From exploring an empty house with dreadful secrets to the account of an eccentric children’s ayah and from vengeful animals carrying a spirit to a bunch of anxious children in a stark landscape—these are some of the most interesting stories about the supernatural. Selected and compiled by Ruskin Bond, this collection includes stories by authors like Rudyard Kipling, Algernon Blackwood, R.L. Stevenson and Alice Perrin, among others.

    When paleontologist Alexandra Moss ventures into the high deserts of Utah in search of a rare dinosaur fossil she gets more than she bargained for: she inadvertently discovers a highly intelligent species from the late Cretaceous that has been in hibernation since the great K-T asteroid disaster--and he is alive!

     A short story in the Oddjobs universe that tries to answer the age-old question: what Christmas present do you get for the demon who has everything?

     After that he had been rescued by more aliens! But only to be dumped on an alien planet in an alien galaxy and left to figure out what to do with the rest of his life. But there was nothing to figure out. The sights were indescribable. The smells intolerable. The food – even the stuff that was supposedly safe to eat – inedible. And the people unimaginable. There was only one thing he knew. He wanted to go home. And if the aliens wouldn't take him back to Earth, then he would just have to buy a spaceship and damn well fly himself back there!

    In “Vortex,” by Gregory Benford, astronauts find a once thriving microbial lifeform that carpets the caves of Mars dying off. A code monkey tracks down the vain creator of a pernicious software virus that people jack cerebrally in “RedKing,” by Craig DeLancey. In “Number Nine Moon,” by Alex Irvine, illicit scavengers on Mars are on a rescue mission to save themselves after one of their team members dies. A young girl’s thirst for vengeance becomes a struggle for survival when she is swallowed by a gigantic sea creature on an alien planet in “Of the Beast in the Belly,” by C.W. Johnson. In “The Seventh Gamer,” by Gwyneth Jones, a writer immerses herself into a MMORPG community to search for characters being played by real aliens from other worlds. A woman armed with a rifle stalks a herd of cloned wooly mammoths in British Columbia in “Chasing Ivory,” by Ted Kosmatka. In “Fieldwork,” by Shariann Lewitt, a volcanologist struggles with her research on Europa where both her mother and grandmother suffered dire consequences. A daughter pays homage to her mother with mega-engineering projects to deal with climate change over eons in “Seven Birthdays,” by Ken Liu. In “The Visitor from Taured,” by Ian R. MacLeod, a cosmologist in the near future is obsessed with proving his theory of multiverses. The citizens of a small town on a “Jackaroo” planet object to a corporation placing a radio telescope near local alien artifacts in “Something Happened Here, But We’re Not Quite Sure What It Was,” by Paul McAuley. And finally, in “Sixteen Questions for Kamala Chatterjee,” by Alastair Reynolds, a graduate student defends her dissertation on a solar anomaly that threatens humanity.

    The search for Ellen's errant husband leads Elvis into the seamier side of Hollywood. He soon learns that Mort Lang is a down-on-his-luck talent agent who associates with a schlocky movie producer, and the last place he was spotted was at a party thrown by a famous and very well-connected ex-Matador. But no one has seen him since - including his B-movie girlfriend. At the same time the police find Mort in his parked car with four gunshots in his chest - and no kid in sight - Ellen disappears. Now nothing is what it seems, and the heat is on. It's up to Elvis Cole and his partner Joe Pike to find the connection between sleazy Hollywood players and an ex-Matador. FREE FALL Read by James Daniels (Sandra Burr, Jill Sovis) Elvis Cole is just a detective who can't say no, especially to a girl in a terrible fix. And Jennifer Sheridan qualifies: Her fiance, Mark Thurman, is a decorated LA cop with an elite plainclothes unit, but Jennifer's sure he's in trouble - the kind of serious trouble that only Elvis Cole can help him out of. Five minutes after his new client leaves his office, Elvis and his partner, the enigmatic Joe Pike, are hip-deep in a deadly situation as they plummet into a world of South Central gangs, corrupt cops, and conspiracies of silence. And before the case is through, every cop in the LAPD will be gunning for a pair of escaped armed-and-dangerous killers - Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. LULLABY TOWN Read by James Daniels (Joyce Bean, Russell Byers) Hollywood's newest wunderkind is Peter Alan Nelson, the brilliant, erratic director known as the King of Adventure. His films make billions, but his manners make enemies. What the boy king wants, he gets, and what Nelson wants is for Elvis to comb the country for the airhead wife and infant child the film-school flunkout dumped en route to becoming the third biggest filmmaker in America. It's the kind of case Cole can handle in his sleep - until it turns out to be a nightmare. For when Cole finds Nelson's wife in a small Conneticut town, she's nothing like what he expects. The lady has some unwanted - and very nasty - mob connections, which means Elvis could be opening the East Coast branch of his P.I. office . . .at the bottom of the Hudson River.

    How did he allow the other person to die? How did he help the other person to hang himself to death? He was terribly upset about this. The moment his eyes saw a rope in any form he used to remember everything.........

    They used him to kill. Now they’ve lost control. When a man wakes up face-down in the middle of a garbage dump, he naturally has a few questions.Why is he in a hand-tailored suit with a bullet hole in his back? Why are there homicidal robots trying to kill him? Why can’t he remember his own name? And how did he get so good at killing? But the more he learns, the less he likes—and the more he starts to think this will end very, very badly. With a faceless organization hunting him, bloody flashbacks haunting him, and an intriguing new companion helping him, the clock is ticking on whether he can escape his past before it devours him.Will he recover his memories before it’s too late, or be forced to become a pawn for the forces hunting him down?Perfect for fans of The Bourne Identity and James Prescott, The Quantum Price is the thrilling first book in the brand-new Ethan Price series. If you like your technothrillers with a side of cyberpunk, scroll up and grab your copy today!

