This early work by H. G. Wells was originally published in 1905 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography as part of our Cryptofiction Classics series. 'The Empire of the Ants' is a short story of a Brazilian Captain who has been sent to help a town's inhabitants fight a plague of intelligent ants. Herbert George Wells was born in Bromley, England in 1866. He apprenticed as a draper before becoming a pupil-teacher at Midhurst Grammar School in West Sussex. Some years later, Wells won a scholarship to the School of Science in London, where he developed a strong interest in biology and evolution, founding and editing the Science Schools Journal. However, he left before graduating to return to teaching, and began to focus increasingly on writing. It was in 1895 that Wells seriously established himself as a writer, with the publication of the now iconic novel, The Time Machine. Wells followed The Time Machine with the equally well-received War of the Worlds (1898), which proved highly popular in the USA. The Cryptofiction Classics series contains a collection of wonderful stories from some of the greatest authors in the genre, including Ambrose Bierce, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Jack London. From its roots in cryptozoology, this genre features bizarre, fantastical, and often terrifying tales of mythical and legendary creatures. Whether it be giant spiders, werewolves, lake monsters, or dinosaurs, the Cryptofiction Classics series offers a fantastic introduction to the world of weird creatures in fiction.

These early works by various authors were originally published in the late 19th century and early 20th century and we are now republishing them with a brand new introduction as part of our Cryptofiction Classics series. 'Weird Tales of Creepy Crawlies' contains a collection of short stories about mysterious insects and arachnids, and includes 'The Strong Spider' by Edgar Allan Poe (1846), 'The Messenger' by Robert W. Chambers (1897), 'The Empire of the Ants' by by H. G. Wells (1905), and many more. The stories in this collection were mostly written around the turn of the century. And most of them reflect what has been a pretty consistent human reaction to insects, as evidenced throughout the literary tradition – fascination and disgust, in equal measure. Despite the Romantics' best efforts, the perception of insects as repulsive, threatening and unclean – the carriers of pestilence and plague in the bible; the exemplifiers of foulness in Shakespeare – has never quite gone away. The Cryptofiction Classics series contains a collection of wonderful stories from some of the greatest authors in the genre, including Ambrose Bierce, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Jack London. From its roots in cryptozoology, this genre features bizarre, fantastical, and often terrifying tales of mythical and legendary creatures. Whether it be giant spiders, werewolves, lake monsters, or dinosaurs, the Cryptofiction Classics series offers a fantastic introduction to the world of weird creatures in fiction.

These early works by various authors were originally published in the late 19th century and early 20th century and we are now republishing them with a brand new introduction as part of our Cryptofiction Classics series. 'Cryptofiction - Volume II.' contains a collection of short stories that include 'The Messenger' by Robert W. Chambers, 'The Brazilian Cat' by Arthur Conan Doyle, 'A Relic of the Pliocene' by Jack London, and many other classic tales of strange creatures. The genre of cryptofiction has grown up in the shadow of its older brothers, science fiction and fantasy, and specialises in the concept of mysterious creatures such as sea monsters, wolf-men, and lost pre-historic creatures. Cryptofiction takes its name from another, non-literary practice: cryptozoology. This is generally regarded as a pseudoscience by mainstream scientists, relying as it does upon anecdotal, often unverifiable evidence. However, it still boasts many enthusiasts, and continues to exert considerable artistic allure. Cryptofiction is here to stay, and the stories in this collection map the development of a genre which is as strange as it is fascinating. The Cryptofiction Classics series contains a collection of wonderful stories from some of the greatest authors in the genre, including Ambrose Bierce, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Jack London. From its roots in cryptozoology, this genre features bizarre, fantastical, and often terrifying tales of mythical and legendary creatures. Whether it be giant spiders, werewolves, lake monsters, or dinosaurs, the Cryptofiction Classics series offers a fantastic introduction to the world of weird creatures in fiction.