Dark Minds : Horror & Dark Fantasy Writers: Recent Episodes
Alan Warren
For the best in Horror listen to our newest podcast series 'Dark Minds' Here we talk with the creators of some of the most ingenious suspense, horror, and dark fantasy writing to find out how they get there. We will go through their process and what influenced them to get into writing and keeps them interested. From the makers of the House of Mystery radio show Alan R Warren.
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Monster slayer Sandra Barlowe ventures to Madrugar, Mexico to investigate the brutal death of a local rancher. While the signs initially point to a vampire, the deeper she dives into her investigation, the more the murder appears to be the handiwork of something else…something much more terrifying.
Symbols of a legendary creature start appearing everywhere as graffiti, and as sightings and bodies pile up, Sandra suspects the horrifying cryptid is at the center of it all. In the middle of a labor war and political upheaval, Sandra must hunt the legendary cryptid while navigating a treacherous maze of dangerous creatures and unscrupulous characters.
The question looms - is Sandra the hunter, or is the cryptid the predator, stalking its prey? The pulse-pounding hunt is on!
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The next high concept horror novel from New York Times bestselling author Christopher Golden.
Across Italy there are many half-empty towns, nearly abandoned by those who migrate to the coast or to cities. The beautiful, crumbling hilltop town of Becchina is among them, but its mayor has taken drastic measures to rebuild—selling abandoned homes to anyone in the world for a single Euro, as long as the buyer promises to live there for at least five years.
It’s a no-brainer for American couple Tommy and Kate Puglisi. Both work remotely, and Becchina is the home of Tommy’s grandparents, his closest living relatives. It feels like a romantic adventure, an opportunity the young couple would be crazy not to seize. But from the moment they move in, they both feel a shadow has fallen on them. Tommy’s grandmother is furious, even a little frightened, when she realizes which house they’ve bought.
There are rooms in an annex at the back of the house that they didn’t know were there. The place makes strange noises at night, locked doors are suddenly open, and when they go to a family gathering, they’re certain people are whispering about them, and about their house, which one neighbor refers to as The House of Last Resort. Soon, they learn that the home was owned for generations by the Church, but the real secret, and the true dread, is unlocked when they finally learn what the priests were doing in this house for all those long years…and how many people died in the strange chapel inside. While down in the catacombs beneath Becchina…something stirs.
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As the sun sets over New Orleans, two brothers, John and Wayne Carter, find themselves standing in a French Quarter alleyway, their clothes stained with blood, and their minds foggy. They have no memory of how they got there or what they have done. All they can recall is a new friend, Jacques St. Germain offered them a deal - work for him, and he will give them a home, purpose, and power.
While the brothers sink deeper into compelled crimes, they are plagued by nightmares and memories they can't explain. Through a romantic interest of John, the Carters seek the help of her aunt, a voodoo queen, who recognizes their plight and a danger to her own family. With guidance, they unlock memories of their past and learn about the dark deeds they were forced to participate in.
The brothers race against time to break Jacques' hold before they are turned and forced to serve him for eternity. But the old vampire is not so easily defeated, and the brothers find themselves in a final showdown with Jacques.
Enter the origin story legend and the hidden world of the Big Easy where paths intertwine with serial killers, witchcraft, and a bloodline of the dead that existed well before Prohibition in the Crescent City.
Laissez les bons temps rouler.
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No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
In the scorching summer of 1988, amidst the frenzy of the Satanic Panic gripping the nation, private detective O’Keefe finds himself thrust into a trial like no other. As he strives to establish his fledgling agency, the last thing he anticipates is being drawn into a harrowing legal battle. But when Virginia Montrose, “Miss Ginny” to her students and his daughter Kelly’s most beloved teacher, is accused of heinous crimes against her current and former students, O’Keefe faces a moral quandary unlike any before.
Despite the risks and the overwhelming stigma, O’Keefe’s encounter with the shadowy child protection figures driving the prosecution sparks a fierce determination to seek truth and justice.
In this gripping tale of courage and conviction, O’Keefe's resolve is put to the ultimate test as he confronts the darkest facets of human nature and dares to challenge the prevailing hysteria. O’Keefe must summon every ounce of his strength to uncover the shocking truth while struggling to reverse the relentless tide of injustice.
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The Sino-Nippon war is over. It is 2113 and Japan is crushed under the might of Chinese-Allied Forces. A former Coalition Corps soldier, US Marine Balaam Hendrix is now a feared bounty hunter known as ‘The Reverend’. In the sprawl of NeuTokyo, on this lawless frontier, he must track down the rogue employee of a notorious crime lord. But, there’s a twist. His target has found protection inside a virtual reality construct and Hendrix must go cyber-side to corner his quarry. The glowing neon signs for SIN:THETICA are everywhere, and promise escape from a dystopian reality. But will it prove the means by which this hunter snares his prey, or will it be the trap he simply can’t survive?
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In 2059 two very different groups have their minds uploaded into a quantum computer in Waterloo, Ontario.
One group consists of astronauts preparing for Earth’s first interstellar voyage. The other? Convicted murderers, serving their sentences in a virtual-reality prison.
But when disaster strikes, the astronauts and the prisoners must download back into physical reality and find a way to work together to save Earth from destruction.
The Downloaded debuted in a six-month exclusive window as an Audible Original narrated by Academy Award-winner Brendan Fraser promoted by national TV and radio ad campaigns. This print edition is coming out immediately after Audible’s exclusivity ends and is being supported by a six-city cross-Canada author book tour.
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Bram Stoker, his life, his research and writing of Dracula to promote a documentary film called Father of Dracula, being made by an Irish film maker, Jason Figgis, and written by John West. I have contributed years of research and do the narration on the film.
Dracula is the most famous horror character in literature. Over a hundred years after the publication of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, (1897) the character still has the power to fascinate and horrify us.
The image of the undead vampire as a symbol of evil is now firmly embedded in our collective consciousness, thanks to Stoker. Paradoxically, Dracula has also be-come a symbol of forbidden lust thanks to the later portrayals of the character by Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Frank Langella and Gary Oldman etc. etc.
But what of Bram Stoker, the man behind the creation? Sadly, he left no autobiography and precious little first-hand source material for us to better understand his life and inspirations for his writing of Dracula. For most, he is a shadowy or un-known figure, a man long since eclipsed by the character that he created. However, by examining his private journals, notes, and the memories of those who knew him, we can piece together an account of his life and learn much about the man who became the father of Dracula.
With this documentary, we aim to reveal the man and how he came to create the Prince of Darkness, Count Dracula. Written by author and historian John West and directed by Jason Figgis, an award-winning IFTA-nominated film and TV director, this unique documentary, narrated by Dacre Stoker, the great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker, looks at the life of his illustrious ancestor. It will cover his early life, his mysterious childhood illness, his days as a student in Dublin, his successful career as Sir Henry Irving’s manager at the Lyceum Theater and, of course, how he came to write Dracula. We will look into how Bram Stoker gathered his research in different libraries and archives and how he utilized the vampire myth that already existed across Europe and North America to bring to life literature’s greatest horror icon.
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No one ever knows what lurks beyond the light until it's too late. And for the unsuspecting victims, their worst nightmares come to life when they venture too far into the darkness. For where light is void, so are all forms of evil and unmentionable horrors. In 'Shadows by Gaslight,' you'll journey through cobblestone streets and opulent parlors to uncover captivating tales that define an era of Victoria lore. From the notorious criminals who haunted the night while authorities rallied at a frenetic pace to unravel mysterious unexplained deaths and missing persons. Here, you'll follow tales of the relentless pursuit of justice by reformers like Dickens and Florence Nightingale. This riveting exploration delves deep into the complexities of Victorian society, where enigmatic figures like Jack the Ripper and other social reformers cast long shadows over an age marked by political turmoil, social unrest, and the paradoxes of progress. While illuminating the legacy of humanity, resilience, and reform, this book invites readers to step into the shadows and discover the enduring mysteries of Victorian true crime.
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Arcane archivist Harper has always been plagued by dreams of grotesque creatures and bloody deaths. When she bumps into a ghostwalker in the Shambles and has a visceral experience of his execution, she knows it’s a foretelling. Yet fear of the Queen’s Guard stops her speaking out. When her vision indeed comes true, the unusual markings on the ghostwalker’s corpse, combined with his neatly excised vocal cords, send a ripple of terror through York.
The witch hunt is on. As the body count rises, Harper knows her magic is the only way to find the killer – if she can avoid being hanged as a witch. To protect both human and supernatural, Harper walks the thin line between their worlds. She and her demonhunter foster-sister form a multi-faith team with a forensic scientist, a spirit Harper accidentally summoned, and a techno-witch, to catch the killer before more people die.
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Tree planters on the run from parasitic insects. A physicist who has become the target of a murderous airline. Teenagers trapped in a museum with an eldritch horror. An escaped pit fighter thrust into a desperate stand at a sagging mountain fortress. And a luckless cowboy sailing across a sea of grass to the bloody resurrection of an elder god. Welcome to Joel McKay's It Came from the Trees and Other Violent Aberrations, a collection of five page-turners as strange, disparate and bloody as their titles suggest.
So, grab a stiff drink, turn the lights down low, settle into your favorite reading nook and enjoy this brief but memorable collection of tales from one of the newest voices in Canadian pulp fiction.
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Brigids Gate Press, an indie press established in 2021 by Heather, Clyde, and S.D. Ventura-Vassallo, believes in the power of STORY. We seek to be a forge where new and established talents are refined and developed, and their stories shaped and tempered into beautiful, dark, mysterious, and thrilling tales that will delight readers. Above all, we seek to do our utmost to help and encourage writers on their journeys.
Underrepresented authors are welcome. Unagented and agented authors are welcome.