    As the body count begins a reasonable explanation cannot be found. A local backwoodsman puts Jeremy onto a possibility that seems too farfetched to be plausible. The Warden quickly learns that considering the impossible is the only way to combat what has shown up on his doorstep. And the only way to prevent more loss of life, including the woman he loves.

    It seemed as though the entire universe was holding its breath. Waiting. Whether waiting for the salvation of mankind or its demise was yet unclear.He set out to prove a theory. Now he’s racing to save the galaxy from his mistake.Along with his newly found, rag-tag band of alien friends, Nick Bannon battles to keep his devastating technology out of the hands of the biomechanoid race known as the Mok’tu.Nick is flung to a distant world when his hyperspace experiment goes awry. Technology can always be used for good or evil and now his peaceful experiment could become a horrific weapon of a malicious alien race. Every species in the galaxy is in danger of total annihilation and it may take one man’s greatest sacrifice to stop it.Full 86,000 word space opera novel! Official Website: TheHyperspaceProject.comSci-fi, Space Opera, Nanites, Hyperspace, Aliens, First Contact, Action, Adventure, Fun, Series, scifi, robot, mechanoid, prophecy, queen, battle, stargate, red shirts, takei, battle ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I found "The Hyperspace Project" to be an immensely enjoyable read. I kept picturing Harrison Ford, but with the Indiana Jones personality, but in a Blade Runner world as Nick Bannon. The pacing was great, Swan did an awesome job giving just enough desription of the new technology and alien races without dragging the story into a grinding halt. The story had a feel good sense that I got from watching "Guardians of the Galaxy" - where you get to know the characters to the point where you actually want to meet themand have a few drinks at a dive bar to hear more stories.The dialogue and writing were top notch - and it was clear that this story was thought out before Swan committed it to paper. With all of the rehashes (really - can we do a Spiderman reboot just one more time please.....) it is nice to meet some new characters in a new adventure - and it doesn't have to end here, since Swan already has book two on the shelves.Highly recommend this book for lovers of sci fi!!!" - Nathan Merceron⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "5 star sci-fi adventure - this book is FUN. The start of a new series, Book 1 : Awakenings does not disappoint. It has all the elements I desire in a good space adventure story - a reluctant hero fumbling his/her way through new alien space, interesting and unique aliens, exciting twists and turns, a good overall plot and a whole lot of fun. I am right on board the Hyperspace wagon, eagerly awaiting book 2, which means book 1 gets the OMGMOAR 5 star award from Tracing The Stars." -TracingTheStars.com ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "A lost Queen. An ancient prophecy. Worlds caught in an interstellar war between two malevolent alien races. Hyperspace, Nanites, Biomechanoids with a mysterious past. The Hyperspace Project is non-stop action and lots of fun." -John S.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "I really enjoyed this book. There is a lot of action, but it's well balanced. If you like Star Trek or shows like Stargate, then I think you'll like this book. Fun characters and a story that flows well. Some good futuristic science too. (Nanites, hyperspace, gadgets etc.) I only wish that the second book was already available. There is also an interesting extra chapter that can be unlocked with clues from the book. That added an extra bit of fun to it as well." -Sara, BestIndieBooks.com

    D. Ward's first novel in the Harry Circus mystery series is a story of unforgettable suspense from the dramatic opening to the bloody finish.A body is found disembowled and partially skinned on the remote blueberry barrens, north of the small town of Berryville. Tension mounts as Harry follows the scent of the murderer to the brutal end, where he discovers the long-kept secret of a mother and daughter. Available for Kindle Unlimited.

    Winston K. Marks (1915-1979) is one such unjustly forgotten author.Included here are 12 science fiction stories, published between 1953 and 1959, representing some of his best work:THE WATER EATER (1953)UNBEGOTTEN CHILD (1953)…SO THEY BAKED A CAKE (1954)BACKLASH (1954)TABBY (1954)BREEDER REACTION (1954)FORSYTE'S RETREAT (1954)MATE IN TWO MOVES (1954)THE TEST COLONY (1954)BROWN JOHN’S BODY (1955)THE MIND DIGGER (1958)THE DEADLY DAUGHTERS (1958)If you enjoy this book, search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press Megapack" to see the more than 100 other entries in the series, covering science fiction, modern authors, mysteries, westerns, classics, adventure stories, and much, much more!

    He grew up at a wild time and did what he had to do to survive. The law took one view of it; he took another. And the law wouldn’t get off his back. He did time, broke out of prison. He went north, hoping to leave the past behind. But the past followed him. And now there were murder charges. Whichever way he turned, trouble was right there. This is his account of what happened. Jack was born in Charleston in 1861. His parents died early of cholera and his guardian died when he was fifteen, leaving him penniless and alone. He went west and got work as a cattle drover. He shot an outlaw who was trying to rob him. Another outlaw, named Ibbetson, got away alive. Later, he ran across a cowboy called Skeeter on a cattle drive. They met again in a saloon and Skeeter asked him to help drive a herd of horses. Jack didn’t know they were stolen. He was arrested, went to jail. During his trial, he broke out of the courthouse with another inmate, who shot a courthouse constable. After that, a rope was waiting. He went north and got work on a ranch called Sand River. For a while it looked like he’d outrun trouble. He did the job and stayed clean. But up there, range wars were being fought. Ranchers hired range detectives to handle trouble. To some, they were hired killers. One of them was Ibbetson. When they met again, Jack knew it wouldn’t end well. His past had arrived.

    They realize too late that this is no ordinary plague...and that the enemy they have to fight may not be the only thing they need to worry about.Book One of The Salvation Plague series.The Turning includes foul language, graphic violence, and some mature themes.