Book picks similar to
The Doll by J.C. Martin
horror
short-stories
fiction
short-story
The Witch Who Cried Wolf
Sarah Mäkelä - 2013
But when her magic gets mixed up, supernatural forces are unleashed and suddenly she’s being pursued by werewolves—that she didn’t even realize existed… Hidden emotions: Ethan Parker, Mia’s brother’s best friend, is home from deployment for the holidays. Mia’s not only hiding from werewolves, she’s trying to keep her feelings for Ethan secret; it would be a disaster if he knew she’s been nursing a long-time crush… The power of love: things take a terrifying turn when Mia and Ethan are attacked by a werewolf. Ethan is amazed when Mia reveals her paranormal prowess as she tries to shield them from danger. But can she really protect them from the darkness that lurks? And how can he tell her that, for ages, he’s been denying what he really wants? Mia...
Beautiful Demons
Sarra Cannon - 2010
She has extraordinary powers, but her inability to control them has gotten her kicked from so many foster homes she's lost count. Shadowford Home is her last chance, and she hopes Peachville High will be the fresh start she needs. But when evidence ties her to the gruesome murder of a Demons cheerleader, Harper discovers this small town has a big secret.
Starstruck
Brenda Hiatt - 2013
Orphaned as an infant and reluctantly raised by an overly-strict "aunt," she's not even sure who she is. M's dream of someday escaping tiny Jewel, Indiana and making her mark in the world seems impossibly distant until hot new quarterback Rigel inexplicably befriends her. As Rigel turns his back on fawning cheerleaders to spend time with M, strange things start to happen: her acne clears up, her eyesight improves to the point she can ditch her thick glasses, and when they touch, sparks fly--literally! When M digs for a reason, she discovers deep secrets that will change her formerly mundane life forever... and expose her to perils she never dreamed of. Book 1 of the award-winning Starstruck series, where teen romance blends with science fiction to open a whole new world of action, adventure and discovery.
A Case of Spirits
K.J. Charles - 2015
A rash of ghost sightings, followed quickly by madness—and horrifying, eye-melting blindness.The outbreak hits close to home when Lord Crane’s manservant, Merrick, becomes the newest victim. Desperate to find the cause of the malady, Crane and his magician lover, Stephen Day, are in a race against time—to put an end to the magical assault and put to rest the painful memories resurrected by ghosts of the past. Warning: Magical horror, strong language, and strange brews disguised as strong drink.
Before
Cambria Hebert - 2011
Of what things were like for me when everything was normal. Of what every teenager’s life is like. Clothes. Parties. Boys and summer vacation. What’s so wrong with that?I liked it. I was happy.Until things changed. I changed.I didn’t know that lies and secrets were about to take over my existence. I didn’t know there was someone out there, someone meant just for me. I didn’t know that I was about to go on a journey, a journey that would lead me to the girl I am today.This is the beginning of the worst year of my life. Would I go back and change things? Erase everything that has happened to go back into these moments?Not a chance.This is a story of before.
Come Closer
Sara Gran - 2003
A memo to her boss that's replaced by obscene insults. Amanda—a successful architect in a happy marriage—finds her life going off kilter by degrees. She starts smoking again, and one night for no reason, without even the knowledge that she's doing it, she burns her husband with a cigarette. At night she dreams of a beautiful woman with pointed teeth on the shore of a blood-red sea.The new voice in Amanda's head, the one that tells her to steal things and talk to strange men in bars, is strange and frightening, and Amanda struggles to wrest back control of her life. Is she possessed by a demon, or is she simply insane? Described as “a new kind of psychological thriller” by George Pelecanos and “this year's scariest novel” by Time Out New York, Come Closer has become a modern classic “with a kick that will stay with the reader for days afterward” (The Dallas Morning News).
