Strangling vines and meat-hungry flora fill this unruly garden of strange stories, selected for their significance as the seeds of the "killer plant" trope in fiction, film, and video games. Before the Demogorgon of Stranger Things and the appearance of Mario's iconic foe the Piranha Plant, writers of the 19th and early 20th centuries were exploring the lethal potential of vegetable life, inspired by new carnivorous species discovered on expeditions into the deep jungles of the world and breakthroughs in the grafting and genetics disciplines of botany. Suddenly, the exotic orchid could become a curiously alluring, yet unsettlingly bloodthirsty menace; the beautifully sprawling wisteria of the stately home could become anything but civilized, and the experimentation of botanists weening new shoots on their own blood could become fuel for a new genre of horticultural nightmare. Every strain of vegetable threat (and one deadly fungus) can be found within this new collection, representing the very best tales from the undergrowth.

Here are the remarkable and captivating tales from one woman’s nearly 40-year career spent looking for bats and their roosts. Humorous and honest, she writes about these fascinating animals, and about dodgy ladders, small spaces and a multitude of characters – sometimes delightful, occasionally awful, but always human. George Bemment introduces the wonder of British bats and shares what it takes to be involved in wildlife conservation. From the rigours of surveys, to otters in wheelbarrows, and interactions with police and the press, we find out about life at the sharp end of being an ecologist on the ground… and in the attic. With no shortage of poo stories along the way – think dung pits, latrines, smelly roosts – and intriguing interactions with animals, from milking aardvarks to a house full of rabbits, George takes us behind the scenes of a life working with and protecting wildlife. Amidst the variety of curious and intriguing animal behaviour she has witnessed over the years, it is, of course, humans who turn out to be the oddest creatures of all.

What is horror to those living in the margins? Where terror is systematized and in the very air everyone happily breathes? A misheard word. The thud of boots. An impossible color. A foreign growth. Death in the Mouth is a collection of horror stories and art showcasing BIPOC and ethnically marginalized storytellers from around the world. You’ll read stories featuring grotesque manifestations of dread, the enveloping sludge of grief, and the insectoid itch of deep-seated fear. Embodiments of mania and displacements of faith. Harrowing ecstasy and debilitating hope. Transgressions of the body, the spirit, and the community. Unique and terrifying alien mythology from the future. Quiet, creeping absurdities. Weird urban legends from secondary worlds. In this anthology, Sloane Leong and Cassie Hart bring you an incredible range of stories and illustrations that celebrate the voices of those overlooked to show you the terrifying and exquisite scope of what horror can be.

“Taaqtumi” is an Inuktitut word that means “in the dark”—and these spine-tingling horror stories by Northern writers show just how dangerous darkness can be. A family clinging to survival out on the tundra after a vicious zombie virus. A door that beckons, waiting to unleash the terror behind it. A post-apocalyptic community in the far North where things aren’t quite what they seem. With chilling tales from award-winning authors Richard Van Camp, Rachel and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley, Aviaq Johnston, and others, this collection will thrill and entertain even the most seasoned horror fan. Ages- 16+ Includes some explicit content.