The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires: A Novel

Something is wrong in the small outback town of Morgan Creek. A farmer goes missing after a blue in the pub. A teenage couple fail to show up for work. When Patrick and Sheila McDonough investigate, they discover the missing persons list is growing. Before they realise what's happening, the residents of the remote town find themselves in a fight for their lives against a foe they would never have suspected. And the dry red earth will run with blood.

BAG OF TRICKS Eleven-year-old Juice Smith's favorite place in the whole world was the old abandoned Wilner Theatre. There on its dark and dusty stage she could pretend to be "Juice the Magnifico" performing magic with her bag of tricks. Her grandfather, a long-time member of the local Sleights-of-Hand, had given her a special skeleton key, and to Juice's surprise it fit right in the lock of the ornate old trunk that had been left backstage … BLACK MAGIC The Sleights-of-Hand were furious when they discovered at their next meeting that Nat Smith had given his skeleton key–the skeleton key–to his granddaughter. Nat wondered what they could possible be afraid of after all these years. But one by one over the next few weeks, the venerable members of the Sleights-of-Hand would find their magical talents failing them at crucial–and gruesome–moments. And Nat would discover there was good reason to be afraid. Very afraid.

A nun commits suicide in front of thousands in Spain. In Australia, Siobhan Russo recognises that nun as her mother, Denise Russo, who disappeared six years ago. In search of answers, Siobhan travels to the isolated convent where her mother once lived. Here she discovers Denise’s final confession, a book that details a heinous betrayal that left her crippled and mute, and Denise’s subsequent deal with the Devil to take revenge. In the desperate bargain Denise made with the Prince of Darkness, she wagered Siobhan’s soul. As Siobhan discovers the fate of her soul, she learns that hidden within the pages of her mother’s confession is part of The Devil’s Prayer, an ancient text with the power to unleash apocalyptic horrors. And now her mother’s enemies know Siobhan has it. Can Siobhan escape an order of extremist monks determined to get the Prayer back? Can she save the world from its own destruction? Watch the book trailer on YouTube youtube.com/watch?v=1OJMiPIR0zw or Vimeo vimeo.com/156061258 or simply search “Devil’s Prayer by Luke Gracias” See the stunning locations from the book at devilsprayer.com.

"Four months to the day he first encountered the boy at Walmart, the last of Phil Pendleton's teeth fell out." At first glance, Phil Pendleton and his son Adam are just an ordinary father and son, no different from any other. They take walks in the park together, visit county fairs, museums, and zoos, and eat together overlooking the lake. Some might say the father is a little too accommodating given the lack of discipline when the child loses his temper in public. Some might say he spoils his son by allowing him to eat candy whenever he wants and set his own bedtimes. Some might say that such leniency is starting to take its toll on the father, given how his health has declined. What no one knows is that Phil is a prisoner, and that up until a few weeks ago and a chance encounter at a grocery store, he had never seen the child before in his life. A new novella from the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of THE TURTLE BOY and KIN. Praise for Kealan Patrick Burke "one of the most clever and original talents in contemporary horror "- Booklist "A newcomer worth watching."- Publisher's Weekly "one of the best writers in horror fiction today."- Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of ROT & RUIN and PATIENT ZERO "Reminiscent of Stephen King"- The Green Man Review "a true master of his art"- Zonacrypt

Learn How to Create Immersive Virtual Environments Written by an award-winning designer with 20 years of experience designing virtual environments for television and online communities, Virtual World Design explores the intertwining disciplines of 2D graphics, 3D models, lighting, sound, and storytelling. It illustrates how these disciplines come together by design in the creation of an accessible virtual environment for teaching, research, and entertainment. The book gives anyone the tools and techniques to design virtual environments that support their message and are accessible by all. With 200 illustrations and 12 step-by-step projects, the book delivers hours of creative challenges for people working in public virtual worlds or on private grids. Using the modular components available for download on the author’s website, readers learn by building such things as a virtual classroom, an "all-access" terrain, and a sound-based game. This book can be the foundation for class work in distance learning, simulation, and other learning technologies that use virtual environments. It shows both novices and advanced users how 3D composition, color, lighting, and sound design are used in the creation of an immersive virtual environment.

