If I Die Before I Wake: Tales of Death and Destruction

The Better Off Dead Series #9

by R.E. Sargent (editor), Steven Pajak (editor), Nick Roberts

In the blink of an eye, everything can cease to exist.
T.S. Eliot tells us in his poem “The Hollow Men” that the world will end not with a bang, but with a whimper. Well, he was wrong. Dead wrong. When death and destruction come, the screams of terror, horror, and excruciating pain will rend the blood-red sky and be heard across the world. When your number is up, there’s nowhere to run and no place to hide. You can't cheat death; death will find you. It always does.

Join us for tales of Death and Destruction in this volume of If I Die Before I Wake. From wastelands to dead lands, among the dead and dying, as the world takes one last collective gasp. Death has returned from holiday, and it’s bringing hell with it.

The Better Off Dead series delves into the farthest corners of your mind, where your deepest, darkest fears lurk. These masters of horror will haunt your dreams and stalk your nightmares, taking you to the edge of sanity before pushing you to the brink of madness!

Contains stories by Steven Pajak, R.E. Sargent, and others.
With foreword by John Durgin, author of The Cursed Among Us

Genres: Horror, Anthologies

330 pages, Hardcover

First published December 11, 2023

About the author

R.E. Sargent, the author of Relative Terror, One-Star Review and the Fury series, lives in Oregon with his wife, Sandi and their two fur children, Mason, a Bernese Mountain Dog, and Riley, a Chocolate Lab.

Born in California, R.E. spent most of his life living and working in Arizona, where he met his wife. Between them, they raised four sons. Talk about a lot of testosterone in the house!

An avid reader, R.E. fell in love with books when he was a child and the bug never went away. It was his love for the written word--and his admiration for authors such as Dean Koontz, Stephen King, Gregory Mcdonald, Paul Gallico, Donald Westlake and Roald Dahl--that persuaded him to write novels himself. Currently, he is working on the latest novel in the Fury - Scorned series.

When not working or writing, R.E. and his wife enjoy making trips to the coast and taking in the ocean air. Life doesn't get much better than watching the waves crash on the shore as the sun sets below the horizon. Well, maybe one of those drinks with the little umbrellas would make it better. You know what I mean, right?