Short story from "If it bleeds".

    Since then, the recurring nightmares, creepy hallucinations and overpowering fear are gone. That's good, right? I mean, no one in their right minds wants to feel like that. I am starting to wonder if I'm in my right mind anymore...When a lady in my neighborhood died, I couldn't help but stick my nose in, to see what happened. I should just get on with things–I've got some new friends, and a cool boy named Chris has taken an interest in me. Everyone is telling me to just leave this weird murder alone.But I can't stop myself. The more I find out about her death, the more twisted everything is.I think there’s a predator in Narrowdale. And now it’s hunting me…What have I gotten myself into?

    They’re dead broke. But money is the least of their worries when a mysterious man bursts into their office and offers Tim a wad of cash for his coat. Minutes later, the stranger is dead and Nick and Tim are left to puzzle over his final words. What could he have meant by "suff bee suff-iss"? Or was it "south by southeast"? Neither one seems to make much sense, but the Diamond brothers will have to figure it out, and fast! Whoever killed the stranger is now after Nick and Tim!I Know What You Did Last WednesdayWhen the Diamond Brothers receive an invitation to a school reunion on a remote Scottish island, things seem to be looking up. But Nick's got a bad feeling, and it's not indigestion. And when he meets their fellow guests, the feeling only gets worse - especially when they start dying in ever more bizarre ways!

    Desperate to win back his father’s approval, the boy hatches a plan involving his father’s love of slasher films. If the boy can become a real-life slasher right out of the movies, it just might be an opportunity to make his father proud again, no matter what the cost.In Iain Rob Wright’s “The Reckoning,” the year is 2035 and people live inside their individual worlds. Amelie’s ‘pod’ is a marvel of tech-centric existence, taking care of her every need. But when a serial killer that the press have named ’The Reckoning’ comes calling for Amelie, her futuristic living space turns deadly.In William Malmborg's "Billy's Blade," a budding serial killer bites off more than he can chew when he tries to stab Stacy Collins to death on the Prairie Path. A ruthless investigative journalist, Stacy goes on the offensive, goading the killer with unflattering articles, all in hopes of sparking a second encounter. Will Billy and Stacy meet again?Jeff Strand’s “Twentieth Anniversary Screening” recounts the grisly events surrounding the terrible slasher flick THE ROOFER, remembered only because an obsessed fan tried to reenact the murders as they played out on the screen. When the same theater shows the film twenty years later, will the warnings that this is a really, really bad idea be justified?

    When these overlooked girls make a pact to change their lives, anything can happen.Eleven girls – Eleven dares in a hat. Twelve stories of passion. Who will dare to risk it all?This book is not a new story, but a compilation of all the instances throughout the Girls Who Dare series where Matilda Hunt and Lucian Barrington, Marquess of Montagu interacted and/or corresponded, as well as bits where Matilda, Lucian or Phoebe, Montagu’s niece, may have been thought of or talked about.That said, this is a wonderful prequel for Matilda’s upcoming story, To Hunt the Hunter and really highlights how their relationship began and how it has progressed over time.NOTE: While this book and To Hunt a Hunter CAN be read as a standalone, many of the characters would be unknown to the first time reader and reading the Girls Who Dare series is highly recommended.And now, Matilda & Montagu, the Story so Far!Happy Reading!

    Nox Pareidolia includes tales by Laird Barron, S.P. Miskowski, Brian Evenson, Gwendolyn Kiste, Micheal Wehunt, Kristi DeMeester, Christopher Ropes, Zin E. Rocklyn, Paul Jessup, Doungjai Gam, Don Webb and Duane Pesice, K.H. Vaughan, Alvaro Zinos-Amaro, and more yet to be announced!

    For the first time in one edition, Richard Laymon's acclaimed Beast House Series: The Cellar, The Beast House, The Midnight Tour and Friday Night in Beast House.The deeper you go into the Beast House, the darker the nightmares become. If you have nerves of steel and are looking for excitement and adventure, why not take the tour? But don't even think about going into the cellar...

