Mike Oliveri

It was an age of adventure. An age of sorcery. An age of unrelenting horror. Sword and sorcery and pulp horror go hand-in-hand. Sinister enchanters working foul magic. Hideous beasts lurking in shadowy dungeons. Blasphemous elder gods uncoiling from forgotten and forbidden temples.Swords in the Shadows features twenty-one stories with a bloody stake driven into the heart of both the horror and fantasy camps. Herein, you will find fantasy worlds, brave warriors, fabulous creatures, wondrous magic. But you will also uncover bloodcurdling chills, spine-tingling horror, and an examination of those things that truly terrify.

Lyle Harrelson is in a jam. He's been laid off, the bills are piling up, and he can't even afford to get his sick daughter to the doctor. Then his old college buddy Carl calls. Carl has a lead on a new job with great pay, solid benefits, and an immediate opening. Carl pounces on the opportunity. He has no idea what he's getting into. His co-workers are secretive. His boss is a stone cold bitch. And when he wonders exactly what it is Kaiser Development Systems does, nobody will give him an answer. Carl calls him again, this time warning him to stay away from Kaiser. Moments later, Carl is dead. Lyle wants to know why. He tries to learn more about Kaiser: who they are, what they do, what the strange data on the servers he manages is for. But he's made a mistake. And then the real trouble begins.

Authors Tom King, Corinna Bechko, Genevieve Pearson, Will Pfeifer, and a dozen more tell the swashbuckling tales of globetrotting aviatrix Athena Voltaire! With illustrations by Steve Bryant, this collection of short stories in the spirit of the pulps which inspired the character sees Athena battling adversaries old and new, dodging lethal traps, fighting creatures natural and supernatural, and meeting some of history's most influential figures.