Book picks similar to
Down to Sleep by Greg F. Gifune


horror
short-stories
delirium
greg-f-gifune

Puppet Graveyard


Tim Curran - 2012
    No return address. Just a cryptic message that brings Kitty to the Bamboo Lounge and into the twisted realm of ventriloquist Ronny McBane and his dummy, Piggy. Kitty descends into a haunted place where reality is frayed, where the puppetmaster and puppet seem to have reversed roles—-a nightmare place where a dummy moves and speaks when his master is nowhere near him. Kitty suspects not only is there something wrong with McBane and his dummy, but a greater evil is at work as those named by the dummy are dying horrible deaths. And now she has been named by the same soul-eater that destroyed her sister.

Ravenous Ghosts


Kealan Patrick Burke - 2003
    Seventeen tales of mystery, madness, and monsters, by Bram Stoker Award-winning author Kealan Patrick Burke.

Leave the Living


Joe Hart - 2015
    Amidst caring for his disabled son and coming to terms with a failed marriage, he receives a call that his father has been killed in a logging accident in northern Minnesota. Upon his arrival in his hometown, he begins to experience terrifying and unexplainable occurrences that push the boundaries of his sanity. Soon he must face the reality that his father may not have been the man he thought he was. And there are other, darker forces waiting for him as a powerful snowstorm bears down, trapping him with secrets that are far from dead.

Clockwork Dolls


William Meikle - 2013
    something that might answer?Dave Burns has asked.Now he, and his friends, might not live long enough to understand the reply.

Fear of Gravity


Brian Keene - 2004
    As in life, there are no happy endings, and no matter how high one flies, theres always gravity.

Innocents Lost


Michael McBride - 2010
    Her father, FBI Special Agent Phil Preston of the Child Abduction Rapid Deployment Team, devotes his life to finding her and discovers a pattern in a recent string of abductions. Dr. Les Grant leads a group of graduate students into the Wyoming wilderness in search of an unidentified Native American medicine wheel photographed by an anonymous hiker. Instead, they stumble upon a macabre tableau of suffering. Fremont County Sheriff Keith Dandridge finds himself right at the heart of the mystery when twenty-seven bodies are disinterred in the Wind River Range at the westernmost edge of his jurisdiction, with the promise of more to come. All the while, an unknown evil is summoning the men to its killing grounds, where the remains of the lost innocents are left to rot...and a fate far worse than death awaits them.

Twice the Chill: Two SHORT Horror Stories


Rachel A Olson - 2016
    Bey had spent his entire life running through the woods and never once saw anything to convince him there were creatures worth fearing. When his littler sister, Chensei, whines about the trip home at night, Bey only mocks her. Until she disappears beyond the treeline. I, PONTIANAK Everyone hates and fears monsters, except for when you’re the monster. I never asked for it, and honestly I can’t say I’ve really enjoyed it. But I am what I am, and I can’t change it. Hell, I can’t even control it. My name used to be Anastasia, and I am a Pontianak.

Nightmare Man


Alan Ryker - 2013
    He spends his days working a job he hates. He spends his nights tormented by night terrors.He once had goals and dreams. Now he's just trying to get by.Unfortunately for Jessie and his family, while he's given up on his dreams, his nightmares haven't given up on him. And right now one is crossing over into the waking world.

Daughters of Darkness


Blair Daniels - 2019
    All by women.When you were little, you had a nanny. A nanny only you could see.There are clumps of dark hair in the swimming pool. Curling around your toes, slowly tugging you down."The Love Simulator" shows your perfect life with 'The One'... which turns out to be your worst nightmare.DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS brings you 46 tales of terror from the depths of the female mind. Pull up a chair and listen to the horrors of murderous femme fatales, fiercely protective mothers, and daughters who realize their childhood isn't quite what it seemed.Hundreds of backers on Kickstarter brought this anthology to life, through a successful campaign that raised several thousand dollars. Our authors have won awards, written bestsellers, and gained international popularity on the 13 million subscriber forum NoSleep.Daughters of Darkness is guaranteed give you nightmares you'll never forget. Read... if you dare!

