At least, that's what her cards tell her and they've never been wrong. She's evicted from her apartment, loses her job and is banned from Beverly Hills. So when the tarot cards predict her imminent demise, she uses a little magic to make her world right.Suddenly, an aunt she's never met dies, leaving Mara as her sole heir. But when Mara moves into her inherited home, she discovers Aunt Tillie never moved out. She's still one pissed-off old lady, even post-mortem, and she blames Mara's magical meddling for her death.When Mara accidentally releases a demon and awakens the spirit of the most powerful witch in history, Tillie's ready to kill her -- literally. It's the only way she can think of to save the girl from herself. The witch and the demon, however, have other plans for Mara's body.

    When John McIntyre sees Nick Kelley step off the island ferry, he's instantly attracted, and fairly certain that he knows what Nick is keeping secret, because he's been doing it himself for years. When he discovers Nick's real secret he's drawn into a world he never knew existed, one haunted by grief and guilt and ghosts. In the shadowed world of the spirits, Nick's power is all that the ghosts have to help them. But Nick is still mourning the death of his lover in an accident he believes he caused, and John's determined to keep their relationship secret.It's going to take a lot more than attraction and really good sex to solve their problems but will they be lucky? Or will one week be all they have before they're left alone again?

    The House On Gable Street is a fast-paced supernatural story about 30,000 words long, almost a novella. Stephen Leather is one of the UK's most successful thriller writers, an ebook and Sunday Times bestseller and author of the critically acclaimed Dan “Spider’ Shepherd series and the Jack Nightingale supernatural detective novels.

    Some of the stories are inspired by true events and some are inspired by ideas of my dear readers! Find out which ones inside this scary collection."BABYSITTER"Rachel was just a regular teenager living a normal life, when the new, rich family moved into town. They had 2 children and were looking for a babysitter. She thought it would be a nice way to get some money. What was in store for her, however, was a bloody and shocking night to remember."DARK SIDE"Selene and Damien seemed like a normal couple, but Damien started to act weirdly and spent a lot of time in his price room where he did his job. Damien was an artist and needed his private area. What was Damien actually doing in his private room was more terrifying than Selene could ever have imagined."THE CURSE OF HERNANDEZ"A newly married couple found the perfect home to call their own. While cleaning out the upstairs attic the husband discovers an old suitcase. Upon opening, they find the remains of documents and papers with their last name on them- Hernandez. Strange, but they decided to ignore it and throw the suitcase away. They should have never done this because that is when strange things started to happen.

    His life will be changed forever in a world where he’ll be thrown in jail— or worse— for being pregnant.Alex’s best friend, Sam, has been acting strange ever since he met Alex’s one-night stand, but now Alex needs help in order to hide, and Sam is his only hope.First book in the Unexpected series.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love is an Open Road" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story. Dear Author,When I got pregnant unexpectedly and my partner-in-babymaking up and ran off, I figured I’d be alone forever. It was a rough time and if not for best friend I don’t know how long it would have taken to drag myself out of it. I never thought I’d find myself in this position with him. He has been so supportive through the pregnancy and all these feelings I’d never noticed before started blossoming. This is our first time together and I never thought sex could be this amazing— tender and smoking hot all at the same time. I think it helps that he spent so much time wooing me and we were able to fully switch from “friend” mindset to “romance” mindset before we just jumped into bed.Photo Description: A blond-haired man making love to a visibly pregnant man. From the expression on the blond’s face and the kiss he presses on the black-haired man’s shoulder, it’s clear these two are a couple who are deeply in love. They are somewhere hidden, maybe a basement, since there are stairs visible in the background. It makes me wonder, is the pregnancy forbidden? Are they hiding because of that?This story may contain sexually explicit content and is intended for adult readers. It may contain content that is disagreeable or distressing to some readers. The M/M Romance Group strongly recommends that each reader review the General Information section before each story for story tags as well as for content warnings.

    Jess had done the research. Success requires precision: a dark room, a mirror, a candle, salt, and four teenage girls. Each of them--Jess, Shauna, Kitty, and Anna--must link hands, follow the rules . . . and never let go. A thrilling fear spins around the room the first time Jess calls her name: "Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary. BLOODY MARY." A ripple of terror follows when a shadowy silhouette emerges through the fog, a specter trapped behind the mirror. Once is not enough, though--at least not for Jess. Mary is called again. And again. But when their summoning circle is broken, Bloody Mary slips through the glass with a taste for revenge on her lips. As the girls struggle to escape Mary's wrath, loyalties are questioned, friendships are torn apart, and lives are forever altered.A haunting trail of clues leads Shauna on a desperate search to uncover the legacy of Mary Worth. What she finds will change everything, but will it be enough to stop Mary--and Jess--before it's too late?