The aim of this book is to explore the characteristics of the medieval dragon and discuss the sometimes differing views found in the relevant medieval text types. Based on an intimate knowledge of the primary texts, the study presents new interpretations of well-known literary works, and also takes into consideration paintings and other depictions of these beasts. Dragons were designed not only to frighten but also to fire the imagination, and provide a suitably huge and evil creature for the hero to overcome – yet there is far more to them than reptilian adversaries. This book introduces the medieval dragon via brief, accurate and clear chapters on its natural history, religion, literature and folklore, and concludes with how the dragon – from Beowulf to Tolkien, Disney and Potter – is constantly revived.

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Rabies Symptoms, Diagnosis, Prophylaxis and Treatment" that was published in TropicalMed

A 2020 LOCUS AWARD FINALIST Jeff VanderMeer's Dead Astronauts presents a City with no name of its own where, in the shadow of the all-powerful Company, lives human and otherwise converge in terrifying and miraculous ways. At stake: the fate of the future, the fate of Earth—all the Earths. A messianic blue fox who slips through warrens of time and space on a mysterious mission. A homeless woman haunted by a demon who finds the key to all things in a strange journal. A giant leviathan of a fish, centuries old, who hides a secret, remembering a past that may not be its own. Three ragtag rebels waging an endless war for the fate of the world against an all-powerful corporation. A raving madman who wanders the desert lost in the past, haunted by his own creation: an invisible monster whose name he has forgotten and whose purpose remains hidden.

This innovative book responds to an existing demand for taking Africa out of a place of exception and marginality, and placing it at the center of international relations and world politics. Bringing together a number of scholars from various disciplinary backgrounds to stage a critical intervention into the problematic ways Africa is accounted for in the dominant discourses of international relations and global politics, it challenges the structural and epistemic biases of IR that render the contributions of the continent invisible, and situates the continent as a global region that exists beyond notions of lack, disorder, and failure. Through these interventions, the volume contributes to a rethinking of IR, and the conditions of possibility for imagining a world otherwise beyond frames that fetishize Africa paradoxically as transparent and invisible.

In the second pulse-pounding novel in the USA Today bestselling Heirs of Chicagoland series, vampire Elisa Sullivan gets drawn into the shifting sands of Pack politics. Vampires were made, not born—until Elisa Sullivan came along. As the only vampire child in existence, she grew up with a heavy legacy, and tried to flee her past. Then circumstances drew her back to Chicago, and she stayed to keep it safe. With shifter Connor Keene, the only son of Pack Apex Gabriel Keene, at her side, she faced down a supernatural evil that threatened to destroy Chicago forever. After the dust from the attack has settled, Elisa is surprised when Connor invites her to a usually private Pack event in the north woods of Minnesota, and by the warm welcome she receives from some of Connor’s family, even though she's a vampire. But the peace doesn't last. The shifters tell tales of a monster in the woods, and when the celebration is marred by death, Elisa and Connor find themselves in the middle of a struggle for control that forces Elisa to face her true self—fangs and all.

Love Can Change You. . .For Eternity. . . Tom Kyd has smoldering eyes, a sculpted body, and supernatural staying power--even for a vampire. He also thinks he knows best about everything--including how to figure out who Angela Ryan was before he and his clan rescued her from a mysterious attack that stole her memory. But whoever she is, Tom wants her. . . Six months ago Angela never would have imagined her life would turn into an episode of Dark Shadows--or that she'd be saved by the kind of man she's always fantasized about. Tom may be a vampire, and a know-it-all, but when his kisses are so sinful, so intoxicating, and so damn good, Angela is tempted to say yes to whatever he wants. . . "Absolutely fascinating!" --New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan

New York Times bestselling author and cutting-edge nutrition expert Lyn-Genet Recitas reveals the surprising truth behind the "healthy" foods that cause weight gain and provides personalized meal plans for rapid weight loss. Carbs and portion sizes are not the problem when it comes to weight loss, contrary to popular belief. Foods that are revered by traditional weight loss programs, such as turkey, eggs, cauliflower, beans, and tomatoes, may be healthy in a vacuum, but when combined with each person's unique chemistry, they can cause a toxic reaction that triggers weight gain, premature aging, inflammation, and a host of health problems including constipation, migraines, joint pain, and depression. Lyn-Genet's groundbreaking 20-day program helps readers finally unlock the mystery behind what does and does not work for their individual bodies. With detailed meal plans, recipes, and effective, personalized advice, you will discover how to: -Lose a half a pound a day while enjoying generous servings of foods you love -Identify your hidden trigger foods that are causing weight gain and inflammation, among other symptoms -Build a personalized healthy foods list that promotes rapid weight loss -Avoid feeling bloated, tired, or unhealthy again! Feel better, look better, and be empowered by the knowledge of what truly works best for your body!

