A man seeking immortality makes a bad deal with a witch. Aliens offer humanity limitless technology that will cost us our souls. A man's pregnant wife and dead sister-in-law hold the key to human survival and extinction. A woman comes to suspect her husband is a previously unknown type of vampire. One scientist's startling fossil find ends the creation vs. evolution dispute. The Fryer burns down churches, but when people are killed, he finds that there's Hell to pay. A scientist experimenting on forgotten people finds that one of them has not been forgotten, and is wanted by violent people in high places.

A wizard kidnaps the Emperor's daughter to offer her to an Eidolon in exchange for the power to bring back his murdered family. A man returns from the dead to find himself in a strange land partly of his own making, and a mission to complete.The Speed of Darkness is Michael Mina's first collection of twelve previously published short stories ranging from science fiction to fantasy to horror. His short stories have appeared in numerous magazines and have won awards. He is currently working on his first novel.