Book excerpt: Drops of crimson and muttered incantations... the stories in this collection are Born of Blood and Spells. Short stories, flash fiction, and poems – thirteen tales of dark fantasy all written by Alexa Grave. Including This Is Where I Stand, Bloodstains, and Hair of the Dog, as well as: Sunset Street Be careful what you wish for. Stuck in her dorm room alone on a Friday night, Leah can’t imagine her loneliness getting any deeper until she pops a new game into her computer... and gets sucked into it. Trapped in a world of darkness and rain, she fears she’ll never see another living soul again. Until she meets Zach. He may be the balm for her heart she’s been searching for, but fulfilling her wish comes with a price. Is she willing to pay it? Cold, Oh So Cold Hearts of men as frozen as the kingdoms they live in. Hear the static of a radio? Feel the chill sink into your bones and refuse to leave? Then you must be in the three Ice Kingdoms of Chyraine. No matter where you turn, the icicles can be seen forming in the hearts and minds of all the inhabitants. Or being driven into their backs and throats by their enemies. Dancing in the Wind It all started with those darn shoes. Dorothy is stuck in Oz with a trio of off-the-wall, diabolical munchkins, intent on putting her on trial for killing the Witch. She's all for a little bullying, at least when she's dishing it out to the kids back home. But these munchkins go too far when they force her into the Witch's silver shoes and parade her down the yellow brick road like cattle to be judged by the Wizard of Oz. Bound Every book has a heartbeat. And some are louder than others. Leda loves her job as a college librarian – books are her friends, ones that take her to far off lands and who don't cheat on her like her last boyfriend did. But a strange incident with a student has her wondering if there's something more sinister about the books in this library. Of course, Leda can't confide in anyone about her suspicions – they’d think she's crazy. Is she crazy? Or does danger lurk in between the pages?