Showing posts with label Horror. Show all posts

DEATH IS FUNNY SOMETIMES through this collection of 13 stories of horror and science fiction. Among them are… ANOTHER WILD NIGHT AT THE F***...



DEATH IS FUNNY SOMETIMES through this collection of 13 stories of horror and science fiction. Among them are…

ANOTHER WILD NIGHT AT THE F***ED HEN – A former punk rocker turned bar owner protects his patrons from the latest blitz of vampires who aren’t thirsty for beer.

ONE HUNDRED DEGREES AFTER MIDNIGHT – A wrongly convicted man’s final hours on the planet before his execution on death row.

DEAD KID AT A SLEEPOVER – Fun nostalgia trip of a typical sleepover with friends in the 1980s. Just with a dead kid.

SAL & SON – A butcher shop owner seeks revenge against New York mobsters after his father is killed for failing to pay protection money. This one is for slasher fans.

POSTCARDS FROM CHERNOBYL – A young girl who is immune to radiation takes a stand against a government experiment to dominate the world during the nuclear arms race of the 1980s.

MIKE & MANDY FIGHT THROUGH THE END OF THE WORLD – Mike and Mandy were ready to finalize their divorce and start a new life. But the zombie apocalypse screwed it all up. It was just one of those days.

HOW TO CATCH CRAWFISH AS TOLD BY RUFUS WHEELER – In the Louisiana bayou a down on his luck father makes a strange discovery while crawfishing and has hope it can give his son a better life.

SUPERFICIAL CRACKS IN A PORCELAIN FACE – An aging star of Italian Giallo cinema is not ready to retire.



What attracted you to the genre(s) you write in?


Quite simply -- I love horror and sci-fi, and my main heroes and influences are Ray Bradbury, Rod Serling and Robert Eggers. The story in my DEATH IS FUNNY SOMETIMES anthology titled ONE HUNDRED DEGREES AFTER MIDNIGHT was written as an homage to THE TWILIGHT ZONE. 

What part of writing do you consider a chore?


Outlining, but it is also my favorite part of the process.

Where were you when you first thought "I need to write this story?"


I have always been a fan of anthologies such as TALES FROM THE CRYPT and CREEPSHOW and wanted to write one of my own. Both were actually referenced in reviews I have received, and that felt really great. My current favorite anthology series is LOVE, DEATH AND ROBOTS on Netflix. 

A lot of authors have a soundtrack while writing. Are there are songs you had on repeat?


I like to listen to soundtracks from Studio Ghibli films at a low volume in the background while I write. I know, not the typical answer for a horror writer, but I find those pleasant scores help with my creativity and writing flow/rhythm. I did listen to a lot of music from the '70s and '80s while writing the stories that take place in those decades in the anthology book. 

What advice would you like to pass on to aspiring writers that is unconventional but true?


Not unconventional, but I would just say KEEP WRITING. 

Do you have a WIP? If so, can you tell us anything about it?


I am currently writing another anthology and it keeps with the fun vibe of DEATH IS FUNNY SOMETIMES. 

Which of your characters was your favorite to write and why?


Wiktor Wojna, mainly because he was the lead character of my first book, the crime novella SMORG WAR OF '84. 

You've watched a movie 50 times and you still aren't tired of it. What movie is it?


THE BLUES BROTHERS. 

Which animal (real or fictional) would you say is your spirit animal and why?


Probably just a dog because they are friendly. 

What would you say is your weirdest writing quirk?


I like to read all of my dialogue out loud while I am writing it, so sometimes it looks like I am having a conversation all by myself in my office. 

Using only emojis, sum up your book.


INSERT A SKULL AND A HAPPY FACE HERE. Haha.

You've just gone Trick or Treating.  What do you hope is in your bag? What do you pawn off on your kids/SO/random stranger?

Starburst and Skittles, and I would pawn off DOTS or Junior Mints.

What is in your internet search history (researching for your book) that you would want someone to wipe if you were under suspicion from the police?


I had to do some morbid research regarding the operations/procedures of a Medical Examiner for my short story THE JOY OF COLLECTING STAMPS & HUMAN REMAINS.

You wake up in the middle of the night from a nightmare. What was it?


