Lost Secret


Emily Reed - 2019
    She’s dead. After months of fighting, Megan finally...I hadn’t felt it though. Wouldn’t I know if the only person I ever loved—I stumbled out of bed, tangling in my blankets, then raced to her room. Empty. The sheets were folded aside. She must be close. I moved down the hall toward our shared bathroom. The door stood open, but Megan wasn’t there. Backtracking, I checked the living room with its slouchy couches, and the kitchen with its worn countertops. No Megan. I pushed through the French doors out onto our balcony. The music district of Crescent City, a night owl’s paradise, lay still in the soft morning light. Megan’s flowers overflowed their boxes, spilling riotous colors down the wrought iron rail. I stood alone, a gentle breeze lifted a lock of my hair, and tears stung my eyes. Megan was gone.The police assumed she left of her own free will—there was no evidence of a break-in or struggle. "Maybe she was done fighting and couldn't tell you," the detective said, his brown eyes sympathetic."You didn't know her, she would never give up.""Often when people go missing, the loved ones they leave behind come to realize," he paused and took a breath, "that they didn't know them as well as they thought. Everyone has secrets, Darling," his voice drawled over my name. "Megan could barely walk," I ground out. "Somebody must have taken her.""But who would kidnap a dying young woman? How did they leave no evidence? Why didn't you hear them?" He asked. I didn't have any answers.It didn’t make sense. Nothing did anymore. Strange, exhilarating dreams began haunting my nights. A new hunger, an unquenchable thirst that felt almost…dangerous...ruled my days.Scared and alone, I couldn’t imagine the dark secrets my hunger hid. They’d been lost for so long—locked away, buried by time, and twisted by whispered lies—but when Megan was stolen everything began to unravel… Before it did, before I saw the dead rise, witnessed vampires feed, or visited the warlocks’ library, before I held a life at the edge of my lips, I was just Darling Price—a musician like so many others in this vibrant city. I struggled to pay bills, practiced with my band, and grieved for my missing sister. I was innocent and naive.I’d barely even been kissed. **Beware: This series is for adults who enjoy steamy paranormal romance with strong urban fantasy vibes and who don't mind a few f-bombs.**

The Corpse Garden


S.H. Cooper - 2016
    From a young boy with with an unhealthy fixation on what could go wrong to a man who can't accept that his wife wants to leave him, traipsing through The Corpse Garden certainly isn't for the faint of heart. Author S.H. Cooper presents a combination of works popularized on Reddit's NoSleep and four, previously unreleased stories for brand new thrills and chills that are best read with the lights on.

Brighter


V.J. Chambers - 2010
     At least that's what the girl said anyway, and that's why the guys in town got together and introduced Garrett to their fists. They told him in no uncertain terms to leave and stay gone. Garrett's back in town. And Ramona finds herself drawn to the social pariah, especially after he tells her that he didn't rape anyone. Instead, he saw the girl get killed. Of course, that's clearly crazy. The girl isn't dead. But Ramona's been feeling a little crazy herself lately. She had a conversation with her neighbor, only to find out later that while they were chatting, her neighbor's dead body was washing up from a shallow grave....

Fated Souls: 10 Clean Paranormal Romance Stories


Dean MurrayKelly Oram - 2017
    Featuring books from some of the best paranormal romance and urban fantasy writers working in the genre today, Fated Souls has something for nearly every reader and will serve as a gateway to books that have collectively received thousands of 4- and 5-star reviews. Available for a limited time, so grab your copy now! Hunted by Dean Murray Adri is about to develop a unique power that will thrust her into a shadowy world filled by preternatural creatures who want to use her for their own ends or barring that, kill her to keep her out of someone else's hands. At home, at school, even in her own dreams—nobody is who and what they say they are, and her time is running out. The only thing she knows for sure is that if she doesn't trust anyone, then she's as good as dead. Blood Debt by Nancy Straight Cami lost the only person in her life - her mom. Daring to find other family, what she found was. . . a blood debt - owed to a stranger. Can Cami escape her mother's past and find her own future? River's Recruit by Charlotte Abel Jonathan lost everything in Afghanistan… his identical twin, his left hand and his will to survive. He seeks solitude and healing in the Colorado wilderness, but finds a beautiful young woman dressed in buckskin, armed with a primitive bow and stone-tipped arrows. River has two choices… Convince the handsome trespasser to join her secret society of wolf-shifters, or kill him. Cheyenne by Lisa Wiedmeier Murder, romance, secrets and hidden pasts. Deception from every angle—who's telling the truth? Discerning Spirits by Kellie McAllen To fulfill his destiny, he'll have to uncover hers. Zeph is half angel, half human, and a total disappointment. Eve is an intriguing mystery that Zeph can’t resist trying to unravel. Together, can they open each other’s eyes to their incredible destiny? Pisces by Rachel Medhurst Pisces has to achieve her life mission. To unite with her twin flame soulmate. Antony's her bodyguard, not her one true love. Or, is he? Atlantis Riptide by Allie Burton Pearl ran away from the circus tired of her adoptive parents’ abuse of her special skills. Unknown to her, a battle rages under the ocean and each side wants to use her powers for their cause. As Pearl discovers her talents she must choose her destiny – whether to ignore the churning seas or swim into battle. Smoke and Mirrors by Jess Haines A girl who uses her illusions to fool the world into thinking she's just like all the other magi. A dragon who sees through her lies. Together they just might survive a world that wants to control or destroy them both. Chameleon by Kelly Oram Dani's life is turned upside-down the day she discovers that the supernatural world exists, and that she's more deeply connected to it than she ever could have dreamed. With the emergence of new and unique powers, she finds herself up to her neck in ancient prophecies, soul mates, and oh yeah, she's just been tasked with saving the world! Beg for Mercy by Shannon Dermott Everyone dreams of that first kiss.

