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Horrors Next Door: Short Scary Stories to play with your mind by Tom Coleman
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The Deadly Kiss
Solomon Carter - 2021
But the DI is not the only one looking for prey…DETECTIVE JOE HOGARTH IS ON THE HUNT FOR A KILLER WHO STOLE THE LIFE OF A YOUNG CHRISTIAN GIRL. IT’S TWO WEEKS SINCE THE YOUNG WOMAN'S BODY WAS LEFT ABANDONED IN A BEACH HUT. EVIDENCE IS SLIM, LEADS ARE EXHAUSTED AND DI HOGARTH IS FEELING THE STRAIN... BUT THE MURDER OF YOUNG HELEN BRIMELOW ISN’T THE ONLY CRIME TROUBLING HOGARTH. A WELL-CONNECTED MAN CALLED SIMON DRAWTON HAS GOTTEN AWAY WITH FAR MORE THAN HE SHOULD.COULD IT BE THAT DRAWTON HAS STRUCK AGAIN?HOGARTH SUSPECTS SO. AND HOGARTH IS DETERMINED THAT HE WON'T GET WAY WITH IT .Helen Brimelow was a lovely girl. A staunch Christian who loved to help those in need. The food bank where she volunteered mourns her passing and the town is in shock. But as Hogarth scrapes beneath the surface, he discovers another kind of Helen Brimelow… And another type of predator.DI Hogarth and DS Palmer must work through the clues and the lies… but the harder they toil, the less they find. As they discover more about Helen, are they getting any closer? Or are they simply pushing Drawton to strike again?Goodness, charity and love nestle side by side with poverty, addiction and hard-nosed crime in an unforgiving murder mystery.Temptation knows no creed.And a killer’s lust cannot be suppressed… Join DI Hogarth and DS Palmer as they battle their consciences and even their own family in pursuit of a ruthless killer.Who will be next?In a thrilling conclusion, DI Hogarth and Palmer must down a killer before they strike again.Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Ian Rankin, Val McDermid and Ruth Rendell, Helen Durrant, Joy Ellis and LJ Ross. If you love to read gripping detective thrillers with flawed characters and police procedurals with shocking twists and a noir flavour, then the DI Hogarth Deadly Kiss series is for you.Readers have described the DI Hogarth series as perfect for fans of British crime thrillers, Female detective novels, British crime mysteries, Police Procedurals, Heist thrillers and Noir Thrillers..The Setting:Southend-on-sea, Just over an hour from London. A tough and densely packed suburban town sandwiched between the sparkling Thames Estuary and a semi-rural hinterland of fields and marshes. A place where wealth and glamour sit cheek-by-jowl with addiction, poverty and crime. When he transferred to the Essex coast, ex-Met Detective Joe Hogarth might have imagined he was signing up for sun, sea and semi-retirement. But the merry hell of Southend might just have him beat. It’s a good thing this DI doesn’t know when to quit…ALSO BY SOLOMON CARTERTHE DARKEST LIESTHE SECRET FEARTHE POISON PATHINTO THE SHADOWSBETWEEN TWO THIEVESLONG TIME DYING SERIESLUCK AND JUDGMENTLONDON CALLINGTHE FINAL TRICKHARDER THEY FALL
Humorous Ghost Stories
Dorothy Scarborough - 1921
You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.
The Daemoniac
Kat Ross - 2016
With taunting messages in backwards Latin left at the crime scenes and even more inexplicable clues like the fingerprints that appear to have been burned into one victim's throat, his handiwork bears all the hallmarks of a demonic possession.But consulting detective Harrison Fearing Pell is convinced her quarry is a man of flesh and blood. Encouraged by her uncle, Arthur Conan Doyle, Harry hopes to make her reputation by solving the bizarre case before the man the press has dubbed Mr. Hyde strikes again.From the squalor of the Five Points to the high-class gambling dens of the Tenderloin and the glittering mansions of Fifth Avenue, Harry and her best friend, John Weston, follow the trail of a remorseless killer, uncovering a few embarrassing secrets of New York's richest High Society families along the way. Are the murders a case of black magic—or simple blackmail? And will the trail lead them closer to home than they ever imagined?
