Book picks similar to
Auto Rewind by Jason Arnopp
horror
short-stories
novelette
1st-person
Bad People: Four terrifying short novels of suspense
Jeremy Bates - 2018
After a night out with his girlfriend in one of the country's remote provinces, he wakes to find himself in a pitch-black coffin—and quickly running out of oxygen. With only his cell phone and his own wits to rely on, it's a race against time to escape the claustrophobic death trap. SIX BULLETS The end of civilization arrived in the form of a giant asteroid thirteen months ago. For Burt James, a survivalist, it was not a complete surprise. He'd spent much of his adult life prepping for such a catastrophe. Consequently, while the majority of the population scoured the post-apocalyptic landscape for water and food, regressing into primitive killers, he bunkered down in his fortified hilltop home in a small town in the middle of the Australian Outback. But now he's out of food and down to his last six bullets, and he will have to make the most difficult choice of his life. THE MAILMAN Los Angeles, 1985. Never was the motto sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll more apt than the scene on the legendary Sunset Strip with the arrival of the underground Hollywood glam bands. While Mick Freeman, a record executive with a major label, works tirelessly to sign five toxic rockers whom he believes might flip the entire music world on its head, his wife, Jade, spends her days bored and alone at home, struggling with a midlife crisis that threatens to topple their twenty-year marriage. And then she meets the new mailman. Young and handsome, he sweeps her off her feet—straight into a nightmare the likes of which she could never have imagined. RE-ROLL In the near future, breathtakingly humanoid robots called Mechs are for sale, and they're designed to fulfill whatever role you want: husband, wife, best friend, slave. Manufacturers allow new owners one free "roll" to randomly determine their Mech's three leading characteristics. But as everybody knows, scoring your ideal traits is a crapshoot, though you can always re-roll—at a price.
Too Fond
Leanna Renee Hieber - 2012
McGill, the owner of the nearby mill. His tragic story and her compassionate gift tangle themselves into something altogether new... and not altogether welcome.
Madhouse
Miguel Estrada - 2017
Faced with his parents’s divorce, eleven-year-old Lucas runs away from his house with the hope that his family will get back together to find him. On his way walking through the empty streets, he is picked up by a mysterious woman who offers to take care of him and provide him with a loving family. The boy then wakes up in shackles, confined to a bed in a decrepit house in the middle of nowhere and will have to face his deepest fears in order to survive in his new home. Join Lucas in a desperate attempt to get back to his family in Madhouse, the first published book from horror-thriller author Miguel Estrada.
Gunpowder Plots
Val McDermid - 2013
In Sneeze for Danger, a killer is unmasked by unfortunate means, and in The Consolation Blonde, a misunderstanding turns a bestselling author to crime…‘Very smart and memorable . . . both stories are great reminders of a time when McDermid was sharpening her teeth on the crime fiction genre and the great writer she was to become . . . an excellent aperitif before the next McDermid novel’
How To Exit Your Body: and Other Strange Tales
Christopher Maxim - 2018
This book is guaranteed to horrify you in the best way possible. Open it up, turn the page, and take a journey to a world consumed with mystery in madness.
I Do Not Belong
Rick Wood - 2018
One of them put them there. For every hour they do not figure out who, another person will die. They are all going to have to ask themselves: who does not belong?
Thumbprint: A Story
Joe Hill - 2012
. . and her dark past follows closely behind.
The Last Blog
Rob Blackwell - 2015
14, 2010, and was never seen again. The only clues to his fate were a series of blog posts he left behind, allegedly recounting his final hours inside one of the most haunted houses in the world. But what started as an investigation into the mysterious occurrences inside Madison Manor also revealed shocking truths about Sean’s own past. “The Last Blog” is a 10,000-word short story that includes Sean’s final blog postings, as well as additional analysis and insight provided by noted supernatural expert Soren Chase. It’s the perfect treat for Halloween!
The Methuselah Treatment
T.C. Powell - 2015
Not everyone can. Who decides? Desperate to save his daughter from a mysterious sickness, Daniel applies for the Methuselah Treatment. If she gets it, his daughter won’t just recover, she’ll live forever. But the drug is tightly controlled, and only the special, the talented, and the truly deserving ever receive it. There is nothing special about Daniel’s destitute ten- year-old girl—or is there?
