Blood Bath is a short story written by bestselling author Stephen Leather, accompanied by six more short stories written by fans inspired by the cover and title.

    Edward McNally: Captain Wil has command of his own ship, the respect of his crew, and his wife is expecting their first child. But at sea, the winds always become calm just before the storm breaks.The Smell of Death by Tara West: Maggie's unusual powers bring new threats to her already troubled childhood.Safe by Emma Jameson: In Victorian London, a grave robber makes a nice living off the dead, until he opens the wrong crypt.Soulfully Sweet by Shéa MacLeod: As if helping the living isn’t enough of a pain in her divine hindquarters, Branwen (former goddess of love and beauty) is stuck helping the dead on All Hallow’s Eve.May I Go Play? by Heather Marie Adkins: Micah inherits a southern mansion where ancestors long dead relive their violent deaths. And now, they want company...Blehdward, the Vampire who Couldn't Sparkle by Pj Jones: Blehdward desperately wants to fit in with the cool vamps. If only he could learn how to sparkle.Franscesca by Alan Nayes: Break a promise to a feiticeira and you will live to regret it.Soul Eaters by R.G. Porter: Kaitlyn never believed in the existence of other worlds. Now she's in the middle of one where humans aren't the hunters but the hunted.The Eclective is a group of authors dedicated to the premise that The Story is The Thing, and classifications of genre are mostly a matter for bookshelves. While the following stories share a "Haunting" theme, they might variously be filed as Horror, Paranormal, Fantasy, YA, etc., or anything else. Our idea is that the story itself is more important than whatever label somebody feels like giving it, and by bringing our work together in collections like this one, we hope readers may find a story they might like. Even if it is not in "their" genre.

    He handles things that ordinary paranormal investigators can't or won't, and he often ends up cleaning up behind them.For fifteen years, McCoy has turned his back on his hometown of Shallow Springs, Virginia, and the dark secrets the town harbors. But now an evil, unstoppable force has been unleashed on the unsuspecting residents of the town, and McCoy finds himself the only thing standing between the town and total destruction.

    A family secret. A psychic awakening. What should be the best night of Claire Sylvester’s life turns into the worst. But what can be worse than death? Discovering those you love are in danger, and you’re the only one who can save them? Having to watch them suffer? Or not knowing what to do? As she learns to come to terms with her strange new world, will love and hope give Claire the strength to overcome her fears and do what must be done?What will be her final destination? And will she get a second chance?Beyond Death is the first book in Deb McEwan’s Afterlife series. If you love supernatural thrillers about love and loss, and death and destruction, with a hint of dark humour, this is for you.“A humorous yet thought-provoking idea of the afterlife. This book will have you laughing out loud at one juncture and bring a tear to your eye at the next. If you liked Being Human and enjoy British satire, then you'll love this!” Amazon Reviewer“A really gripping read, couldn't put it down once I started. So many twists and turns. Before I finished I ordered the next two books in the series.” Amazon Reviewer“With so many supernatural tales on the shelves it’s hard to find something genuinely original yet Beyond Death fits the description well, with author Deb McEwan bringing a distinctive new voice to this ever-popular genre.” Book Viral Fans of 'Being Human' enjoy the Afterlife series which comprises four supernatural thriller books:Book 1: Beyond Death Book 2: Beyond LifeBook 3: Beyond DestinyBook 4: Beyond PossessionBook 5: Beyond LimitsBook 6: Beyond Sunnyfields (Coming Soon)My other books:Unlikely Soldiers Book 1 (Civvy to Squaddie)Unlikely Soldiers Book 2 (Secrets and Lies)Unlikely Soldiers Book 3 (Friends and Revenge)Unlikely Soldiers Book 4 (Murder and Mayhem)Court Out (A Netball Girls' Drama)The Island Dog Squad Series (inspired by our wonderful rescue dog Sandy):Sandy's StoryAnother Crazy MissionPeople Problems And for children:Jason the Penguin (He's Different)Jason the Penguin (He Learns to Swim)

    So when she takes a new room at the right price, she believes her luck has finally turned. But 82 Edgware Road is not what it appears to be. It's not only the eerie atmosphere of the vast, neglected house, or the disturbing attitude of her new landlord, Knacker McGuire, that makes her uneasy - it's the whispers behind the fireplace, the scratching beneath floors, the footsteps in the dark, and the young women weeping in neighbouring rooms. And when Knacker's cousin Fergal arrives, the danger goes vertical. But this is merely a beginning, a gateway to horrors beyond Stephanie's worst nightmares. And in a house where no one listens to the screams, will she ever get out alive?

