Extraordinary writers including Gregory Maguire, Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Lethem, Steven Millhauser, Aimee Bender, Stephen King, Octavia E. Butler, and Ursula K. Le Guin redefine fantasy forever. Step right up and buy your ticket to the impossible marvels of the Barnum Museum. If you dare, hunt feral archetypes deep within a haunted English forest. Or conquer the new world with a band of geographically-challenged Norsemen. Go from the depths of a dangerous English forest to the top of the Tower of Babel, or on a caffeinated journey to the Empire of Ice Cream.

In this special new edition of a sold-out classic, Peter S. Beagle, author of the The Last Unicorn, has collected nineteen unexpected and delightful stories that expand imaginative frontiers. Introduction by Peter S. Beagle and stories from Maureen F. McHugh, Gregory Maguire, Patricia A. McKillip, T. C. Boyle, Steven Millhauser, Stephen King, Terry Bisson, Francesca Lia Block, Neil Gaiman, Aimee Bender, Jeffrey Ford, Michael Swanwick, Jonathan Lethem, Susanna Clarke, Octavia E. Butler, Yann Martel, Peter S. Beagle, Robert Holdstock, Kij Johnson, Ursula K. Le Guin, and David G. Hartwell.

Author Bio: Peter S. Beagle is the author of The Last Unicorn, A Fine & Private Place, and Tamsin. His short fiction has been collected in several volumes available from this publisher. He lives in Oakland, California.

Aimee Bender’s first published book, The Girl in the Flammable Skirt, is a collection of short stories that was a New York Times Notable Book of 1998 and spent seven weeks on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list. She has received two Pushcart Prizes.

Terry Bisson is the author of seven novels and three volumes of short stories. His seminal story, “Bears Discover Fire” (included in this book), won the Nebula, Hugo and Sturgeon Awards. He is currently editing a series of books for PM Press.

Francesca Lia Block has published over fifteen novels as well as several volumes of poetry and nonfiction. She received the Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Library Association in 2005.

T. C. Boyle is the author of twelve novels and more than 100 short stories. He won the PEN/Faulkner award in 1988 for his third novel, World's End, and has since received many literary awards. His short fiction has won him six O. Henry Awards for short fiction, and multiple appearances in the Best American Short Story awards.

Octavia E. Butler was the author of the Patternist series, Lilith’s Brood, and the Parable series. She was the recipient of numerous awards, including two Nebula Awards, two Hugo Awards, and a MacArthur Grant.

Suzanna Clarke is the author of the Hugo Award-winning debut novel, Jonathan Strange & M. Norrell. Her novel and short stories take place in a nineteenth-century alternate history of England, using the premise that magic once existed and is experiencing a revival. She is currently at work on a sequel.

Jeffrey Ford is author of The Girl in the Glass and The Fantasy Writer’s Assistant. He is the recipient of four World Fantasy Awards, and the 2004 Nebula Award for Best Novelette for “The Empire of Ice Cream”. He currently lives in New Jersey, teaching writing and literature. David G. Hartwell is an editor of science fiction. He is the recipient of the World Fantasy award for Best Anthology for The Dark Descent, and he edited multiple Nebula Award-winning novels. He is currently Senior Editor at Tor/Forge, chairs the board of directors of the World Fantasy Convention, and is one of the administrators of the Philip K. Dick Award.

Robert Holdstock was the author of Mythago Wood and the Merlin Codex trilogy. He received the BSFA and World Fantasy award for Best Short Story for the novella version of Mythago Wood, and the novel version won the BSFA award for Best Novel.

Kij Johnson is the World Fantasy Award-winning author of three novels and numerous short stories, including the World Fantasy Award finalist and Publishers Weekly favorite, Fudoki. She is most famous for her adaptations of Japanese folk tales.

Stephen King is the prolific, award-winning author of more than forty books and 100 short stories, including Carrie and The Dark Tower. Many of his novels have been adapted into successful movies such as Stand by Me and The Shawshank Redemption.

Ursula K. Le Guin was the author of The Left Hand of Darkness and the Earthsea series. She won five Hugo Awards and six Nebula awards, as well as the Library of Congress Living Legends award, among other honors.

Jonathan Lethem is the author of The Fortress of Solitude and Motherless Brooklyn. He is the recipient of a MacArthur Grant and the National Book Critics Circle Award. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Gregory Maguire is the author of Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. Wicked has been adapted into a critically-acclaimed Broadway musical. He is currently a board member for the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance, and at work on a fourth book in his Wicked Years series.

Yann Martel is the author of The Life of Pi, for which he received the Man Booker Prize in 2002. The child of diplomats, he was born in Spain and grew up all over the world. He was the first Canadian to represent the Washington Arts Commission. He is currently a scholar in residence at the University of Saskatchewan.

Maureen McHugh is the Hugo and Otherwise Award-winning (James Tiptree Jr. Award) author of four novels and numerous short stories. She is best known for her novel, China Mountain Zhang, and is currently a partner at the Alternative Reality Game company, No Mimes Media.

Patricia A. McKillip is the prolific author of more than twenty books, including The Riddle-Master Trilogy, and the World Fantasy Award-winning Ombria in Shadow. In 2008 she received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.

Steven Millhauser is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the novel Martin Dressler. His short story, “Eisenheim the Illusionist”, was adapted into the 2006 film, The Illusionist. He currently works as Professor of English at Skidmore College.

Michael Swanwick has received the Hugo, Nebula, Theodore Sturgeon, and World Fantasy Awards for his work. His novel Stations of the Tide won the Nebula and was nominated for the Hugo and Arthur C. Clarke Awards. His short story, “The Edge of the World,”: won Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award in 1989 and was nominated for both the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards.

Jacob Weisman is the World Fantasy Award-winning editor and publisher at Tachyon Publications, which he founded in 1995. His writing has appeared in The Nation, Realms of Fantasy, the Seattle Weekly, and The Cooper Point Journal. More recently, Weisman also coauthored the novellas Mingus Fingers and Egyptian Motherlode (Fairwood Press)