Pizza Delivery
Robert Kent - 2014
College student Brock Clouser is working a summer job delivering pizzas. During a run to the outskirts of Harrington, Indiana, he wrecks his car at an isolated country home. Though most everyone there has been violently murdered, he's not alone.WARNINGThis is a novelette, not a full novel, and it's mean and nasty and intended for a mature audience. It is absolutely not appropriate for younger readers. It's a gruesome, repugnant tale featuring horrific acts of violence sure to warp young minds. Also, these particular characters speak in EXTREMELY COARSE language.
The First
Jason Mott - 2013
Read how it all begins in this short story, The First.It's been just over a year since Edmund Blithe died, and just over a month since his fiancée, Emily, stopped wearing her engagement ring. Emily has finally begun to move on… Until Edmund mysteriously and inexplicably returns, sending the world—and Emily—into a tailspin.Edmund is only just the beginning. Around the world, people's loved ones are returning from beyond, seeking only to reenter the lives they left behind. As the world dives deep into uncertainty, Emily and Edmund are determined to find their way back to one another…even if it means risking everything.The reappearances continue in The Sparrow, and look for The Returned from Harlequin MIRA, a moving tale of a family given a second chance at life and a world where nothing—not even death—is certain.
A Human Stain
Kelly Robson - 2017
A Human Stain by Kelly Robson is a disturbing horror novelette about a British expatriate at loose ends who is hired by her friend to temporarily care for his young, orphaned nephew in a remote castle-like structure in Germany.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Night Terrors III
Theresa DillonPaul Tremblay - 2014
A wave of sinkholes appears on the anniversary of a rural tragedy, and local residents begin to hear the voices of the dead. A woman encounters a predator from her youth—and a chance to turn the tables. A child’s inner beast takes on a sinister life of its own. An undetectable serial killer raises tensions on a college campus. Experimental physics reveals another world, and it might mean the end of ours. Shrouded in darkness, lurking in the shadows, NIGHT TERRORS III awaits you. The third installment of the chilling Night Terrors anthology series includes stories from Jack Ketchum, Steve Rasnic Tem, Dennis Etchison, Taylor Grant, Eric J. Guignard, Aric Sundquist, Jennifer Brozek, John McNee, Simon McCaffery, Patty Templeton, and many more!
Uncanny Magazine Issue 29: July/August 2019
Lynne M. ThomasTim Pratt - 2019
Featuring new fiction by Sarah Pinsker, Greg van Eekhout, Rachel Swirsky and P. H. Lee, Marie Brennan, A.C. Wise, and Maurice Broaddus. Reprinted fiction by Tim Pratt, essays by Aidan Moher, Tansy Rayner Roberts, Karlyn Ruth Meyer, Marissa Lingen, and Elsa Sjunneson-Henry, poetry by D.A. Xiaolin Spires, Alexandra Seidel, Cynthia So, and Betsy Aoki, interviews with Greg Van Eekhout and Maurice Broaddus by Caroline M. Yoachim, a cover by Julie Dillon, and an editorial by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas.“The Blur in the Corner of Your Eye” by Sarah Pinsker“Big Box” by Greg van Eekhout“Compassionate Simulation” by Rachel Swirsky and P. H. Lee“On the Impurity of Dragon-kind” by Marie Brennan“How the Trick Is Done” by A.C. Wise“The Migration Suite: A Study in C Sharp Minor” by Maurice Broaddus“A Champion of Nigh-Space” by Tim Pratt“Was Trials of Mana Worth Growing Up For?” by Aidan Moher“The Gang’s All Here: Writing Lessons from The Good Place” by Tansy Rayner Roberts“The Better Place” by Karlyn Ruth Meyer“Beware the Lifeboat” by Marissa Lingen“Sir Elsa of Tortall, Knight of the Realm” by Elsa Sjunneson-Henry“capturing the mood” by D.A. Xiaolin Spires“Sing” by Alexandra Seidel“If Love Is Real, So Are Fairies” by Cynthia So“Buruburu” by Betsy Aoki
Where There's Smoke
Jodi Picoult - 2014
Now, in this original short story, available exclusively as an eBook, Picoult introduces Serenity Jones, one of the fascinating characters from her eagerly awaited new novel, Leaving Time. Even as a child, Serenity Jones knew she possessed unusual psychic gifts. Now, decades later, she’s an acclaimed medium and host of her own widely viewed TV show, where she delivers messages to the living from loved ones who have passed. Lately, though, her efforts to boost ratings and garner fame have compromised her clairvoyant instincts. When Serenity books a young war widow to appear as a guest, the episode quickly unravels, stirring up a troubling controversy. And as she tries to undo the damage—to both her reputation and her show—Serenity finds that pride comes at a high price.