Saturday, October 31, 2015

2012 CLOSEOUT SALE


When we launched the e-book version of Stupefying Stories, we included a “three years and out” self-destruct clause in the contract. Four years later that self-destruct clause continues to work as designed, so this is your LAST CHANCE to buy these vintage 2012 issues at special closeout prices before they go out of print, never to be re-released again.


STUPEFYING STORIES 1.9
CLOSEOUT PRICE: $0.99 USD

GOES OUT OF PRINT: NOVEMBER 15, 2015

For 1.9 (a.k.a., the “mid-October” issue) we pulled out all the stops and turned the creepiness factor up to 11. Featuring another awesome Aaron Bradford Starr cover that deserves to be a poster, this one starts with the beautiful and elegiac “Between Life and Oblivion,” ends with “Going Out With a Bang”—a story that, as one reviewer put it, “puts the black in black humor”—followed by Thomas Pluck’s clever little exit sting, “The Old-Fashioned Way,” but in-between it’s full of spooks and specters, ghosts and ghoulies, and things that go bump! in the night. (Or sometimes not: check out Robert Hobson’s story.) In particular, if “The Florence” or “The Jade Box” don’t give you the shivers, you’d better check your pulse, because you just might be dead.
Contents
  • BETWEEN LIFE AND OBLIVION, by Samuel R. George
  • THE FLORENCE, by Chuck Bordell
  • DOOR IN THE DARKNESS, by David Steffen
  • STREAMING, by Sharon Irwin
  • THE FLINT INDENTURE, by Tim W. Burke
  • NOT EVERYTHING GOES BUMP, by Robert W. Hobson
  • ASHES TO DIAMONDS, by Jamie Lackey
  • BLOOD AND SALTWATER, by Cassandra Rose Clarke
  • A HOMEOWNER’S DILEMMA, by Mark Hill
  • THE GHOST TRAIN, by Fox McGeever
  • THE JADE BOX, by Stephen G. McDonald
  • GOING OUT WITH A BANG, by Gary Cuba
  • THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY, by Thomas Pluck

Available for the Amazon Kindle at these links: United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, India, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, and Australia.

Also available for the Barnes & Noble Nook and in the Apple iTunes Store.



STUPEFYING STORIES 1.10

CLOSEOUT PRICE: $1.49 USD

GOES OUT OF PRINT: NOVEMBER 30, 2015

For this one I turned the Editor-in-Chief’s chair over to M. David Blake, who has been with us since the old Friday Challenge days and has served as Technical Director and Associate Editor of STUPEFYING STORIES from the very start. I gave him a budget and free rein to select the stories, as well as permission to experiment with the design, and I’m pleased to see that he picked some stories I would have picked—some I would not have picked—actually pinched a few from my production queue—and in the end, produced a book that is bigger, in some ways better, and definitely recognizable as a STUPEFYING STORIES book and yet distinctively different.

Good stuff. I liked it so much, I gave Mr. Blake the budget and permission to go ahead with STRAEON. This book should not be taken as a precise blueprint for STRAEON, but if you want some sense of how my editorial judgment and his editorial judgment differ—and we do differ; our tastes are at best similar, not congruent—then buy and read this book.

P.S. And if you’re wondering about the odd volume numbering: it’s an Amazon thing. We wanted to call this one 2.1 but ended up having to call it 1.10 for Amazon’s sake.

Contents:
  • QUEEN OF SHEBA, by Samuel M. Johnston
  • WEDNESDAY’S CHILD, by Damien Walters Grintalis
  • SNATCHING BABY DELILAH, by Travis Daniel Bow
  • NONSENSE 101, by Gary Cuba
  • LUCKY, by Bill Ferris
  • THE ANTS GO MARCHING, by Sarah Pinsker
  • LOVER’S KNOT, by Ada Milenkovic Brown
  • GIRL WITHOUT A NAME, by Courtney Valdes
  • TOILET GNOMES AT WAR, by Beth Cato
  • MOONDUST, by Elizabeth Berger
  • CITIZEN ASTRONAUTS, by Holliann R. Kim
  • HEARTBREATH, by E. Catherine Tobler
  • REVOLVER, by Clarence Young
  • OFFICE DEMONS, by Christie Yant
  • NUMBER STATION, by Alex Shvartsman

Available for the Amazon Kindle at these links: United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, India, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, and Australia.