Golden Blood
Melissa Pearl - 2011
Her toes start tingling and she has a few minutes to find a secret haven where she can disintegrate and appear in another time and place. While “across the line,” her training and skills are put to the test as she completes a mission that will change history for the lucky few her father has selected. Gemma's parents are adamant that secrecy is paramount to her family’s safety. If people knew what they were capable of, they could be "used and abused", as her mother always says. Afraid she might accidentally utter the truth and break the ancient oath of her people, Gemma spends her school days as a loner. Only one thing can throw her sheltered life askew... Harrison Granger.Harrison never expected to talk to the strange Hart girl, but after a brief encounter he can't stop thinking about her. He begins a campaign to chisel away her icy veneer and is met with unexpected consequences. As he slowly wins this girl over, he enters a surreal world that has him fighting to keep his newfound love and his life.
The Iron Butterfly
Chanda Hahn - 2012
Their leader has chosen Thalia as the test subject for a torture device of untold power, designed to change and twist her into something that is neither human nor Denai.Escaping, Thalia finds an unwilling warrior to protect her and an unlikely Denai to befriend her. After finding a home at the Citadel as a servant, Thalia’s worst nightmare comes to life and she begins to show signs of power. Scared and unable to control her gifts, she tries to hide her past to fit in among the Denai. But the Septori want their latest test subject back and will stop at nothing to retrieve her, dead or alive.
Dark Creations: Gabriel Rising
Jennifer Martucci - 2011
At seventeen years old, she envisioned love but never dreamed it possible.That was before she met Gabriel James.Gabriel was different from other boys. With otherworldly attractiveness, gallantry, charm, and intelligence, Gabriel was everything boys her age were not. As her relationship with Gabriel grew, she realized his kindness and generosity matched his extraordinary physical appearance. Melissa found her feelings for him growing stronger with their every encounter.But Gabriel had a secret, a dark secret.Gabriel was no ordinary teenage boy. His exceptional attributes were not random inheritances from his ancestry. His origins were far different.Gabriel James was not born of man and woman. His DNA was hand-picked and refined by Dr. Franklin Terzini and grown in a clandestine facility in the Russian Far East. Dr. Terzini created Gabriel to be the future of the human species, a perfected version. The crucial difference between Gabriel and the rest of humanity, however, was his inability to experience emotions. His lack of emotion was not by accident, but by design. Dr. Terzini believed that humankind would best be served without sentimentality, that feelings were the root of every ill within society. Gabriel supposed Terzini’s theory to be true; until he met Melissa.Despite Terzini’s intention, Melissa Martin awakens feelings within Gabriel, offers him life beyond his maker’s confines. Gabriel realizes emotionality is not what is wrong with the world, but what gives life meaning. He realizes he must risk everything to be with her, to conceal his relationship with her from Terzini.Elsewhere, in a far corner of the Earth, Dr. Franklin Terzini’s earliest creation spirals out of control, no longer contented by his meditative state, propelled by an insatiable bloodlust. A creature more powerful and hideous than any that roam the planet, his first creation journeys to the United States leaving a trail of victims in his wake, as hatred for Gabriel fuels his voyage.Dr. Terzini’s discovery of Gabriel’s feelings and his connection with Melissa, along with the arrival of his first creation, threatens to destroy more than Gabriel’s relationship. Gabriel desperately struggles to protect her from the unrelenting forces conspiring against them. He must guard her against his maker and shield her from the wrath of mankind’s darkest creation.
Ethan
P.T. Michelle - 2013
He’s careful to project a semblance of normalcy, keeping the suffocating darkness locked inside. As much as he wishes he could focus on girls, sports, and cars like other seventeen-year-olds, nothing distracts him from his own demons or shines through.Until Nara Collins crosses his path. The blonde fascinates and intrigues him, giving him a measure of peace he’s never felt before.When Ethan discovers there’s more to Nara than she allows others to see, that she might have a unique secret of her own, suddenly his world comes into focus.Note: ETHAN is a novella PREQUEL to BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS. This story will give some of Ethan’s background and lead up until the day he and Nara talk for the first time.
Six Earlier Days
David Levithan - 2012
A must never get too attached, must never be noticed, must never interfere. The novel Every Day starts on Day 5994 of A’s life. In this digital-only collection Six Earlier Days, Levithan gives readers a glimpse at a handful of the other 5993 stories yet to be told that inform how A navigates the complexities of a life lived anew each day. In Every Day, readers discover if you can truly love someone who is destined to change every day. In Six Earlier Days, readers will discover a little bit more about how A became that someone. Fans of Levithan’s books such as Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, co-written with Rachel Cohn, and Will Grayson, Will Grayson, co-written with John Green, will not want to miss A’s adventures in Every Day and Six Earlier Days.