I tend to have the same recurring nightmare where I get stuck in an elevator. And my short story A CHURCH AT TRADER'S CREEK was actually inspired by a weird dream I had where a preacher walked into a lake and did not resurface from under the water. 

What movie completely scarred you as a child?


THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW. I saw it when I was 12. Enough said.

What are your SM links? Can we follow you and pretend we're besties? 


I can be found on Twitter @MichaelAugust


MC August is a former editor from Chicago. That job sucked.


When the clock strikes midnight on October 31st, it's all holly jolly and decking the halls, right? Nah, October may be over but that do...



When the clock strikes midnight on October 31st, it's all holly jolly and decking the halls, right? Nah, October may be over but that doesn't mean the horror stops there. Horror fans celebrate spooky season all year round. 

Get ready to pad your TBR, here are just a few of November's new releases!

__________________________________________

Black Forest by Laramie Dean

Expected publication: November 1, 2022

Nathan has always been haunted by what he calls “deaders,” frightening, disfigured creatures—once human but now hungry and relentless ghosts. After a séance to banish them goes awry, Nathan escapes high school to start over at Waxman University in idyllic Garden City, Montana. But when young men begin to go missing from campus, Nathan finds that the deaders have returned, more frightening and hungrier than ever.


With the help of the mysterious Theo, Nathan seeks to learn the truth behind the disappearances. But something worse than the deaders begins to haunt Nathan . . . something with glowing yellow eyes and giant wings. As reality grows thin, things emerge from the cracks. Is Theo what he seems? Or could he be some kind of monster? Will Nathan learn the truth before he vanishes into the darkness?




Wicked Little Things by Justin Arnold


Expected publication: November 1, 2022 by Tiny Ghost Press

Join a coven.

Catch a killer.

Get a makeover...?

When his cousin is murdered, recently outed 16-year-old Dane Craven is forced to return to his unbearably small hometown of Jasper Hollow. It would be easy enough for him to keep his head down if it weren't for three inescapable facts.

One, Dane is a witch with fiery powers he has little ability to control.

Two, Dane thinks he's responsible for the death of his cousin.

And three, he's already been claimed by a coven of fashion-forward 'mean girls' desperate to give him a makeover.

Being the gay best friend to a trio of teenage witches wasn't ever high on Dane's list of aspirations, but fortunately for him these girls have the necromantic powers he needs to figure out who killed his cousin. Plus, he could do with some new clothes.

While on the hunt for his cousin's killer Dane discovers life in Jasper Hollow isn't all bad. There's the cute boy who works at the local coffee shop and enjoys long walks in the woods, for one.

But when the rabbit-faced killer comes for Dane, he'll be forced to come to terms with who he is and where he belongs before it's too late for him and everyone in Jasper Hollow.




Into the Forest: Tales of the Baba Yaga

Expected publication: November 8, 2022 by Black Spot Books

A collection of new and exclusive short stories inspired by the Baba Yaga. Featuring Gwendolyn Kiste, Stephanie M. Wytovich, Mercedes M. Yardley, Monique Snyman, Donna Lynch, Lisa Quigley, and R. J. Joseph, with a foreword by Christina Henry. Deep in the dark forest, in a cottage that spins on birds’ legs behind a fence topped with human skulls, lives the baba yaga. A guardian of the water of life, she lives with her sisters and takes to the skies in a giant mortar and pestle, creating tempests as she goes. Those who come across the baba yaga may find help, or hinderance, or horror. She is wild, she is woman, she is witch—and these are her tales.

Edited by Lindy Ryan, this collection brings together some of today’s leading voices of women-in-horror as they pay tribute to the baba yaga, and go Into the Forest.




The Hollows by Daniel Church

Expected publication: November 8, 2022 by Angry Robot

In a lonely village in the Peak District, during the onset of a once-in-a-lifetime snow storm, Constable Ellie Cheetham finds a body. The man, a local ne'er-do-well, appears to have died in a tragic accident: he drank too much and froze to death.

But the facts don't add up: the dead man is clutching a knife in one hand, and there's evidence he was hiding from someone. Someone who watched him die. Stranger still, an odd mark has been drawn onto a stone beside his body.