Currently, our focus is on horror, dark fantasy, poetry, and romance. We aren't afraid of mash-ups of more than one genre and will go the extra mile to market those books in a way that gets into the right readers' hands. As of now, we use print on demand services via Amazon and IngramSpark. This allows us to keep upfront print costs low while allotting more of the budget to anthologies, art, and marketing. Using print on demand also allows us to take risks on manuscripts that may be harder to place with other publishers. Our goal is to get your story out into the world. Afterall, someone, somewhere, is eagerly awaiting it.
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Classic horror monsters never die. Like Count Dracula, the Great Old Ones, Scrooge's Christmas ghosts, and the stories of Edgar Allan Poe they continue to haunt readers. Now these legendary characters are going to meet for the first time. And for some, it will be the last time.
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Classic horror monsters never die. Like Count Dracula, the Great Old Ones, Scrooge's Christmas ghosts, and the stories of Edgar Allan Poe they continue to haunt readers. Now these legendary characters are going to meet for the first time. And for some, it will be the last time.
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Somewhere in the back of Pastor Tuckers unhinged mind, where murderous thoughts swarmed with contempt for every soul around him, a dark nursery rhyme began to whisper its unpleasantries.
And as the blood lust began to boil and overtake the God-fearing Pastor; from somewhere deep down within the holy man’s suppressed memories a familiar tune began to unconsciously join the broken symphony forming in his fractured mind.
Its melodious melody and suggestive lyrics began to weave their influential suggestions amongst the crazy man’s homicidal thoughts.
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In 1823, Josiah Hale built his family a grand home in the sultry heat and blinding glare of the Deep South.
It wasn’t long before the shadows crept in. Now, two hundred years later, this grand home stands forlorn, abandoned, blank windows reflecting only darkness.
Some houses carry lasting impressions of those who have lived and died there.
Some places still bear the scars of past tragedies.
Some buildings are heavy with the spirits of the dead.
Hale House outweighs them all.
But wait.
The front gate is creaking slowly open, welcoming, beckoning, luring you in…
You have been invited.
Come tour the most haunted location in the world.
Come visit our House of Haunts.
23 rooms. 23 ghosts. 23 stories.
Will you survive them all?
Featuring Stories From
Christy Aldridge * Brooklyn Ann * Simon Bleaken *Jay Bower
Clay McLeod Chapman * Heather Daughrity * Joe DeRouen
William J. Donahue * J-F. Dubeau * Joshua Loyd Fox * Jennifer Anne Gordon
Gage Greenwood * Justin Holley * Jo Kaplan * Ronald Kelly
Marie Lanza * Caitlin Marceau * D.E. McCluskey * Jeremy Megargee
Joe Scipione * Samantha Underhill * Mer Whinery * Mercedes M. Yardley
Foreword by Josh Malerman
Edited by Heather Daughrity
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The terrifying sequel to the acclaimed New York Times and USA TODAYbestselling novel Chasing the Boogeyman, which was hailed as “genuinely chilling and something brand-new and exciting” (Stephen King) and “unforgettable” (Harlan Coben).
A riveting, haunting sequel to the New York Times bestselling thriller Chasing the Boogeyman—a tale of obsession and the adulation of evil, exploring modern society’s true-crime obsession with unflinching honesty, sparing no one from the glare of the spotlight. Will those involved walk away from the story of a lifetime in order to keep their loved ones safe? Or will they once again be drawn into a killer’s web? As the story draws to its shattering conclusion, only one person holds all the answers—and he just may be the most terrifying monster of them all.
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Something Ancient has awakened on Grove Island.
Something has slept for millennia. Patient, wise, and hungry. Something that hunted the forest primeval and howled under black skies. Something that knows the human animal better than any human.
Kenny McCord had the American Dream - more than he could have ever imagined growing up in Elton Township. But all of that is over, and he is headed home a broken man. However, Kenny is not the only prodigal son of Elton Township. His childhood best friend has returned as well. A dangerously charismatic man will make Kenny and Elton Township pay for the sins of the past.
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Bram Stoker: Author of Dracula is an affectionate and revealing biography of the man who created the vampire novel that would define the genre and lead to a new age in Gothic horror literature.
Based on decades of painstaking research in libraries, museums, and university archives and privileged access to private collections on both sides of the Atlantic, the private letters of Bram and the reminiscences of those who knew him not only shed new light on Stoker's ancestry, his life, loves and friendships they also reveal more about the places and people who inspired him and how he researched and wrote his books. Bram wrote numerous articles, short stories and poetry for newspapers and magazines, he had a total of eleven novels and two collections of short stories published in his lifetime, but he would only become known for one of them – Dracula. Tragically, he did not live long enough to see it as a huge success.
In his heyday as Acting Manager for Sir Henry Irving at the Lyceum Theatre in the West End of London, Bram was a well-known figure in a golden age of British theater. He was a big-framed, ebullient, genial, gentleman, with red hair and beard, who never lost his soft Irish brogue, was blessed with wit, and a host of entertaining stories fit for every occasion. Described as having the paw of Hercules and the smile of Machiavelli, above all he knew what it meant to be a loyal friend.
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2023 Alan R Warren & David North Martino
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The Japanese Box is a story that blends memoir, creative nonfiction, and the horror of a coming-of-age
story, and a coming of middle-aged story.
Imagine growing up with a reflection that is often absent, and a Japanese box that is filled with things that
should never have been there.
Memories.
Violence.
The Japanese Box is a love letter to anxiety, trauma, grief, and longing. It is a story of a child becoming
an adult, and all the ghosts and misfortunes that happen in order to survive.
The Lithium Moon: Simone is an artist by day, and an emotionally abused wife at night. She is a
successful artist with a long history of schizoid effective disorder with bipolar tendencies.
When her marriage goes from good to bad, she suffers her first miscarriage. The tragedy coincides with a
wolf moon—Trauma and magic converge seem to converge in Simone’s head.
This story explores sadness, illness, hallucinations, full moons, and the creative process.
What Stage of Grief is not a poem, or a song, but a dirge.
Fantasy and facts, this poem walks a fine line between nightmares and memories. Grief stories and love
stories. Dogs, and drama. Nightmares, and nevermore.
Three unique voices in today's horror bring you new takes on an old power that threatens to reshape our world. Celtic legends are reborn within these pages, with fresh stories guaranteed to spark nightmares in the vein of Grimm's pre-Disneyfied fairy tales.
A Knot Within A Knot by Jason Parent: A man survives a plane crash only to find himself in darker circumstances, with a winter storm on the horizon and an orphaned child in tow. An elderly woman faces off against a god of night and his steed from the confines of her airplane seat, while another hides from night and storm in the hope of a new dawn. Unbeknownst to them, their fates are linked and dependent upon the next two tales.
Bound in the Valley of Balor by Curtis M. Lawson: After surviving a plane crash, a corrupt federal agent and a mob informant find themselves stranded in a remote valley. Blood spilled during a conflict between the two awakens an ancient evil bound beneath the valley. Can either of them escape from The Valley of Balor?
Summons by William Meikle (part of hisMythos of Sigils & Totems): Would you fall slave to the rhythm?
He came to Scotland after the death of his wife in search of peace. But the old house is restless. Something is waking, something noisy, something that will not be denied.
His search for meaning in the face of ever increasing activity in the house leads him down strange occult pathways, into deep history and a story that is racing to a finish.
The rhythm calls to him. Will he fall slave to it? Or is there a path to be the drum master before it subsumes him utterly?
This Celtic horror anthology is perfect for fans of folk horror, myths and legends, supernatural horror fiction, Grimm fairy tales, and Scottish survival horror, or fans of Ritual by Adam Nevill, Bag of Bones by Stephen King, or the legendary Ramsey Cambell.
Crystal Lake’s Dark Tide series will continue soon with more tales of Mystery Thrillers and Horror Books, including themes of Weird Western, Sherlock Holmes, Grief Horror, Body Horror, Mystery fiction, Travel Horror, Deadly Duos, and Psychological Thriller books.
Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.
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A Knot Within A Knot by Jason Parent:A man survives a plane crash only to find himself in darker circumstances, with a winter storm on the horizon and an orphaned child in tow. An elderly woman faces off against a god of night and his steed from the confines of her airplane seat, while another hides from night and storm in the hope of a new dawn. Unbeknownst to them, their fates are linked and dependent upon the next two tales.
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The third terrifying volume in the award-winning anthology series of original queer horror.
Like the final girl in a slasher film, the LGBTQIA community knows first-hand what it’s like to fight for its survival. Beaten and bloodied after an extended chase scene through modern-day politics and the courts, we think we’ve triumphed and conquered our oppressors. We breathe a little easier knowing our rainbow is ascending in the distance. But—like the indestructible slasher villain—our enemies rise up again and again, as if on a looping third-act jump scare. It’s a seemingly never-ending return to battle as the pendulum of progress swings back.
In this third volume of the award-winning anthology series, the darkest minds from both the LGBT+ and horror literary communities join forces to bring readers an all-new collection of terrifying tales from that line on the horizon where the dark rainbow rises.
Stories by Chad Helder, Hailey Piper, Mathew L. Reyes, A.P. Thayer, J. Daniel Stone, Yah Yah Scholfield, Oliver Nash, Holly Lyn Walrath, Paul Tremblay, Carmilla Voiez, James Cato, Lucy A. Snyder, Maxwell I. Gold, Zachary Rosenberg, Matthew Blain-Hartung, Maryse Meijer, Vincent Kovar, CG Inglis, Craig Laurance Gidney, Dan Coxon, Kaitlin Tremblay, Michael Thomas Ford, Craig Brownlie, Amanda M. Blake, Sara Tantlinger, and Eric LaRocca. Edited by Vince A. Liaguno.
