Get ready for magical meet-cutes, costumed crushes, and all the over-the-top love you can handle because these stories are bringing the Halloween heat!

    In a hurry and still on the phone, he collided with a woman and knocked her drink from her hand. Under normal circumstances, he’d apologize profusely and help clean up the mess—for the matter, he would have paid attention and not run into her to begin with—but the news he’d received had rattled his mind. Paige Hopkins can’t believe the rudeness of the man who’d run into her. She picked up her now-empty cup, threw it in the nearest trash can, and continued her walk until her annoyance evaporated into the cool autumn air. The incident faded from her thoughts until several weeks later when the man showed up to her family’s pumpkin patch. First impressions aren’t always right, but can they be overcome? An Autumn Stroll is a heartwarming, inspirational novella from USA Today Bestselling Author Leah Atwood.

    Russell is a middle schooler nicknamed "Swamp Kid" by his classmates who has algae for hair, a tree trunk of a right arm, a frog for a best friend, and a carrot for a finger. Russell details, in both hilarious text and color illustrations, what it's like to be different, to be comfortable in his own skin (no matter how slimy), and to discover his true talents. In the second story, thirteen-year-old Dinah Lance knows exactly what she wants, who she is, and where she's going. First, she'll win the battle of the bands with her two best friends, then she'll join the Gotham City Junior Police Academy so she can solve crimes just like her dad. Who knows, her rock-star group of friends may even save the world, but first they'll need to agree on a band name. Don't miss your chance to sample these exciting titles from the DC Zoom line of graphic novels for middle grade readers.

    McCammon, Whitley Strieber, Michael McDowell, Robert Bloch, Ramsey Campbell, Charles L. Grant and others. Edited by Alan Ryan, author of The Kill and Dead White.

    Andrews, Mona Marple, Elle Adams, April Aasheim, Jenna St. James, Nikki Haverstock, K.M. Waller, and Amorette Anderson.

    Ivy Mitchell’s life is changed forever after she follows her cat, Karma, into an old house, where she stumbles upon a strange book that not only unleashes her destiny, but attracts a smoking hot, mysterious stranger named Chance with wicked powers of his own. Ivy was born a witch, but an important decision awaits. Make the wrong choice and more than her powers are at risk. A story in nine parts, each written by a different writer in her own individual style: Lori Connelly, Aileen Harkwood, Zara Stoneley, Kari Lemor, Sarah Lefebve, Carmel Harrington, Teresa F. Morgan, Lynn Marie Hulsman, and Jane Lark.Length: 4300 words

    Nobody can really explain it. You just have to understand that bizarre things happen there. They just do. Weird things. The kind of things you don’t even want to dream about in your worst nightmares.Trick-or-treat is crazy enough, with ghosts and goblins and witches and warlocks and all manner of other horrors roaming the streets. But in Oxrun Station, the masks aren’t always made of rubber.In his new hometown, British teenager Sam Jones discovers that a legendary backwoods bogeyman has risen from the grave to seek revenge against those who put him there . . .The fabric of the cosmos is unravelling and dark and dangerous things are leaking across the borders . . . For five unsuspecting teenagers, their lives will never be the same again as they discover the hidden terrors lurking beneath the surface of their quiet town and experience the most horrifying Halloween of them all . . .This year in Oxrun Station, THE TRICK IS TO STAY ALIVE!

    The competition is furious; there's sabotage and treachery and the heartbreak of root rot, and many a weigh-off ends in tears. This year, more than just the grand prize is at stake. The Holy Grail is within reach: the world's first fifteenhundred-pound pumpkin. And Ron and Dick Wallace think they have what it takes to get it.Backyard Giants follows a tumultuous season in the life of a close-knit tribe of competitors as they chase down the ultimate pumpkin prize. In the grueling and gut-wrenching quest for truly colossal fruit,

    Empty tents flap in the breeze, but there’s no sign of the carnies. For a group of close friends, the festivities have just begun. A masked figure haunts Trevor Sheevis in every reflection. Cole Reagor’s dream of being a stand-up comedian suddenly isn’t so funny, and Tommy Gallaghan’s cell phone makes ominous threats. At school, Angela Rayburn is smiling at Mathew Potts, and for Ashley Gifford, the monster he fears most sleeps under his very same roof. When their friend, Steven Delhomme, turns up missing, their worst fears come true. The smell of autumn leaves is in the air, the first pumpkins are aglow, and the crows are gathering in the cornfields. The moon is full, and something is visible beyond the veil between the living and the dead calling itself the Scarecrow King. As Halloween approaches, the dead exchange places with the living, and the All Hallows Eve Midnight Traveling Spook Show opens its doors. In Hill Haven Creeps, every fear will come to life, and every dream will turn into a nightmare. But will Halloween will have the final say? Or is something more ominous on the night wind?