The next victims are two families on the outskirts of town. As the storm rises and the body count grows, Ellie realises she has a terrifying problem on her hands: someone – or some thing – is killing indiscriminately, attacking in the darkness and using the storm for cover.

The killer is circling ever closer to the village. The storm's getting worse... and the power's just gone out.



Desert Creatures by Kay Chronister

Expected publication: November 8, 2022 by Erewhon


In a world that has become treacherous and desiccated, Magdala has always had to fight to survive. At nine years old, she and her father, Xavier, are exiled from their home, fleeing through the Sonoran Desert, searching for refuge.

As violence pursues them, they join a handful of survivors on a pilgrimage to the holy city of Las Vegas, where it is said the vigilante saints reside, bright with neon power. Magdala, born with a clubfoot, is going to be healed. But when faced with the strange horrors of the desert, one by one the pilgrims fall victim to a hideous sickness—leaving Magdala to fend for herself.

After surviving for seven years on her own, Magdala is sick of waiting for her miracle. Recruiting an exiled Vegas priest named Elam at gunpoint to serve as her guide, Magdala turns her gaze to Vegas once more, and this time, nothing will stop her. The pair form a fragile alliance as they navigate the darkest and strangest reaches of the desert on a trip that takes her further from salvation even as she nears the holy city.

With ferocious imagination and poetic precision, Desert Creatures is a story of endurance at the expense of redemption. What compromise does survival require of a woman, and can she ever unlearn the instincts that have kept her alive?






The Spirit Phone by Arthur Shattuck O'Keefe

Expected publication: November 15, 2022 by BHC Press


Aleister Crowley and Nikola Tesla confront the enigma of Thomas Edison's new invention: a phone to communicate with the dead.

It is August 1899, and Thomas Edison proclaims his most amazing invention yet: the Spirit Phone Model SP-1. At nearly the same time, a cocksure young mage named Aleister Crowley inexplicably teleports into the home of Edison’s archrival, renowned inventor Nikola Tesla.

As insanity and suicide multiply among spirit phone users, Crowley and Tesla combine their respective skills in “magick” and technology to investigate the device’s actual origin and ultimate purpose.

Embarking upon an adventure of astral travel, demonic invocations, and high-speed airship journeys, they are soon embroiled in a desperate race to stop the spirit phone's use by an unknown adversary to inaugurate a hell on earth from which none shall escape.






Strega by Johanne Lykke Holm

Expected publication: November 15, 2022 by Riverhead Books


Powerfully inventive and atmospheric, a modern gothic story of nine young women sent to work at a remote Alpine hotel and what happens when one of them goes missing

With toiletries, hairbands, and notebooks in her bag, and at her mother's instruction, nineteen-year-old Rafa leaves her parents' home and the seaside town she grew up in. Out the train window, she sees the lit-up mountains and perfect trees--and the Olympic Hotel waiting for her perched above the small village of Strega. There, she and eight other young women receive the stiff black uniforms of seasonal workers and move into their shared dorm. But while they toil constantly to perform their role and prepare the hotel for guests, none arrive. Instead, they contort themselves daily to the expectations of their strict, matronly bosses without clear purpose and, in their spare moments, escape to the herb garden, confide in each other, and quickly find solace together. Finally, the hotel is filled with people for a wild and raucous party, only for one of the women to disappear. What follows are deeper revelations about the myths we teach young women, what we raise them to expect from the world, and whether a gentler, more beautiful life is possible.





House of Yesterday by Deeba Zargarpur

Expected publication: November 29, 2022 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Taking inspiration from the author's own Afghan-Uzbek heritage, this contemporary YA debut is a breathtaking journey into the grief that lingers through generations of immigrant families, and what it means to confront the ghosts of your past.

Struggling to deal with the pain of her parents’ impending divorce, fifteen-year-old Sara is facing a world of unknowns and uncertainties. Unfortunately, the one person she could always lean on when things got hard, her beloved Bibi Jan, has become a mere echo of the grandmother she once was. And so Sara retreats into the family business, hoping a summer working on her mom’s latest home renovation project will provide a distraction from her fracturing world.