Also available for the Barnes & Noble Nook and in the Apple iTunes Store.



STUPEFYING STORIES 1.11

CLOSEOUT PRICE: $0.99 USD

GOES OUT OF PRINT: DECEMBER 31, 2015

By the end of 2012 STUPEFYING STORIES had finished evolving from our initial vision of a publication that didn’t recognize genre labels to being a straight-up SF/F publication, and this book is the apotheosis of that development. It had also evolved from being an “anthology series” to being something that clearly walked, talked, quacked, and otherwise behaved like a monthly magazine, so we gave up trying to resist that label as well, and decided to let it become the monthly SF/F magazine it clearly wanted to be.

I am proud of every single story in this book, but especially so of “Moonbubble,” by Eric Cline.

Then again, if we were ever to adopt a story as a manifesto, it would be “We Talk Like Gods,” by Jon David.

Contents:
  • WE TALK LIKE GODS, by Jon David
  • TINY, TINY HUNGERS, by Mark Wolf
  • MOONBUBBLE, by Eric Cline
  • THE RELIC, by Lou Antonelli
  • MR. NON-EXISTENT, by Paul Malone
  • BLUE STRIPPED, by Gerry Huntman
  • HoPE, by A. A. Leil
  • AVOCADO RUTABAGA AUBERGINE, by M. Bennardo
  • IN THE SHADOWS OF THE EMPIRE OF COAL, by Shaun Duke
  • MEASURE OF INTELLIGENCE, by Torah Cottrill
  • THE GODS OF SAND AND STONE, by Joel V. Kela

Available for the Amazon Kindle at these links: United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, India, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, and Australia.

Also available for the Barnes & Noble Nook. (Why not in the Apple iTunes Store? Well, thereby hangs a tale…)

Hungry for something to read tonight?


Might we suggest you consider SHOWCASE, our free companion webzine. On the menu this evening:

"The Beast," by J. L. Phoenix
October, what a month. People in this world are so fascinated with their “holidays” that they set aside any remaining good sense and judgment they have to allow for fun and festivities. Fools. They make the tasks of the underworld disgustingly easy, even more so than in the days of the plague...
"The Van Helsing Women's Shelter," by Aaron DaMommio
I answered the door myself, as I always did when the shelter had visitors after dark. The gaunt man on the doorstep swept aside his cloak with one hand. “I am Nikolai,” he said. “I haff come to take Lucy home.” More than his emaciated physique, the power of his stare gave him away...
"Tech Support," by John Oglesby
“Excuse me, young man?” Oh great. I was just about to level-up, now this. I finally get a 15-minute stretch of mindless zombie-killing fun, and grandma has to bring me back to reality. “Young man, I was told that you’re tech support?”...
"The Roads to Hell," by Larry Hodges
Toby stared at his ticket: Bus 666 to Hell. After a lifetime in politics, always with the best intentions, this was his reward? The last thing he remembered were chest pains and falling to the ground...
"Hunger Gamesmanship," by John H. Dromey
Late one evening, the sound of fluttering wings disturbed a suburbanite who was sitting in his easy chair, reading a book. The man got up to investigate, quickly assessed the situation, and then yelled at the top of his lungs...
"Edvard Munch," by Robert W. Hobson
Sebastian Kane flew across the second floor of the mansion like his ass was on fire and his head was catchin’. His blue shirt was torn and bloody, his jeans were rags and equally as red, his chest would need an entire spool of thread to put back together...
"Till Death Us Do Part," by E. N. Loizis
Jennifer stared at the man sitting across from her. “Excuse me, what was that again?” “I’m a vampire.” “You’re a vampire?” “Yes.” “As in—dead?” “We prefer the term undead.” “As in a drink-blood-sleep-upside-down-live-forever-kind-of-thing?” “In a nutshell.” “Any other tidbits I need to know about?”...
"Back From the Dead," by John Lance
The hunchback reminded Cassius of his first servant, Grimly. The gorilla-like-arms, heavy brow, and dull eyes; it was as if Grimly had returned from the Abyss. Cassius supposed that’s why he agreed to interview Erogi in the first place...
"The Pro Turned Weird," by Stephen Lickman
Dr. Edward “Eddie” McDaniels knew that if there were two things that went together, it was horrible weather and revenge-obsessed undead. And that night, the weather was positively crappy. Wave after wave of heavy, autumn rain crashed against the sliding glass door. In the center of the living room, Eddie waited...
"A Failure to Communicate," by Phil Temples
On a morning in late October, the alien stepped out of his spaceship into the bright morning sun in the Boston Commons. For all intents and purposes, Gomph looked like an oversized porcupine. At 60 kilograms, he stood nearly one-and-a-half meters tall...
"Disclaimer," by Bret McCormick
TRANSACTION COMPLETE **PLEASE READ THIS FULL DISCLAIMER BEFORE CLOSING** Thank you for pressing the “Accept” option on the previous page and legally completing the transfer of ownership of rights and obligations of authorship in the work of fiction entitled My Five Minutes in Hell (MFMIH), penned by Howard Phillips Derbury sometime in ...
"The Thing About Analyn," by David Steffen
In retrospect, I should’ve realized there was something bizarre about Analyn much earlier than I did, certainly before we’d been dating for six weeks. But I was a college freshman, barely away from my overprotective mother, and eager to live life...
 "Fulfilling," by Joy Bernardo
I’d been born and raised in sunny Florida, so isn’t it ironic that the one thing I fear most in life is a night-stalking bloodsucker? I’ve spent many nights staring out my bedroom window at eyes glaring back at me from the trees. My friends and family think I’m crazy, of course...

