When 16-year-old Chris Martino moves with his mother to Los Angeles from New Jersey, he inadvertently befriends nerdy classmate Roger "Horseface" Obst. Chris writes Roger a note in lemon juice-"invisible ink"-but later a different message appears, and it becomes obvious that a terrifyingly omnipotent force is about to ensnare Roger in its net of darkness. While Roger senses an opportunity for revenge against his student tormentors, Chris resists this evil presence, which identifies itself as Othersyde; therein lies the book's most forceful conflict. As the terror escalates, a policewoman and a sympathetic teacher become involved with the evil around them-and with each other.

Can anything be darker than noir? Try Frank Miller's Sin City series. The tasty Hell and Back features Wallace, a brooding artist with a decided talent for hurting people, and Esther, a stunningly beautiful actress accidentally mixed up in a slavery ring that extends far and deep enough to transcend the word conspiracy. The tale twists, turns, and backtracks, teasing the reader with hints of terror to come—until the explosive climax. Miller's art is exactly right for his words; he uses more black than white, and color only when appropriate. The chapter dealing with Wallace's drug hallucinations is beautiful, heartbreaking, and terrifying in turn. Readers interested in the human dark side should find out what fans of Sin City already know: Frank Miller has seen it and wants to share. —Rob Lightner

John Constantine, the main character in Hellblazer, was originally a very minor character in DC Comics'Swamp Thing. Next came his only series, in which this hard-smoking, hard-drinking, all around manipulator walked the thin line of magic between this world and hell. So when Irishman Garth Ennis was asked to write this comic book, he had asked himself, "What could I possibly do to John Constantine that hadn't been done before? And one course of action suddenly stood out above all others: Kill him." The result is a tense supernatural drama that begins with Constantine being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Though this book only hints at the freeform casualness and over-the-top vulgarity that became Ennis's trademark in the Preacher series, this is an immensely enjoyable read with strong characters and dynamite plot twists. —Jim Pascoe

Enochian World of Aleister Crowley gives the student immediate access to the worlds most powerful, yet misunderstood, system of magick. Crowleys work was the launching pad for all that followed. Originally published in 1912, it rent the veil of the Inner Order of the Golden Dawn and revealed its most precious jewel for all to see. For the first time, the reader is provided with instructions that bridge the gap between the material and spiritual worlds by integrating Enochiana with Sex Magick. Mr. DuQuette and Dr. Hyatt bring over forty years of practical experience in the field to show you how to start using this powerful system right now.

Masterfully combining the genres of crime stories and super-heroes, SLEEPER provides a dark, humanizing exploration of the criminal world. As an undercover agent in a complex super-villain organization, Holden Carver has become caught in a web of moral uncertainty.

Working on the idea that faeries are not merely mythological creatures or elemental archetypes, but actual beings who can aid in pagan rituals and magic, McCoy tells the reader where to find them, how to call them (or protect against them), spells and rituals involving the little people and a rather helpful dictionary of faery folk from around the world. I'm impressed with the amount of actually helpful information which McCoy has included in this book.

The story of The Town Below the Ground is one of the most disturbing in the annals of Scottish history. For almost 250 years, Edinburgh was surrounded by a giant defensive wall and, unable to expand its boundaries, it became the most densely populated city in Europe. When buildings could go no higher, people were forced to construct new edifices over the existing structures. An underground slum developed, where subterranean dwellers lived in darkness and abject poverty, ignored by chroniclers of the time. Edinburgh's population eventually came to believe that the city-out of sight and out of mind since its abandonment in the mid-19th century-had never been there at all. This is the first book to fully chronicle Edinburgh's Town Below the Ground: its history and structure; its inhabitants and the lives they led; the story of its rediscovery; the parts that still remain; and the tales that made it legendary.