Book picks similar to
World of Hurt by Brian Hodge


horror
short-stories
fantasy
dark-fiction

City of Screams


James Rollins - 2012
    Sergeant Jordan Stone and his crack forensic team are called in to examine the site, to hunt for the perpetrators of this horrific act. But the discovery of a survivor—a child of ten—will shatter all the team knows about life and death. Among the crumbling bones of dead kings, something hoary and murderous stirs out of the ancient past, lurching forward to claim vengeance on those still living.Included with this thrilling story is a sneak peek at The Blood Gospel, where the further exploits of Sergeant Stone and his team will be revealed.

Creepy Comics Volume 1


Shawna Gore - 2011
    If that's not enough to make you scream with delight, we're also adding a special color section featuring the two Creepy stories that helped re-launch Dark Horse Presents on MySpace You'll get all of this tantalizing terror for under twenty bucks - it's a killer deal

Deadly Secrets Royalty: Brothers that Bite Book 5 (Deadly Secrets Brothers That Bite)


E. Bowser - 2020
    Now forever means something vastly different for the two best friends. Taria just being a college student she never thought she would run into a vampire serial killer or being accused of murder, to becoming a vampire herself. Taria never thought that asking for excitement in her life she would end up with Michael a sexy vampire with deadly secrets but who made her his Queen. Michael has always seen visions, but he never saw Taria coming into his life. The couple is more than just lovers but soulmates who were destined to be together. Michael can feel his power growing as the New Year approaches as he fights whoever attacks his family and friends. He knows that he must protect his people as he takes the throne, but before that can happen, he had to take the Van Allans down. With Taria by his side, Michael knows he can defend and rule the vampire covens, or they would die trying. LaToya never imagined finding someone who loves her enough to let her be herself. She never thought she would have children and now can’t Imagine life without them. LaToya went looking for answers about herself and found that she was more than what she appeared. Quinn with deadly secrets himself found his mate and would never let her go. Finally finding of his own past, he has to find the True Alpha inside if he wants to keep his mate, children, and all wolf shifter packs safe. Enemies are all around the friends who became more. They found allies, friends and more secrets to uncover but before they can move on to their next adventure in their lives, they had to deal with the fact something wants to end the world, and another wants to rule it. It's up to these four to make it right even at the cost of their own lives. They will come to realize nothing lives forever. Will Michael gain the power that belongs to him or will Victor Van Allan finally take it? Will Quinn be able to be the True Alpha of his kind? Will LaToya keep her children safe while learning to use her birth given gifts? Will Taria be able to fulfill her hunter role, help Michael rule the vampire covens, and finally figure out the power that is hidden inside of her? Who will make it in this last installment of Deadly Secrets Brothers That Bite? This story will be best read if you read Deadly Secrets Brothers that Bite 1-4, Desire of the Harvest Moon: The Change, Twice Marked Witches and Wolves first.

Suspended In Dusk


Simon DewarRayne Hall - 2014
     A whore hides something monstrous and finds something special. A homeless man discovers the razor blade inside the apple. Unlikely love is found in the strangest of places. Secrets and dreams are kept… forever. Or was it all just a trick of the light? Suspended in Dusk brings together 19 stories by some of the finest minds in Dark Fiction: Ramsey Campbell, John Everson, Rayne Hall, Shane McKenzie, Angela Slatter, Alan Baxter, S.G Larner, Wendy Hammer, Sarah Read, Karen Runge, Toby Bennett, Benjamin Knox, Brett Rex Bruton, Icy Sedgwick, Tom Dullemond, Armand Rosamilia, Chris Limb, Anna Reith, J.C. Michael. Introduction by Bram Stoker Award Winner and World Horror Convention Grand Master, Jack Ketchum.

The Traveling Dildo Salesman


Kevin L. Donihe - 2011
    His selection was vast, and all models were stamped MADE IN HEAVEN.Under the watchful glare of a giant eyeball in the sky, Ralph walks door to door selling dildos. He doesn't know why he sells dildos, but he does know that with each house, and each strange customer, he moves closer to solving the mystery of the eternal dildo curse.A nightmare comedy about destiny, faith, and sex toys, The Traveling Dildo Salesman is another classic from Kevin L. Donihe, the Wonderland Award-winning author of House of Houses and Night of the Assholes.This edition also features Donihe's most lurid and infamous short stories: Milky Agitation, Two-Way Santa, The Helen Mower, Living Room Zombies, and Revenge of the Living Masturbation Rag.

Floating Staircase


Ronald Malfi - 2010
    Is it the ghost of a child who was murdered there years before - or is there a deeper mystery?

Wormwood


Poppy Z. Brite - 1993
    Behind a dusty Georgia carny show... In a mausoleum in Baton Rouge, or in an alley in Calcutta... Here wanderers come to rest, the lost and lonely press their bodies up against each other, the heat rises, flesh yields, bones are bared, blood spills. This is the landscape of today's most brilliant young horror writer, Poppy Z. Brite.Now, in a collection that sings like cutting edge rock 'n' roll and shows the deft touch of a master storyteller, Poppy Z. Brite weaves her unique spell of the sensual, the frightening, and the forbidden....