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

BOOK RELEASE: PUTREFYING STORIES #1

“My God, they’re everywhere!

From the creators of STUPEFYING STORIES comes an exciting new anthology series: PUTREFYING STORIES! Sixty-four pages of pulse-pounding, shuffling, moaning, brain-munching zombie action! Issue #1 features:

• FRUITING BODIES, by Eric Landreneau
• DADDY’S LITTLE GIRL, by Julie Frost
• FROM COLORADO, by Rose Blackthorn
• TWO ZOMBIES WALK INTO A BAR, by A. A. Leil

PUTREFYING STORIES: Tales so terrifying, they could make even a vampire’s dessicated heart start beating again!



Now available for Amazon Kindle and Kindle Reader apps at the special introductory price of just $0.99 USD!

US – http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017A5IF86
UK – http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B017A5IF86
Germany- http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B017A5IF86
France – http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B017A5IF86
Spain – http://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B017A5IF86
Italy – http://www.amazon.it/gp/product/B017A5IF86
Netherlands – http://www.amazon.nl/gp/product/B017A5IF86
Japan – http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B017A5IF86
Brazil – http://www.amazon.com.br/gp/product/B017A5IF86
Canada – http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B017A5IF86
Mexico – http://www.amazon.com.mx/gp/product/B017A5IF86
Australia – http://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B017A5IF86
India – http://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B017A5IF86

More links coming soon!

Saturday, October 24, 2015

BOOK RELEASE: SCOUT'S DUTY by Henry Vogel

"...the best of the trilogy. KUDOS!"


Years ago, Terran Scout David Rice crash-landed on the lost colony world of Aashla, where he rescued and fell in love with the beautiful Princess Callan. Pledging his life and sword to Callan and his adopted home world, David thought he'd never see another Terran again—until the night the sky was lit by weapons fire, as another starship tried and failed to blast its way through Aashla's deadly planetary ring. Now, rushing to the crash site, David and Callan find they're too late, as their bitter rival, Prince Rupor, has gotten there first...

For on a world of swords and airships, even a wrecked starship can overthrow the balance of power!

SCOUT'S DUTY is an exciting modern homage to the classic tales of planetary romance made famous by writers such as Edgar Rice Burroughs and Leigh Brackett. If you like your heroes unabashedly heroic, your heroines feisty and true, and your plots filled with dangers and twists at every turn, you'll enjoy SCOUT'S DUTY.

Now available exclusively for Kindle and Kindle Reader apps at $3.99 USD for the US edition, or free for Kindle Unlimited and Amazon Prime customers!

US: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017081LFC
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B017081LFC
Germany: http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B017081LFC
France: http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B017081LFC
Spain: http://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B017081LFC
Italy: http://www.amazon.it/gp/product/B017081LFC
Netherlands: http://www.amazon.nl/gp/product/B017081LFC
Japan: http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B017081LFC
Brazil: http://www.amazon.com.br/gp/product/B017081LFC
Canada: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B017081LFC
Mexico: http://www.amazon.com.mx/gp/product/B017081LFC
Australia: http://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B017081LFC
India: http://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B017081LFC

But wait, there's more!

