Game Over

Description

In the cavern-like darkness of the arcade, the neon phosphor-glow of the screen beckons you close. Drawn to the dancing pixels like a moth to a flame, digging deep in your pocket you pull out a shiny coin and thumb it into the slot as the electronic siren sings the fanfare that marks your arrival. One hand on the joystick, the other splayed across the control buttons, your pulse begins to quicken. Ready Player One Press StartYou've barely begun but suddenly the discordant bleeps are trumpeting your failure as your 8-bit adventure comes to an abrupt end. At least in the world of the video arcade you get a second chance. But what is the true price you pay when you make a pact with the digital demon? There's always another coin, an extra life to be earned, a second chance...Isn't there?GAME OVERA dozen stories of creeping dread and savage horror inspired by the humble amusement arcade and the classic coin-ops of yesteryear. Twelve tales to chill your blood by twelve masters of the malevolent and the macabre.Just keep reminding yourself, it's only a game...Isn't it?

Jonathan Green is a writer of speculative fiction, with more than sixty books to his name. Well known for his contributions to the Fighting Fantasy range of adventure gamebooks, he has also written fiction for such diverse properties as Doctor Who, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000, Sonic the Hedgehog, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Moshi Monsters, LEGO and Judge Dredd. He is the creator of the Pax Britannia series for Abaddon Books and has written eight novels set within this steampunk universe, featuring the debonair dandy adventurer Ulysses Quicksilver. He is also the author of an increasing number of non-fiction titles, including the award-winning YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks. He has recently taken to editing and compiling short story anthologies, including the critically-acclaimed GAME OVER and SHARKPUNK, published by Snowbooks. To find out more about his current projects visit www.JonathanGreenAuthor.com and follow him on Twitter @jonathangreen. Simon Bestwick lives and writes in Liverpool and is described as "a well respected member of the horror community having published stand-out short stories with several acclaimed indie presses" by Solaris Books, who also publish his signature take on suburban horror with a fantasy twist including "Redman's Hill" in 2016. Tim Major is a freelance writer and editor based in Oxford. YOU DON'T BELONG HERE is his first novel. His SF novella, BLIGHTERS, will be published by Abaddon in July 2016. His previous novella, CARUS & MITCH, was published by Omnium Gatherum in 2015 and was shortlisted for a This Is Horror Award. His short stories have featured in Interzone, Perihelion, the journal of the British Fantasy Society and numerous anthologies. He is the Editor of the SF magazine, The Singularity, and blogs at www.cosycatastrophes.wordpress.com.

Authors Website: http://isni.org/isni/0000000073357490