The English language is where words go to be tortured and mutilated into unrecognizable shadows of their former selves. It's where Latin, Greek, and Germanic roots are shredded apart and stitched unceremoniously back together with misunderstood snippets of languages snatched from the wreckage of conquest and colonialism. It wreaks merciless havoc upon grammar and spelling. It turns clinical terms into insults and children's tales into filthy euphemisms. With an emphasis on understanding where the foulest words in the English language came from-and the disgusting and hilarious histories behind them-this book demonstrates the true filth of our everyday words. But this book is more than just a list of vulgar words and salacious slang. It's a thoughtful analysis of why we deem words as being inappropriate as well as revealing 'good words' that have surprisingly naughty origins. Dirty-minded word nerds and lewd linguistics lovers will derive unadulterated pleasure in leering at the origins of swear words, sexual lingo, inappropriate idioms, violent vocabulary, and terminology for bodily functions-not to mention the unexpectedly foul origins of words you thought were perfectly innocent. If it's inappropriate, stomach-churning, uncomfortable, or offensive, this book reaches into the dark recesses of history and exposes them for all to see. True to the Chambers brand, this book combines humour, scholarly research and a beautiful design. It is a book to enjoy, collect and revisit time and time again.

Living in a society conditioned to fear him, young Antoine Santiago rides the New York subway and communes with the dead. With a love of history inherited from his late father, the city’s storied past is now the only friend to this loner obsessed with a long-forgotten legend about the life and tragic death of a fabled giant ape. Armed with a bargain-basement occult instruction manual and a backpack of bananas, Antoine summons the spirit of the Great Gargantuana–a kaiju-sized primate that haunts the F Train–and vows to reunite her with the only friend she knew before meeting her end on Brooklyn’s elevated tracks: Lettie, the feisty daughter of her captor, who’s now living as an elderly shut-in. One miraculous evening these three outsiders, shunned by a modern, gentrifying society that barely acknowledges their existence, converge for an alarming and otherworldly adventure of unimaginable monsters, paranormal activity and improbable friendships in this tale of NYC’s not-so-hidden magic and the cherished found families forged in the shadow of the Big Apple. REVIEWS FOR GARGANTUANA'S GHOST: "A heart-wrenching tale of old loves and fresh wounds; of what it means to find hope and strength in the dying embers of a life, or the loneliness of youth. A fresh, welcome take on what horror can mean.” — Philip Fracassi, author of A Child Alone with Strangers "An urban fantasy grounded in the reality of human cruelty, Gargantuana's Ghost is as unexpected as it is poignant. Barb infuses his unique characters with so much beauty, pain, and hope." — J.A.W. McCarthy, author of Sometimes We're Cruel and Other Stories “With a Kong-sized beating heart at its center, Patrick Barb has created an enchanting story. His deft hand takes us on a journey by way of subway and steamships, through jungles both urban and exotic, to the realms of loss and love.” — C.B. Jones, author of The Rules of the Road Proudly presented by Grey Matter Press, the independent published home of multiple award-nominated and award-winning dark fiction titles. Grey Matter Press: Where Dark Thoughts Thrive

More than 60 frightening tales. Covers all regions of the state.

His developers had also hidden all the shortcuts in human evolution into the game. In order to obtain the so-called "Life Code", a group of strong men were running amok, they were willing to do anything they could to get their hands on. National forces and large financial groups were all in place to engage in fierce battles, and the fate of the human race had changed because of this game. Ye Wei, a college student who had just graduated, would he be able to carve out a path of blood for himself?

Sam and Lizzie are freezing and hungry on the streets of Victorian London. When Sam asks a wealthy man for some coins, he is rudely turned away. Months of struggle suddenly find their focus, and Sam resolves to kill the man. Huddling in a graveyard for warmth, Sam and Lizzie are horrified to see the earth around one of the tombs begin to shift, shortly followed by the wraithlike figure of a ghostly man. He warns Sam about the future which awaits such a bitter heart, and so begins Sam's journey led by terrifying spirits through the past, present and future, after which Sam must decide whether to take the man, Scrooge's, life or not. A perfectly layered, tense and supremely satisfying twist on one of Dickens' most popular books, cleverly reinvented to entice a younger readership.