To celebrate the release of SCOUT'S DUTY, we're offering this special get-up-to-speed-on-the-whole-trilogy deal! For a limited time, we're making SCOUT'S HONOR and SCOUT'S OATH available for just $0.99 USD each, or free for Kindle Unlimited and Amazon Prime customers!

"Pulp fiction in the best meaning of the term. The story moves along at a cracking pace and you care about the characters."

When Terran Scout David Rice climbs from the wreckage of his starship’s escape pod, he finds himself transported from the space age to the steam age in the blink of an eye. Drawn to the sounds of fighting, David immediately throws himself into a desperate battle against overwhelming odds to save the life of a beautiful young princess.

Now, marooned without hope of rescue, David is swept into a world of steam-powered airships, treacherous pirates, brutal savages, bloodthirsty monsters, royal machinations, and plots within plots, where matters of strength and honor are most often settled with the clash of swords. As he struggles to learn the strange ways of this new world and who he can trust, one thing becomes clear to him: he must put aside his growing feelings for Her Highness and do everything in his power to return her to her family, even though this means giving her up to the prince she’s pledged to marry.

Told in a relentlessly fast-paced and breathless style, SCOUT’S HONOR is an exciting modern homage to the classic tales of planetary romance made famous by writers such as Edgar Rice Burroughs and Leigh Brackett, as well as the cliffhanger-driven energy of the early science fiction movie serials. If you like your heroes unabashedly heroic, your heroines feisty and true, and your plots filled with dangers, twists, turns, and double-crosses upon triple-crosses, you’ll enjoy SCOUT’S HONOR.

"This is the kind of scifi story that made me fall in love with science fiction long ago."

US: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JXLCXDY
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00JXLCXDY
Germany: http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00JXLCXDY
France: http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B00JXLCXDY
Spain: http://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B00JXLCXDY
Italy: http://www.amazon.it/gp/product/B00JXLCXDY
Netherlands: http://www.amazon.nl/gp/product/B00JXLCXDY
Japan: http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B00JXLCXDY
Brazil: http://www.amazon.com.br/gp/product/B00JXLCXDY
Canada: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00JXLCXDY
Mexico: http://www.amazon.com.mx/gp/product/B00JXLCXDY
Australia: http://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B00JXLCXDY
India: http://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B00JXLCXDY

 "I can't wait for the sequel!"

(And you don't need to, because here it is!)

"If anything, it's better than the first book."

"Many times book sequels are either let downs that show the original work was just a fluke, or a far better story that diminishes the original work. Happily, Scout's Oath is neither... it is a wonderful continuation of a thrilling story-line that not only stands by itself as a fantastic and fast-paced action thriller, but also extends and gives delightful background and "back-story" to Scout's Honor."
"Swashbuckling fun! Scout's Oath picks up where Scout's Honor left off, with more adventures of David Rice, Princess Callan and a motley crew of allies, enemies, and other characters. This one brings new high-tech challenges to bear on Princess Callan's low-tech world, but as always, the stalwart David, Princess Callan and their friends and supporters bravely jump into the fray to defend it. Full of honor, bravery, love, and a great sense of humor, this is an excellent follow-on to Scout's Honor. This is a great read for the whole family—with characters you care about and that you can identify with. Read Scout's Honor first, then this one. I'm looking forward to the next one!"

"It's an epic heroic tale, full of derring-do, rotten bad guys, some really funny dialogue, and people in love. Highly recommend[ed]..."

US: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TH859HA
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00TH859HA
Germany: http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00TH859HA
France: http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B00TH859HA
Spain: http://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B00TH859HA
Italy: http://www.amazon.it/gp/product/B00TH859HA
Netherlands: http://www.amazon.nl/gp/product/B00TH859HA
Japan: http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B00TH859HA
Brazil: http://www.amazon.com.br/gp/product/B00TH859HA
Canada: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00TH859HA
Mexico: http://www.amazon.com.mx/gp/product/B00TH859HA
Australia: http://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B00TH859HA
India: http://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B00TH859HA

"I can't wait for book three!"

(And now, with the release of Scout's Duty, the wait is over!)