Eleven stories. One festive collection! Perfect for fans of crime fiction, short stories, thrillers — and Christmas! Deck the halls with tales of murder! To get you in the mood for Christmas, Sapere Books has brought eleven of their authors together in this thrilling, festive short story anthology. From dead bodies in Victorian London, to fraudulent identities in modern-day Cheltenham and a dead Santa in Galway, each story in this collection follows a mystery in the lead-up to Christmas. Follow Charles Dickens as he turns private investigator.; a feisty couple challenging the status quo in 17th century England; a young woman unmasking fraudulent psychics in Victorian Brighton; an enigmatic policeman manning the streets of Prague; a strong-willed female detective taking down criminals in Wales; and a law-enforcement team investigating a death on a small Scottish island. The authors in this collection are: Graham Brack, author of THE JOSEF SLONSKÝ INVESTIGATIONS J. C. Briggs, author of THE CHARLES DICKENS INVESTIGATIONS Keith Moray, author of THE INSPECTOR TORQUIL MCKINNON INVESTIGATIONS Cora Harrison, author of THE VICTORIAN LONDON MURDER MYSTERIES Seán Gibbons, author of THE BEN MILLER THRILLERS Marilyn Todd, author of THE JULIA MCALLISTER MYSTERIES Gaynor Torrance, author of the DI JEMIMA HUXLEY INVESTIGATIONS David Field, author of THE ESTHER AND JACK ENRIGHT MYSTERIES Kim Fleet, author of THE EDEN GREY MYSTERIES M. J. Logue, author of THE THOMAZINE AND THANKFUL RUSSELL THRILLERS Linda Stratmann, author of THE MINA SCARLETTI MYSTERIES

    Unlike much of the current form, full of blood, monsters and melodrama, Aickman's stories achieve a quieter, more subtle and, in several ways, more lasting sense of disquiet. His lucid, finely tuned prose moves imperceptibly from the small crises and celebrations of ordinary life into another sphere. In these 11 stories, the occasion may be a walking tour of Northern England, a birthday present of a Victorian dollhouse or a stay at a Swedish sanatorium for insomniacs, but it simultaneously traps the characters with dread and opens them up to a new awareness of a greater, deeper and more dangerous world. A remarkable collection by an author who deserves to be better known.Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

    The tales in this collection are haunting and ghostly and will thrill readers. The thirteen creepy tales in Scary Stories are literary masterpieces by Kipling, Saki, Algernon Blackwood et al, filled with chilling and unfathomable terror.

    In this book, Tony and Jenny Brueski from Real Ghost Stories Online take the most haunting accounts from their podcast and share them here, including:• HAUNTED BUILDINGS AND BREWERIES• JEALOUS DEMONS AND PROTECTIVE SPIRITS• MESSAGES FROM RETURNED RELATIVES• GHOSTLY BATTLES FROM LONG-LOST WARS• EXORCISMS AND DARK ENERGIES• GRAVEYARD EXPLORATION GONE WRONG

    a wood where the trees look back... a basement door blocked by a brick wall so thick, it stifles the screams from below ... This original collection of chilling poems and tales contains the only true ghost stories in existence (as the book itself will tell you)—13 eerie encounters perfect for sharing...if you dare. Accompanied by striking illustrations and building to a truly spine-tingling conclusion, this haunting book will consume the imagination and keep readers of every age up long past their bedtimes.

    Brought together in this volume, these stories represent an unprecedented accomplishment in American literature. In their iconoclasm and needle-sharp irony, their formal and thematic ingenuity and element of surprise, they differ markedly from the fiction admired in Bierce's time. Readers familiar with the classic An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge will want to turn to Bierce's other Civil War stories. Also included here are his horror stories, among them The Death of Halpin Frayser and The Damned Thing, and such tall tales as Oil of Dog and A Cargo of Cat.