Ghost Trap (Ghost Whisperer)


Doranna Durgin - 2009
    Melinda came to understand that the spirits are trapped, and in need. She listens, tries to understand what keeps them from crossing over, and helps them find what they need to be free. It's not easy, but with time and patience her gift allows her to come to bring those spirits to peace. The sound of a mournful lullaby has been haunting Melinda in her sleep, the song of a ghost who doesn't seem ready or willing to accept her help. Knowing that earthbound spirits are often confused and troubled, Melinda feels that with time she will make a connection. But there is no time; the melodic tapestry that the ghostly singer is weaving with her words -- meant to comfort a child -- has become a trap, lulling the young listeners into such a deep sleep that no one can ever awaken them. It takes one child, then another and another, until all across the town children are drawn in by the gentle song, their lives slowly slipping away. Even Melinda, with her knowledge of the spirit world, finds herself being pulled into the beautiful snare, where she nearly loses herself. Only then does Melinda begin to worry that this is a spirit so troubled, so heartsick, that it may be beyond her help.

A Memory Of Demons


David Ambrose - 2003
    But Tom's demons return with a vengeance as he discovers the baby is possessed by the spirit of another girl, who went missing 10 years ago - the night Tom had his last drug-fuelled blackout.

Gretel


Christopher Coleman - 2015
    When it sets its sights on an unsuspecting mother one routine morning along an isolated stretch of highway, a quiet farming family is suddenly thrust into a world of unspeakable terror, and a young girl must learn to be a hero.

Visions of Distant Shores: An Andre Norton Collection


Andre Norton - 2010
    In most of Norton's works, alienated outsiders undertake a journey through which they realize their full potential. Many planets in the books are Earth-like places, where humans can live without special protection, and have extensive flora and fauna which are described in considerable detail and often have substantial bearing on the plot.On February 20, 2005, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, which had earlier honored her with its Grand Master Award in 1983, announced the creation of the Andre Norton Award, to be given each year for an outstanding work of fantasy or science fiction for the young adult literature market, beginning in 2006. Nobody today is telling better stories of straight-forward interstellar adventure.Included in this volume:Book One: Storm Over Warlock - Stranded on the alien world of Warlock, Shann Lantree's expedition camp has been wiped out by the Throgs, beings so alien that humans have yet to communicate with them. Lantree must quickly learn how to survive under harsh conditions while being chased by the Throgs -- and how to distinguish the real from the dreamed when he meets the mysterious Wyverns. A satisfying and mature novel which readers will seize upon if they want to enjoy a good adventure story...Book Two: Star Born - When the oppressive global dictatorship of Pax took over Earth they put a stop to space exploration. Still, a few rebels escaped in the sleeper ships to found free new colonies -- or perish in the attempt. Those few colonists that reached inhabitable worlds were cut off for centuries, and in that isolation and freedom they developed the mysterious mental powers that "civilization" had all but destroyed...Book Three: Star Hunter - Somewhere on the jungle world of Jumala, there was a man in hiding--a man whose mind had been reconditioned with another's brain pattern and for whom there was a fabulous reward. Star Hunter is a thrill-packed account of that other-worldly game of hide-and-seek between a man who did not know all his own powers and an interstellar safari that sought something no man had a right to find...Book Four: Plague Ship - A fast-moving suspense tale, full of unusual detail and unexpected turns. Several highlights make the book really shine: the sunset gorp hunt on the reefs of an oily sea; a raid on an asteroid's emergency station; and a landing in the Big Burn, resulting in an encounter with the mutant life-forms that reside there...Book Five: Voodoo Planet - Dane Thorson of the space-trader 'Solar Queen' found himself embroiled in a desperate battle of minds between the rational science of the spaceways and the hypnotic witchcraft of the mental wizard that ruled the Voodoo Planet...Book Six: The Gifts of Asti - Varta, the last priestess of Asti, lives alone with Lur, a telepath of the lizardfolk, in Asti's isolated mountain retreat. Decadent Memphir has long since drifted away from the austere paths of Asti, and now the barbarians of Klem are sacking the city, and the smoke of its burning drifts up to the temple...Book Seven: The People of the Crater - "Send the Black Throne to dust; conquer the Black Ones, and bring the Daughter from the Caves of Darkness." These were the tasks Garin must perform to fulfill the prophecy of the Ancient Ones--and establish his own destiny in this hidden land!This are the original and unabridged versions of these tales.

Agent Dark


Lane Mason - 2019
     Not until she woke up with one trying to kill her. But now she knows the truth. The paranormal world is real and all sorts of weird magical beings like vampires, elves, werewolves not only exist but live among us. In fact, she is one of those weird paranormal beings. Now with the help of her new friends in the Magical Bureau of Investigation she'll learn how to use her magical powers and hopefully survive the next attack.

A Penny For Your Thoughts


Robert Ford - 2019
    He has let go of old habits, especially the ones that turned him into an addict and helped land him in prison.On a hike along the Lowback Trail, Joe stumbles on one of the town's oldest secrets--buried long ago, if not forgotten.It's an unusual but safe enough treasure--a jar of old pennies. What interests Joe isn't the pennies themselves, but the pieces of paper taped to every coin--a child's handwritten wish on each one.When the first few wishes come true, they are simple things. Fun. Harmless.Except as time goes on, Joe realizes they aren't really wishes at all...they're exchanges, and the bill was racking up.Nothing is free in life. Sooner or later, you always pay.

The Winter Box


Tim Waggoner - 2016
    A blizzard rages outside their home, but it’s far colder inside. Their marriage is falling apart, the love they once shared gone, in its place only bitter resentment. As the night wears on, strange things start to happen in their house—bad things. If they can work together, they might find a way to survive until morning…but only if they don’t open the Winter Box.

The Lake


Tananarive Due - 2011
    A free short story taken straight from the pages of THE MONSTER’S CORNER, an all original anthology from some of today’s hottest supernatural writers, featuring stories from the monster’s point of view.In THE LAKE, Abbie LeFleur, a lifetime Bostonian, has relocated to Graceville to start her life anew when she sets her eyes on a young student in her English class.