Jeff Carlson

Jason Parent

Adrian Cole

Richard Dansky

Joshua Rex

Billie Mosiman

Rose Blackthorn

Mark Carroll

Kya Aliana

Christine Morgan

Jeremy Hepler

Pete Kahle

D. Ballmer

John Bruni

The The Behrg

Adrian Chamberlin

Beau Johnson

Rob Lammle

Marc Lyth

Megan Neumann

NO VAMPIRES... NO WEREWOLVES... NO ZOMBIES... BEEN THERE. DONE THAT. You've heard their stories before and you're screaming for a different breed of horror. Those monsters have had their moments in the moonlight and now it's time for us to bury them in their graves. Let's lock them in their coffins, pierce their hearts with wooden stakes and shoot them between their rotting eyes with silver bullets from an AK-47. You wanted some new monsters. You got 'em. Say "hello" to the ones that are still hidden by the shadows. The ones that peer from behind the gravestones with multi-faceted eyes and crawl from the sewers on slime-covered tentacles. The ones that stain the pages within this tome with the blood of their victims. NOT YOUR AVERAGE MONSTER:A BESTIARY OF HORRORS 22 new monstrosities unleashed upon the world from the deviant minds of: Kya Aliana D. Morgan Ballmer Rose Blackthorn John Bruni The Behrg Jeff Carlson Mark Carroll Adrian Chamberlin Adrian Cole Richard Dansky Jeremy Hepler Beau Johnson Pete Kahle Rob Lammle Esther M. Leiper-Estabrooks Marc Lyth Christine Morgan Billie Sue Mosiman Megan Neumann Jason Parent Joshua Rex Seth Skorkowsky THIS AIN'T YOUR DADDY'S NIGHTMARE!

A Bestiary of Horrors

Not Your Average Monster

Bishop Rider Lives! And for a dead man, he’s been busy. His story and the parts of it yet to be told being what populates Brand New Dark. Unseen moments pulled from between the pages of A Better Kind of Hate, The Big Machine Eats, and All of Them to Burn. Twenty-five new tales that bridge what came before and expand upon what can only come after. Come, see what happened in-between. Come, see how he made them burn. Praise for BRAND NEW DARK: “You want it darker? Then strap in for a ride with Brand New Dark, but keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle (while everyone else loses theirs). Beau Johnson masterfully crafts sharp, incisive short fiction, and Bishop Rider is the perfect vehicle for his mix of gallows humor and righteous anger. Brand New Dark is an intoxicating blend of violence and bone-deep humanity that lingers with you long after the final page.” —James D.F. Hannah, Shamus Award-winning author of the Henry Malone novels “Brand New Dark is an utterly terrifying, high-octane mix of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher and a Nicolas Winding Refn production, powered by a voice that’s unique to crime fiction. It’s a mega-dose of the darkest in human nature…and murderously inventive.” —Nick Kolakowski, author of Rattlesnake Rodeo and Boise Longpig Hunting Club “Do you like stories about bad guys being torn apart in new and ever-innovative ways? Then boy has Beau Johnson got the books for you. But Beau does more than just tell tales of unbridled violence, he delivers them with a wit and humour that keeps you smiling, when really your stomach should be doing flips.” —Paul Heatley, author of Cutthroat and Just Like Jesus “For years now, the long chain of American vigilante anti-heroes has had a welcome addition in Beau Johnson’s Bishop Rider…but Rider will go places and do things that would have caused Mack Bolan, the Punisher, or Jack Reacher to hesitate. But rather than play into the horror of violence, or offer up ‘violence-porn,’ Johnson is keenly aware of the disquieting effect of his stories, and his concise, calculated prose shows a skilled writer who understands exactly how far to push the reader. Brand New Dark is a powerful mix of vengeance, violence, and razor-sharp writing by one of crime fiction’s most daring short story writers.” —E.A. Aymar, author of The Unrepentant and They’re Gone (written under E.A. Barres) “Johnson doesn’t play nice. When it comes to ultraviolence, he’s doing for crime what Barker did for horror. Brand New Dark will slap you in the mouth.” —Laird Barron, author of Worse Angels “We’ve been gifted with the return of revenge seeking anti-hero Bishop Rider, told in Johnson’s inimitable style of bite-sized brutality. Dark, bloody, and righteously gruesome, Brand New Dark satisfies the itch for beautifully written crime fiction, where the violence is seen from the corners of our eyes and over our shoulders as Johnson’s relentless pacing propels us forward to a fate we can’t look away from, no matter the cost.” —Laurel Hightower, author of Crossroads “Beau Johnson is like an alchemist. He melds dark violent narratives with searing heartbreaking fragility. A Brand New Dark is the same old Beau. Fearless, poetic and brutal.” —S.A. Cosby author of Blacktop Wasteland and Razorblade Tears “Are these stories violent? Yes. Are they dark? Yes. Is Brand New Dark a well-written, page-turning collection of vigilante justice crime fiction at its finest? Hell yes. Nobody gives the bad guys a taste of their own medicine like the master of the genre, Beau Johnson.” —Jennifer Hillier, Thriller Award-winning author of Jar of Hearts “Bishop Rider works—and works extremely well—only because he’s in the capable hands of Beau Johnson. In the midst of Rider’s pursuit for revenge, Johnson never forgets how important Rider’s humanity is, both to the character and to the readers as well. The unflinching violence, limb dislocations and evilness of men never veers into parody, and neither does Rider. And fans of Bishop’s previous tales will be delighted to fill more of his details through Johnson’s fractured but never confusing style of storytelling.” —Hector Acosta, author of Hardway