Praise for Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadows of the Closet: “There is much to praise in Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadows of the Closet, a sharp, new gay-themed anthology. The 24 entries comprise a sophisticated collection of topnotch tales of terror, most of which could appear in any fright anthology without qualification and suggest the maturing of ‘gay horror’ into a viable and solid genre indeed.”—Fangoria Magazine
Praise for Unspeakable Horror 2: Abominations of Desire: “If Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadowsof the Closet helped to establish speculative fiction as a mature and important genre for queer fiction when it was published about a decade ago, then Unspeakable Horror 2: Abominations of Desire takes it to new heights and creates an expectation of excellence. Tightly written and edited, free of tropes and mundane writing, these stories propel the queer horror genre to scare us while making a statement about our world and accomplish it with the best of writing possible.”—Lambda Literary Review
Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.
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Three unique voices in today's horror bring you new takes on an old power that threatens to reshape our world. Celtic legends are reborn within these pages, with fresh stories guaranteed to spark nightmares in the vein of Grimm's pre-Disneyfied fairy tales.
A Knot Within A Knot by Jason Parent: A man survives a plane crash only to find himself in darker circumstances, with a winter storm on the horizon and an orphaned child in tow. An elderly woman faces off against a god of night and his steed from the confines of her airplane seat, while another hides from night and storm in the hope of a new dawn. Unbeknownst to them, their fates are linked and dependent upon the next two tales.
Bound in the Valley of Balor by Curtis M. Lawson: After surviving a plane crash, a corrupt federal agent and a mob informant find themselves stranded in a remote valley. Blood spilled during a conflict between the two awakens an ancient evil bound beneath the valley. Can either of them escape from The Valley of Balor?
Summons by William Meikle (part of hisMythos of Sigils & Totems): Would you fall slave to the rhythm?
He came to Scotland after the death of his wife in search of peace. But the old house is restless. Something is waking, something noisy, something that will not be denied.
His search for meaning in the face of ever increasing activity in the house leads him down strange occult pathways, into deep history and a story that is racing to a finish.
The rhythm calls to him. Will he fall slave to it? Or is there a path to be the drum master before it subsumes him utterly?
This Celtic horror anthology is perfect for fans of folk horror, myths and legends, supernatural horror fiction, Grimm fairy tales, and Scottish survival horror, or fans of Ritual by Adam Nevill, Bag of Bones by Stephen King, or the legendary Ramsey Cambell.
Crystal Lake’s Dark Tide series will continue soon with more tales of Mystery Thrillers and Horror Books, including themes of Weird Western, Sherlock Holmes, Grief Horror, Body Horror, Mystery fiction, Travel Horror, Deadly Duos, and Psychological Thriller books.
Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Something is outside; in the fields, by the ditches, on the roads. Something old and cruel and vicious.
When Luke Sheridan moves out of Dublin city to rural Kilcross with his wife and baby, he imagines the worst part will be his extended commute to work. They can look forward to enjoying the countryside and being part of a small community. After all, his old friend Declan Maguire lives in the house next door and is a Garda in the nearest town.
But Declan’s devilish attitude towards drink, drugs and women means trouble is never far from his door. And worse, gruesome murders and the appearance of sinister figures at night mean the countryside is becoming a very dangerous place to live.
Country Roads—don’t go outside alone.
"the patient routine is a merciless, anxiety-charged, possible-apocalypse, possible-zombie thriller, long narrative poem about the body in maddening conversation with itself. luna rey hall takes us through the terrifying halls of a hospital in lockdown while deftly exploring an immensely personal journey through the shifting realities of an over-medicalized mind, a body snared in systems that do not understand or serve it. The tension between inner and outer worlds is relentless and the body horror hits all the worst/best buttons while raising philosophical questions of identity and power. What a torturously smart little book."
— Joe Koch, author of The Wingspan of Severed Handsand Convulsive
Ashton is convinced they are dying. whether it be from cancer, heart disease, or a fungal infection, they know something bad is always about to happen. after a night of health-related panic attacks, & urged by a voice in their head, Ashton decides to check in to the ER again but when another patient is brought in with an unknown ailment that puts the entire hospital on lockdown, Ashton may be trapped in their worst nightmare.
What if you had been kidnapped by a serial killer and your only hope of escape was cut off by rising floodwater?
“A terrifying descent into a nightmarish scenario, rendered with skill, imagination and a merciless desire to immerse the reader in undiluted horror. This is a terrific work of horror fiction by one of Australia's best genre writers. I couldn't put it down.”—Jamie Blanks, director of Urban Legend and Valentine
The Australian Outback is a place mired in myth, folklore, and rumour that’s inspired some of the best horror fiction and creature horror books. Some say it’s full of deadly creatures. Others claim it’s rife with serial killers hunting for backpackers and stranded tourists. Whatever the cause, young people in central Queensland are disappearing and the locals are frightened.
Katy is fresh from college and ready to research and write her magnum opus, a book investigating the many disappearances of outback youths in Australia. When she meets Kip, a guitarist on his way to the city, she knows she’s onto something good and that she can prove her hypothesis: there’s nothing there for the youth of today and they’re running away, searching for employment and prospects in the city.
Unfortunately, she’s wrong. In this terrifying cosmic horror book, there is a killer in the outback. One that thinks God is the ancient creature that lurks in the swamps near his property. With floodwaters rising, he’s certain Katy and Kip are the sacrifices that will allow the entity to emerge from the morass and cleanse the world of sinners. One terrifying abduction later, he has them both imprisoned.
As they struggle to escape the terror and the torture, their desperate fight for survival will lead only to more horror. Because their kidnapper is not crazy. His god is real. His god is hungry, and it is screaming to be reborn.
Aurealis-nominated Australian author Zachary Ashford turns his attention to the isolation of the outback with this fast-paced horror. The tension thrums. The brutality screams. The desperation of his protagonists’ plight bleeds from the page. For fans of extreme horror, splatterpunk, gore, violent films like Wolf Creek, or international movies like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and the grotesque creatures of movies like Aliens, The Thing, or The Fly, The Morass: Servant of the Fly God is not to be missed.
Will Katy and Kip survive? Will their killer succeed? Will the God in the swamp take over the world. Buy this supernatural thriller book now, and discover their fate.
Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.
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According to Dante, a sin is the misdirection of love - the human will, or essentially, the direction of our beings. Love the Sinner is an examination of just how those sins can kaleidoscope into horrific consequences creating a distorted and deadly landscape. These stories stand stark before you in full glaring misstep and macabre to show the human psyche in all its twisted reality.
From grief and its rage to medical meddling to ensure a new world order to bloody revenge within a quantum leap, these stories seek to solidify one absolute truth: man is the scariest monster.
When Scott Nelson first meets Natalie, all he can think about is slitting her throat. Until he realizes they share alarmingly similar homelives. Scott is an outcast with an abusive father, while Natalie is a punk with colorful hair and dreams of being an artist to avoid ever speaking to her family again.
Believing that distance from his father’s violent tendencies will relieve Scott of his own rage, he and Natalie do the only thing they can to break free of their abusive families: run away.
As soon as they pack up Natalie’s rusty Volkswagen in the middle of the night and begin their new lives, Scott’s gruesome cravings become harder to ignore. Blending in for the sake of a future with Natalie, Scott does his best to block out the violent thoughts fighting to take hold.
But he can only contain his murderous cravings for so long. After watching a stranger overdose at a party, Scott can’t deny his urges. From that night on, Scott’s hands are caked with the blood of young girls. Young girls who resemble Natalie …
From Nick Roberts, the best-selling author of The Exorcist's House and Anathema, comes fifteen dark tales that are as horrific as they are moving.
“Come for the horror, stay for the heartbreaking emotion that bleeds into every page. Roberts really shows his range here, and it’s obvious early on in these stories that they will stick with you long after reading them. It Haunts The Mind is that damn good.”—John Durgin, author of The Cursed Among Us and Inside The Devil’s Nest.
Witness absolute evil in “Sally Under the Bed” and “It Haunts the Mind.” Endure vengeance and violence in “The Noose” and “The Bitter End.” Face the realities of addiction and grief in “Thanks for Sharing” and “The Weeping Wind.” Survive otherworldly monsters in “The Paperboy” and “Voodoo Bay.”
In balancing the terrors of the supernatural with the horrors of real life, this collection drags you down the dark alleys of a haunted mind, forcing you to confront your demons, both real and imaginary.
“Nick Roberts has an uncanny ability to scare the bejesus out of readers. With It Haunts the Mind & Other Stories, he does it time and time again. Highly recommended if you don’t want to sleep in the dark again.”—James Aquilone, Bram Stoker Award nominated editor and writer of Classic Monsters Unleashed, Shakespeare Unleashed, and Kolchak: The Night Stalker - 50th Anniversary
This horror fiction book is perfect for fans of horror short stories, short story anthologies, horror collections, U.S. Horror fiction, ghost fiction, suspense horror, stories about substance abuse, possession, and coming of age horror.
Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.
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Septic by Mark Allan Gunnells: The year is 1988. When Carl finds himself trapped in a school bathroom with a faulty lock over Christmas break, things seem bad. When the pain in his abdomen increases and he realizes his appendix has burst, things get worse. Can he manage to free himself in time?
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Sometimes the deepest wounds are from those we hold the closest.
In her debut collection, Bram Stoker Award-winner Jess Landry blurs the line between genres, magnifying the darkness in the spaces in between, and confronting those relationships that are nearest and dearest to us in the most horrific ways.
A mother and her daughter escape Nazi Germany, boarding the Hindenburg under the promise of a new life. An abused musical protégé discovers that her rage fuels much more than her cello-playing abilities. A hardened police officer finds something unexpected in the rising flood waters of her evacuated hometown. A woman ventures out onto the sea, in hopes of finding a mysterious mist where the dead roam freely. A strange tar infests the home of a young girl, swallowing everything in its wake, including her mother. Two broken women form a tragic bond while searching for a missing person in the dead of winter.
Mothers. Daughters. Sisters. Friends. No one is safe.
This collection of scary short stories is perfect for fans of Gwendolyn Kiste, SP Miskowski, Gemma Files, and Nadia Bulkin, as well as mystery and suspense short stories.
Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.