The Haunting of Brynn Wilder
Wendy Webb - 2020
Checking into a quaint boardinghouse for the summer, she hopes to put her life into perspective. In her fellow lodgers, she finds a friendly company of strangers: the frail Alice, cared for by a married couple with a heartbreaking story of their own; LuAnn, the eccentric and lovable owner of the inn; and Dominic, an unsettlingly handsome man inked from head to toe in mesmerizing tattoos.But in this inviting refuge, where a century of souls has passed, a mystery begins to swirl. Alice knows things about Brynn, about all of them, that she shouldn’t. Bad dreams and night whispers lure Brynn to a shuttered room at the end of the hall, a room still heavy with a recent death. And now she’s become irresistibly drawn to Dominic—even in the shadow of rumors that wherever he goes, suspicious death follows.In this chilling season of love, transformation, and fear, something is calling for Brynn. To settle her past, she may have no choice but to answer.
Blood Bites: Three Vampire Tales
C.J. Pinard - 2013
~Violent~ College sophomore Evan Grant doesn’t realize what he’s getting into when he asks the beautiful redhead, Karina Walsh out on a simple date. The date ends well but the night does not. A frightening encounter with an otherworldly creature leaves him nowhere to go but to Karina and her family for help. But will they help him… or destroy him for knowing too much of a world he never should have seen? ~The Blood Pool~ When vicious killings of humans begin to show up in a small town, Alec Kilton – Chief Enforcer of the Nave, the ruling authority of vampires, is sent to investigate it and stop it. During the course of his investigation, he comes across a deadly game enacted by four young – and untrained – vampires. They call their game, the Blood Pool. In this game, they select a female human’s name from a hat, and then each of the four have an opportunity to woo her. Whoever wins, gets to enjoy her before the other three come and destroy her. While out on his mission, Alec meets a stunning redhead, Molly O’Connell, who he finds irresistible on so many levels. During the course of their game, Molly’s name is deposited into the hat and selected to become their next target in the Blood Pool. Will Alec be able to understand their game in time to save his lovely redhead? Or will those who invented the game destroy her first? Some stories contain adult language and adult situations. Appropriate for readers 17 and older.
The Damned
Algernon Blackwood - 1914
Perhaps, now that she had opened my mind to another view, I should be sensitive to some similar interpretation--and possibly by way of literary expression. If I were to write about the place, I asked myself, how should I treat it? I deliberately invited an interpretation in the way that came easiest to me--writing.
Witch Way to Nightshade
Penny Brooke - 2021
But she hadn’t perceived the extent of her powers…or the fact she was a witch.An elderly woman moving in across the street sets off a series of events that leads to Salem attending Nightshade Village, a college for women with “special abilities.”But upon arrival at the bizarre school, just as Salem’s true purpose reveals itself, tragedy strikes, and one of their own dies mysteriously.Will Salem be able to use her growing powers to solve the mystery surrounding the witch’s death? Or will her own life be in jeopardy before she can realize her full potential?Join Salem Donovan in the Nightshade Village series, a paranormal cozy mystery featuring a witch sleuth, magic and mayhem, and a mystery to solve.
Moon Magic
Aimee Easterling - 2016
Scratch the surface of the real world to find alchemy, were-creatures, and witches waiting! Prepare to fall in love with sexy alphas and the kickass heroines they live to chase. But be sure to keep your hands inside the ride at all times – because when it comes to these urban fantasy tales, love just might bite… From USA Today Bestselling Author Aimee Easterling - Shiftless: After years of suppressing her inner wolf, Terra struggles to forget her old pack. But when her past finally comes calling, she has no choice but to reclaim the predator within. From USA Today Bestselling Author Sylvia Frost - Moonbound: Seven years ago, werebeasts murdered Artemis's family and marked her as the mate of a monster. Now that monstrous mate has tracked her down and threatens to make her his own. From Bestselling Author L. M. Hawke - Black Moon Sing: A dark force is targeting a secret enclave of shapeshifters in the desert southwest, delivering them to grisly fates. Suspected of witchery and cast out of her human society, it's up to Ellery Chee, a lone coyote shifter, to stop this dangerous magician before her world disappears into thin air. From USA Today Bestselling Author Tasha Black - Curse of the Alpha: Episodes 1 & 2: As she struggles to come to terms with her werewolf nature, Ainsley Connor is thrust into the center of a steamy web of shifters, ghosts, witches and warlocks, caught up in a life-or-death struggle for control of the pack she tried to leave behind. From Bestselling Author Marina Finlayson - Moonborn: Since childhood, Garth has lived on the edges of the pack, the human stepson of the pack leader and an eternal outsider. He always dreamed of becoming a werewolf—until one day he got his wish. From Bestselling Author Val St. Crowe: The Toil & Trouble Trilogy: Book 1: Born into an underground ruling class of witches, eighteen-year-old Olivia has always tried to steer clear of both magic and monsters. But a struggle for power and a handsome face combine to turn her life upside-down until suddenly she's knee deep in both.