The Devil Crept In


Ania Ahlborn - 2017
    They’re well aware that the first forty-eight hours are critical and after that, the odds usually point to a worst-case scenario. And despite Stevie Clark’s youth, he knows that, too; he’s seen the cop shows. He knows what each ticking moment may mean for Jude, his cousin and best friend.That, and there was that boy, Max Larsen...the one from years ago, found dead after also disappearing under mysterious circumstances. And then there were the animals: pets gone missing out of yards. For years, the residents of Deer Valley have murmured about these unsolved crimes…and that a killer may still be lurking around their quiet town. Now, fear is reborn—and for Stevie, who is determined to find out what really happened to Jude, the awful truth may be too horrifying to imagine.

Night Terrors Vol. 1


Scare StreetA.M. Todd - 2020
    A new homeowner discovers her property comes with a deadly addition. And dark forces stalk a troop of innocent boy scouts when they spend the night on a haunted aircraft carrier…Scare Street delves into the darkness to bring you a new collection of spine-tingling terror. This diabolical tome is bursting with thirteen sinister stories of supernatural horror, featuring ghastly ghosts, cold-blooded killers, and fiendish visions torn from your worst fears.Just be careful you don’t lose track of time as you meander through this shadowy landscape of dreams and nightmares. Because once the sun sets, something waits for you in the darkness of night.And if it finds you, you may never see daylight again…This bone-chilling supernatural collection contains:1. Cool Air by Peter Cronsberry2. The Presentation by Tarphy W. Horn3. The Homeowner's Guide to Sanity by K. M. McKenzie4. Retrospective: Florne's Ghost by Emil Pellim5. 7734 by Ryan Benson6. Aisle 3 by Rosie O'Carroll7. Pumpkin Patch by C. B. Channell8. The Third Father by A. M. Todd9. Troop 94’s Last Scouting Trip by Karl Melton10. Play It, Win It, Kill It by J. M. White11. Satan's Town by Bob Johnston12. Everything as It Was by Warren Benedetto13. Summer Camp by Ron Ripley

The Only Good Indians


Stephen Graham Jones - 2020
    Tracked by an entity bent on revenge, these childhood friends are helpless as the culture and traditions they left behind catch up to them in a violent, vengeful way.

Lancaster House


Taylor Dean - 2012
    So, she moves to another state, purchases an old, dilapidated 1920s Victorian Mansion, and sets out to restore it to its former glory. As she begins the restoration, she finds herself falling in love with the old house . . . not to mention its illustrious builder, Mr. Lancaster. Zoe becomes obsessed with the house as she discovers its secrets; hidden rooms, secret passageways . . . and a mysterious man who seems to think the house is his. Who is he? More importantly, how does he live in her home unseen and unheard?The unexpected answers leave her reeling—and questioning everything she’s ever known. To her dismay, Zoe’s actions land her in the local psychiatric hospital, scheming for ways to return to Lancaster House . . . and the love of her life.

The Graveyard Speaks


Hunter Shea - 2013
    "Deep in a dark, snow-covered cemetery, a terrifying, moaning apparition rises from the same grave night after night. Even the most hardened caretakers won t go near the Spooner gravestone on their midnight rounds. Only one ghost hunter has the will to face the unknown, but at what price? In the chilling blackness, only Jessica Backman is prepared to answer the spectral cry from beyond when the graveyard speaks.

The Return


Rachel Harrison - 2020
    But Elise knows Julie better than anyone, and she feels in her bones that her best friend is out there, and that one day she'll come back. She's right. Two years to the day that Julie went missing, she reappears with no memory of where she's been or what happened to her.