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Prepare for adventure as Juliana, a nineteen-year-old Brazilian, finds herself forced to run from an occult overlord, leaving her sister in peril. Temporarily safe, Juliana works to save money for Vilma’s rescue—and along the way, meets Patrick, a rich-boy mountain climber with friends in high places.
Angus Addison wants to see his corporate flag on the summit of Mount Everest—carried there by the first woman in history—but the Himalayas are no joke. Failure could cost both sisters their lives.
Juliana weighs the risks and rewards—for even if she raises the cash, she still must figure a way to free Vilma from the same man she ran from—a man known to his disciples as The Farmer.
A family's relocation looked like a chance to relax and regroup—but as they settle into their new home, teenage Kimmie Barnes’ special senses make her the target of something primordial, evil, and utterly malign.
Darkness…
Golden Oaks, California is a sleepy town on the shores of Oro Lake, and the residents have no idea what horrors lurk below the glittering waters.
Beneath the waves…
One by one, as people begin to disappear, the once quiet town is soon in the grips of a waking nightmare. An unimaginable horror consuming everything before it.
Hungry…
All while echoes of an ancient evil spread out like malignant spider webs, like dead hands reaching, grasping…
Kyle Toucher (rhymes with voucher) wrote his first Godzilla story in grade school, read The Exorcist at the age of fourteen, then bought a guitar when Black Sabbath: Volume 4 changed his life. Through his twenties, he fronted the influential Nardcore crossover band Dr. Know, made records, hit the road, and deliberately ignored college. Later, he moved into the Visual Effects field, where he bagged eight Emmy nominations and two awards for Firefly and Battlestar: Galactica. Recent credits include Top Gun: Maverick, The Orville, and defense industry clients.
Six additional titles have run in Shallow Waters; Freezer Burn, FLIGHT 2320, Note To Sanderson, The Nightman’s Last Shift, We Should Be On Our Way From Here, and This Is a Greedy, Jealous House. Other creatures released into the wild include Strange Acres, Hell’s Infirmary, The House on Beltane Road, and Billy Beauchamp, Discount Exorcist. He also has two novels currently in search of a place to land.
He lives with his wife, five cats, two dogs, and several guitars in a secure, undisclosed location.
Www.kyletoucher.monster
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Preston & Child continue their #1 bestselling series featuring FBI Special Agent Pendergast and Constance Greene, as they cross paths with New York’s deadliest serial killer: Pendergast’s own ancestor…and now his greatest foe.
AN INCREDIBLE JOURNEY
Astoundingly, Constance has found a way back to the place of her origins, New York City in the late 1800s, leaping at the chance, although it means leaving the present forever.
A DESPERATE OPPORTUNITY
Constance sets off on a quest to prevent the events that lead to the deaths of her sister and brother. But along the road to redemption, Manhattan’s most infamous serial killer, Dr. Enoch Leng, lies in wait, ready to strike at the slightest provocation.
UNIMAGINABLE ODDS
Meanwhile, in contemporary New York, Pendergast feverishly searches for a way to reunite with Constance—but will he discover a way back to her before it’s too late?
On his 59th birthday, Tyson Parks—a famous, but struggling, horror writer—receives an antique desk from his partner, Sarah, in the hopes it will rekindle his creative juices. Perhaps inspire him to write another best-selling novel and prove his best years aren’t behind him.
A continent away, a mysterious woman makes inquiries with her sources around the world, seeking the whereabouts of a certain artifact her family has been hunting for centuries. With the help of a New York City private detective, she finally finds what she’s been looking for.
It’s in the home of Tyson Parks.-
Meanwhile, as Tyson begins to use his new desk, he begins acting... strange. Violent. His writing more disturbing than anything he’s done before. But publishers are paying top dollar, convinced his new work will be a hit, and Tyson will do whatever it takes to protect his newfound success. Even if it means the destruction of the ones he loves.
Sharpshooter Melinda West, 29, has encountered more than her share of supernatural creatures after a monster infection killed her mother. Now, Melinda and her charismatic partner, Lance, offer their exterminating services to desperate towns, fighting everything from giant flying scorpions to psychic bugs. But when they accidentally release a demon, they must track a dangerous outlaw across treacherous lands and battle a menagerie of creatures—all before an army of soul-devouring monsters descend on Earth
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It's winter in Chicago and Billy Cochran (Dylan LaRay) can't stop alienating the people around him. His mother Gina (Lynn Lowry) is in and out of the hospital and her mind is breaking down, caught between her glory days as a Southern belle and her current state of decay. One night, Billy gets an unexpected visitor: a rat that springs out of his bathroom and bites him. At first, everything seems okay. Billy comes home, drowsy from the tetanus shot, and bonds with Gina's lovely new caregiver Myra (Jess Paul). Then the rat fur appears. It grows out of Billy's skin, then goes away like it was never there. The more Billy looks in the mirror and scratches, the more he's forced to face the unthinkable: he might be turning into a rat. Billy is plunged into a waking nightmare where he slowly discovers the truth about himself as he unleashes the ferocious depths of the human and rodent soul.
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Aaron Decker's life changes one December morning when his wife Allison is killed. Haunted by her absence—and her ghost—Aaron goes through her belongings, where he finds a receipt for a motel room in another part of the country. Piloted by grief and an increasing sense of curiosity, Aaron embarks on a journey to discover what Allison had been doing in the weeks prior to her death.
Yet Aaron is unprepared to discover the dark secrets Allison kept, the death and horror that make up the tapestry of her hidden life. And with each dark secret revealed, Aaron becomes more and more consumed by his obsession to learn the terrifying truth about the woman who had been his wife, even if it puts his own life at risk.
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Quinn Quicksilver was born a mystery—abandoned at three days old on a desert highway in Arizona. Raised in an orphanage, never knowing his parents, Quinn had a happy if unexceptional life. Until the day of “strange magnetism.” It compelled him to drive out to the middle of nowhere. It helped him find a coin worth a lot of money. And it practically saved his life when two government agents showed up in the diner in pursuit of him. Now Quinn is on the run from those agents and who knows what else, fleeing for his life.
During a shoot-out at a forlorn dude ranch, he finally meets his destined companions: Bridget Rainking, a beauty as gifted in foresight as she is with firearms, and her grandpa Sparky, a romance novelist with an unusual past. Bridget knows what it’s like to be Quinn. She’s hunted, too. The only way to stay alive is to keep moving.
Barreling through the Sonoran Desert, the formidable trio is impelled by that same inexplicable magnetism toward the inevitable. With every deeply disturbing mile, something sinister is in the rearview—an enemy that is more than a match for Quinn. Even as he discovers within himself resources that are every bit as scary.
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At the end of a dark prairie road, nearly forgotten in the Kansas countryside, is the Finch House. For years it has remained empty, overgrown, abandoned. Soon the door will be opened for the first time in decades. But something is waiting, lurking in the shadows, anxious to meet its new guests…
When best-selling horror author Sam McGarver is invited to spend Halloween night in one of the country’s most infamous haunted houses, he reluctantly agrees. At least he won’t be alone; joining him are three other masters of the macabre, writers who have helped shape modern horror. But what begins as a simple publicity stunt will become a fight for survival. The entity they have awakened will follow them, torment them, threatening to make them a part of the bloody legacy of Kill Creek.
What if your lifelong curse is the only thing keeping you alive? Abandoned at birth, life has always been a battle for Jane Walker. She and her best friend, Sadie, spent years fighting to survive Vancouver’s cutthroat underbelly. That would have been tough enough without Jane’s mysterious afflictions: an intricate pattern of blood-red birthmarks that snake around her body and vivid, heart-wrenching nightmares that feel so real she wakes up screaming.
After she meets the first man who isn’t repulsed by her birthmarks, Jane thinks she might finally have a chance at happiness. Her belief seems confirmed as the birthmarks she’s spent her life so ashamed of magically begin to disappear. Yet, the quicker her scarlet marks vanish, the more lucid and disturbing Jane’s nightmares become—until it’s impossible to discern her dreams from reality, and Jane comes to a horrifying realization:
The nightmares that have plagued her since childhood are actually visions of real people being stalked by a deadly killer. And all this time, her birthmarks have been the only things protecting her from becoming his next victim.
Blood Mark is the first in a brand-new paranormal thriller series by JP McLean, author of The Gift Legacy series and whose writing has been described as “. . . deftly crafted, impressively original, and inherently compelling from first page to last.”
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The International Bestselling debut of The Uluru Legacy Series
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Colorful, imaginative, well scribed, this novel signals the arrival of a very fine new artist in the YA fantasy mystery genre. Anna will be an author to observe as she rises in the ranks of impressive writers. - Grady Harp, July 21
A girl in search of her family finds more than she ever dreamed possible. Blending myth with reality, this award-winning debut provides a truly unique and realistic spin on the genre you love.
Enter a world hidden to human eyes for over three centuries. A safe haven for both Vampire and Werewolf. She'll become something she never thought existed, agree to things she never thought she would, and find a life worth dying for.
Neurodivergent, young Dwight Skinner considers his mental challenges to be a superpower, but it's a pure bloodline that will put him in danger. When a tragic event brings a mysterious Romani neighbor, Mr. Mortimer, out of seclusion and into the Skinner family's lives, Dwight and his emotionally overloaded mother find an unsuspecting protector in this dark whisperer. Death and horrific secrets trail the unfolding life of Mr. Mortimer's past, and questions soon arise as to who has the more sinister of intentions, Dwight or the "Gypsy" he unconditionally trusts. The whispers have the answer.
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Reborn is the story of Cernunnos, the Father of all, who has risen. Born of blood offerings, he travels to the Layerings—one of those places, like Umbra, which sit just beyond the human veil.
Reborn is the story of Tommy, Betty and Fiddler, the infamous troupe whose bloody rituals were halted by Megan, Tommy’s Daughter. Rendered weak by Megan’s refusal to allow them to hunt in the human world of the Weald, they seek their rebirth and forgiveness from the Mother and Cernunnos.