But the house holds more than plaster and stone. It holds secrets that have her clinging desperately to the memories of her old life. Secrets that only her Bibi Jan could have untangled. Secrets Sara is powerless to ignore as the dark truths of her family’s history rise in ghostly apparitions -- and with it, the realization that as much as she wants to hold onto her old life, nothing will ever be the same.

Told in lush, sweeping prose, this story of secrets, summer, and family sacrifice will chill you to the bone as the house that wraps Sara in warmth of her past becomes the one thing she cannot escape…

Publication date: October 13, 2020 Add to Goodreads Veterinarian Tom Copeland takes a job at a factory farm called Sunnyvale after a scandal...



Publication date: October 13, 2020


Veterinarian Tom Copeland takes a job at a factory farm called Sunnyvale after a scandal at his suburban practice. His job is to keep the animals alive for long enough to get them to slaughter.

But there are rumours of a strange creature living beneath the complex, accidents waiting to happen on brutal production lines and the threat of zoonotic disease from the pigs, sheep, cows, chickens and fish that the complex houses.

Suddenly, disaster rocks Sunnyvale and cleaners, butchers, security guards and clerical staff alike must come together under the ruthless leadership of CEO John MacDonald. Together, they’ll learn what happens when there’s a sudden change to the food chain.

Bon appétit.



What attracted you to the genre(s) you write in?


I write books that I’d want to read myself. Given that I read so many different genres, that probably explains why I write across multiple genres, too. But as a general rule, I’m attracted to darker, grittier genres because I think broken and ugly things are more interesting than things that are perfect.

What part of writing do you consider a chore?


Getting the words down is always a challenge because it leaves you feeling worn out, even though it’s also cathartic. But I think the biggest chore is promoting the books once they’re out there, because it’s an unforgiving task that takes up a lot of time that could otherwise be spent writing.

Where were you when you first thought "I need to write this story?"


That’s a good question. I think for me, it’s more a case that I constantly feel that I need to write and I just don’t feel happy unless I’m able to create. The particular story that I’m writing almost doesn’t matter because I have more ideas than I’ll ever be able to work on, so as soon as I’m nearing the end of one book, I start to think about what I want to work on next. 

Did publishing your first book change your process of writing?


Not really, but it did teach me the ropes. My first published book came out through a hybrid publisher called Booktrope, and that pretty much taught me the steps that I needed to follow to create a high quality self-published release. They eventually folded, but by that point I knew everything I needed to know to go it alone.

What's your favorite "bad review" that you've gotten?  


Ha! Well, I’ve had a few from other authors who sent me their books for honest reviews and then got annoyed when I gave them three stars and posted 1-star reviews of my books in retaliation. There’s also an ex-girlfriend who gave all of my books 1-star after we broke up. But my absolute favourite is probably the 2-star review I got from someone who just left the comment “I’m hoping to read this soon”.

What comes first for you - the plot or the characters?


They go hand in hand because the characters usually drive the plot and determine what’s going to happen next. For me, I normally start out with a concept and then the plot and the characters spring from that. With Meat, for example, I had the idea of a horror novel set on a factory farm and then I started to think about who might work there and what the horrors might entail.

Do you have any writing superstitions?


No, I’m not a superstitious person. I’m as sceptical as they come.

Is there a word you find yourself using too often when writing?


Yeah, “that”. I quite often write something like “he realised that the sun was going down” when you can easily shorten that to “he realised the sun was going down”. 

A lot of authors have a soundtrack while writing. Are there songs you had on repeat?


No. I’m a lifelong multitasker and so I often end up writing while watching YouTube videos or Netflix. While writing these responses, I’m watching The Boys from Brazil, a 1978 movie based on an Ira Levin novel. It’s not very good.

Do you have a favorite line that you've written? What is it and why do you like it?


Not really, although I do quite often make myself laugh when I’m editing my books and I read something that I wrote a while back and forgot about.

What is something about the genre that annoys you?


It depends on the genre, but most of them have at least something that annoys me. In general, I don’t much like reading romantic subplots, and it annoys me when I feel as though they’ve been added in just because people expect them, rather than because they serve the story.

If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?


