and beyond. When blazing balls of fire fall from the sky, a religious sect interprets it as the fulfillment of long-held prophecies foretelling the end of the world. The members flee to their religious sanctuary, believing that this global cataclysm is the portent of a new paradise of eternal happiness. Inside, one cold and starving man struggles to hold onto his hope for the future as the torturous night drags on and he struggles to hold onto his hope for the future. Limited quantities available.

A Woman Unbecoming. Crone Girls Press presents a charity anthology of horror and dark tales to benefit reproductive healthcare rights. Award-winning and up-and-coming authors share over two dozen stories and poems.

A thwarted female defense attorney releases the baying of the hounds under a full moon, signaling the death of an era—and the birth of a new one under the Old Gods. Most funerals are celebrations for the living—unless the guests decide to tempt fate and the guest of honor. A bicycle ride becomes a contest of egos, but the male pursuers aren’t the only ones hungry for the race to end. These women are going to cut the world and let it bleed.

If you like intense characters, powerful women, and twists you won’t see coming, then you’ll love this fierce anthology co-edited by Rachel A. Brune and Carol Gyzander.

For the sci-fi fan… Dream of the Navigator by Stephen Zimmer. For most, virtual realms, substances, and entertainment provide escapes, but for Haven, Cayden, Jaelynn, and Salvador, growing up in Technate 6 is a restless existence. A hunger for something more gnaws inside each of them. Discoveries await that open the gates to transcend time and space, and even new planes of existence. Nothing in their universe, or others, is impossible to explore. Ace’s Odds by Sela Carsen ($10). Mkhai is a former soldier in debt to the mob boss who runs a glitzy, glamorous space station casino hiding a dark underworld. The only hand he’s got left to play is getting the mob boss’s daughter off the station… but Silbe is no pampered princess, even if her father is one of the most feared men in the galaxy. Embroiled in a desperate scheme to keep her family safe, Silbe must team up with a roguish smuggler who makes her want to bet on him with everything she’s got.

 

For the YA reader…

Moonblood by T.W. Fendley. ($12) Who wants to live a century before seeing the outside world? Not Ariadne. Restless and idealistic, the young immortal sneaks out of the Eves’ secret compound and finds the outside world more dangerous than she could have imagined. Cut off from her own kind and hunted by mortals, she is forced to hide among the Adams, the immortal sons born of her sisters. But the Adams have sinister plans of their own. Ariadne must find a way to stop them, even if it means sacrificing her immortal life.

For something shorter….

Setting Suns: Anniversary Edition by Elizabeth Donald brings a new look to her first collection, including a new story, new afterward and more.

A nightmarish fun house turned deadly.
A couple trapped in a futile journey through time.
A single baleful eye watching from the deep.
An assassin waiting in a snow-covered tree.
A toy that seems to have a life of its own.
A pair of soldiers trapped between death and something worse.
A tenebrous hand reaching out of the shadows.
These are the award-winning tales and terrors of Elizabeth Donald, writer of things that go chomp in the night. This new anniversary edition is being released 20 years after the first story was published, now including a bonus short story and the author’s reflections on twenty years of twilight tales.
In that space between evening and nightfall, between consciousness and sleep, the moment when the light fades and the shadows take over… These are the lands of the Setting Suns.

Side Roads by Rachel Brune is a Crone Girls Press title, and thus is 10 percent off this season. Clockwork fairies, arachnid mothers, the Carnival Ghost…
The stories gathered here take the reader on a winding trip down a darkened road as the battery in your phone slowly dies. The threads of this collection weave a tale of wrong turns in the early morning hours, of faded photographs that don’t quite fit one’s memory, of dying monarchs and has-been superheroes. In these pages, you will find the eerie, the grim, and the lost souls that wander the gloom. These stories were born of dark nights and cold drives and the certain knowledge that, as winter sets in and the nights grow longer, there’s more out there in the darkness than the shadows let on…

For the cosplayer….

A handmade leather mask is the perfect stocking stuffer for the cosplayer on your list! Branson’s General Store has a variety of colors in the simple $10 design, so be sure to indicate your preferred colors in your order!

 

STILL MULLING? THINK GIFT CARDS!

A Special Thank You

The authors and artists of the Literary Underworld are very grateful for your continued support. When you buy from us, you are buying directly from authors and small presses. As we celebrate this holiday season, we hope for a happy, safe and prosperous year for everyone.

You read all the way to the end! Use the code HOLIDAZE24 to get a discount on your purchase!