Reborn is the story of Megan, who follows Cernunnos and Hweol’s sons on a pilgrimage of hope—one that would see her husband restored to her and the dark presence of Hweol removed.
Ultimately, though, Reborn is the story of Betty, the most monstrous of the three brothers. He is Nature, red in tooth and claw. He is what the Mother made him. And who are we to judge?
With Reborn, Ellis delivers another powerful tale of folk horror that will captivate the reader from the first page until its final bloody climax.
What doesn't kill me, might make me kill you!
30 women authors from around the world were challenged to write about The One That Got Away. Here you'll find tales of unrequited love, blind dates gone wrong, stalkers and their prey, cursed guitars, alien symbiotes, sinister letters, and bitter acts of revenge. Dive into murky depths and discover what hides inside the minds of women scorned..
Book 3 in the Kandisha Press Women of Horror Anthology Series
frightgirlwinter recommended reading!
With Foreword by Gwendolyn Kiste (Bram Stoker Award Winning Author of The Rust Maidens)
Edited by Jill Girardi
Featuring stories from: Carmen Baca, Ushasi Sen Basu, Demi-Louise Blackburn, Ashley Burns, R.A. Busby, Amira Krista Calvo, Dawn DeBraal, Shawnna Deresch, Ellie Douglas, Amy Grech, KC Grifant, Meg Hafdahl, Rowan Hill, Stevie Kopas, Michelle Renee Lane, Catherine McCarthy, Villimey Mist, Mocha Pennington, Faith Pierce, Janine Pipe, Lydia Prime, Paula RC Readman, Marsheila Rockwell, Lucy Rose, Rebecca Rowland, Hadassah Shiradski, Yolanda Sfetsos, Barrington Smith-Seetachitt, J Snow and Sonora Taylor.
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This is the first complete edition of Scott Goriscak's Books. These stories take you on a spine-chilling journey of his writing.
Consequences for a young scientist after an experiment goes horribly wrong. An adjoining hotel room that isn't what it seems. Cute, and cuddly creatures with a taste for revenge. Or how about the adoption of a strange little boy? Perhaps a game of poker with your fears? You'll meet them all at the turn of a page and they will remain with you long after the book is closed. Horrorgeddon is a collection of the weird, the wicked, and the downright ghastly. So dim the lights, pull the covers up and enjoy the insidious ride.
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DEACON (Hacked in Two - Daemon Manx)
Two worlds collide—a post-apocalyptic place of harsh survival and awful violence and a tortured author whose reality is coming apart one line at a time. Does any story ever truly end? There is life in the words and in the spaces between them, somewhere in the invisible ink. Deacon is the fusion of at least two stories—one playing out in the barbaric ruins of a fallen world and the other in the mind. This psychological twist of perception will leave you wondering where fiction ends, and reality begins.
Matt Scott - (Down by the Riverwalk)
Don't you just hate losing something you really need?
And isn't it just always at the worst possible time?
Maybe you placed your trust in the wrong person.
Perhaps you lost the trail you were just on?
A pulse? Your grip on reality? Hope?
A woman develops an unhealthy obsession with a scarecrow. A boy plays with a Ouija board and receives a terrifying warning of murder. A down-on-his-luck father learns what happens when you die in your sleep. These stories and six more frightening tales await the reader within the pages of Throwing Shadows: A Dark Collection.
Throwing Shadows will feed that hungry dark side that lives in your cellar.
A down-on-his-luck private investigator who loves whiskey as much as he loves solving cases. An outcast medical technician with a heavy heart and an unnatural ability. A brutal killer with a mysterious agenda.
Welcome to Monochrome Noir, a detective story set in an alternate version of 1986 Los Angeles. It is a grayscale world, where items of color are the rarest of commodities, owned by few and coveted by many.
As the stakes grow ever higher, P.I. Henry Hardcastle is in a race against time to solve the Colorist’s case, even as fresh developments threaten to derail his investigation. Charlie Grant uses her unique ability to revisit the previous crime scenes, uncovering new clues, while also putting herself in grave danger. The mysterious killer finds his next victim, the last one standing between him and his vendetta of vengeance.
Return to the Weald, the world Stephanie Ellis introduced us to in The Five Turns of the Wheel.
Reborn is the story of Cernunnos, the Father of all, who has risen. Born of blood offerings, he travels to the Layerings—one of those places, like Umbra, which sit just beyond the human veil.
Reborn is the story of Tommy, Betty and Fiddler, the infamous troupe whose bloody rituals were halted by Megan, Tommy’s Daughter. Rendered weak by Megan’s refusal to allow them to hunt in the human world of the Weald, they seek their rebirth and forgiveness from the Mother and Cernunnos.
Reborn is the story of Megan, who follows Cernunnos and Hweol’s sons on a pilgrimage of hope—one that would see her husband restored to her and the dark presence of Hweol removed.
Ultimately, though, Reborn is the story of Betty, the most monstrous of the three brothers. He is Nature, red in tooth and claw. He is what the Mother made him. And who are we to judge?
With Reborn, Ellis delivers another powerful tale of folk horror that will captivate the reader from the first page until its final bloody climax.
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While looking for a secret place to smoke cigarettes with his two best friends, troubled teenager Mark discovers a mysterious shack in a suburban field. Alienated from his parents and peers, Mark finds within the shack an escape greater than anything he has ever experienced.
But it isn’t long before the place begins revealing its strange, powerful sentience. And it wants something in exchange for the shelter it provides.
Shelter for the Damned is not only a scary, fast-paced horror novel, but also an unflinching study of suburban violence, masculine conditioning, and adolescent rage.
If New York is the city that never sleeps, then L.A. is the city where you have to sleep with one eye open.
Michael Andrews learns quickly that it's not just the cut-throat world of Hollywood you need to fear. There's something deeper, darker, and far more disturbing lurking just beneath the shadows of the city, waiting for any moment of vulnerability to grab you by the throat.
An extended trip to Los Angeles to be on set for the movie adaptation of his latest novel leads Michael into a twisted and macabre underworld where he becomes entangled with an intriguing, sexy, and mysterious woman. At times she seems just what he needs in order to finally get over the unrequited love of his ex-girlfriend; but at other times, she appears to be the gateway to a Pandora's box of B-movie nightmares.
Can he trust her? Can he trust himself with her?
Michael's supernatural wolf-enhanced powers and special abilities might not be enough to survive this particular harsh and gritty jungle and the unique and deadly predators that crawl out of the shadows.
The long-awaited fifth book in the wildly popular series of horror/comedy novels featuring Andrew Mayhem!
As a stay-at-home dad taking care of triplets, Andrew Mayhem's days of getting into wild adventures are over. His life is measured in diaper changes. Sleep has become an abstract concept, something oft-discussed with his wife Helen but rarely experienced.
So when Internet celebrity explorer Percival Longshore asks Andrew and his best friend Roger to travel with him on a good old-fashioned treasure hunt, Andrew laughs off the idea. He can't even watch ten consecutive minutes of a movie, much less fly to the rainforest in South America to see if an old map is accurate.
The base pay is generous, the potential reward is astronomical, and Percival assures him that he will be in absolutely no danger. After Helen gives her blessing for Andrew to leave for a few days, he finds himself on a small motorboat on the Amazon River seeking his fortune. Maybe this adventure really will be different.
When they pass a skinned body tied to a pole, Andrew realizes that nothing has changed...
THEY ARE COMING…
Detective Adrian Callahan misses his wife, and can’t find a new meaningful relationship. To take his mind off his own troubles, he focuses on a missing person case tied to a series of unsolved serial murders, a case that is quickly going cold.
Facing opposition from the police chief, who needs to put limited resources elsewhere, Callahan is ordered to investigate a series of wild animal attacks occurring within the city limits. The attacks become more frequent and stranger, and he quickly finds himself in uncharted territory, believing in creatures that his rational mind knows can’t exist.
Now he must find the young female victim before the wolves he’s hunting take him off the case permanently.
THEY WILL SHOW NO MERCY...
Captain Amanda Rann's military career has left her with a failed marriage, and a burning desire to get back to the daughters she loves. But before returning to civilian life, she has one last mission to complete. Amanda finds herself in charge of an all-male Special Forces unit, tasked with completing the toughest black ops mission of their lives. But maintaining unit integrity is the least of her worries, these creatures have come to settle a score. And when she faces them, she’ll know they are the…
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Aaron Decker's life changes one December morning when his wife Allison is killed. Haunted by her absence—and her ghost—Aaron goes through her belongings, where he finds a receipt for a motel room in another part of the country. Piloted by grief and an increasing sense of curiosity, Aaron embarks on a journey to discover what Allison had been doing in the weeks prior to her death.
Yet Aaron is unprepared to discover the dark secrets Allison kept, the death and horror that make up the tapestry of her hidden life. And with each dark secret revealed, Aaron becomes more and more consumed by his obsession to learn the terrifying truth about the woman who had been his wife, even if it puts his own life at risk.
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Kori Persephone Driscoe suffered through her dad's mental illness. All she wanted was for him to get better, but instead he disappeared. Kori trespasses into the abandoned Northville Psychiatric Hospital, the last place her dad was treated, seeking solace and traces of his memory. What she finds instead is something no longer human living deep in the underground tunnels.
During the last days of the hospital, a roque psychiatrist had been manipulating the mood swings of the mentally ill, transforming patients into savage, manic creatures who seek justice by the light of the full moon. When the creatures hunt for prey, only an escaped patient and her beloved child can help Kori survive—but they better act fast, because the creatures want blood, Kori wants to save her dad, and the whole hospital is about to be blown to pieces and bury Kori alive
Pretty/Ugly is a lyrical, hallucinogenic train ride through the end of the world. It’s the story of two people falling in and out of loneliness as the end draws near. Each moment is more beautiful and terrifying than the last. Pretty/Ugly is the combination of Contagion and Lost in Translation I didn’t know I needed. It’s Lost in Contagion” – Allison Martine (Author of the Bourbon Books)Pretty/Ugly
Interitus: noun. ruin; violent/untimely death, extinction; destruction, dissolution
Omelia fills the empty place in her heart with Instagram clicks, likes, and subscribes, hiding the scars of grief under a mask of makeup, cloaked in an online personality. She yearns to be someone new: a girl in a magazine, a character in a book, a beauty queen. Anything not to feel, to be numb, but the sharp pain accompanying the red spot on her face cannot be ignored. Nor can the black, spindly tarantula-like vines that creep up the side of her face and the fever she spikes, forcing her to confront the fact that the person she has become may not be who she is at all.
