From the author of the breakout novel Thistlefoot: a collection of dark fairytales and fractured folklore exploring how our passions can save us—or go monstrously wrong.

The stories in Fifty Beasts To Break Your Heart are about the abomination that resides within us all. That churning, clawing, ravenous yearning: the hunger to be held, and seen, and known. And the terror, too: to be loved too well, or not enough, or for long enough. To be laid bare before your sweetheart, to their horror. To be recognized as the monstrous thing you are.

Two teenage girls working at a sinister roadside attraction called the Eternal Staircase explore its secrets—and their own doomed summer love. A zombie rooster plays detective in a missing persons case. A woman moves into a new house with her acclaimed artist boyfriend—and finds her body slowly shifting into something specially constructed to accommodate his needs and whims. A pack of middle schoolers turn to the occult to rid themselves of a hated new classmate. And a pair of outcasts, a vampire and a goat woman, find solace in each other, even as the world's lack of understanding might bring about its own end.

In these lush, strange, beautifully written stories, GennaRose Nethercott explores human longing in all its diamond-dark facets to create a collection that will redefine what you see as a beast, and make you beg to have your heart broken.

Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her father's inability to collect his debts has left his family on the edge of poverty. Determined to change their fortunes, Miryem hardens her heart and sets out to claim what is owed, quickly gaining a reputation for being able to turn silver into gold.

When her boast draws the attention of the king of the Staryk—grim fey creatures more ice than flesh—her fate, as well as the fate of two kingdoms, is irrevocably altered. Presented with an impossible challenge by the nameless king, she unwittingly ensnares a peasant girl, Wanda, and the unhappy daughter of a local lord.

The lord's daughter, Irina, is to be wed to the young tsar, Tsar Mirnatius, who harbors a dark secret that could engulf both human and Staryk worlds. As Miryem and her companions confront dangerous choices, they embark on a perilous journey that demands sacrifices, power, and love.

Channeling the essence of myth and fairy tale, Spinning Silver intricately weaves a story that is as multi-layered as it is enchanting, inviting readers to immerse themselves in a world that feels both familiar and wondrously new.

From the author of SOPHIE'S WORLD, a modern fairy tale with a philosophical twist. 'My father died eleven years ago. I was only four then. I never thought I'd hear from him again, but now we're writing a book together' To Georg Røed, his father is no more than a shadow, a distant memory. But then one day his grandmother discovers some pages stuffed into the lining of an old red pushchair. The pages are a letter to Georg, written just before his father died, and a story, 'The Orange Girl'. But 'The Orange Girl' is no ordinary story - it is a riddle from the past and centres around an incident in his father's youth. One day he boarded a tram and was captivated by a beautiful girl standing in the aisle, clutching a huge paper bag of luscious-looking oranges. Suddenly the tram gave a jolt and he stumbled forward, sending the oranges flying in all directions. The girl simply hopped off the tram leaving Georg's father with arms full of oranges. Now, from beyond the grave, he is asking his son to help him finally solve the puzzle of her identity.

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales is a unique collection that takes a playful jab at the traditional fairy tale format. With its unconventional page arrangement and eclectic, frenetic mix of text and pictures, the book is a spoof on the art of book design as well as the art of the fairy tale itself.

The individual tales, such as The Really Ugly Duckling and Little Red Running Shorts, offer a fresh and humorous take on the classic stories we all know and love. Extracted for telling aloud, these tales promise great success and laughter. This masterpiece comes from the team that brought you The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.