The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex
Tamsyn Muir - 2020
For the bookish academics of the Sixth, every secret is a mystery, and every mystery is a puzzle to be solved or a paper to be published. Deep in the bowels of their house, one such secret is about to reveal itself. The study of the famed academic Donald Sex, sealed since the moment of his death, is about to open, and archivists are ready to dissect what he left behind. They are not ready for the macabre surprise that awaits them.Enter Palamedes Sextus and Camilla Hect, age thirteen.
The Soulkeepers
G.P. Ching - 2011
A beautiful and mysterious neighbor offers to use her unique abilities to help him find his mom. But in exchange she requires Jacob to train as a Soulkeeper, a protector of human souls. He agrees to her demands, desperate for any clue to the mystery of his mother's disappearance. But soon Jacob finds himself trapped in a web of half-truths, and questions her motives for helping him.
Tuesday's Child
Dale Mayer - 2011
Shunned and ridiculed all her life for something she can’t control, Samantha Blair hides her psychic abilities and lives on the fringes of society. Against her will, however, she’s tapped into a killer—or rather, his victims. Each woman’s murder, blow-by-blow, ravages her mind until their death releases her back to her body. Sam knows she must go to the authorities, but will the rugged, no-nonsense detective in charge of tracking down the killer believe her? Detective Brandt Sutherland only trusts hard evidence, yet Sam’s visions offer clues he needs to catch a killer. The more he learns about her incredible abilities, however, the clearer it becomes that Sam’s visions have put her in the killer’s line of fire. Now Brandt must save her from something he cannot see or understand…and risk losing his heart in the process. As danger and desire collide, passion raises the stakes in a game Sam and Brandt don’t dare lose. Length - 90,000 words. Excerpt Agony. Pain. Terror. A voice whispered through the blackness of her mind, so odd, so different it caught her attention. She strained to hear the words. “Let go. It’s time to let go.” Sam stared through the flames, stunned. Let go of what? She couldn’t hear over the roaring fire and could barely see, but knowing that someone was there stirred her survival instinct, and she fought with the seatbelt buckle jammed at her side. She was saved. Just another minute and they’d open the door and pull her free. She’d be fine. “Please hurry,” she cried out. “Let go. You don’t need to be in there. Let it all go, and come with me.” She peered through the golden orange windshield to see a strange male face peering at her through the flames. He smiled. “Come with me.” “I want to, damn it. Can’t you see I’m trapped?” she screamed, her vocals crisping in the heat. “Release yourself. Come with me. Say yes.” The pain hit a crescendo. She twisted against it, hearing her spine splinter. The car seat melted into her skin. So much pain, she couldn’t breathe. Blackness crowded into her mind, blessed quiet, soothing darkness. She reached for it. “Let it go. You don’t need to go through this. Hurry.” She started. Why wasn’t he opening the door or getting others to help? He should be trying to save her. Shouldn’t he? Sam, so confused and so tired, she could barely feel the pain overtaking her body. Where had he gone? She tried to concentrate. His face was now only a vague outline that rippled with the heat waves. A soft smile played at the corner of his mouth. The flames burned around him, weird as they centered him in the warm glow. She wanted to be with him. To live. “Here, take my hand.” Dazed and on the brink of death, Sam focused on the hand reaching for her. She struggled to raise the charred piece of flesh that had been her arm and reached out to grasp his. She was free. Overwhelmed, she turned to hug her savior, her head just reaching his shoulder. He stood beside her, the same radiant beaming look on his face. His blond hair glowed, and he had the brightest teeth. She sighed. This beautiful man pointed to her right arm. Confused, Sam glanced down at her burned arm, realizing she could feel none of her injuries. Just like her other one, her broken arm had miraculously healed – whole, smooth and soft. Her skin hadn’t looked this good in ten years. She spun around to find a massive fireball below. What the hell? She had to be dead.