    Its supreme leader, The One Who Is The One, has banned everything they hold dear: books, music, art, and imagination. But the growing strength of the siblings' magic hasn't been enough to stop the One's evil rampage, and now he's executed the only family they had left.Wisty knows that the time has finally come for her to face The One. But her fight and her fire only channel more power to this already invincible being. How can she and Whit possibly prepare for their imminent showdown with the ruthless villain that devastated their world-before he can truly become all-powerful?In this stunning third installment of the epic Witch & Wizard series, the stakes have never been higher--and the consequences will change everything.

    A slim, sinister text called The King in Yellow drove those who read it to madness. Despite suppression by anxious authorities, it spread through global culture, and history itself, like a virus. Now the contagion bears hideous fruit.New Tales of the Yellow Sign expands the classic horror mythos of weird tales pioneer and Lovecraft precursor Robert W. Chambers into new vistas of unease and imagination. Over the course of eight troubling stories, writer and visionary game designer Robin D. Laws lures you into diseased timelines, impossible pasts, and the all-too-terrifying present.Sterilize your suicide chamber, harken to the remorseless clicking of your black box, and whistle for the monstrous creature that lives in your basement. The pallid mask awaits.

    When Jennifer's father dies in a horrific accident, she finds herself drawn to his small cabin in the swampy woods of Boggy Creek, Texas. Her vacation with a few friends soon becomes a fight for survival when they discover the terrifying truth behind the legend of Boggy Creek.

    A failing family manor. And a plan to save it all…Moving to Oakleaf Manor was the last thing Brynn Townsend had planned after losing her job in the city, but even more unexpected was the headstrong son of the owner stealing her heart. Her only hope of building a new life in the quaint town of Sugar Maple rests on saving his family farm. But when he threatens to derail not only her plans to save Oakleaf Manor, but also her newfound home, Brynn knows she must risk their budding romance in order to save it all.Preserving his family's legacy and restoring his home to its former glory means everything to Jack. Generations of the Oakley family have owned and run the historic estate of Oakleaf Manor, but Jack's past mistakes have left his family in danger of losing their home. With the fate of Oakleaf Manor resting solidly on his shoulders, he can't risk failing again, even if it means putting his growing relationship with Brynn in jeopardy.When Brynn crafts a daring plan to save Oakleaf Manor, Jack's deeply rooted fears resurface. He's tried this plan before with disastrous consequences. Can Brynn find a way to convince Jack to trust both her and their love? Will Jack realize where his heart truly belongs before it's too late? Or will the happiness they had found and Oakleaf Manor end up in ruins?If you love winding country roads, quaint cozy shops, and quirky, but caring neighbors who love like family, you'll adore Love at the Fall Festival.

    That’s what they call Jonathan Barnes, Boston’s most successful architect. They say he’s arrogant.Demanding.Impossible.Cruel.They say his gorgeous exterior conceals a wicked core. Like the rambling Victorians he restores, Jonathan Barnes is a complicated, beautiful, mysterious man.He also famously fired three assistants in one day.But he’s the best at what he does, which is why I’m determined to make a good first impression. Sure, I’m starting out as his secretary, and I’m wearing my sister’s hand-me-downs because I can’t afford new clothes.But I can hide my working class roots. If I can tame the monster, I might just get to use my architecture degree.It doesn’t matter that it’s Halloween on a Friday and my grad school friends are out celebrating. I’ve got one chance to show Jonathan Barnes I’m not afraid of him.Of course, I didn’t count on being stuck with him all night in a building rumored to be haunted.I’ve never worried about things that go bump in the night. Bump and grind is a whole other story...

    It’s an equinox place, my mother once said, where dark and light things are equally in power.I want to tell you, dear strangers, why I was there and what I found.The three-winged pigeon. My cynical doppelgänger. The loneliness and marvels and confusions of the house. And most of all the ghost living in my bedroom.We learned how to talk without using sound. She was secretive and scared and difficult to know. But she was also warm and playful, as willing to share the room in silence as to trace vulgar symbols on my hand to get a rise.She helped me with the hundred-pound centipede, the hostile little man living in my basement, and the emptiness I’d felt since my mother lost her mind.I tried to help her out of limbo with experiments and spells until I realized if they worked—if we succeeded—I would lose her."