Stick at it, ignore the people who tell you that studying creative writing at university is a waste of time and don’t worry because you’ll be able to make a living.

What advice would you like to pass on to aspiring writers that is unconventional but true?


Nobody cares about your writing until you make them care about it.

Do you have a WIP? If so, can you tell us anything about it?


Sure, I always have something ongoing. At the moment, I’m working on my self-edits for the fourth book in my Leipfold series of quirky cosy mysteries, which will go over to my editor and eventually to my publisher. That’s called Boys in Blue and sees Leipfold and the gang tackling a conspiracy that goes to the heart of government. I’m also slowly but surely writing a coming-of-age novel called Greebos that follows a group of schoolkids as they finish secondary school in a small town in the British Midlands in 2005.

Which of your characters was your favorite to write and why?


Most of the recurring characters in the Leipfold series. I particularly enjoy writing scenes with Maile and Leipfold in because they have great chemistry and they often make me laugh with the things they say and the interactions they have with one another.

Would you and your main character get along?


Yeah, probably. Most of my main characters are based on myself, at least to a certain extent.

Killing off characters your readers love - Risky or necessary?


Both, I guess. Again, it’s all about serving the story, so there’s no point killing them off just for the shock value.

Did any of your characters surprise you while you were writing?


All of the time. The more you get a feel for them, the more they start to feel like real people and to make their own decisions. It’s generally their dialogue that surprises me as opposed to the decisions they make, because the decisions are normally carefully planned ahead of time as part of my outline.

You've watched a movie 50 times and you still aren't tired of it. What movie is it?


I’m more of a TV series kind of guy, but it’s probably American Pie 2. Funnily enough, I introduced my girlfriend to the American Pie movies this weekend as she’d never seen them.

Which animal (real or fictional) would you say is your spirit animal and why?


A wolf, because they’re lonely animals that can also function in packs and they’re active at night. I actually have a tattoo of a wolf howling at the moon.

What would you say is your weirdest writing quirk?


I have something called “The Schedule” where I alternate between doing stuff on my computer, tidying my house and writing. There’s a whole set of rules to it and most people that I tell about it think I’m crazy, but it seems to work for me.

You've just gone Trick or Treating. 

What do you hope is in your bag? 

What do you pawn off on your kids/SO/random stranger?


Anything that isn’t vegan.

What is in your internet search history (researching for your book) that you would want someone to wipe if you were under suspicion from the police?


I think I’d rather they left it up there. That would confuse the hell out of them.

You wake up in the middle of the night from a nightmare. What was it?


I have a lot of them. I think in the last one that I had, I’d been kidnapped and was being taken somewhere on a train.

What movie completely scarred you as a child?


I’ve never been able to figure out what movie it was, but I remember my dad watching a film where someone got pulled apart by having their legs tied to a tree and their arms tied to a car that then accelerated off. That scene still lives rent free in my head.

What's the strangest thing a fan (or other author)  has said to you?


I always find it strange when people assume that I make enough to be able to live off my royalties. Maybe one day…

If animals could talk, which one would be the rudest?


Hah! Probably cats, they just don’t give a damn. And that’s why I love them.

Your main character is at the hardware store. What do they buy?


If it was James Leipfold, he’d probably buy something multifunctional like a Swiss army knife.

If you were bitten and changed, would you want it to be by a vampire or a werewolf?


Probably a vampire because they seem to be more in control of their transformations.

You're riding through the desert on a horse with no name. What are you going to call it?


Camel, for the irony.

What are your SM links? Can we follow you and pretend we're besties? 



Dane Cobain (High Wycombe, UK) is a published author, freelance writer and (occasional) poet and musician with a passion for language and learning. When he’s not working on his next release, he can be found reading and reviewing books while trying not to be distracted by Wikipedia.

His releases include No Rest for the Wicked (supernatural thriller), Eyes Like Lighthouses When the Boats Come Home (poetry) Former.ly (literary fiction), Social Paranoia (non-fiction), Come On Up to the House (horror), Subject Verb Object (anthology), Driven (crime/detective), The Tower Hill Terror (crime/detective), Meat (horror), Scarlet Sins (short stories), The Lexicologist’s Handbook (non-fiction) and The Leipfold Files (crime/detective).