Brand New Dark

Darkness is an attribute most of us rally against. It can consume. It can achieve. But if we so choose, it can also be held at bay. Enter Bishop Rider and the evil he’s chosen to obliterate since his family is taken from him. Operating outside the law, circumventing a system beyond repair, Bishop stalks this darkness the only way he knows how. Not only because these men deserve what he’s become, but because of a message he attempted to create has come back to haunt him, now, after all these years. It’s this story, along with other, unconnected tales that populate All of them to Burn. Come, meet Rider for the first time. Come, meet Rider for the last time. Come, watch the darkness burn. Praise for ALL OF THEM TO BURN: “Beau Johnson has done to his fiction what street thugs do to their victims: he holds it down and beats it for all its worth. I mean that in a good way. No, in a great way. Few authors are out there stamping their words onto the page the way Beau does. He’s equal parts slick, hammering, poetic and caustic. His talent is to be admired; his words are to be read.” —Ryan Sayles, author of the Richard Dean Buckner mysteries “Beau Johnson delivers another collection of masterfully written tales. Compelling and smart, these wild stories are full of twisted characters and seedy scenes. Greed. Anger. Revenge. Perhaps, justice. We are taken down a dark path, catching up with old favorites like Bishop Rider and John Batista along the way. We watch as the stories and characters connect and engage, bringing every thread together. The third in his series of connected shorts may be Beau Johnson’s best, yet.” —Marietta Miles, author of May and After the Storm “All of Them to Burn is a Molotov cocktail of classic crime fiction, but one with a sharp modern twist.” —Paul D. Brazill, author of Last Year’s Man and A Case of Noir “Beau Johnson’s stories are hard tales of revenge and sorrow. Nothing can prepare you for the darkness in these stories and nothing can make you turn away once you start reading. All of Them to Burn is an excellent collection.” —Nikki Dolson, author of All Things Violent “These chilling short stories—many featuring the return of the mythic-like hero, Bishop Rider—drop us into the darkest depths of human suffering and ruin. Beau Johnson can spin the most brutal of tales with raw emotion, savage honesty, and fierce humor. A standout collection from a seasoned storyteller.” —Sarah M. Chen, author of Cleaning Up Finn “All of Them to Burn is fast, sharp, violent, and gory. There’s something visceral at the core of Johnson’s work that simultaneously reflects the best and worst of humanity, and it shines in this collection. Come for the blood and viciousness and stay for the electric dialogue and outstanding last lines. I promise it’s all equally fun.” —Gabino Iglesias, author of Coyote Songs

All of Them to Burn

The world has never been perfect. The world has never been all bad. But there has always been evil and men who drink of it. This ends now. Enter Bishop Rider and people like him who have had enough and are willing to embrace what most will not. The world will never be perfect. The world will never be all bad. It’s the middle we must embrace. This, a better kind of hate. Praise for A BETTER KIND OF HATE: “Hard hitting stories of lives on the razor’s edge.” —Paul D. Brazill, author of Too Many Crooks, A Case of Noir, Guns of Brixton, The Last Laughand Kill Me Quick! “Beau Johnson is a lawless writer. Several—but not all—of the stories in his collection, A Better Kind of Hate, feature his renegade cop alter ego Bishop Rider, a battered and bruised, world-weary hero forced to operate outside a corrupt system to find justice. And that’s just what these stories have in common: justice, in all its muted, corrupt glory. Whether showcasing Rider or another flawed hero, Johnson operates in shades of gray, where sometimes all it takes is for a bad man to kill a worse one. A stark and sobering reality, and a stellar debut.” —Joe Clifford, author of the Jay Porter Thriller Series “Beau’s ability to strike at the heart of human emotion is both unnerving, uncanny, and unique. It allows him to wring tears from the darkest recesses of the human experience. A dark chameleon who slides from twisted villain to damaged innocent like a well-tuned master of fiction. A how-to on the craft of short fiction.” —Tom Pitts, author of Hustle and American Static “A Better Kind of Hate will haunt you like a specter. An uneasy collection, Beau Johnson crafts each story with masterful precision and an icy cold edge. Each page, each word, escalates the tension, ratchets the foreboding . Dripping with psychological terror, nerve racking suspense and characters unhinged, A Better Kind of Hate is an offering of patience, plans, and revenge. Johnson’s talent is spectacular and terrifying.” —Marietta Miles, author of Route 12 “Beau Johnson writes from that place inside us all that is nothing but brutal honesty and grit. And while most people avoid this place, Beau milks it for every word he can.” —Ryan Sayles, author of the Richard Dean Buckner series

A Better Kind of Hate

Beau Johnson

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