Book picks similar to
Late: a ghostly tale by Louise West
horror
short-stories
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Watch Her Die
Deborah Lucy - 2018
Please note this book was originally published as “Death Watch.” HE WATCHED HER DIE Who murdered Greta Ashton-Jones? This beautiful married woman is found naked, strangled and tied to her bed. Who’s been watching her and taking pictures of her? Who needed to kill her — and why? Detective Inspector Temple investigates. It’s not the straightforward ‘domestic murder’ he’s been told. Written off by a boss who’s relegated him to the back office, he knows he has to find her killer and fast, but he soon has trouble of his own. DISCOVER A MURDER MYSTERY YOU WON’T WANT TO PUT DOWN TILL THE STUNNING CONCLUSION He’s on the wrong side of the law trying to protect himself and his family when a dangerous criminal with a vendetta is released from prison. As things go wrong, losing his job is the least of his problems. Temple uncovers a tangled web of deceit, betrayal and blackmail which leads him to a depraved undercover world. CAN DETECTIVE TEMPLE CATCH THE KILLER BEFORE HIS OWN LIFE FALLS APART? Perfect for fans of Kimberley Chambers, Damien Boyd, Rachel Abbott, Patricia Gibney or Mark Billingham. What readers are saying about WATCH HER DIE “Could not put it down.” SP “Well written and plotted, an excellent and complex crime novel.” MP ‘Loved this book, gripping story, kept me guessing till the end.’ DW “Compulsive read!” GC THE DETECTIVE As a small boy, DI Temple found his mother dead. She had been brutally murdered, with the crime unresolved. Temple is a man on a mission to find her killer, it’s why he joined the police. With the past throwing a long shadow over his life, as a detective, this makes him even more determined to seek justice for other victims as he hunts their killers. His personal quest makes him difficult to live with and difficult to work with and his relationships suffer. But he’ll stop at nothing to protect his family, even though they are estranged and if it means breaking the law. THE SETTING The DI Temple novels are set in Wiltshire, a largely rural county. Its landscape of beautiful rolling hills, downs and valleys gives no immunity to the crime that infects its scattered towns and villages. Steeped in ancient history, the tourist guides make no mention of the organised crime groups, the murders and turf wars, or the drugs that saturate the streets, lanes and school playgrounds. The M4 artery across the top of the county pumps its poison from London and Bristol, linking east and west coasts, providing criminal gangs and networks with an easy route to ply their deadly trade. THE AUTHOR Deborah Lucy worked for 25 years in Wiltshire Police, alongside a number of senior investigating officers as they investigated major crimes, including murders, missing persons, abduction and kidnaps. For three years she worked in the missing adults and children arena, with police, government policy advisers and charities. Latterly, she conducted lifestyle inquiries for international blue chip companies into the lives of billionaires, millionaires and politically exposed people around the world.
The Splendor Falls
Rosemary Clement-Moore - 2009
A broken leg ended her career, but Sylvie’s pain runs deeper. What broke her heart was her father’s death, and what’s breaking her spirit is her mother’s remarriage—a union that’s only driven an even deeper wedge into their already tenuous relationship. Uprooting her from her Manhattan apartment and shipping her to Alabama is her mother’s solution for Sylvie’s unhappiness. Her father’s cousin is restoring a family home in a town rich with her family’s history. And that’s where things start to get shady. As it turns out, her family has a lot more history than Sylvie ever knew. More unnerving, though, are the two guys that she can’t stop thinking about. Shawn Maddox, the resident golden boy, seems to be perfect in every way. But Rhys—a handsome, mysterious foreign guest of her cousin’s—has a hold on her that she doesn’t quite understand. Then she starts seeing things. Sylvie’s lost nearly everything—is she starting to lose her mind as well?
Haunting Obsession
R.J. Sullivan - 2010
Daryl’s girlfriend, Loretta Stevens, knew about his geeky lifestyle when they started dating, but she loves him, quirks and all.Then one day Daryl chooses to buy a particularly tacky piece of memorabilia instead of Loretta’s birthday present. Daryl ends up in the doghouse, not only with Loretta, but with Maxine Marie herself. The legendary blonde returns from the dead to give Daryl a piece of her mind—and a haunting obsession he’ll never forget.
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.
Wake Me Up!: How Chip's Afterlife Saved Me from Myself
Lyn Ragan - 2009
"I'm not gone, I'm right here," he told her. "You can't see me, but I am here. I'll never leave you. I promise." When Lyn Ragan started hearing from her deceased lover, she thought she was losing her mind. Not only had the love of her life been ripped away, she was seeing dead people. Guiding his sweetheart through a twisting plot into the wonder of life beyond death, Chip teaches Lyn how to read the Signs and Messages he shares from the Afterlife. His determination to communicate from the Other Side keeps her focused on his new life, instead of how he died.Chip's unforgettable visitations, creativity, and ability to leave gifts from the beyond, are remarkable blueprints for proof of life in the Hereafter. Filled with loss, grief, and otherworldly love, this true story will have you on the edge of your seat while you question the nature of life after physical death."Death is not the end of who we are, my darlin'." Chip said. "Love can never die. The one Key to everything beautiful is love. Our love lives forever."
The Magpies
Mark Edwards - 2013
The future, in which they plan to get married and start a family, is bright. The other residents of their building seem friendly too, including the Newtons, a married couple who welcome them to the building with open arms.But then strange things start to happen. Dead rats are left on their doorstep. They hear disturbing noises, and much worse, in the night. After Jamie's best friend is injured in a horrific accident, Jamie and Kirsty find themselves targeted by a campaign of terror.As they are driven to the edge of despair, Jamie vows to fight back—but he has no idea what he is really up against . . .The Magpies is a gripping psychological thriller in which the monsters are not vampires or demons but the people who live next door. It is a nightmare that could happen to anyone.