His short stories have also been anthologised in Local Haunts (ed. R. Saint Clare), We’re Not Home (ed. Cam Wolfe), Served Cold (ed. R. Saint Clare and Steve Donoghue) and Eccentric Circles (ed. Cynthia Brackett-Vincent)


Published October 4, 2022 by Berkley Books A  young woman in need of a transformation finds herself in touch with the animal inside in this ...



Published October 4, 2022 by Berkley Books

A young woman in need of a transformation finds herself in touch with the animal inside in this gripping, incisive novel from the author of Cackle and The Return.

Rory Morris isn't thrilled to be moving back to her hometown, even if it is temporary. There are bad memories there. But her twin sister, Scarlett, is pregnant, estranged from the baby's father, and needs support, so Rory returns to the place she thought she'd put in her rearview. After a night out at a bar where she runs into an old almost-flame, she hits a large animal with her car. And when she gets out to investigate, she's attacked.

Rory survives, miraculously, but life begins to look and feel different. She's unnaturally strong, with an aversion to silver--and suddenly the moon has her in its thrall. She's changing into someone else--something else, maybe even a monster. But does that mean she's putting those close to her in danger? Or is embracing the wildness inside of her the key to acceptance?

This darkly comedic love story is a brilliantly layered portrait of trauma, rage, and vulnerability.

Add to Goodreads
 
A darkly comedic love story about a girl turned werewolf by Rachel Harrison? Yes, please. I couldn't wait to get to this one. Harrison previously covered zombies in the gruesomely funny The Return and the fellowship of witches in Cackle. One would think that werewolves would be a logical next step.

The first few pages throw the reader right into the fray as Rory leaves a bar on a misty night and hits an animal on the dark road. We all know from the cover that this is going to be a werewolf story so no one is really surprised (except for Rory) when it's divulged that what she hit was a freakin' werewolf. It attacks, leaving Rory bleeding in the woods, but somehow still alive the next day. Rory knows that people will think she's totally nuts if she runs screaming about being attacked by a werewolf so she creates a story about a bear attack. 

 As Rory manages all the physical and emotional changes along the way, there's plenty of sarcastic banter with others and inside Rory's head. She's a completely chaotic mess but she's going through a lot right now, okay? Becoming a werewolf is tough! Rory approaches all the crazy changes with a can-do attitude. She's leaking silver blood, she's stronger, has a craving for all things meat, and her hair is looking Ah-mazing. Sure, she's thinking WTF the whole time but she's learning how to vibe. 

The dynamic between main characters is always at the forefront of Harrison's books and Such Sharp Teeth is no different. Rory and her twin sister Scarlett have a close relationship; close enough that Rory drops everything to head back to her hometown when Scarlett calls saying she needs her. Rory loves the freedom of her life in the city but willingly stepped away from it all temporarily to give support to her pregnant sister.  

It might sound very strange to call a werewolf book endearing, but that's somehow just what Harrison manages to evoke. The addition of romance might put a lot of people off as horror and romance aren't often themes merged but I enjoyed it. I appreciated that it wasn't love at first sight and it wasn't easy. Rory's complicated internal conflicts kept her from being completely honest with herself. 

Before you think it's a Hallmark movie, Harrison manages to tackle some tough subjects. (TW) Rory is dealing with the trauma of a sexual assault as a child and she still harbors resentment towards her mother, leading to a tumultuous relationship. Bodily autonomy is also wrapped up in the narrative as both Rory and her sister navigate their changing bodies—Rory's lycanthropy and Scarlett's pregnancy changes. 

While it's more little horror light or cozy horror, Such Sharp Teeth is fast-paced and hilarious, while still being beyond adorable. It's very female forward and about loving who you are. Comedy and horror is one of my favorite combinations and Harrison does it right.

If you're a horror fan, you don't wait for Halloween to imbibe all things spooky. Sometimes though you still want a eerie story to h...


If you're a horror fan, you don't wait for Halloween to imbibe all things spooky. Sometimes though you still want a eerie story to help set the mood. Although Halloween is right around the corner, it's not too late to start a Halloween read.
You can't go wrong with any of these books and right now, all of these are currently available on Kindle Unlimited!




