However, a slight turn of events redirected the odds in her favor. Ultra-sexy and centric Syx was at her wits end. Her New Year's celebration had been strategically planned since her older sister, Sevyn, faced her fears and relocated to the Big City. In New York surrounded by laughter, love, music, drinks and the thrill of the people is where Syx desperately wanted to be. Yet, she found herself missing the very last flight bound for the Big City and stranded in Atlanta, GA. A hint of fate scrambled her way as she returned home after discovering her plans were shot. Amiyah Mallard, with her own agenda in mind, forces her husband to give Syx a lift, compliments of his private plane. A slew of unexpected, yet fortunate, occurrences leaves Syx dazed and confused after waking up on New Year's Day in unknown territory, on a dangerously comforting mattress, tangled in Italian sheets with her beloved boss's life partner. Trough Mallard. *This is a novelette.*

    

    and whose gifts are destined to end up in the hands of another. And it is this teen's heart-breaking story that inspired Lev to choose the clapper's path.Pulling elements from Neal Shusterman's critically acclaimed Unwind and giving hints about what is to come in the long-awaited sequel, UnWholly, this short story is a must for fans of the series.

     As usual, Maupin’s tone is both bittersweet and achingly funny in this tale of a post-catastrophic San Francisco and a young man’s resilient love for his mother. Cover Design by Darryl Vance

    

     Eerie, suspenseful, poignant, the stories in The Long Way Home run the gamut from horror to suspense, crime to dark fantasy, mainstream to mystery. This brand new collection features more than 100,000 words of short fiction, as well as more than 5,000 words of autobiographical Story Notes. Chizmar's previous short story collection, A Long December, was published in 2016 to starred reviews from Library Journal and Kirkus, and was included on numerous "Best Books of the Year" lists. Entertainment Weekly gave the book high praise: "Each tale is a magic trick, luring you toward the light while leading you down an ever-darkening path. There is hope mingled with horror, and that's Chizmar's secret power. His storytelling always beats with a huge, passionate heart." Stephen King says he writes "terrific stories served with a very large slice of Disquiet Pie," and with The Long Way Home, Richard Chizmar has taken his evocative and compelling storytelling to an entirely new level.

    The walking wounded. These are the stories of ordinary people.

    A version of the story was published in the magazine Whirlwind in 1890, and Machen revised and extended it for its book publication (together with another story, "The Inmost Light") in 1894. On publication it was widely denounced by the press as degenerate and horrific because of its decadent style and sexual content, although it has since garnered a reputation as a classic of horror. Machen’s story was only one of many at the time to focus on Pan as a useful symbol for the power of nature and paganism. The title was taken from the poem "A Musical Instrument" published in 1862 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, in which the first line of every stanza ends "... the great god Pan.

    Talman, September 1931"Sword Woman" "Which Will Scarcely Be Understood" (poem) "The Striking of the Gong" "The Song of Horsa's Galley" (poem) "The Good Knight" "A Word From the Outer Dark" (poem) "Black Canaan" "The Song of a Mad Minstrel" (poem) "Kelly the Conjure Man""Surrender" (poem) "The Footfalls Within" "Knife-River Prodigal" "Musings" (poem) "Life" (2, "They bruised my soul . . .") (poem) "The House of Suspicion""Rueben's Brethren" (poem) "Two Against Tyre""The Guise of Youth" (poem) "For the Love of Barbara Allen""Guns of Khartum" "Lines Written in the Realization That I Must Die" (poem)

    His memory has been slipping, and he worries that soon he won’t remember her at all.When he finds a vintage cigar box hidden in June’s old dresser, he begins to obsess over the odd collection of knick-knacks contained inside it — but his journey to remember the past will take a horrifying turn for the worse.

    

     And that’s just a quarter of the thrills. Edited and compiled by Amazon bestselling author Dan Alatorre, this anthology of scary tales brings together the minds and pens of twenty authors, including bestseller Allison Maruska (The Fourth Descendant), bestselling author Jenifer Ruff (Everett), Lucy Brazier (PorterGirl), J. A. Allen, Juliet Nubel, TA Henry, Ann Marie Andrus, Heather Hackett, Barbara Anne Helberg, Scott Skipper, Joanne R. Larner, Christine Valentor, Adele Marie Park, Curtis Bausse, Annette Robinson, Frank Parker, Eric Daniel Clarke, and Maribel C. Pagan. Perfect for Halloween or any time, these stories will make you think twice before walking alone on the beach at night, reading a diary, or innocently watching a train from your car. Consider yourselves warned. NOTE: Warning! American and British spelling ahead. A few stories words are olde English, too. The story The Death Of Mrs. Billen by Mr. Alatorre is from his novel An Angel On Her Shoulder, used with permission.

    Part of the Shadows Beneath - The Writing Excuses Anthology

    

    if you’re one of the lucky few to live in the new, ecologically-minded city-states that dot the landscape. Outside their walls, in the “wilds” -- the rotting suburbs and exurbs of America -- things have become rather more precarious. Benjamin Washington is a kid in New St. Louis, who is on the verge of getting the boot into the wilds if he doesn’t take a job. In a last-ditch effort, he takes the only gig available to him: Biological Systems Interface Management... which is to say, he’s about to become a high-tech pig farmer. It’s a letdown for Benjamin, who has always expected better things for himself. But then comes the day when New St. Louis is under attack, from without and within. The only person standing between attackers and their goal is one young pig farmer, who never even wanted to be there... but who now has to make a choice whether to co-operate with the intruders, or make a stand for his city.