What really happened, out there in the woods--and who has Cassie been protecting all along? Read on, if you dare...

    Or not. No, definitely not, because the grim reaper's lost his job. He's been stripped of his scythe and banned from reaping. The angel of death has officially fallen, and he's crash-landed at 24/7 Demon Mart.It doesn't take long for DeeDee, Lloyd, and Kevin to figure out that living with the angel of death isn't easy. Lost souls. Angry exes. Ancient curses. Will the grim reaper ever get his afterlife together? The outlook is not so good.The reaper isn't the only angel who's out of sorts. Lloyd's devilish boss Faust hasn't been the same since a tentacle monster spit him out of an alternate dimension, and his ex-girlfriend tried to start the zombie apocalypse. And Angel eight ball? He's having a hell of a time juggling a terrible new boss and saving Lloyd from eternal damnation.As unreaped souls stack up and the specter of death looms larger, what's the Demon Mart crew to do? Find out in this grim reaper comedy.

    I am the only one who will protect and cherish you.I am the only one who knows everything about you….every movement, every breath, every thought…I own.You are mine.Be careful to obey me, my love.For my protection will become possession.My fascination an obsession. Love will bleed into hate at the slightest hint of betrayal. You are mine. You will learn your only salvation is with me…or pay the ultimate price.Step into our web of lies, betrayal and murder. One tale twists into another in this macabre collection of horror. This is not a love story. This is what happens when love decays into mania. The Perfect Wife by Zoe Blake The Connoisseur by Addison Cain Becoming by Celia Aaron My Bloody Valentine by SJ Cole Fool for Love by Julia Sykes Chilling Seduction by Jane Henry All Wrapped Up in a Bow by Ashleigh Giannoccaro

    Comments and new ‘friends’ were acquired … all with the same goal … writing!This is not one person’s achievement, but a collective of people from around the block and around the world.~*~“Hal L. O’ween” is the pen-name of a group of writers from around the world that have joined together to ‘scare your pants off!’Many thanks go to the following writers—without their involvement, this collection wouldn’t have been possible:Devin Berglund, Brian Bigelow, Melissa Blume, Carol Bond, Michelle Patricia Browne, Jaleta Clegg, Richard Cotton, Russell Cruse, J. A. Cunningham, Toy Davis, Bella Doerres, Debra Elliott, Jiva Fang, Paul Freeman, Joseph Alan Gharagheer, Pamela Griffiths, Erik Gustafson, Rylee Hales, Denise Hemphill, Bruce Hesselbach, Rob Holliday, Katrina Jack, Gerald D. Johnston, Mel L. Kinder, Merita King, Pamela K. Kinney, Neil Leckman, Tracy Lesch, Rosemary Lynch, Ellen McKinney, Wolfen Lee McKoy, Shannon Marie Mead, Jason Mueller and C. L. Foster, Matthew Christopher Nelson, Sharon Van Orman, Patrick Ottuso, Cheryl C. Ramirez, Martin Reaves, Katherine Rochholz, Kincaid Savoie, Adam Sifre and Splinker, Gretchen Steen, Michael L. Turner, Rahima Warren, Richard A. Wentworth, Lisa Williamson, Sherill Willis, Stephen L. Wilson, Kay D. Ziegler.Enjoy these spooky bits, for they are what makes Halloween special!

    The more seasoned of the two creates a game to pass the time. They choose seven passengers and proceed to guess their names, age, occupation, marital status, and personality. Later, they are informed of severe mechanical problems disabling the plane, leading to a crash into the sea. They survive along with only seven other passengers, incredibly the seven people from their game. The subsequent prolonged and horrifying adventure in a raft presents many obstacles to their survival including sharks, severe weather, death, hunger, thirst, declining physical and mental health, paranoia, and pirates of the high seas. Their long awaited rescue from the ravages of the sea is just the beginning of their trip to Hell and back.