20th Century Ghosts
Joe Hill - 2005
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...
The Wild Hunt
Ron C. Nieto - 2014
However, as civilization and reason scoff at the Fair Folk, the paths to power have been forgotten by all but a few. Lily Boyd was meant to become a faerie doctor, a warden of humans and a keeper of balance, until disbelief and pragmatism led her away from the hidden world and into a mundane life. But truth has a way to be Heard and she will be forced to face it if she wants to save her family. Armed with nothing but her childhood memories and protected by a debt of gratitude she doesn’t understand, Lily must decide who to trust while she navigates a world that is darker and more twisted than she is prepared for. And should she make the wrong choice, should she mistake friend and foe… the eternal balance between the Faerie Courts may shatter, and then there will be more than Lily’s life on the line
Ice
Kevin Tinto - 2015
While twisting through one of the narrow underground passageways, Leah’s flashlight illuminates the remains of a violent massacre. Ancient human remains—all slaughtered in a long-ago massacre—cover the cavern floor, along with a number of brilliantly colored, granite crystals. The rare crystals are native to only one place on earth: a frozen mountain range in central Antarctica. Could Native Americans have traveled to the frozen continent of Antarctica 800 years prior to the first known human exploration? If so how? And why? There’s only one person who can get Leah to those mountains in Antarctica: her estranged husband and climbing guide Jack Hobson. At their destination they make a stunning discovery that will change history and science forever. But Leah’s team is far from the only interested party. As her secret makes its way to the highest levels of government, a race to seize the Russian-claimed Antarctic territory brings the world to the brink of nuclear conflict.
Gone
Christine Kersey - 2013
Not only is her family missing, but another family is living in her house and claims to have lived there for weeks. As Morgan desperately works to figure out what has happened, she finds society has become obsessed with weight in a way she has never seen before. The more she searches for answers, the more she begins to wonder if she has somehow ended up in another world—a world she doesn't want to be a part of. Can she survive in this world until she can get home?Gone does not contain any profanity or sexual content and is appropriate for all ages.
It Calls From The Forest: An Anthology of Terrifying Tales from the Woods Volume 1
Michelle RiverMichael Subjack - 2020
It is not the cool breeze and the scent of pine that whispers your name.No, these things within the forest will rip out your heart and devour your soul. You will tremble as they revel in your madness, taking everything from you and leaving you with nothingDelve inside this anthology of what truly lurks within the shadows of the trees. Created by award-winning horror and fiction authors around the world. We dare you to take this journey with us and find out what horrors await you.The Forest Is Calling. Will you answer?24 terrifying tales ripped straight from your nightmares. There is evil in the forest, and it wants you dead.
Forgotten Bones
Vivian Barz - 2019
But when it comes to murder, Officer Susan Marlan never trusts a simple explanation, so she's just getting started.Meanwhile, college professor Eric Evans hallucinates a young boy in overalls: a symptom of his schizophrenia - or so he thinks. But when more bodies turn up, Eric has more visions, and they mirror details of the murder case. As the investigation continues, the police stick with their original conclusion, but Susan's instincts tell her something is off. The higher-ups keep stonewalling her, and the FBI's closing in.Desperate for answers, Susan goes rogue and turns to Eric for help. Together they take an unorthodox approach to the case as the evidence keeps getting stranger. With Eric's hallucinations intensifying and the body count rising, can the pair separate truth from illusion long enough to catch a monster?
Carl Sagan's Hunt for Intelligent Life in the Universe
C. Gockel - 2016
Hsissh is a member of The One. There are some newcomers to The One's homeplanet. They call themselves "humans," and they are, frankly, mentally deficient--they can't warp the quantum world with their minds. However, Hsissh is becoming attached to one of them, a Miss Noa Sato. When The One decide they will wipe out the humans and Noa's life is on the line, Hsissh is forced to take sides ... he might find intelligent life where The One least expect it.