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!

    He's landed at the bottom of his school's popularity ladder, and bully Randy Stanford seems to be waiting around every corner.The troubled teen thinks he's found a way to escape his real-world problems when he stumbles upon strange doorways in Astoria's local library that seem to lead into the extraordinary worlds from all his favorite books. Oz, Neverland, Wonderland -- they're all a reality with Wesley's new discovery. Wesley teams with best friend Taylor Williams to embark on a great adventure, both ready to leave the drama of middle school behind.But the two kids quickly find themselves embroiled in a centuries-old battle for the library and the magic hiding within. Now, fighting alongside the eccentric old man who's vowed to protect the building's power, the pair must help ward off an attack by a shadowy group with a strange tie to Wesley's nemesis, forcing Wesley to face the fears he's been dodging... and one of the most terrifying bullies of all time!

    Fearing that he'll lose his job if word gets out, the head of the hospital, Dr. Franklin Grimm desperately attempts to cover up the escape. Meanwhile, there is a Maniac on the Loose.

    But all I’ve ever wanted is to be a Lamron. That’s the word normal spelled backward. Anyways, now I have the chance to go to a regular school and be a regular girl I’ll do whatever it takes to fit in. Fitting in is easy. All I have to do is: Keep my magic a secret Swap my favorite colorful clothes for boring black ones Suck up to scary Mrs. Rogers, the school principal Keep my pet cat, bat and corncob from causing any trouble And stay away from Izzy. She’s all colorful and funny and awesome…. and not helpful for fitting in. But when everything starts to go wrong, there’s only one way to save my new school… use magic. And only one person who can help me… Izzy! Evie Everyday Witch is a series of chapter books that kids and parents will love. Ideal for reluctant readers. Evie's quirky, funny personality will sweep kids off their feet, and get them reading again! PRE-ORDER NOW!

    

    A disused London Underground lift goes way beyond the bottom floor.A psychic boy discovers what terrors are buried in the fallow field.A handshake seals a midnight fate in an old farming dispute.A corpse must be buried by dawn.BLACK GATE TALES: Fourteen short stories of dread, hope, death and wonder.

    Each new soul arrives with a story and a last wish. If she can grant their wish, they’ll move on and leave her be. But that isn’t always possible and her head is getting crowded... Three weeks from taking a new job, Linh gets fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Bauer stuck in her head. Another voice is bad enough, but Linh is horrified to learn that the girl’s last wish is for her father to die. When Linh refuses, Elizabeth decides there’s only one way to get what she wants—to take over Linh’s body and kill her father herself. During the struggle that follows Linh is forced to decide what’s more important—her life and the lives of those around her or her oath as a physician to do no harm.

    She lives in Ghastly-Gorm Hall with her father, Lord Goth, lots of servants and at least half a dozen ghosts, but she hasn't got any friends to explore her enormous, creepy house with.Then, one night, everything changes when Ada meets a ghostly mouse called Ishmael. Together they set out to solve the mystery of the strange happenings at Ghastly-Gorm Hall, and get a lot more than they bargained for...

    Moundshroud. As Pipkin scrambles to join them, he is swept away by a dark Something, and Moundshroud leads the boys on the tail of a kite through time and space to search the past for their friend and the meaning of Halloween.

    Was Daniel George an unfortunate victim of some dark magic, or some invisible revenge? In the sleepy tourist town of Wickrock Bay, Maine, Mimi’s artifact and antique shop is a hit with customers far and wide, especially crotchety next-door cafe owner Daniel George, who likes to duck into the shop often to spot what Mimi has in her collections.  But, after three Wickrock Bay citizens rub Daniel the wrong way, in one form or another, the man moves to take action against them.Only for him to turn up mysteriously dead.Wickrock Bay Police Chief Robert Thompson, and soon along with his crush Mimi, are immediately on the case.  But Mimi also has to be cautious, because the object used to murder poor Daniel had come from her shop.  Wickrock Bay may be a small, cozy seaside town, but tongues could wag if enough people find this out.This cozy mystery is a clean read: no graphic violence, sex, or strong language.

    Illustrator Emma SanCartier captures the bizarre and hilarious elements of 17 monsters from around the world in a light, tongue-in-cheek tone, from the Japanese dream-eater Baku and the Persian carnivorous unicorn Shadhavar to the Eastern-European Shurale, a literal tickle monster. Packaged in a textured three-piece case and illustrated in lush watercolor, Monsters You Should Know is a perfect primer for the many strange, frightening, and compelling things that go bump in the night.

    There’s only one problem – she doesn’t have her hunter powers. No super-strength, no super-speed. Nothing. When she goes back to school after the summer, she’s surprised to find a new boy has joined her class. Even more surprising – he’s a vampire! If only there was a way to stake him through the heart without anyone noticing.

    Some are even afraid of clowns.None of those things scare Sara. But she is terrified of one man, who comes to her house every year, in the middle of the night.Santa. Curl up with some frightening Christmas horror from the Queen of Scream, Willow Rose. Warning: you might not feel like putting out cookies for Santa ever again after reading this short story.

    And he’s looking everywhere! He’s worked out at the gym (if only his arm wouldn’t keep falling off). He’s tried ballroom dancing lessons (but the ladies found him to be a bit stiff). He’s even been on stalemate.com. How’s a guy supposed to find a ghoul? When it seems all hope has died, could the girl of Mortimer’s dreams be just one horrifying shriek away?

    But then he takes an old scroll and a seemingly harmless figurine from the church basement, accepts a magic ring from a mysterious stranger--and is plunged into a terrifying adventure that may cost him his life.