    Each tale is introduced with an intriguing account of its origin and sometimes the unbelievably strange but true facts upon which it is based.

    It was also the last time. Molly Blackburn, nicknamed Jane the Ripper by the Las Vegas press after killing eleven men while posing as a prostitute, was strapped to the chair without incident. The switch was flipped.Everything after that went horribly wrong.Since that day, a copycat Jane the Ripper has appeared almost every decade in a different city, mimicking Molly's choice in victims as well as her methods of murder. She kills eleven men then disappears, never to be found. The similarities between the bodies left behind each decade is uncanny. As if they are all the victims of the same murderer, not a copycat.But that's impossible, of course, because Molly Blackburn is dead, her execution witnessed by a dozen people.FBI Agent Jack Shaw, the lead investigator in the Jane the Ripper cases since the seventies, finally catches a break in 2009 when the intended fifth victim manages to turn the tables on the newest copycat . Everyone believes that the horror has finally ended with her capture. Shaw is not so sure, though, wondering if someone else will take up the mantle and kill seven more men to complete the cycle. But when no more bodies with her distinctive markings show up over the next two years, Shaw allows himself to believe that maybe he has seen the end of the Jane the Ripper murders.As it turns out, what he thought was the end was only the beginning.His hunt will take him across the country, and even when he thinks he's finally discovered the truth, he quickly learns that not everything is as it seems.That not every monster is created equal.That the nature of good and evil is not as black and white as he has always believed.That not everything that is broken can be put back together.That not every fractured soul can be saved.When blood, smoke and ashes rise, no one comes out the same on the other side.Blood, Smoke and Ashes is a 115,00 word supernatural thriller/horror

    Ward, a tier-one operator turned mercenary, has just flung himself off the cargo deck of a doomed C-130. Now he’s out of the Drop Zone and evading the undead as a terrible new breed of hunter enters the Wyrd. But these new, faster predators might not be the only thing to fear in an apocalypse beset by zombies, nukes and killer A.I.’s. One of the last warriors of a collapsed government is planning on putting up some big numbers in this final, ultimate game of Survivor, until he finds a mysterious new companion... a stranger dressed in black.

    She runs the seedy side of her game, capturing criminals too dangerous for the local law enforcement. Using unorthodox methods, she finds herself in the crosshairs of the Magistrate for too many allowable kills for the quarter. And her head hurts like hell. Aeslin is part of an elite vampire squad of Turners. A rare sect of vampire scouts who possess the ability to find women with enough undead blood to be turned into full vampire. VAC2: Bounty enforcer, Narah Adrienne, has been served her sentence in the form of three lashes to be meted by a corrupt Magistrate. She's unable to acquire her target as instructed, while strange health issues force Narah to seek help in the dangerous medical underground. They might have answers—for a price. VAC3: Narah Adrienne is a scant twenty hours from her sentence of three lashes. But first she must meet Marc, her liaison with the illegal underground. He might have the fix for her mysterious medical condition. But Marc's solutions come with questions attached—and at a cost too high to pay. Now that Narah understands her bounty target is really a Hunter assigned to commit a part of her to death, she must make the best choice among terrible options. Worse of all, if Narah does not make her hearing the sentence will worsen. Either way, she could die. Only one man can save her and technically, he's not human. VAC4: Narah awakens in captivity. She's escaped the final lash from a sadistic Magistrate meant to teach her temperance, only to find that her sentence was not meant to be a lesson, but an execution. Matthews discovers the truth of Hunter leadership, and with an uncertain end goal he determines to follow his heart, though that decision might cost him his life. Aeslin has exposed his race by removing Narah in plain sight. With the blood clock ticking down the minutes of Narah's life; she turns or she will die. What will happen when both Matthews and Aeslin discover the real motive behind the lashes? VAC5: Being turned isn't everything it's cracked up to be. Narah's a vampire, yet not. Because of a twist of fate and circumstance, Narah finds she's tied to both Aeslin and Matthews. She's now wanted as a deserter from sentencing by the very people she fought beside. And Magistrate Oren still wants his final lash—at any cost. From opposing forces, Murphy and Marc find a common goal in helping Narah return to her former life. However, Aeslin and Matthews have other plans, ones that involve her soul—and her heart. When everyone is taken from Narah, and a sadist holds the reins to her sanity, can the males fulfill their promise to protect her, or will Narah be left to fight this battle alone? VAC6: Narah's been sold out by the most unlikely source, and faces a far graver punishment than her original sentence by Magistrate Oren. Marc and Murphy have now been caught in the crosshairs of her new life and face dire consequences as a result. Opposing forces and their hidden agendas continue to move Narah like a chess piece toward an inevitable stale mate. Can Narah return to her old life? Will she be hunted for an escape that was beyond her control—or will her tie to Aeslin and Matthews help her regain all that's she's lost—and more than she ever dreamed possible

