Beyond the Pale is an anthology of 12 dark fantasy and paranormal stories that skirt the border between our world and others. Was that my imagination, or did I hear something under my bed? What was that blurred movement in my darkened closet? There is but a thin veil separating the real and the fantastic and therein dwell the inhabitants of these stories.

Beyond the Pale's award-winning and The New York Times best-selling authors present:

• "Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela" by Saladin Ahmed (author of Throne of the Crescent Moon)
• "The Children of the Shark God" by Peter S. Beagle (author of The Last Unicorn series)
• "Misery" and "Shadow Children" by Heather (Zac) Brewer (author of the Vladimir Tod series)
• "Even Hand" by Jim Butcher (author of the Dresden Files series)
• "Death Warmed Over" by Rachel Caine (author of the Weather Warden series)
• "Red Run" by Kami Garcia (coauthor of Beautiful Creatures)
• "Pale Rider" and "The Adventures of Lightning Merriemouse-Jones" by Nancy Holder (author of Wicked)
• "Frost Child" and "South" by Gillian Philip (author of the Rebel Angels series)
• "A Knot of Toads" by Jane Yolen (author of Owl Moon)

The noun “pale” refers to a stake (as in, one used for impaling vampires) or pointed piece of wood (as in, a paling fence). “Pale” came to refer to an area enclosed by a paling fence. Later, it acquired the figurative meaning of an enclosed, and therefore, safe domain. Conversely, "beyond the pale" means foreign, strange, or threatening. You are about to go beyond the pale.

Cover art by Abigail Larson. Edited by Henry Herz.