The Nexus is the realm of magick, located between Death and the Afterlife, and has been sealed for centuries. Max Dane, an eleven-year-old boy turning twelve on Samhain, now known as Halloween, may be the only key to opening it. But maybe it should stay sealed. As if moving to a new town isn’t scary enough, Max has epileptic seizures that cause hallucinations, but his new friends try to convince him he’s having psychic visions via the Nexus. Max’s visions keep taking him back to Samhain during the middle ages, where he meets a tortured soul in the form of an eight-year-old boy named Jack. Max decides he’s going to help release Jack from his torment, even if it costs him his own sanity. His only chance at doing that is to traverse the Nexus and brave a fierce entity known as the Knightmare. And to traverse the Nexus he must explore mystical and spiritual practices like drumming, fire ceremonies, meditation and tarot, which launch him not only through the Nexus but on a journey of self-discovery that he may regret. Book 1 of 4—Autumn. This book series is set within a year span of Max’s arrival to Ravencrest, Vermont. Inspired by Celtic, Norse, and Native American mythology.
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On an almost uninhabitable rocky island off the coast of Maine, a Hotel looms over the shore, an ever-present gray lady that stands strong like a guard, keeping watch. For many who come here, this island is a sanctuary and a betrayal.
This is a place where memories linger like ghosts, and the ephemeral nature of time begins to peel away …like the sanity of all who have been unlucky enough to step foot on its shore.
In the late spring of 1873, Isabelle gave birth to her son Oscar, he cried for three startling minutes, and then went silent. During the months that follow, Isabelle is drugged and lulled into an almost hallucinatory world of grief and fear. Her life begins to feel as though it exists in a terrifying new reality separated from those around her …
When her grieving begins to make her husband, Henry, uncomfortable, he and his mother conspire to send Isabelle away to a Summer Hotel on Dagger Island, where she can rest and heal. While they are adamant that the hotel is not an asylum and that Isabelle will be able to return eventually to her home, Isabelle understands in her heart that it is all a lie. That perhaps, everything about being a woman in this time, may have always been a lie.
Her family has lied to her, and she has lied to herself.
The Hotel, of course, is not what it seems, and the foreboding Dagger Island begins to feel more like a prison than a retreat. Isabelle hears relentless sounds coming from the attic above her room, and the ever-present cries of small children scream in her head almost constantly. Are they hallucinations, or are they connected to the small cemetery she found, filled with the fresh dirt of little graves, the brokenhearted reminders of people that no one believes ever existed?
She meets a fellow guest at the Hotel, a young, enigmatic, and deeply damaged priest, named Francis.
Together they teeter on the edges of reality and try desperately to become free from the fates that their pasts have bound them to.
From Daylight to Madness is a poetic, and haunting Gothic Fiction novel that is both profoundly unsettling and darkly romantic.
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“James G. Carlson's lyrical dark tales steadily unfurl before the reader with the pace of a master. He shows us worlds that exist beyond our own, meeting new people and places that feel terrifyingly familiar, and yet, terrifyingly real. These horror stories now live in my bones.” - Danger Slater, author of I WILL ROT WITHOUT YOU
There are dark, dilapidated houses in the woods waiting for unsuspecting visitors to happen upon them and venture inside. There are infernal beings masquerading as human, and the impact they have on those they encounter is often too terrible to be believed. There are the agents of nature, who in various ways do the bidding of the universe, sometimes at the unfortunate expense of certain individuals. There is a cave in the woods, in whose natural spring three teenage friends decide to take a swim, but whose dark depths hold a ghastly, dangerous secret with sharp claws and even sharper teeth. There are those poor souls so psychologically damaged and afflicted that they are unable to see that things can get worse, much worse, until it is far too late. And there is a dying world full of magic and fire, where one woman desperately flees the city to save a loved one, ensuring that there will be some sort of future for them. The tales in Seven Exhumations follow everyday people whose lives meet the extraordinary and otherworldly, thereby introducing them to seemingly impossible horrors. Follow along and learn their stories, if you are so inclined.
“James G. Carlson is a writer of sinister elegance; he approaches you like a gentleman, embraces you like a nobleman, and then slays you like an alleyway stranger.” - Eric Shapiro, author of IT'S ONLY TEMPORARY and RED DENNIS
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A homeless man plagued by hideous nightmares awakens in a hospital with no knowledge of how he came to be there. When he accepts the help of an organization that assists the downtrodden, he finds himself in a strange apartment building that may very well hold the key to his terrifying visions and forgotten past…
A pregnant woman on the run, haunted by her own bleak dreams and an out of control drug problem, speeds down a highway in the dead of night, only to crash when she sees something terrifying on the side of the road. Charged with driving drunk and drug possession, she reports to a mysterious halfway house rather than face jail time, unaware of the horrifying fate that awaits her.
After unexpectedly losing his job, a carefree young salesman agrees to a drunken night on the town with an enigmatic older man he barely knows, unaware that it will soon lead to the terrible truth behind not only his own life, but those lost souls that came before him.
In the bowels of a haunted apartment building, along the dark and lonely highways to Hell, in a city of night, foggy streets and shadow-filled alleys, their stories and lives merge in a fever dream of profane hunger, sex, savagery, blood and endless fire.
These are the passengers of night.
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Monochrome Noir: Book I: A Gathering Storm
A down-on-his-luck private investigator who loves whiskey as much as he loves solving cases. An outcast medical technician with a heavy heart and an unnatural ability. A brutal killer with a mysterious agenda.
Welcome to Monochrome Noir, a detective story set in an alternate version of 1986 Los Angeles. It is a grayscale world, where items of color are the rarest of commodities, owned by few and coveted by many.
When California’s most influential woman seeks out his services, weaving a tale of serial murder with bizarre implications, she embroils P.I. Henry Hardcastle in the strangest case of his career. Meanwhile, Charlie Grant, a young woman coping with a recent tragedy, finds herself drawn to a dark and mysterious omen. Though they are strangers, both find themselves following clues that could lead them directly into the path of a deranged killer.
A ruthless band of outlaws makes good their escape from execution. A mountain man seeks justice following the grisly murders of his wife and daughter. A sharp-tongued teenager flees her newly widowed mother in search of adventure.
Amongst the eerie peaks and crevices of the Wichita Mountains, this assembly of pariahs converge. But it isn't just each other they need be concerned about, because there's more than frigid winds in the skies over Indian Country.
"A savage read! PC3 unleashes a vicious, blood-soaked novella of appalling monsters, both human and inhuman."
--Ryan Harding, author of GENITAL GRINDER
(All Splatter Western books are stand-alone stories. Read them in whatever order you please!)
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Tom Smiley signed up as a private in the Confederate army when he was eighteen and quickly came to regret it. Spending the last year of the war in a Union prison scarred him so deeply that even death hasn't brought freedom from its memory. A ghost in his deserted childhood home, he can’t forget the bloody war and its meaningless losses, or shed his revulsion for his role in the Confederate defense of slavery. But when a young couple moves in and makes his home their own in the early 21st century, trouble erupts—and Tom is forced to not only face his own terrible secret but also come to grips with his family’s hidden wartime history. He finds an unexpected ally in his house’s new owner, Phoebe Hunter, who is both fascinated and frightened by his ghostly presence—and whose discoveries will have momentous consequences for them both.
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A tribute to author Anne Rice, 19 authors show their love to the Queen of Horror with a collection of Gothic tales inspired by her legacy. A charity anthology with all proceeds to benefit the Animal Rescue of New Orleans in honor of Anne Rice, whose fondness for animals was well known. Edited by Elaine Pascale and Rebecca Rowland with a foreword by Lisa Kröger.
Authors include: C.W. Blackwell, Morgan Sylvia, Greg Herren, Holly Rae Garcia, Douglas Ford, Kristi Petersen Schoonover, Gordon B. White, Tim Mendees, Stephanie Ellis, Scotty Milder, Holley Cornetto, Lamont A. Turner, KC Grifant, Lee Andrew Forman, Anthony S. Buoni, Trish Wilson, Angela Yuriko Smith, Christine Lajewski and E. F. Schraeder.
“Fracassi’s novel hits me like a cross between McCammon and '80s King. Might be one of them summer blockbusters readers love.”—Laird Barron, author of Worse Angels
"A Child Alone with Strangers starts out as a slow burn procedural with supernatural elements and inexorably cranks itself into a pulse-pounding symphony of eldritch horrors and all-too-human violence. Philip Fracassi is the best sort of horror writer--one who is unafraid to hunt for light in even the darkest places."—Shaun Hamill, author of A Cosmology of Monsters
When young Henry Thorne is kidnapped and held prisoner in a remote farmhouse surrounded by miles of forest, he finds himself connecting with a strange force living in the woods—using that bond to wreak havoc against his captors. Unknown to the boy, however, is that this ancient being has its own reasons for wanting the interlopers gone—there is something hidden beneath the house, tucked away in the dark, damp root cellar . . . waiting for its return.
Uncover the theories behind the master of horror's macabre tales: It, The Shining, Carrie, Cujo, Misery, Pet Semetary, and so much more!