The Merciless
Danielle Vega - 2014
No one outside of these dank basement walls knows she’s here. No one can hear her scream. Sofia Flores knows she shouldn’t have gotten involved. When she befriended Riley, Grace, and Alexis on her first day at school, she admired them, with their perfect hair and their good-girl ways. They said they wanted to save Brooklyn. They wanted to help her. Sofia didn’t realize they believed Brooklyn was possessed. Now, Riley and the girls are performing an exorcism on Brooklyn—but their idea of an exorcism is closer to torture than salvation. All Sofia wants is to get out of this house. But there is no way out. Sofia can’t go against the other girls . . . unless she wants to be next. . . . In this chilling debut, Danielle Vega delivers blood-curdling suspense and terror on every page. By the shockingly twisted end, readers will be faced with the most haunting question of all: Is there evil in all of us?
On The Anatomization of an Unknown Man (1637) by Frans Mier: An eShort Story
John Connolly - 2010
He is a master of the supernatural, the dark twist, the creak of a door in the dark, of all creatures sinister. Connolly’s novels have been bestsellers world-wide. Now, step into his imagination for a moment or two and experience this wonderfully nightmarish short story.
Operation: Spirit Angel (Shepherd Security Book 11)
Margaret Kay - 2022
Manic
Niki Jilvontae - 2020
(Dissociative Identity Disorder) can hinder the value of life for all if affects. These disorders know no age, gender or race boundaries so anyone can be affected by them! Bianca Fulton found that out the hard way at a very young age. As she grew older her manic episodes and multiple personalities led to various obstacles in her life. This is her story... her misery, her turmoil, and her pain. This is the story of how what was supposed to be a tragic ending turned into a beautifully, devious beginning for Bianca Fulton. This is a complex story that shows how she felt like a captive in her own mind...trapped until she found the calming chaos she needed.... this is MANIC!
Oak Avenue
Brandi Reeds - 2018
Once she restores it to the attic, she starts hearing whispers, her loving husband becomes a stranger, and her baby daughter learns a chilling new word. Maybe Ana has unlocked the house’s secrets. Or maybe she’s becoming just a little unhinged herself.Brandi Reeds’s Oak Avenue is part of Dark Corners, a collection of seven heart-stopping short stories by bestselling authors who give you so many new reasons to be afraid. Each story can be read in a single sitting. Or, if you have the nerve, you can listen all by yourself in the dark.
Shutter
Courtney Alameda - 2015
As one of the last descendants of the Van Helsing lineage, she has trained since childhood to destroy monsters both corporeal and spiritual: the corporeal undead go down by the bullet, the spiritual undead by the lens. With an analog SLR camera as her best weapon, Micheline exorcises ghosts by capturing their spiritual energy on film. She's aided by her crew: Oliver, a techno-whiz and the boy who developed her camera's technology; Jude, who can predict death; and Ryder, the boy Micheline has known and loved forever.When a routine ghost hunt goes awry, Micheline and the boys are infected with a curse known as a soulchain.As the ghostly chains spread through their bodies, Micheline learns that if she doesn't exorcise her entity in seven days or less, she and her friends will die. Now pursued as a renegade agent by her monster-hunting father, Leonard Helsing, she must track and destroy an entity more powerful than anything she's faced before . . . or die trying.Lock, stock, and lens, she’s in for one hell of a week.
Love, Death, and Other Inconveniences
Tobias WadeJ.D. McGregor - 2018
Or how about when you got stood up on that tinder date and go home disappointed, only to realize it was all a trick so he'd know where you live? Then there's those letters your dead wife keeps writing you... There can be no light without darkness, pleasure without pain, or love without loss. 17 authors have teamed up to collect all our favorite supernatural and psychological horror stories about love.Jealous murders, monstrous doppelgangers, heart-rending romances, devils and angels, cannibals and virtual worlds - over 350 pages of your most desperate longings and worst nightmares all rolled into one. Shocking twists and absolute mind-fuckery will thrill and terrify you to the last page!
Missing
Shelley MacKenney - 2014
An inspirational tale of her journey through extreme personal crisis."You can run, but you can't hide from yourself."Abandoned by her mother as a young child and with a father constantly on the run, Shelley's life was never normal. Her family's involvement with South London's criminal underworld left her isolated, vulnerable and lonely. Falling deeper and deeper into depression and despair - she snapped.Shelley got on the first coach out of London with only the clothes she stood up in and £30 in her pocket. She didn't care where she was going, as long as she could disappear completely from her oppressive life. For years, she lived anonymously in refuges, hostels and on the streets. It would take something remarkable to bring her back to the real world.
The Haunting of Goldville Cemetery
Carrie Bates - 2020
The cemetery caretaker mysteriously vanished, never to be seen again.Becca, her husband and sons are thrilled to move into their new house. But the shack at the edge of their property leaves Becca feeling unsettled. When she investigates, voices are heard but no one is there. A cold hand grips hers, leaving Becca running in fear.When her sons defy orders to stay away from the shack, the evil is unleashed. For Becca's youngest son has taken something that belongs only to the dead; and they want it back. When a man haunts their dreams, all too soon, Becca's family realizes that he's not in their dreams at all. Can the family fight back against the evil before it's too late? Or, will they spiral into a nightmare that they can never escape from?