From the New York Times–bestselling author of The Color Purple: A “moving, tender” novel of a Deep South tenant farmer’s quest for a new life (Publishers Weekly). Grange Copeland, a deeply conflicted and struggling tenant farmer in the Deep South of the 1930s, leaves his family and everything he’s ever known to find happiness and respect in the cold cities of the North. This misadventure, his “second life,” proves a dismal failure that sends him back where he came from to confront his now-grown-up son’s disastrous relationships with his own family, including Grange’s granddaughter, Ruth Copeland, a child that Grange grows to love. Love becomes the substance of his third and final life. He spends it in devotion to Ruth, teaching and protecting her—though the cost of doing so is almost more than he can bear. From a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner, this is an “honest sensitive tale . . . leavened by those moments of humor and warmth that have enabled men and women to endure so much tragedy” (Chicago Daily News). This ebook features an illustrated biography of Alice Walker including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

A Penelopean Poetics looks at the relationship between gender ideology and the self-referential poetics fo the Odyssey through the figure of Penelope. Her poetics become a discursive thread through which different feminine voices can realize their resistant capacities. Author, Barbara Clayton, informs discussions in the classics, gender studies, and literary criticism.

Gunrunner empress Hail Bristol must navigate alien politics and deadly plots to prevent an interspecies war, in this second novel in the Farian War space opera trilogy. In a surprise attack that killed many of her dearest subjects, Hail Bristol, empress of Indrana, has been captured by the Shen -- the most ruthless and fearsome aliens humanity has ever encountered. As she plots her escape, the centuries-long war between her captors and the Farians, their mortal enemies and Indrana's oldest allies, finally comes to a head. When her captors reveal a shocking vision of the future, Hail must make the unexpectedly difficult decision she's been avoiding: whether to back the Shen or the Farians. Staying neutral is no longer an option. Will Hail fight? Or will she fall? For more from K. B. Wagers, check out: The Farian WarThere Before the ChaosDown Among the Dead The Indranan WarBehind the ThroneAfter the CrownBeyond the Empire

This provocative and unique anthology analyzes Quentin Tarantino's controversial Inglourious Basterds in the contexts of cinema, cultural, gender, and historical studies. The film and its ideology is dissected by a range of scholars and writers who take on the director's manipulation of metacinema, Nazisploitation, ethnic stereotyping, gender roles, allohistoricism, geopolitics, philosophy, language, and memory. In this collection, the eroticism of the club-swinging and avenging "Bear Jew," the dashed heroism of the "role-playing" French and German females, the patriotic fools and pawns, the amoral yokel, Lieutenant Aldo Raine, and the cosmopolitan, but psychopathic Colonel Landa, are understood for their true functions in what has become an iconoclastic pop-culture phenomenon and one of the classics of early twenty-first century American cinema. Additionally, the book examines the use of "foreign" languages (subverting English and image), the allegory of Austria's identity in the war, and the particularly French and German cinematic influences, such as R. W. Fassbinder's realignment of the German woman's film and the iconic image of the German film star in Inglourious Basterds.

When Jasmine moves in across the street, best friends Sami and Stella learn to make room for one more friend.

THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF TROUBLED ADOLESCENTS FROM BARRY’S ACCLAIMED COMIC The Freddie Stories traces a year in the life of Freddie, the youngest member of the dysfunctional Mullen family. These four-panel entries–each representing an episode in the life of Freddie–bring to life adolescence, pimples and all. No matter what happens, it all seems to go wrong for Freddie–he’s set up as an arsonist, mercilessly teased in school, and bossed around by classmates. With consummate skill, Lynda Barry writes about the cruelty of children at this most vulnerable age when the friends they make and the paths they choose can forever change their lives. In The Freddie Stories every word of dialogue, every piece of narration, and every dark line evokes adolescent angst. These short, moving stories are collected from Barry’s beloved Ernie Pook’s Comeek, which was serialized across North America for two decades. Re-packaged here with a brand-new afterword from Lynda Barry, The Freddie Stories is an adult tale about just how hard it is to be a teenager–a classic Barry work alongside her cult masterpiece novel Cruddy–poignant, insightful, and true.