Gothic media moguls Meg Hafdahl and Kelly Florence, authors of The Science of Monsters and The Science of Women in Horror, and co-hosts of the Horror Rewind podcast called “the best horror film podcast out there” by Film Daddy, present a guide to the Stephen King stories and characters we all know and love. Through interviews, literary and film analysis, and bone-chilling discoveries, The Science of Stephen King delves into the uniquely horrific Stephen King universe to uncover the science behind the legendary novels that have become an integral part of modern pop culture, answering such questions as:
What is the science behind time travel and parallel universes like in The Dark Tower series and 11/22/63?
How does lack of sleep affect the human body like in Insomnia?
Is it possible for horrific creatures to exist like in Nightshift?
What is the science behind curses and legends like in Dreamcatcher and Thinner?
Join Kelly and Meg as they learn if we all really do float down here!
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A gripping novel, GENOCIDE turns victim to villain as the character goes from a kidnapped youth to a vengeful teenager. Cheer him on or hope for his capture. Either way, his story is sure to get your heart racing. Born into a dysfunctional family, his mother does her best to shelter him from his father’s addiction and his uncle’s ties to a violent street gang. This can only last so long, and once his father is desperate enough for money, he will do anything to get it, including selling his own son into prostitution. After his mother’s tragic death, he feels he has no choice but to live in one of the gang’s safe houses and continue to “pay the rent” by trading his body for money. But once he turns eighteen, the gang no longer wants him. Now free from their clutches, there’s only one thing on his mind: revenge.
"This is what happens when Jack Kerouac has a baby with a Saw Movie!" --Jennifer Anne Gordon, author of PRETTY/UGLY and BEAUTIFUL, FRIGHTENING, AND SILENT.
*Warning: This work deals heavily with the subject of abuse.
Alcoholism is a serious problem, but then again so is murder. A gruff detective investigates foul play in these four one-act thrillers revolving around addiction. These stories take place in seemingly safe settings like a laundry room, a rehab, a hospital, and a dream, all of which become insidious deathtraps.
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The horrifying sequel to the Bram Stoker Award-nominated novel Pressure.
Though Darren Rust is serving a life sentence in prison, Alex Fletcher is desperate to escape the shadow of his former best friend. Darren is a psychopath who thought he’d found somebody who would kill with him, and when he realized he was wrong, he took everything from Alex. Losing his family—and coping with the heinous act Darren forced him to commit—is too much. Alex is unable to have a normal social life.
Until he meets Luna Booth.
She’s fun. Intelligent. Sexy. She’s exactly what he needs right now. Alex may not have found his soulmate, but he’s found somebody that he loves spending time with. Somebody who doesn’t mind the nightmarish skeletons in his closet.
In fact, she may be too understanding. Too interested. And she may have a very dark and twisted secret…
At the end of a dark prairie road, nearly forgotten in the Kansas countryside, is the Finch House. For years it has remained empty, overgrown, abandoned. Soon the door will be opened for the first time in decades. But something is waiting, lurking in the shadows, anxious to meet its new guests…
When best-selling horror author Sam McGarver is invited to spend Halloween night in one of the country’s most infamous haunted houses, he reluctantly agrees. At least he won’t be alone; joining him are three other masters of the macabre, writers who have helped shape modern horror. But what begins as a simple publicity stunt will become a fight for survival. The entity they have awakened will follow them, torment them, threatening to make them a part of the bloody legacy of Kill Creek.
A riveting collection of short stories from Bram Stoker Award-winner Hank Schwaeble that range from classic noir with a supernatural twist to futuristic techno-horror--and running the nightmarish gamut of everything in between--this chilling set of ten tales offers an exquisite and impressive showcase of the author's talents that are sure to entertain and intrigue readers of all stripes. With an Introduction by the iconic F. Paul Wilson, Moonless Nocturne is a gourmet platter of red meat and rare delicacies not only for aficionados of horror, mystery, thrillers, and suspense, but any connoisseurs of fantastic fiction.
Inventive and original, this collection has already been optioned for TV/film by Lonetree Entertainment and is certain to appeal to fans of King, Barker, Matheson, and Jackson.
All Charlotte Deerborn wanted was a nice Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends. Too bad for her no one else wanted to be there. By the time the turkey is carved, old grievances, bad behavior and crass remarks have transformed her dinner party into a disaster. And then a werewolf shows up to do some carving of its own.
Wolf at the Door is a fast-paced, absurdist take on modern creature horror, levering humor and action to highlight how one family comes to grips with what really matters in life
Dr. Henry David Wells has succeeded in protecting himself from the invisible world of devils and genies with which he once sought to make sinister supernatural deals. Even more frightening is that he wants to try one more time to make a Faustian bargain for eternal life and eternal fame. In The Wager of Sin, the final book in the series that started with Dark Fiction and continued with Damned Fiction, Dr. Wells will face the music —perhaps for the last time.
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Grolar:
halb grizzly bear, half polar bear
Jon lost his job in Vancouver and finds work at a small gold mining camp. His wife and his young son join him. When the toddler shows them what he had found near the tree line, they know, there is something dark waiting for them.
The author Thorsten Nesch lives in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. He is an award-winning and traditionally published author. His novels are read in schools in Europe.
Naomi and Fiona placed their fingertips on either side of the wooden triangle. A shiver as faint as a whimper crawled down Bobby’s spine as the exact year of his death was revealed.
As a young, curious 10-year-old, Bobby is reluctant to believe the fate that the Ouija board reveals…but as he grows into adulthood, the pieces of that dark prophecy propel him towards his inevitable end.
Strange occurrences plague Bobby and he struggles to hide the truth from his family. Each clue leads to the next, but he knows the ultimate answer will be hisend. Can the future be altered if you know the outcome? Or will his efforts be in vain?
A supernatural, psychological thriller that will leave you wondering: “What are you willing to do for the ones you love?”
This novella was a page turner, and I had no idea the twists that awaited me. To say that I loved this book is an understatement. This is not your average Ouija board story. It is so much more. I will be thinking about this one for a long time to come. -Deb Soward
A darkly comedic tribute to the much-loved Reader’s Digest series ‘I am Joe’s…(insert body part here)’ and a bizarre parody of the Bruce Jenner story, I Am Joe’s Unwanted Penis is told from the point of view of a penis thoughtlessly discarded as a man is surgically transformed into a woman.
Upon learning if his high-profile previous owner’s regret at having made the transformation, the penis embarks upon a perilous journey for them to be reunited - aided and abetted by a motley, wonderfully personable, and engaging selection of other discarded body parts.
In parts grotesque, laugh-out-loud funny, and undeniably poignant, in others, I Am Joe’s Unwanted Penis is a buddy-story absolutely like no other!
RED FALLS
When June and Ezra take a spontaneous road trip to rural Pennsylvania, they find themselves in the strange town of Red Falls. What transpires there leaves the couple questioning their overnight stay. But when they strike out with new friends for a hike the following morning, June and Ezra enter a world of blood and terror that changes their lives forever.
DEACON
Two worlds collide—a post-apocalyptic place of harsh survival and awful violence, and a tortured author whose reality is coming apart one line at a time. Does any story ever truly end? There is life in the words and in the spaces between them, somewhere in the invisible ink. Deacon is the fusion of at least two stories—one playing out in the barbaric ruins of a fallen world, and the other in the mind. This psychological twist of perception will leave you wondering where fiction ends and reality begins.
WHAT ARE JEFF’S SCATTERED THOUGHTS?Jeff’s vision of pouring himself into his work is captured with satisfying precision in this work of poetry that is half love and half mayhem. In this collection, you will find equal parts madness and insanity, paired within the confines of reality. Jeff shares that his writing is the doorway to his mind and inner thoughts: a journey that you should dare not take lightly. Because once you do, you have officially entered the mind of a poet. Here you will embark on a journey to discover emotions you never knew you had and experience the power of the written word like you’ve never before. Each page of this work contains its own story, with a searing brand of emotion that only Jeff could conjure up. Your thoughts will be stretched to the limits and before long, they too will be scattered, searching for the correct way to go. Jeff spills his words within these pages from the deepest corners of his soul. They are real! The experience is unique! And his words are genuine, having you questioning your own sanity in more ways than one, revealing doors that were never meant to be opened and lines never meant to be crossed. And from all that, pain that was never meant to be felt, as intimately as love that was never meant to be exposed. In the mind of this poet you just really never know which direction the cold winds will blow. But one thing is for certain: each stroke of the keys that formed these thoughts was written to be felt and shared in a different mindset…sometimes in a different Hell. And with all that, Jeff asks the one question you may not be ready for: with your entire mind and soul, are you ready to walk through these pages that are my Scattered Thoughts?
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Within these pages lies venom. Within these pages await something you may never have seen before. Introducing Venomous Words. A brand new collection of Macro Photography fused with dark lyrical Poetry. A unique fusion of your worst nightmares captured in photographs that bite and sting. Your skin will crawl. Your insides will melt. Introducing a brand new level of Hell. Jeff Oliver and Gordon Reilly have fused their passions together into a collection of madness that will leave gaping holes. When words fuse with venom.. There is no escape! Also included are poetic collaborations with Joe R. Lansdale, Chris McAuley, Brandon Scott, Noe Basurto, Xtina Marie, Stephen Remillard, David Kempf and Reinaldo Torres. Who have all generously added their own Venomous spins in short collaborations with Oliver and Reilly. Venomous words start with ink. When ink is fused with our worst nightmares. Our minds begin to sink. Leaving many silent screams. Each letter is laced with such beautiful and venomous dreams.
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Tales From The Parkland - A collection of horror stories that will keep you up at night. Reminiscent of The Twilight Zone, these tales of terror will make your heart race as they drag you into a world of nightmares.
The Garbage Collectors - Stephen comes home to find he has to make a decision. Which of his children will he sacrifice to the Garbage Collectors?
Big Boy - Peter hates it at daycare but what better place to face the end of the world?
Underneath The Stairs - Tommy thinks he's getting the better of Kevin but he hasn't met what's under the stairs yet.
Acid Rain - Rob and his family went for a walk until it started to rain. But when they turned back towards home, the screaming started.
