Daniel Stone’s “Alternative Muses”; and a cult horror story in the jungles of South America in William Ritchey’s “Las Maquinas”.Vol.2, 3, and 4 now available. Proudly brought to you by Crystal Lake Publishing - Tales from the Darkest Depths Interview with the Authors: So what makes Tales from The Lake so special? Jennifer Loring: Tales from the Lake is one of the few anthology series where you can find a balance of established horror authors alongside new and emerging talent.J. Daniel Stone: Tales from the Lake is special, I think, first and foremost in that it's an open-themed horror collection. Themes tend to—more than I want to admit, and some might disagree—constrict writers. I don't like that about themes. But with Tales from the Lake we are reading stories by writers who are not given any rules. Just write what one loves and submit. That's wonderful. Tell us more about your story, and in which volume it appeared? Jennifer Loring: My story “The Fine Art of Wrecking” was the first place winner of the Tales from the Lake competition. It's based on the traditional legend of wreckers on the East Coast using false lights to run ships ashore to be plundered, but takes a Lovecraftian turn.J. Daniel Stone: My story “Alternative Muses” was the 2nd place winner in the original short story writing contest. The story focuses on a young couple who live on the fringes of society, but who soon are taken back to reality when they get pregnant. Things take a dark turn, and the need to transcend normality and complacency drive this story to a wicked ending.

    But what's really waiting for her in the notorious room 9? A man meets an old friend who claims to be haunted by a figure from their past. But when that friend does, who will the ghost haunt next? A town struggles to face the horrors of its past. But no matter how hard the local people try to forget, the victim of a terrible crime is determined to avenge her own death. Room 9 and Other Stories contains the new short stories Room 9, The Ghost of Daniel Dowd and The Horror of Blackforke House, as well as revised versions of The Disappearance of Rose Hillard and The Fan.

    How do you put such terror into words when the words I choose need to be real, not just a fabrication of a well educated imagination. I know that you may have your doubts and conclude with your own presumptions; and with no hard-evidence to offer, I am asking for you to explore and consider your deepest beliefs. I am unable to refer to this as a story, it goes much deeper than that of a progressive tale with happy ever afters. What you are about to read is real; the feelings and emotions described have actually been lived. The fear felt. This is a narrative of the events which took place across almost a century, 1903 to 1983, in a house which stood closely among others and for many years shared the usual comforts of home. This house was once safe, it was a comfortable place to spend time but over time, it evolved into a dark emptiness which the house of Poultney Roads’ residents would never forget. It was hidden away from what it once was and over time had emerged as a building of strong, solid bricks which concealed more secrets than some members of my family wish to remember. I am not writing this in an attempt to scare you but yet to inform you of what exists, whether you choose to believe it or not. This is not a fictional novel, created to shock and leave you in suspense but is instead a retelling of what happened to several generations of a family who had lived their lives as any other but who were, quite literally, introduced to another world. I guess you could consider this a warning, that perhaps you should believe your instincts instead of living your life creating explanations and judgements. Seeing is believing some might say but learning about the house on Poultney Road could prepare you for something you may one day come face to face with and perhaps prevent you from the pain that that this house bought to so many. Safe in your own home; sit back in a comfortable chair and turn on the side light. The beam will comfort you through this roller-coaster of memories which have left their mark on everyone who entered The House on Poultney Road. 'This book awakens those lost or hidden fears that its predecessors seemed to smother.' Horror Honey (http://www.horrorhoney.net) 'I felt a fear I've never felt before from a book, I had shivers and my hairs standing up on my arms.' Amazon review. 'What a Fantastic novel, Stephanie Boddy pulled me in by the end of the first chapter, I had read it by the end of the day.' Beverley Aspinall, Horror Inside the Box Amazon no.1 Bestseller : Ghosts / Unexplained Mysteries / Supernatural

    Weaving an intricate web of storytelling, readers are asked to join him on a journey through some of the darkest of his works.Book a room at the old Crowe’s Bed and Breakfast, but be certain you can leave.Join the Treasure Hunter as he digs up graves and awakens more than just the dead.Lay beside a homeless man in a Shelter, but make sure you’re not trespassing.Set up your cameras alongside The Ghost Hunters, just don’t follow them into the dark.Ghost Stories promises to do more than just make you sleep with the lights on. It will plant a cold kiss on your cheek and draw you into the dark where no one will ever hear you scream!This horror short story collection contains:1. Crowe’s Bed and Breakfast2. The Dog Tracker3. The Treasure Hunter4. The Rosary5. Shelter6. The Shepherd7. The Shortcut8. The Ghost Hunters

    The afterword explains where the ideas for the stories came from.

    By the author of The Count of Eleven.Contents:Introduction (Waking Nightmares).The Guide (1989).Next Time You'll Know Me (1988).Second Sight (1987).The Trick (1980).In the Trees (1986).Another World (1987).Playing the Game (1988).Bedtime Story (1986).Watch the Birdie (1984).Old Clothes (1985).Beyond Worlds (1986).Jack in the Box (1983).Eye of Childhood (1982).The Other Side (1986).Where the Heart Is (1987).Being an Angel (1989).It Helps If You Sing (1989).The Old School (1989).Meeting the Author (1989).

    But something equally ancient keeps watch. Its dark energy disturbs psychic Claire Vanarvi, compelling her to visit an archaeological dig taking place on the purportedly cursed estate of Skendleby Hall, now set to become a sprawling commercial development.Blinded by greed, the Hall's new owner and his political cronies are blissfully unaware of the terrible evil that lies beneath the surface and only Claire, who no one will believe, can see it coming.Now only the tenacious psychic and her accomplice - the local self-loathing, agnostic vicar - stand in the way of a force which could put an end to Skendleby and disturb the fabric of existence.Skendleby is a tale of Christmas haunting, greed, faith, love and horror mixed with a pinch of quantum strangeness.