    Told by individual inhabitants, the stories recount tales of disappearing dead deer, enchanted gardens, invisible killer dogs, and rattlesnakes that fall from the sky; each contribution adds to a composite portrait that skitters between eerie, ghoulish, and poignant. Miller is a master storyteller, clearly delighting in his mischievous creations.” Thirty-Three Tales. Thirty-Three Tellers. One Lost Town.

    Nevertheless, it is often whispered by those who claim knowledge of such things, that a number of these Elder Gods - the lower rank and file, if you will - decided to hold this ground, so enamored were they by the cults who spilled blood in their names.Those times are all but forgotten, obscured by the shifting mists of history.Fast forward to today, and a wrong turn on a country lane is about to expose Jennifer Bueller, and her daughter Megan, to an unpleasant truth: Yes, times have changed, but ancient deities will adapt in order to thrive.Abandoned space gods, an unfaithful husband, a sociopath rapist, and a broken society with a social welfare system that presents horrors of its own; lastly, though by no means least in this eclectic collection of stories, a flash fiction homage to James Herbert, featuring his most infamous creation.

    He's not real.A story so terrifying, the locals won't mention his name.It's said that Creeper is an urban legend, a chilling, made-up character fabricated to scare children into behaving themselves.He's known as Painswicks own Bogeyman.Parents tell their children that Creeper will come if they're naughty.Adults continually look over their shoulders.It's said that he hides out front late at night or crawls around in the basement. Others believe Creeper watches them as they sleep.Eight women have gone missing over the last twenty years. They're known as the Painswick eight.Now, a ninth woman has vanished.Billy Huxton, an ex-private investigator, resides at a retirement home and tries to persuade the local, flamboyant entertainer, Declan Ryan, to help him solve the case.Sean and Jenny make documentaries, creepypastas, the paranormal, and unsolved mysteries. Together with their children, they move into a rundown farmhouse on Gallows Lane.As they begin to learn of Creeper and the terror many believe he brought to Painswick years ago, they begin to make a film, delving into the chilling story.But they soon learn it may not be just a story.Whatever happens, pray you don't see Creeper...

    Craven. A psychopath takes Trick or Treating a step too far. And a woman's dream of a quiet life is shattered by a knock on the door.Afraid Of The Shadows is a collection of gripping- sometimes funny, always spooky- short stories from some of the biggest names in crime fiction.From possessed sweaters to creepy wardrobes and disco shape shifters, there’s something for everyone in this Halloween bucket of short story goodies making it the perfect companion to snuggle up with as the nights draw in. Though be warned, you might want to leave the lights on...****************************************************************CONTRIBUTORSAfraid Of The Shadows is brought to you by twenty bestselling crime and thriller writers who between them have topped the Sunday Times and Amazon charts, won the Crime Writers’ Association Diamond Dagger Award, Gold Dagger Award and New Blood Dagger Award, the Bath Novel Award, the UK National Book Awards and the WHSmith Best Crime Author of All Time Award.Special guests:M.W. CravenPeter JamesT.M. LoganMatt WesolowskiTrevor WoodRachael BlokElle Croft (Shortlisted for the 2021 CWA Short Story Dagger Award)Heather CritchlowJames Delargy (Shortlisted for the 2021 CWA Short Story Dagger Award)Clare EmpsonJo FurnissT.E. KinseyN.J. MackayS.R. MastersPhoebe MorganDominic Nolan (Shortlisted for the 2021 CWA Short Story Dagger Award)Robert Scragg (Shortlisted for the 2021 CWA Short Story Dagger Award)Victoria Selman (Shortlisted for the 2021 CWA Short Story Dagger Award)Kate SimantsAdam Southward (Longlisted for the 2021 CWA Short Story Dagger Award)****************************************************************Profits from the sale of Afraid Of The Shadows will be donated to the Barnardo's Children in Crisis Covid AppealThis delivers practical and emotional support to vulnerable children caught in a downward spiral of deprivation as a result of the coronavirus crisis.Children and families across the UK are increasingly in or on the brink of poverty as a result of coronavirus.The impact of the second wave is pushing a generation of the most vulnerable children into a downward spiral of deprivation. With your support Barnardo’s can deliver the practical and emotional support families in crisis need.