A special bonus addition of the novella, Harmony - Sergeant James Cross started his day as usual with a run. Hours later he was still running, but now for his life.
One novella and eleven stories of horror for late at night. Welcome to the many "What If" scenarios of Ronald McGillvray's imagination.
Come and join us as we celebrate the 30th anniversary of “Fugue Devil,” Stephen Mark Rainey’s quintessential scare-your-pants-off story, with this all-new edition that features 11 additional tales to wither your soul and curl your toes:
– A thrilling midnight adventure turns into a dawning horror for two boys.
– A dirge for the dead; if you hear it, it’s too late.
– A terror in the night that echoes through the years.
– Hell is just a stone’s throw away.
– To read the play brings on madness, to perform the play…
– Her music cast a spell because, of course, she was a witch.
– In this wine lies the darkest truth.
– When the stars are right, the sky will fall.
– Voices from the static hint at horrors to come.
– “I am John, your host. I have much to look forward to,” he said with a grotesque smile.
– Something inhuman from the future lurks in the shadows of the past…
– Will capturing the image of a devilish horror render it powerless? Or simply draw its inescapable gaze to you?
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Monty has a special power that no one else possesses.
And he hates it.
He just wants to live a quiet cheese sandwich and tap water life. Fate, being the fickle bitch it is, has other plans. His best friends, Lark and Sean, have abilities as well and the trio encounter three mysterious people who show them, they are not alone.
It would be nice if any of them had useful abilities, but take what you can get, right?
As a result, Monty is forcibly dragged into a world of coffee-addicted villains, half-competent goons, and pompous windbags. Monty must use his wits against the witless to save himself and his friends. To do so he must embrace being the DICK WIGGLER.
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Now a Netflix film starring Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich, Sarah Paulson, and Rosa Salazar!
Written with the narrative tension of The Road and the exquisite terror of classic Stephen King, Bird Box is a propulsive, edge-of-your-seat horror thriller, set in an apocalyptic near-future world—a masterpiece of suspense from the brilliantly imaginative Josh Malerman.
Something is out there . . .
Something terrifying that must not be seen. One glimpse and a person is driven to deadly violence. No one knows what it is or where it came from.
Five years after it began, a handful of scattered survivors remain, including Malorie and her two young children. Living in an abandoned house near the river, she has dreamed of fleeing to a place where they might be safe. Now, that the boy and girl are four, it is time to go. But the journey ahead will be terrifying: twenty miles downriver in a rowboat—blindfolded—with nothing to rely on but her wits and the children’s trained ears. One wrong choice and they will die. And something is following them. But is it man, animal, or monster?
Engulfed in darkness, surrounded by sounds both familiar and frightening, Malorie embarks on a harrowing odyssey—a trip that takes her into an unseen world and back into the past, to the companions who once saved her. Under the guidance of the stalwart Tom, a motely group of strangers banded together against the unseen terror, creating order from the chaos. But when supplies ran low, they were forced to venture outside—and confront the ultimate question: in a world gone mad, who can really be trusted?
Interweaving past and present, Josh Malerman’s breathtaking debut is a horrific and gripping snapshot of a world unraveled that will have you racing to the final page.
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More than 20 years after her abduction at the hands of the elusive Pan, Wendy Darling is all grown up and a successful detective. But when a local girl vanishes in the middle of the night, her past comes rushing back.Grieving the death of her mother, Detective Darling wants nothing more than to throw herself back into work. When the Lord Mayor’s daughter, Rosalie, vanishes, she insists on taking the case, triggering memories of her own past abduction. For years, Wendy struggled with her nonsensical memories of her captor, who she only knows as Pan. Yet the more she uncovers about Rosalie’s disappearance, the more Wendy is convinced her worst nightmare has come true—Pan’s back. Her fears are confirmed when the girl suddenly reappears and Wendy realises she’s walked straight into Pan’s trap…
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The Good Book.
You might have clutched it in your church pew on Sunday mornings. You know the one?
With the pebbled black soft cover, the words HOLY BIBLE stamped in gold ink.
Perhaps it strengthened your faith, comforted you in dark times.
Multiple Bram Stoker Award-nominated John F.D. Taff has assembled a Last Supper of Dark Apostles to turn some of those "good book" parables on their heads--twisting Bible stories into sinister horror tales.
Blasphemous? Heretical? We sincerely hope so.
As you read on, remember one thing, though.
There’s no comfort to be found in The Bad Book.
No comfort at all.
Including stories by
Philip Fracassi
Kristi DeMeester
John Langan
...and many more...
Includes story illustrations by Giuseppe Balestra.
There’s no question that The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is one of the most influential texts of all time. The now-iconic tale, which has confounded and thrilled readers for more than a century, was described by one scholar as the only detective-crime story in which the solution is more terrifying than the problem. And even as its plot gets continually reinterpreted and reimagined in literature, film, and theater, the main themes persist, as do the titular characters, now so familiar as to have become a part of the English language.
This new edition gives the classic tale of depraved murder and unrelenting horror its most complete and illuminating presentation yet. Heavily illustrated with over a hundred and fifty full color images from the history of this cultural touchstone―including reproductions of rare books, film stills, theatrical posters, and the true-life people associated with the adventure―and extensively annotated by Edgar Award winning editor and noted Victorian literature expert Leslie S. Klinger, this thorough and authoritative approach is both an invaluable resource for scholars and a sumptuous treat for fans of the text.
Introduced by a compelling and erudite essay from bestselling novelist and short story writer Joe Hill, this complete illustrated and annotated edition of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the ultimate tribute to an enduring classic, combining revelatory and surprising information and in-depth historical context with beautiful illustrations and photographs. It is sure to please anyone interested in the Victorian era, mystery fiction, and horror tales.
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Contains a new afterword by USA Today bestselling author Samantha Lee Howe looking at the interpretations and influence of Dracula in modern film and television adaptations.
BRAM STOKER (1847-1912) is best known as the author of Dracula, published in 1897. The Irish author wrote a total of twelve novels in addition to four works of nonfiction and numerous short stories, essays, newspaper and magazine articles. For twenty-seven years, Bram also managed London's Lyceum Theatre for Sir Henry Irving.
DACRE STOKER is the great grand-nephew of Bram Stoker. He manages the Stoker Estate and travels widely, giving presentations and talks on Dracula, vampires, Bram Stoker, and his extraordinary legacy. He is co-author of the bestselling official sequel to Dracula, Dracula the Un-Dead, co-author of the official prequel to Dracula, Dracul, and co-editor of The Lost Journal of Bram Stoker. Dacre currently lives in South Carolina.
"The author has incredible talent for creating a tense, atmospheric world for his characters, and I was on the edge of my seat for every page of this book." -Magnolia Reads
Jack didn’t know what to call the nameless, skeletal creature that slunk into her house in the dead of night, stealing the very things she loved the most. So she named him The Toy Thief…
There’s something in Jack’s past that she doesn’t want to face, an evil presence that forever changed the trajectory of her family. It all began when The Toy Thief appeared, a being drawn by goodness and innocence, eager to feed on everything Jack holds dear. What began as a mystery spirals out of control when her brother, Andy, is taken away in the night, and Jack must venture into the dark place where the toys go to get him back. But even if she finds him, will he ever be the same?
FLAME TREE PRESS is the new fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Launching in 2018 the list brings together brilliant new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.
Strange things happen in The Gulp. The residents have grown used to it. The isolated Australian harbour town of Gulpepper is not like other places. Some maps don’t even show it. And only outsiders use the full name. Everyone who lives there calls it The Gulp. The place has a habit of swallowing people.
A truck driver thinks the stories about The Gulp are made up to scare him. Until he gets there.
Teenage siblings try to cover up the death of their mother, but their plans go drastically awry.
A rock band invite four backpackers to a party at their house, where things get dangerously out of hand.
A young man loses a drug shipment and his boss gives him 48 hours to make good on his mistake.
Under the blinking eye of the old lighthouse, a rock fisher makes the strangest catch of his life.
Five novellas. Five descents into darkness. Welcome to The Gulp, where nothing is as it seems.
In the summer of 1988, the mutilated bodies of several missing girls begin to turn up in a small Maryland town. The grisly evidence leads police to the terrifying assumption that a serial killer is on the loose in the quiet suburb. But soon a rumor begins to spread that the evil stalking local teens is not entirely human. Law enforcement, as well as members of the FBI, are certain that the killer is a living, breathing madman—and he’s playing games with them. For a once peaceful community trapped in the depths of paranoia and suspicion, it feels like a nightmare that will never end.
Recent college graduate Richard Chizmar returns to his hometown just as a curfew is enacted and a neighborhood watch is formed. Amid preparing for his wedding and embarking on a writing career, he soon finds himself thrust into a real-life horror story. Inspired by the terrifying events, Richard writes a personal account of the serial killer’s reign of terror, unaware that these events will continue to haunt him for years to come.
A clever, terrifying, and heartrending work of metafiction, Chasing the Boogeyman is the ultimate marriage between horror fiction and true crime. Chizmar’s “dazzling work of fresh imagination and psychological insight” (Caroline Kepnes, New York Times bestselling author of You) is on full display in this truly unique novel that will haunt you long after you turn the final page.
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A riveting collection of short stories from Bram Stoker Award-winner Hank Schwaeble that range from classic noir with a supernatural twist to futuristic techno-horror--and running the nightmarish gamut of everything in between--this chilling set of ten tales offers an exquisite and impressive showcase of the author's talents that are sure to entertain and intrigue readers of all stripes. With an Introduction by the iconic F. Paul Wilson, Moonless Nocturne is a gourmet platter of red meat and rare delicacies not only for aficionados of horror, mystery, thrillers, and suspense, but any connoisseurs of fantastic fiction.
Inventive and original, this collection has already been optioned for TV/film by Lonetree Entertainment and is certain to appeal to fans of King, Barker, Matheson, and Jackson.
It's not the dark that should scare you, it's all the things that lurk there..