Abandoned: A Ghost Story


Carol McMahon - 2017
     She’s been kicked out of her apartment in Queens by her alcoholic boyfriend and has no other friends in the city. A co-worker tells her about a house on Staten Island where she can live in rent-free, but Lisa comes to realize the price that comes with living in an abandoned house. Abandoned: A Ghost Story is a novelette of 14,500 words.

Forsaken: A Novel of Art, Evil and Insanity


Andrew Van Wey - 2011
    Two kids, a dog, and a tenure track professorship teaching art at the local university. Your name is Daniel Rineheart. You’ve got it all....BUT ALL DREAMS MUST END.For this autumn heralds the arrival of a mysterious painting. No name. No date. No signature or frame. A disturbing work of grotesque perfection: two children with cruel eyes, a window onto an endless field, and a dying tree on top of a hill.A work of art... that changes with each viewing.SO BEGINS THE NIGHTMARE......Where wretched children crawl from a canvas prison to stalk the quiet halls of this happy home....Where painted clocks tick-tock away in the dark hours before dawn, and a missing dog whimpers from between the walls....Where all answers lead to a dark artist and an impossible creation, a cursed canvas with a twisted past......AND A HORROR THAT WILL DEVOUR ALL.Curl up, if you dare, with a dark novel readers are calling: “Beautifully written” — “A Must Read!” — “Stunning” — “The Scariest book EVER!” FORSKEN is an intelligent blend of ghost story, suburban supernatural thriller, haunted house, and mystery. Perfectly written for fans of early Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Peter Straub, it’s a terrifying tale of secrets and lies, of nightmares made flesh; where the scariest stories are the ones that coldly whisper into your ear until madness and death are a welcome rest.Lock your door.
Turn on the lights.
Do NOT read FORSAKEN late at night.

Slade House


David Mitchell - 2015
    Down the road from a working-class British pub, along the brick wall of a narrow alley, if the conditions are exactly right, you’ll find the entrance to Slade House. A stranger will greet you by name and invite you inside. At first, you won’t want to leave. Later, you’ll find that you can’t. Every nine years, the house’s residents — an odd brother and sister — extend a unique invitation to someone who’s different or lonely: a precocious teenager, a recently divorced policeman, a shy college student. But what really goes on inside Slade House? For those who find out, it’s already too late... Spanning five decades, from the last days of the 1970s to the present, leaping genres, and barreling toward an astonishing conclusion, this intricately woven novel will pull you into a reality-warping new vision of the haunted house story—as only David Mitchell could imagine it.

The Secret of Ventriloquism


Jon Padgett - 2016
    With themes reminiscent of Shirley Jackson, Thomas Ligotti, and Bruno Schulz, but with a strikingly unique vision, Padgett's work explores the mystery of human suffering, the agony of personal existence, and the ghastly means by which someone might achieve salvation from both. A bullied child seeks vengeance within a bed's hollow box spring. A lucid dreamer is haunted by an impossible house. A dummy reveals its own anatomy in 20 simple steps. A stuttering librarian holds the key to a mill town's unspeakable secrets. A commuter's worldview is shattered by two words printed on a cardboard sign. An aspiring ventriloquist spends a little too much time looking at himself in a mirror. And a presence speaks through them all. Contents: Introduction by Matt Cardin The Mindfulness of Horror Practice Murmurs of a Voice Foreknown The Indoor Swamp Origami Dreams 20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism Infusorium Organ Void The Secret of VentriloquismEscape to Thin Mountain

McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales


Michael ChabonNick Hornby - 2003
    Includes:Jim Shepard’s "Tedford and the Megalodon"Glen David Gold’s "The Tears of Squonk, and What Happened Thereafter"Dan Chaon’s "The Bees"Kelly Link’s "Catskin"Elmore Leonard’s "How Carlos Webster Changed His Name to Carl and Became a Famous Oklahoma Lawman"Carol Emshwiller’s "The General"Neil Gaiman’s "Closing Time"Nick Hornby’s "Otherwise Pandemonium"Stephen King’s "The Tale of Gray Dick"Michael Crichton’s "Blood Doesn’t Come Out"Laurie King’s "Weaving the Dark"Chris Offutt’s "Chuck’s Bucket"Dave Eggers’s "Up the Mountain Coming Down Slowly"Michael Moorcock’s "The Case of the Nazi Canary"Aimee Bender’s "The Case of the Salt and Pepper Shakers"Harlan Ellison’s "Goodbye to All That"Karen Joy Fowler’s "Private Grave 9"Rick Moody’s "The Albertine Notes"Michael Chabon’s "The Martian Agent, a Planetary Romance"Sherman Alexie’s "Ghost Dance"