In the newest volume of her World Fantasy Award-winning short story collections, beloved author Jane Yolen's dark side has fully emerged. Her vivid, startling, and thrilling tales and poems of the supernatural--from icy-hearted witches to sometimes-innocent shapeshifters--reveal a classic storyteller at the height of her powers. Welcome to the Midnight Circus--and watch your step. The dark imaginings of fantasy icon Jane Yolen are not for the faint...

Told in rhyme, a bear settles on the narrator's porch, and is soon followed by many other woodland friends, until the porch collapses under the weight--but bear and his friends repair the damage and almost everybody is invited to lunch.

A young apprentice wizard saves the wizard's training hall by trusting and believing in himself.

Young Arthur meets a dragon and comes to accept him as a friend and mentor.

Thirteen-year-old Hippolyta, a princess of the Amazons, fights to save her people from destruction when her mother the Queen refuses to sacrifice her second-born male child.

Thirteen-year-old Odysseus, who longs to be a hero, has many opportunities to prove himself during an adventure which involves pirates and satyrs, a trip to Crete's Labyrinth, and the two young girls, Penelope and Helen, who play a major role in his future life.

Twelve-year-old Atalanta discovers a home and friendship with a bear, misunderstanding from town-dwellers, and grudging respect from the great hunter Orion, as together they pursue mysterious creature that killed her father.

Jane Yolen breathes new life into the timeless Camelot legend with a revamped history of King Arthur's powerful mentor: the great magician Merlin There is perhaps no more beloved and enduring myth in the Western canon than the story of King Arthur, his knights, Queen Guinevere, and of course, his mysterious tutor and magical advisor, Merlin. A sorcerer, sage, prophet, and teacher, Merlin's mysterious life has inspired a vast array of classic works...

In these twenty-eight magnificent tales, which include two Nebula Award winners, Jane Yolen puts a provocative spin on familiar storybook worlds and beloved fairy tale characters One of the most acclaimed and honored authors in science fiction and fantasy, Jane Yolen has been called "the Hans Christian Andersen of America" for her brilliant reimagining of classic fairy tales. In her first collection of short stories written for an adult audience (after...