     Angel, spirit, or ghost—the Keeper doesn’t know exactly what he is. But he knows he needs to protect Michael Delacroix, a famous artist who is kidnapped and locked in a windowless room deep beneath a Napa Valley vineyard. Desperate to save the only person who knows he exists, the Keeper uses his abilities to convince two strong-willed women to search for Michael: a reporter who thinks her visions are signs from the Universe, and a nun who swears she hears the voice of God. Together they close in on the kidnapper—a psychotic killer who also hears a voice inside his head, pushing him toward murder. But once the Keeper learns the tragic reason he feels so connected to Michael, is it too late to save him? Finalist for the Claymore Award

     The Mist Casino sits just above a kemana with an interior that would make a ghost feel right at home. Of course it does.After all, Magic City has to compete with nearby Vegas. A different kind of magic.Ruby is just back from University for the summer, catching up with an old friend when everything changes with a BANG! A series of small blasts are exploding all around her. Chips are flying through the air. Someone wanted to announce their arrival in town. But who?Ruby is about to get drawn into a battle for control of Magic City. They just made the fight personal. Is the Ebon Dragon Casino next?Will Ruby’s secrets get in her way?What waits at the end could change her life forever, if she survives the journey.For action, magic, snarky banter, martial arts, mystical creatures, and high intrigue, take a vacation to Magic City!

    They quickly learn that there is no way out, scarcely enough food and water to go around, and eerie music plays constantly in the background of every room. There is nothing to explain their mysterious incarceration except for a few scattered clues, a strange clock with twenty-four numbers and one single hour hand, and a leather-bound sheet of rules that makes their situation all the more fatal. The House Rules: Rule one: No escape. You can’t leave, plain and simple. Try to escape and you won’t like what you find on the other side. Rule two: Make what you have last. Whatever food and water you currently find in the house is all that you will be provided with during your stay. No more will be given to you under any circumstance. Rule three: When the music stops, someone must die. The music you can all hear in the background will cease between the hour of twenty-three and twenty-four; when this happens someone must die. Failure to comply with this rule will result in everyone’s death. Rule four: Only one, and only when the music stops! One death, and only one death, must occur in the allotted time between the hour of twenty-three and twenty-four. Again, failure to comply with this rule will result in everyone’s death. We hope you have a pleasant stay, and don’t forget: Redemption is the key to escape.

    

    He has let go of old habits, especially the ones that turned him into an addict and helped land him in prison.On a hike along the Lowback Trail, Joe stumbles on one of the town's oldest secrets--buried long ago, if not forgotten.It's an unusual but safe enough treasure--a jar of old pennies. What interests Joe isn't the pennies themselves, but the pieces of paper taped to every coin--a child's handwritten wish on each one.When the first few wishes come true, they are simple things. Fun. Harmless.Except as time goes on, Joe realizes they aren't really wishes at all...they're exchanges, and the bill was racking up.Nothing is free in life. Sooner or later, you always pay.