    With her family suffering, she’ll do anything to help out—even visiting the Grey Man.Everyone in her small Maine town knows of this legendary spirit who haunts the lighthouse, controlling the fog and the fate of any vessel within his reach. But what Willa finds in the lighthouse isn’t a spirit at all, but a young man trapped inside until he collects one thousand souls.Desperate to escape his cursed existence, Grey tries to seduce Willa to take his place. With her life on land in shambles, will she sacrifice herself?

    In this creepy tale, the twist comes with the very last word…

    But sometimes, the world outside the windows isn’t the one you expect to see; sometimes you’ll turn around and find you’re not alone.An old flame of Alice’s – John Revell – reluctantly comes to her aid when the house begins to reveal its secrets. The hill on which it sits is a place of legends – of Old Harry, the Beast of Crawbeck; of the Virgin of the Height and the mysterious Red Man – and home to the secrets of the shadowy Arodias Thorne.Thorne’s influence seeps up through the ground, infiltrating Alice’s new home, and only she and John stand between Arodias and the rest of our world.

    It was Halloween and Samantha`s contractions were unbearable so her husband rushed his pregnant wife to the hospital to deliver their new bundle of joy. Mike told the doctor and nurse to take great care of his wife. The doctor and nurse reassured Mike they would take very good care of her and not to worry. Mike waited patiently in the waiting room as the doctor and nurse delivered their beautiful baby. After a few hours the baby finally arrived and the doctor entered the waiting room and told Mike to come in the room and see his new baby. Mike entered and his wife was all smiles and said "Honey, it`s a boy!" "I think he looks like a Johnny. What do you think?" asked his wife. "Johnny sounds fine to me," replied Mike. Mike was so excited and held his baby boy in his arms as tears rolled down his cheeks and said "Darling, I think he likes me." Mike stayed the night in his wife's room with their new baby, but as they were both sleeping, an unforeseen force came in their room that was about to change their lives forever, when they both woke in the morning. Morning came, and Samantha was discharged from the hospital, and time for their new baby to be raised in their new home. It wasn't until after little Johnny turned 6 years of age that things around the Delany Estate turned deadly. The first sign that Johnny had the mark of the beast was June 6. It was the 6th month, 6th day, and Johnny was 6. All the numbers represented 666.

    An employee of the St. James Hotel in New Mexico watches in shock as a fair-haired toddler with a terribly disfigured face disappears into the floor. This is just one of the paranormal mysteries Leslie Rule shares with us--a result of extensive interviews and research uncovering the reasons behind ghost sightings across the country.Coast to Coast Ghosts features dozens of spine-tingling, real-life ghost stories and approximately fifty black-and-white photographs taken by Rule, including some believed to have captured actual apparitions.Only the reader can decide. . . .

    In this book, Tony and Jenny Brueski from Real Ghost Stories Online take the most haunting accounts from their podcast and share them here, including:• HAUNTED BUILDINGS AND BREWERIES• JEALOUS DEMONS AND PROTECTIVE SPIRITS• MESSAGES FROM RETURNED RELATIVES• GHOSTLY BATTLES FROM LONG-LOST WARS• EXORCISMS AND DARK ENERGIES• GRAVEYARD EXPLORATION GONE WRONG

    The human obsession with the mysteries of the afterlife is explored in these supernatural tales of haunted houses, lost souls, unexplained phenomena, and “good” neighbors. Neil Gaiman’s “Closing Time” is a troubling tale recounted by an elderly man on a cold drizzly night in London while Joyce Carol Oates’ “Haunted” is a chilling story of two young girls drawn to abandoned houses and what they find in one. Francis Wardwell is eager to inform readers that everything they think they know about ghosts is wrong in Peter Straub’s “Hunger: An Introduction,” and George R. R. Martin’s "Remembering Melody” stresses the importance of keeping promises—no matter the consequences. Fans of a good ghost story will find this collection the ideal go-to for chills.Content"Anna" by F. Paul Wilson"Cargo" by E. Michael Lewis"Eenie, Meenie, Ipsateenie" by Pat Cadigan"Hunger: A Confession" by Dale Bailey"Delta Sly Honey" by Lucius Shepard"Nothing Will Hurt You" by David Morell"The Ammonite Violin (Murder Ballad #4)" by Caitlín R. Kiernan"Haunted" by Joyce Carol Oates"The Have-Nots" by Elizabeth Hand"Closing Time" by Neil Gaiman"Mr. Fiddlehead" by Jonathan Carroll"The Fooly" by Terry Dowling"The Wall" by Paul Walther"The Pennine Tower Restaurant" by Simon Kurt Unsworth"Distress Call" by Connie Willis"The Horn" by Stephen Gallagher"Everybody Goes" by Michael Marshall Smith"Transfigured Night" by Richard Bowes"Hula Ville" by James P. Blaylock"The Bedroom Light" by Jeffrey Ford"Spectral Evidence" by Gemma Files"Where Angels Come In" by Adam L. G. Nevill"Two Houses" by Kelly Link

    She couldn't believe they were really moving in. If it weren't for the wooden doll she had found in the closet of her new bedroom, she would have been miserable. But the strange hand-carved figure fascinated her, and she sensed with a child's instinct that she had to hide it from her parents...Hidden EvilIt was a house of darkness and shadows, but with her secret doll, Beth wasn't afraid. Not even when she heard the scratching and whispering at night. Not even when the tall massive stones of her dreams began to ooze with blood. For as she stared into the eyes of the wooden doll, she heard it call to her and felt the force of its evil power. And she knew that it was about to tell her what she had to do...