    A cup full of tentacles mixed with existential nihilism and sprinkled with liberal quantities of gore, this is Lovecraftian horror with a bloody bent that few others have dared to explore. --Peter Rawlik, author of ReanimatorsThey called it the Event.The Event changed everything. The earthquakes came first, including the Big One, shattering the Pacific Rim and plunging the world into chaos. Then the seas came, the skies opened, and the never-ending rain began. But as bad as that was, there is something worse.The Rising has begun.A lone man who abandoned the world for his addictions searches a waterlogged Austin for something, anything to cling to. Little does he know that something else searches for him.In the Sonoran Desert, the downtrodden of the world search for a better life north of the border, only to see the desert become an ocean: an ocean that takes life and gives death.In the woods of Alabama, survivors escape to Fort Resistance, but soon discover that it isn't just the horrors of the deep places of the world that they need to fear; but rather a new and more deadly pestilence that has grown in their own ranks.In England, it's too late to fight, and all that's left is to survive. One man reaches for his own humanity, but what to do when humanity is an endangered species?And in the Pacific, He is rising.In The Abyssal Plain: The R'lyeh Cycle, authors William Holloway, Michelle Garza and Melissa Lason, Brett J. Talley, and Rich Hawkins have created a timely and uniquely modern reimagining of the Cthulhu Mythos.

    The cycle of narratives that includes the title work of this collection, for instance, introduces readers to a freakish community of artists who encounter demonic perils that ultimately engulf their lives. These are selected examples of the forbidding array of persons and places that compose the mesmerizing fiction of Thomas Ligotti.

    May of these stories are from the pages of Weird Tales and other classic magazines which brought the work of masters like H.P. Lovecraft, Seabury Quinn, Clark Ashton Smith, August Derleth, Robert E. Howard, and many others to the public. Includes an active table of contents.

    FALL IN LOVE with SEVEN BRAND-NEW, NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED STEAMY CHRISTMAS STORIES From New York Times & USA Today Bestselling, Award-Winning AuthorsTWO HEARTS’ CHRISTMAS RESCUE: Tamara Ferguson, USA Today Bestselling Author: Christmas has been a time of terrible loss for the two of them, so neither has celebrated for years. Will a gang of needy rescue pets help Kinley and Jake rescue each other’s Christmas, aided by the magic of love?MISTLETOE MAGIC by Natalie Ann, USA Today Bestselling Author: Can the magic of Christmas help Robin and Brian find what is hiding in their hearts?BAYOU CHRISTMAS by Suzanne Jenkins, USA Today bestselling Author: When Maggie Angel makes a discovery under Bayou Cottage it might change her life if she lets it. What does a mother dog, her six pups and a handsome veterinarian have in common? Maggie’s heart will bring them together.CANDY’S CHRISTMAS WISH by Cynthia Cooke, USA Today bestselling Author: On the verge of losing her house, her business, and her dog, Candy needs a Christmas miracle. What she gets is Lincoln, the man who broke her heart, back in her life.MELT MY HEART by Alicia Street, USA Today Bestselling Author: A rescue mutt. A mysterious letter. A secret history shared. Can the challenge that brings Wynter and Caleb together melt the hearts of two people who have given up on love?PLAYING SANTA by Stephanie Queen, USA Today Best1selling Author: Why stop at rescuing a puppy when there’s a struggling beauty who might need Santa to come to her rescue?A SNOWY SEASIDE CHRISTMAS by Traci Hall, USA Today Bestselling Author: Only unconditional love can save Gemma and Bryce from hiding their battered hearts forever – will these two heroes be brave enough to let down their guard?