Horrors Next Door: Short Scary Stories to play with your mind


Tom Coleman - 2019
    Some of the stories are inspired by true events. Find out which ones inside this scary collection. “Night Visitors” Once or twice a year, dark creatures show up at the foot of Annie`s bed and take her with them and conduct grisly experiments on her. This is happening for years now. She doesn’t understand who they are and why they do this. But this, last time, it's different. This time she gets the answers, and nothing on Earth will be the same afterward. “Agatha” A man falls in love with a mysterious timid red-haired girl. As he begins to know more about her, he finds out that her secrets are more complicated than he fathoms. A series of abnormal accidents begin to happen in her presence. Who is she and why does she have these paranormal powers? "Grandpa Jesse" Three months have passed since the death of their grandfather, and sisters Jen and Kim are struggling to cope with the loss. As Jen and Kim spend more time at their grandmother’s house, they slowly begin to realize some specter is visiting her on a daily basis and he means no good.

The Woman in the Car Trunk


John Meany - 2019
    Now imagine that after your highly televised divorce you end up with one of your husband’s mansions and expensive cars, you think he has moved on. But no, your ex-husband breaks into your house one night wearing a mask; he tries to strangle you. The next thing you know you wake up in the trunk of his car with a murdered police officer’s body laying on top of you. What would you do? Well, you would probably do exactly what Scarlett Nacke does at first is panic. Then you’d realize that if you couldn’t figure out a way to get out of the trunk soon, you’d end up like the murdered cop, dead. Does Scarlett survive? Read 'The Woman in the Car Trunk' and find out.

Speaks the Nightbird


Robert R. McCammon - 2002
    Presiding over the trial is traveling magistrate Issac Woodward, aided by his astute young clerk, Matthew Corbett. Believing in Rachel's innocence, Matthew will soon confront the true evil at work in Fount Royal.After hearing damning testimony, magistrate Woodward sentences the accused witch to death by burning. Desperate to exonerate the woman he has come to love, Matthew begins his own investigation among the townspeople. Piecing together the truth, he has no choice but to vanquish a force more malevolent than witchcraft in order to save his beloved Rachel and free Fount Royal from the menace claiming innocent lives.

Pixie Me Up


Willow Mason - 2020
    Welcome to Pixie-hood! When I arrive in Oakleaf Glade to claim an inheritance, I imagine it'll run to a few hundred in a savings account. Instead, I receive an entire house! I'd thank my lucky stars except for the experiences that come part and parcel with the arrangement. Things like my hair turning bright pink and trending skywards, or a kitten who I swear can understand me when I talk. But when a ghost shrieks me awake at night, warning that if I stay I'll die just like my great aunt Esmerelda, I'm ready to put my boots on. Except my inheritance runs deeper than a title deed, it's lodged in my DNA. As the youngest daughter of a youngest daughter, I'm a Pixie, pink hair and all. Luckily, I've made some fast friends in town already because I'll need all the help I can get!

The Harvest


Sara Clancy - 2019
    To some, it is just a local tall tale. But to others, it is terrifyingly real. For centuries, four families have been forced into the ritualistic tradition of sacrifice and terror. Every year, a member of each family stumbles upon an antique music box they need to lock before the time is up. And a horrible fate awaits them once the boxes open. Trapped in the witch’s sadistic game, the families’ young offspring are forced to journey into the dark and twisted woods of Black River in search for the keys to their salvation. But as they search for a way to end the curse, a haunting melody echoes through the trees. And each lost soul must wonder… Will they survive the night? Or will the Bell Witch’s bloody harvest claim more victims?

After Life


Shelbi Wescott - 2014
    Mara sets out to investigate her little brother’s claims of a past life and discovers that the small tidbits of memory appear to match the life of a boy who was murdered fifteen years ago in a town nearby.As she inserts herself deeper into the life Cole left behind, Mara’s world begins to unravel. Those who believe her are worried for her safety, and those that don’t are worried for her emotional well-being. Confused and frightened, Mara begins a journey deep into the heart of what it means to be alive, what it means to be dead, and everything in-between.

Magically Murdered: A Witch Cozy Mystery (Paranormal Bed & Breakfast Mysteries Book 1)


Joynell Schultz - 2020
    

Cauldstane


Linda Gillard - 2014
    Lust, betrayal and murder have blighted family fortunes for generations, together with an ancient curse. As members of the family confide their sins and their secrets, Jenny learns why Cauldstane’s uncertain future divides father and sons. But someone resents Jenny’s presence. Someone thinks she’s getting too close to Alec MacNab – swordsmith, widower and heir to Cauldstane. Someone will stop at nothing until Jenny has been driven away. Or driven mad. “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” Especially a dead woman.

Haunting Jordan


P.J. Alderman - 2009
    J. Alderman weaves present-day supernatural sleuthery with nineteenth-century intrigue in the first book of an enchanting new mystery series set in picturesque Port Chatham, Washington.Jordan Marsh left L.A. for the quaint Pacific Northwest town of Port Chatham in pursuit of some much-needed R & R. As the prime suspect in her cheating husband’s murder, she had been hoping to immerse herself in the restoration of the charming Victorian she’d just bought—and put all talk of homicide investigations behind her. But as she soon discovers, the coldest of cases cry out to be solved, too. For this old house comes fully furnished—with two garrulous ghosts who have a century-old murder of their own they’d like her to look into. Now, if Jordan can keep the L.A. police at bay, and sort through a suspect list of shady characters circa 1890, she might just clear a wrongly accused man’s name—and her own.