    Being married to the love of her life is Wren’s dream, and it’s finally coming to fruition. She’s excited about their upcoming holiday vacation to the Swiss Alps. Phillip, a commercial airline pilot, maintains a hectic schedule, but he promised Wren the Alps. He promised uninterrupted time together to kindle their loving relationship.But Phillip can’t keep his promise, again, a reminder of all the other promises he’s failed to keep. That disappointment causes Wren to go home for the holidays instead. To her surprise, best friend, Torrence Edison, makes the same decision. Their reunion is a pleasant distraction. Emerging desire threatens to cross the friendship line when Torrence’s suppressed desire rises to the surface. His impassioned yearnings for Wren are hard to contain; yet, Torrence doesn’t want to push her to a place she’s not willing to go.Wren is surprised by her own eager response to the man that has always been there for her. She has a decision to make; hold on to the promise of forever or risk it all with someone who’s kept every promise he’s ever made.This is a standalone with an HFN/HEA.

     Beautiful, curvy girls that steal my thoughts. I’m not into long-term commitments. I like to keep things casual. But this latest vixen surprised me. My little sister’s best friend. All grown up. She’s everything I want in my life, but she’s got her head on too straight. Smart. Strong. Gorgeous. And after a quick hookup over the holidays, she’s carrying a secret that changes everything. No way in the world I’m missing out on the greatest gift any man could get. A baby.

    Now for the first time thirteen of these tales are collected here, including a wide range of stories from a diverse group of authors, some well-known, others anonymous or forgotten. Readers whose only previous experience with Victorian Christmas ghost stories has been Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol will be surprised and delighted at the astonishing variety of ghostly tales in this volume. “In the sickly light I saw it lying on the bed, with its grim head on the pillow. A man? Or a corpse arisen from its unhallowed grave, and awaiting the demon that animated it?” - John Berwick Harwood, Horror: A True Tale“Suddenly I aroused with a start and as ghostly a thrill of horror as ever I remember to have felt in my life. Something—what, I knew not—seemed near, something nameless, but unutterably awful.” - Ada Buisson, The Ghost’s Summons“There was no longer any question what she was, or any thought of her being a living being. Upon a face which wore the fixed features of a corpse were imprinted the traces of the vilest and most hideous passions which had animated her while she lived.” - Walter Scott, The Tapestried Chamber

    Laidlaw knew him in his laboratory, was one man; but Mark Ebor, as he sometimes saw him after work was over, with rapt eyes and ecstatic face, discussing the possibilities of "union with God" and the future of the human race, was quite another. "I have always held, as you know," he was saying one evening as he sat in the little study beyond the laboratory with his assistant and intimate, "that Vision should play a large part in the life of the awakened man-not to be regarded as infallible, of course, but to be observed and made use of as a guide-post to possibilities-" "I am aware of your peculiar views, sir," the young doctor put in deferentially, yet with a certain impatience.

    In this collection he explores the dark depths of the human condition, offering tales of death, disaster and - just occasionally - redemption.

    From Neil Gaiman and M. R. James to Muriel Spark and E. Nesbit, there are stories here to make the hardiest soul quail - so find a comfy chair, lock the door, ignore the cold breath on your neck and get ready to welcome in the real spirits of Christmas.

    Sheridan LeFanu (1814-73) gave expression to the fears and dread that often haunt sensitive individuals. This collection contains four of his finest ghost stories, each crafted with remarkable ingenuity and storytelling skill. The title story offers a petrifying account of an English cleric's bouts with a malignant spectral presence; "Squire Toby's Will" recounts a sibling rivalry and disputed inheritance; "The Fortunes of Sir Robert Ardagh" concerns a country gentleman's mysterious relationship with a sinister valet; and "Sir Dominick's Bargain" presents LeFanu's masterly variation on the theme of a pact with the devil.All four tales embody not only the suspense and terror expected of a ghost story but also a subtlety, awareness, and psychological depth that elevate them far above most efforts in the genre. This inexpensive edition provides gripping entertainment as well as an excellent introduction to the intelligence and imagination that characterize LeFanu's work.

    In her debut collection of short fiction, Due takes us to Gracetown, a small Florida town that has both literal and figurative ghost; into future scenarios that seem all too real; and provides empathetic portraits of those whose lives are touched by Otherness. Featuring an award-winning novella and fifteen stories—one of which has never been published before—Ghost Summer: Stories is sure to both haunt and delight.With an Introduction by Nalo Hopkinson and an Afterword by Steven Barnes.

    Her history is filled with plagues, wars, duels and murders...no wonder every site in Savannah has a secret past!Haunted Savannah brings you chilling tales, as experienced and told by witnesses, and authentic photos documenting the existence of energy from another dimension.