Synopses & Reviews
Includes a never-before-published Sookie Stackhouse story! What could be scarier than the first day of school? How about a crash course in the paranormal from Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner, editors of Home Improvement: Undead Edition? Your worst school nightmares—taking that math test you never studied for, finding yourself naked in school assembly, not knowing which door to enter—will pale in comparison to these thirteen original stories that take academic anxiety to whole new realms.
In #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris’s story, "Playing Possum," Sookie Stackhouse brings enough birthday cupcakes for her nephew's entire class but finds she's one short when the angry ex-boyfriend of the school secretary shows up.
When her guardian, Kate Daniels, sends her undercover to a school for exceptional children, teenaged Julie learns an all-new definition of "exceptional," in New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews's "Magic Tests."
For those who like fangs with their forensics, New York Times bestselling author Nancy Holder offers "VSI," in which FBI agent Claire is tested as never before in a school for Vampire Scene Investigation.
And in New York Times bestselling author Thomas Sniegoski's "The Bad Hour," Remy Chandler and his dog Marlowe find evil unleashed in an obedience school.
You'll need more than an apple to stave off the creatures in these and nine other stories. Remember your first lesson: resistance is fruitless!
Includes stories by: ILONA ANDREWS, AMBER BENSON, RHYS BOWEN, MIKE CAREY, CHARLAINE HARRIS, DONALD HARSTAD, STEVE HOCKENSMITH, NANCY HOLDER, FAITH HUNTER, TONI L.P. KELNER, MARJORIE LIU, JONATHAN MABERRY, THOMAS SNIEGOSKI
Review
"Entertaining and worth reading...Excellent."
-Library Journal
"Thoroughly enjoyable...a toothsome collection of birthday treats you will not want to miss."
-Monsters and Critics
Review
Praise for
Home Improvement: Undead Edition:
“The authors do a fine job of exploring the danger of the DIY movement. The tone ranges from silly (“It's All in the Rendering”) to classic horror (“The Mansion of Imperatives”)…there is no lack of imagination in this collection…This is definitely one of the most fun books you will read this summer.”—San Francisco Book Review
“These are delightful, entertaining and chilling stories. Some of them you'll be carrying around in your head for days. Do yourself a favor and spend a rainy afternoon with this book.”—Fresh Fiction
“Fun, different and often surprising compilation of short stories…This collection is a treat; the stories are strong and most reward the reader with a pleasing plot twist. The paranormal element added to the mundane yet trying experience of home or business renovation was an inspired theme certain to strike a cord with anyone who has lived the experience. Just the thing to enjoy on a languid summer day with a tall glass of cold lemonade.”—Monsters and Critics
Synopsis
Never-before-published vampire stories by Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher, Kelley Armstrong, and many others. Suspenseful, surprising, sometimes dark, sometimes humorous-these all-new stories will ensure that readers never think of vampires (or birthdays) in quite the same way again. In New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris's Dracula Night, Sookie Stackhouse is the only human at the annual commemoration of Dracula's birth. But this year, the Prince of Darkness actually shows up-and finds Sookie to be a tasty-looking present. New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher's crime-solving wizard Harry Dresden, of the Dresden Files novels, heads to a role-playing party to give his vampire brother a birthday present in It's My Birthday Too, only to discover there are some bloodthirsty party crashers who don't share their brotherly love. In Twilight, Cassandra DuCharme, who appeared in New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong's Dime Store Magic, knows she has to kill to live as a vampire another year-but finds herself disturbingly disinterested in the hunt. Plus ten more bloody good birthday stories that take the cake.
Synopsis
Suspenseful, surprising, dark, and humorous, these all-new stories by "New York Times" bestselling authors Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher, and Kelley Armstrong ensure that readers will never think of vampires--or birthdays--in quite the same way again.
Synopsis
Includes an original Sookie Stackhouse story
"Clever...entertaining... excellent"(Library Journal) original vampire stories by Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher, Kelley Armstrong, and more.
From cakes to stakes, a celebration of everyone's favorite bloodsucking subculture by a baker's dozen of favorite authors. Each of these thirteen original stories offers a fresh and unique take on what birthdays mean to the undead. From Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse attending a birthday party for Dracula to Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden battling bloodsucking party crashers, these suspenseful, surprising, sometimes dark, sometimes humorous stories will ensure paranormal fans will never think of vampires or birthdays quite the same again.
Synopsis
First time in paperback!
14 TALES BY PATRICIA BRIGGS • VICTOR GISCHLER • HEATHER GRAHAM •
JAMES GRADY • SIMON R. GREEN • CHARLAINE HARRIS •
STACIA KANE • TONI L. P. KELNER • E E KNIGHT •
ROCHELLE KRICH • MELISSA MARR • SEANAN MCGUIRE •
SUZANNE MCLEOD • S J ROZAN
The editors of the New York Times bestselling Death's Excellent Vacation bring home a captivating collection—including a Sookie Stackhouse story.
There’s nothing like home renovation for finding skeletons in the closet or otherwordly portals in the attic. Now, for any homeowner who’s ever wondered, “What’s that creaking sound?” or fans of “how to” television who’d like a little unreality mixed in with their reality shows, editors Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner present the paranormal perils of Do-It-Yourself. Sookie Stackhouse resides in these pages, in “If I Had a Hammer,” and New York Times bestselling authors Patricia Briggs, James Grady, Heather Graham, Melissa Marr, and nine other outstanding writers have constructed more frightening and funny fixer-upper tales to give a fresh take on why there really is no place like home…
About the Author
Charlaine Harris is the author of the #1
New York Times bestselling paranormal fantasy series featuring Sookie Stackhouse (the basis for the HBO series
True Blood), the
New York Times bestselling mystery series featuring lightning-struck corpse locator Harper Connelly, and other acclaimed novels.
Toni L. P. Kelner is the author of the “Where Are They Now?” mysteries and the Laura Fleming mystery series. She has won an Agatha Award and a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award, and has been nominated for the Anthony and Macavity awards.