Strange Candy » (Unabridged)

Toss everything you think you know about vampire stories and sword and sorcery novels into an open grave, because Laurell K. Hamilton is reinventing the genres with chills, thrills, and giggles. With her popular Anita Blake and Meredith Gentry series, Hamilton is making dark fantasy fantastically entertaining again.

Known for her darkly violent, stunningly erotic Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novels, New York Times bestselling author Laurell K. Hamilton reveals new dimensions of her talent in these fantastical fairy tales, lush parables, and Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter stories. Share her vision as she welcomes you to the far corners of her “fertile imagination” (Diana Gabaldon)…

From a woman who marries into a family of volatile wizards to a couple fleeing a gang of love-hungry cupids, from a girl who seeks sanctuary in the form of a graceful goose to the disgruntled superhero Captain Housework, you’ll revel in the many twists and turns of fortune in these unique, sometimes surreal visions. Even hardened vampire hunter and zombie animator Anita Blake gets blindsided by the disturbing motives of her clients in the never-before-published “Those Who Seek Forgiveness” and in “The Girl Who Was Infatuated with Death.”

“Hamilton just keeps getting better and better.” - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Publishers Weekly

Fans will best appreciate the 14 often darkly humorous fictions in bestseller Hamilton's first story collection, which includes several unpublished tales. Stories like "Selling Houses," in which a determined real estate agent faces up to the difficulties of selling a house where a gruesome mass murder has taken place, and "Here Be Dragons," a horrific account of a psychic child whose dreams can kill, show talent but need polish. Anita Blake aficionados, though, will relish the opener, "Those Who Seek Forgiveness," with its early version of a somewhat na ve vampire hunter. Stories set in the sword-and-sorcery world of Hamilton's first novel, Nightseer-"A Token for Celandine," "Winterkill," "The Curse-maker" and "Stealing Souls"-reveal that she has always had a talent for portraying strong female characters. Brief author introductions to each selection provide context. (Oct.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.