Phobic


Cortney Pearson - 2014
    My house has a secret. A secret kept behind a closed door. A secret that led my mom to commit murder. Lately, the same secret has begun plaguing me. Voices ring out in the night. Visions appear of people dressed in sweeping ball gowns and elegant top hats, of quiet servants trapped in their love for each other, unable to be together because of their master's obsessive, cruel control--and it all leads back to my mom. Something terrifying happened, something my mom discovered. And the worst part is, I don't think it's over yet. My brother warns me not to open the door--even my best friend, Todd, tells me to ignore this impulse. But I'm tired of ghosts and secrets and lies. All along the answers have been at my fingertips, at the mere turn of a knob. All I have to do is open it. I mean, seriously, would you be able to resist?Hauntingly beautiful and daringly mysterious, if you like intrigue, the newness of first love, and the paranormal twist of the unexpected--all mixed in with a dash of spooky--then open the door to Cortney Pearson's Phobic today.

Nearly Departed


Rook Hastings - 2010
    . . unless it doesn't. The creepy first book in a ghostly new series: Welcome to Weirdsville. "I've seen a ghost," said Emily. "Well, not seen one exactly. Heard one. At least, I think I have . . . "  Woodsville is not like other towns. Night falls a little earlier there, the shadows are darker and denser, and everyone knows it's a place where strange things happen., even if they won't admit it. Bethan would prefer to be anywhere but here. Jay has his theories, but isn't ready to share. Hashim sees more than he'll say, while Kelly's demons are all too flesh and blood. But Emily's freak-out brings them out of denial and face to face with the supernatural. Anywhere else, Friday night would be date night. But not in Weirdsville.

The Dessert Corpse


Tracey Quinn - 2018
    The Breezy Spoon is a big success, and when hunky and flirtatious fireman Mark Adams offers to rent Dani his downstairs apartment, things are really looking up.... until a dead body with a chocolate pie smashed in his face shows up in the dumpster behind the diner! Trying to get to the bottom of the mystery isn't easy when dealing with the quirky and eccentric residents of East Spoon Creek City, and it gets even harder when the body keeps disappearing and popping up around town! There's not a moment to lose when dark secrets threaten to come to light, and Dani discovers that one of her customers just might be a serial killer!

Dead & Buried


T.K. Eldridge - 2021
    Then one of them died. And yet, they're still partners. Kennedy has to solve Donovan's death while his partner's ghost helps him. Sort of. How do you explain where you got the tips? How do you avoid showing them that you're speaking to thin air and no, you haven't lost your mind? Kennedy has to hide how he's figuring it all out so he can keep his badge and solve the murder - before he ends up dead and buried too. Check out Partners in Crime - a new supernatural mystery series by T.K. Eldridge.

Shallow Graves


Patrick Logan - 2016
     Robert Watts is having the worst day of his entire life: first he's laid off, then he finds out that his wife is having an affair... with his boss no less. And that's only the beginning. Before the month is out, Robert finds himself alone to raise his daughter with no money, no job, and a house that is minutes from being repossessed. Just when he hits rock bottom, a strange visitor arrives at the doorstep of his soon to be foreclosed house with a letter from an Aunt he didn't know existed. The offer is simple: look after Aunt Ruth during her dying days, and in return Robert will be bequeathed the Harlop Estate in which she currently resides. It's a no brainer and Robert jumps at the opportunity, equally motivated by the prospect of financial security as he is for a fresh start. Problem is, it only takes a few nights in the Harlop Estate before he begins to question Aunt Ruth's claims that they are the home's only inhabitants... It's the scratching he hears during the night, the voices that he can barely make out over the constant rain, and then there's the girl with the rat... With their house foreclosed and their bank accounts liquidated, Robert and his daughter Amy desperately need a place to live. But the question Robert soon finds himself struggling with is whether living in the Harlop Estate is worth it... and if he can survive until Aunt Ruth passes to collect his inheritance. Shallow Graves is the first book in the Haunted Series, chilling, gruesome, and truly haunting tales with a twist that you will never see coming.

Right Witch Wrong Time


K.M. Waller - 2019
     Animal mauling or were attack? Time witch Nuala Walsh is on the case. Ex-communicated from her coven at a young age, Nuala uses her powerful magic to solve cold-cases for the Agency of Paranormal Peculiarities. Only the cases become less cold and fresher as each assignment sends her back in time to work out the clues the mortal investigators can’t dig up on their own. Each assignment comes with a strict set of rules and a time limit and Nuala enjoys leaving her present drama behind to bust criminals in the past. But Nuala has one rule of her own—no kids. When she receives a case from 1985 involving an all-girls reform school, her only instinct is to say no. Teenage girls are the worst kind of drain on her magic. But the file reveals a familiar name she hasn’t heard in years and suddenly the murder of the school’s headmistress becomes less off limits and more of a personal quest. Can Nuala keep her 100% case closure rate without losing her head -- literally? Each book stands completely on its own, but you'll have more fun if you read them all together!