    Forever beautiful. Forever outcast. Forever lonely. Life as a deaf vampire is hard. It's seen as a flaw. Being deaf is viewed as a weakness. They're foolish to underestimate me. Like Rudolph, I was never invited to play in any vampire games.Then one foggy winter’s night, everything changed.Photo Description: A young man with impossibly blue eyes stares out at the viewer. It’s the eyes that have it, because this man cannot hear, a disability gained only after he was turned— into a vampire. It’s going to take one hell of a man to bring out the master vampire within.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love Has No Boundaries" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

    Christopher Barzak’s stunning debut tells of a teenage boy’s coming-of-age that begins with a shocking murder and ends with a reason to hope.Adam McCormick had just turned fifteen when the body was found in the woods. It is the beginning of an autumn that will change his life forever. Jamie Marks was a boy a lot like Adam, a boy no one paid much attention to—a boy almost no one would truly miss. And for the first time, Adam feels he has a purpose. Now, more than ever, Jamie needs a friend. But the longer Adam holds on to Jamie’s ghost, the longer he keeps his friend tethered to a world where he no longer belongs . . . and the weaker Adam’s own ties to the living become. Now, to find his way back, Adam must learn for himself what it truly means to be alive.

    She and her best friend Lexi call themselves the Creep Sisters. Only Lexi knows why Jane is different from anyone else: Her own shadow seems to pull her into near-fatal accidents. Jane is determined to find out why these terrifying things happen, and to overcome her shadow enemy. Her sleuthing with Lexi connects her own horrors to the secret history of a serial killer.

    A cop who doesn’t believe in ghosts. And one very pissed off poltergeist.What a way to ring in the New Year.Parker Ferro is San Amaro’s top magical private investigator. It helps that he’s the only supernatural investigator in the city. When a client hires him to take care of a nasty ghost infestation, he doesn’t expect to get stuck in the haunted house with an attractive police officer who’s looking to arrest someone.Now Parker just needs to get them both to safety, exorcise the ghost, and solve a mystery, before the hot cop decides to arrest him.A Haunting at Midwinter is a 17,000 word urban fantasy short with a HFN ending.

    James to Neil Gaiman, H.H. Munro to Audrey Niffenegger herself, Ghostly reveals the evolution of the ghost story genre with tales going back to the eighteenth century and into the modern era, ranging across styles from Gothic Horror to Victorian, stories about haunting--haunted children, animals, houses. Every story is introduced by Audrey Niffenegger, an acclaimed master of the craft, with some words on its background and why she chose to include it. Audrey's own story is "A Secret Life With Cats."     Perfect for the classic and contemporary ghost story aficionado, this is a delightful volume, beautifully illustrated by Audrey, who is a graphic artist with great vision. Ghostly showcases the best of the best in the field, including Edith Wharton, P.G. Wodehouse, A.S. Byatt, Ray Bradbury, and so many more.

    With a dark and wild past, Hendricks doesn’t think the small town her parents moved her to has much to offer her in terms of excitement. She plans on laying low, but when she’s suddenly welcomed into the popular crowd at school, things don’t go as expected. Hendricks learns from her new friends that the fixer-upper her parents are so excited about is notorious in town. Local legend says it’s haunted. Hendricks doesn’t believe it. Until she’s forced to. Blood-curdling screams erupt from the basement, her little brother wakes up covered in scratches, and something, or someone pushes her dad down the stairs. With help from the mysterious boy next door, Hendricks makes it her mission to take down the ghosts . . . if they don’t take her first.

    his rounds lead him to the radio room where the handsome and mysterious Franklin Fairchild sits listening to waltzes as old as the hotel itself. James is drawn to Franklin, but Franklin is a man at the end of his rope, and James has no intention of getting caught up in whatever trouble Franklin is in. A heated encounter late one night sends James down a disturbing path and has him questioning everything around him, including his very sanity.

    After two years of nothing, he’s offered patronage by an eccentric gallery owner and starts to produce again, canvas after canvas. The only problem? He can’t remember painting any of them—not one single brushstroke.Luke Morganstern’s reputation as an art-fraud investigator is in tatters. He can’t afford to turn down any job, even a lousy one for an anonymous client who sends him after an unidentified forger in a remote cabin in Oregon. When the alleged forger turns out to be Stefan, the man he never stopped loving, Luke’s professional ethics are stretched beyond the breaking point.As the two men take tentative steps toward reconciliation, evidence begins to mount that they’re not alone in the woods. Someone—or something—is watching. Something with sinister plans for them both. To escape, Luke must overcome his suspicions and Stefan must trust Luke with his deepest fears. Otherwise they could forfeit their relationship, their sanity—and their lives.Publisher’s note: This is a heavily revised and significantly expanded reprint of Northern Light.

    Though he struggles to escape, John is drawn steadily closer to a fate he shares with Kyle—to wake the destroyer god, the Rifter, and shatter a world.