    This gift comes at a steep price; the ghosts are resentful and hungry, and the cameras offer them a rare chance to reach their favourite prey… humans. Jenine didn’t know any of this when she found an abandoned Polaroid camera in a lighthouse. At first she assumes the ghostly shapes in the photos are a glitch or a prank – but then the spirits begin to hunt her down, and she’s forced into a deadly race to free herself from the camera’s curse.

    A memo to her boss that's replaced by obscene insults. Amanda—a successful architect in a happy marriage—finds her life going off kilter by degrees. She starts smoking again, and one night for no reason, without even the knowledge that she's doing it, she burns her husband with a cigarette. At night she dreams of a beautiful woman with pointed teeth on the shore of a blood-red sea.The new voice in Amanda's head, the one that tells her to steal things and talk to strange men in bars, is strange and frightening, and Amanda struggles to wrest back control of her life. Is she possessed by a demon, or is she simply insane? Described as “a new kind of psychological thriller” by George Pelecanos and “this year's scariest novel” by Time Out New York, Come Closer has become a modern classic “with a kick that will stay with the reader for days afterward” (The Dallas Morning News).

    After a prolonged legal battle with his aunt and uncle, Shane has possession of the family home where his parents disappeared over 20 years ago. The house, a monstrous castle filled with ghosts and secrets, is more alive than its inhabitants.When his aunt and uncle come to town, then vanish, Shane's life takes a turn for the worse. Detective Marie Lafontaine immediately labels Shane as the prime suspect. And in a race against time, Shane desperately searches for clues about his parents.But there's something lurking beyond the walls and beneath the surface. Something sinister that has haunted him ever since he saw its face in the pond behind the house. And it isn’t happy that Shane is back.It isn’t happy at all.

    David Hobbs, vacationing with his wife Miriam, inadvertently stumbles upon a small cloth 'keepsake' bag and a broken tooth. A human tooth. Miriam begs David to hand the bag and tooth over to park officials, but he ignores his wife's pleas and secretly keeps the 'harmless' items. The action opens a doorway that had been closed for nearly a hundred years and unleashes hell on earth, or at least hell in the lives of David and Miriam.Following the brutal murder of his best friend in Denver, and an aborted attack on his oldest son, David desperately seeks to understand why a mysterious teenage girl has chosen to terrorize him and the males closest to him. To prevent further devastation to his family and end the wanton bloodshed, he returns to the enchanted hills of eastern Tennessee, where a terrible truth awaits discovery...one that forces him to face the consequences for the unpaid sins of his ancestors.

    Two previous expeditions to investigate its secrets met with disaster, the participants destroyed by murder, suicide or insanity. Now a new investigation has been mounted - four strangers, each with his or her own reason for daring the unknown torments and temptations of the mansion...

    But beyond the horrid makeup and piercing stare lies Pippa, a woman just like everyone else.Well, not quite.When Perry discovered Pippa’s message to her and Dex on the EVP recordings, she thought she heard the last of the old woman’s message. She was wrong. In the novella Old Blood, Pippa relays the tale of her troubled and tortured past, revealing how an aspiring actress and loving mother fell into madness and how an unfathomable betrayal led to her untimely death. For Perry, the repercussions of her message are life-shattering.Old Blood is #5.5 in the series and occurs between books #5 On Demon Wings and #6 Into the Hollow

    Not your ordinary affair. For Frank it began with his own insatiable sexual appetite, a mysterious lacquered box- and then an unhinged voyage through a netherworld of imaginable pleasures and unimaginable horror… Now Frank - or what is left of Frank - waits in an empty room. All he wants is to live as he was before. All Julia can do is bring him her unfulfilled passions… and a little flesh and blood…

    PAWNS OF FATE. LET THE GAME BEGIN.For Chadwick Harlow, a peaceful, easy-going Englishman, after-dinner drinks with his business partner—a ruthless, hard-edged hunter—is a weekly affair. But when casual conversation takes a mysterious and menacing turn into the supernatural, his wits are put to the test in a deadly challenge. Clinging to life but praying for death, Chadwick must summon the will to survive, before all is lost in a terrifying descent into madness.

    Featuring seven reprints, a brand new story "The Toll", an introduction, and rounded out by the author's recommended reading and viewing lists, DEAD LEAVES makes for the perfect autumnal read.

    She kisses like a movie star and knows everything about every film ever made. She's also dead and waiting in the Rosebud Theater for Alec Sheldon one afternoon in 1945.... Arthur Roth is a lonely kid with big ideas and a gift for attracting abuse. It isn't easy to make friends when you're the only inflatable boy in town.... Francis is unhappy. Francis was human once, but that was then. Now he's an eight-foot-tall locust and everyone in Calliphora will tremble when they hear him sing....John Finney is locked in a basement that's stained with the blood of half a dozen other murdered children. In the cellar with him is an antique telephone, long since disconnected, but which rings at night with calls from the dead....The past isn't dead. It isn't even past...