Best New Zombie Tales Vol. 1


James Roy Daley - 2010
    1)Over 110,000 words.Includes Amazing Fiction by:WHC Grand Master Award Winner, Ray GartonNew York Times Best Seller, Jonathan MaberryBram Stoker Award Winner, Kealan Patrick BurkeBram Stoker Award Nominee, Jeff StrandEdgar Award, Bram Stoker Award Nominee, Bev VincentMicro Award Finalist, Robert SwartwoodEmmy Award Nominee, Harry ShannonBritish Fantasy Awards Nominee, Gary McmahonBram Stoker Award Winner, Kim PaffenrothAnd so much more…

Dark Screams: Volume Eight


Richard Chizmar - 2017
    WALPUSKI’S TYPEWRITER by Frank Darabont They say that genius is ten percent inspiration and ninety percent perspiration. For Howard Walpuski, it’s an IBM Selectric II typewriter, a nefarious secret, and a whole lot of blood. THE BOY by Bentley Little Christine has found the perfect neighborhood to raise her family: a quaint, quiet, friendly place where everyone gets along. Everyone, that is, except for the boy. TUMOR by Benjamin Percy He dodged death in the nick of time when the golf ball-sized tumor was surgically removed from his head. But the tumor isn’t done with him. TWISTED AND GNARLED by Billie Sue Mosiman He’s smart. Smarter than anyone knows. No one has linked him to the string of bodies he’s left up and down the California coast. Only one woman has ever come close—and she’s no match for his intellect. THE PALAVER by Kealan Patrick Burke It’s time for Oscar Dennihy to close his failing barber shop and retire—until a mysterious customer tells him a truly hair-raising tale . . . and gives Oscar a wonderful and terrible new purpose. INDIA BLUE by Glen Hirshberg Like most Americans, Enrico never gave much thought to the sport of cricket. Not until America’s Rockin’ Professional Cricket game—a spectacle that will live forever in his most horrible nightmares. Praise for the Dark Screams series “A wicked treat [featuring] . . . some of the genre’s best.”—Hellnotes, on Volume One “Five fun-to-read stories by top-notch horror scribes. How can you lose? The answer: you can’t.”—Atomic Fangirl, on Volume Two “If you have not tried the series yet, do yourself a favor and grab a copy of any (or all) of the books for yourself.”—Examiner.com, on Volume Three “Fans of horror of every variety will find something to love in these pages.”—LitReactor, on Volume Four “[Volume Five] runs the gamut from throwback horror to lyrical and heartbreaking tales.”—Publishers Weekly

Jeremy's Loss


Jeff Menapace - 2011
    Just when it seems that his grief may turn into madness, a disfigured man appears and reveals to Jeremy that his mother's death was no accident: She was murdered for unearthing a deadly conspiracy.Now, if Jeremy wants to stay alive, he must trust this mysterious stranger at all costs and find a way to eliminate the impending threat--before it eliminates him.Short Fiction. approx. 26 pages

Bone Meal Broth


Adam Cesare - 2012
    Bone Meal Broth adds a few more.The nine stories in this collection vary in style and content, but all of them strive to unsettle.Inside Bone Meal Broth you'll meet a P.I. who works the dark streets of a post-biological-cataclysm New Orleans, a sleazy glamor photographer with a pest problem, and a misanthrope who's just made the most important (and deadly) purchase of his life. And those are the heroes.You'll visit the grotesque inhabitants of America's backwoods and shrink from the quiet terrors of suburbia. No matter your dark preference: a cup of Bone Meal Broth will hit the spot.

Facial


Jeff Strand - 2014
    He’s now got a dead body in his office. Carlton, Greg’s brother, desperately needs a dead body. It’s kind of related to the lion corpse that he found in his basement. This is the normal part of the story. From Jeff Strand, the author of Benjamin’s Parasite, The Sinister Mr. Corpse, and Fangboy, comes a tale that’s weird even by his standards. Facial. It’s not about what you’re thinking. Well, okay, part of it is...

Nightsiders


Gary McMahon - 2013
    Robert Mitchell thought he lived there with his wife and children, but he doesn’t. Not anymore. A new family—the Corbeaus—has taken up residence, and they are on a deadly mission for mischief.Soon Robert will understand the true nature of ownership, and he will discover that real life is nothing more than a story…a horror story.We're playing games now. We're just beginning.