Three leading voices in modern horror take us on a journey through Halloween in the infamous town of Clifton Heights.

DAUGHTER OF THE MISTS by Kevin Lucia: Clifton Heights’ biggest classic horror movie cinephile finds himself plunged into the midst of his own personal horror movie nightmare, in which he discovers how savage the classic monsters actually are.

ONCE UPON A HALLOWEEN NIGHT by Jeremy Bates: In the days leading up to Halloween night, two brothers will discover the worst kinds of monsters are often human.

BROTHERS by Jason Parent: Sometimes, bonds between brothers are thicker than blood. Rand wants nothing more than to be an Alpha, a member of the most popular fraternity on campus. He convinces his best friend, Henry, to pledge with him. Before they can join, Rand and Henry must follow the senior Alphas’ rule: a predicament that soon leaves them humiliated, victimized, and broken. Rand is left to face the torment alone but, hiding in the darkness, another is willing to share it with Rand, one who promises something more sinister than revenge...and a Halloween party the survivors of which will always remember. 




The same trick-or-treater keeps coming to my house. He's starting to scare me.

There's a scarecrow standing in the vineyard--but we stopped using them years ago.

And there's something moving in the pumpkin patch...

HALLOWEEN HORRORS is a wildly terrifying anthology of Halloween stories. Ghoulish trick-or-treaters, gruesome jack o'lanterns, and faceless specters haunt the pages of this book, ready to leap to life in the deepest corners of your mind. Sit down in front of the fire, as the chilly autumn wind howls outside, and read... if you dare..


Author James A. Moore offers up ten autumnal tales of the darker things that lurk just around the corner of Indian Summer. A man learns of a town's obsession with scarecrows and tries to find the answers as to why they are so important. Children move through familiar streets and find that Halloween makes everything different. Tis' the season when ghosts are real, witches soar through the night, and things in the Beldam Woods are not always what they seem. Sometimes it's the monsters that wear the masks.



From the author of Devil's Hill and The House on Moon Creek Avenue comes a new anthology of grindhouse horror in The Halloween Grindhouse.

On Halloween night, four friends use a new app that takes users to random locations that are considered weird, creepy, and haunted. The location generated for them is an abandoned house in a sketchy neighborhood.

Upon entering the empty home, they find a room containing an old television set, a VCR, and a set of videotapes. What is on the tapes will bring them instant regret, fear, and a new threat that awaits them under the full October moon.

Includes the short story "Mischief" and four new original tales of Halloween horror and suspense.


This Halloween, usher in the spookiest of seasons with a collection of fourteen haunting tales from some of the finest talents in indie horror today. A curious coffin calls to trick-or-treaters. A group of ghosts seek revenge on the one who took their lives. A woman who makes her own candy uses the most wicked of recipes. A man discovers a naked girl in the woods with no clue of who, or what, he should fear. A witch witnesses atrocity and does everything in her power to prevent history from repeating itself. A pair of otherworldly beings know the every desire of those who trespass on their abode. A local boogeyman casts a yearly shadow over the neighborhood and everyone in it.



There's an old house up on a hill in the woods that the kids call "Halloween House". They accused the mysterious old woman who lived there of being a witch until the rumors got out of hand and the panicked townspeople burned her house down with her in it one Halloween. She only said one thing before she died: "A curse on all of you!"

Now, three years later, the spooky holiday approaches again, and Carmen is left in charge of taking her little brother trick-or-treating.

But strange things begin happening around the small town.

Children are going missing one by one, and the only clue to their disappearance is a gingerbread man left on their windowsill. Now Carmen has to protect her brother so that he doesn't become the next victim as the townspeople descend into insanity all around them. Riddled with fear, they have no one to pin the kidnappings and strange occurrences on.

Because the witch is already dead...

...isn't she?


Do you love All Hallows' Eve? Ghost stories? Tales from beyond that leave you feeling unsettled while walking to the kitchen at night? The orange-and-black vintage Halloween aesthetic? Haunted houses with shuttered windows?

Edited by Gaby Triana with John Palisano, this anthology of 19 short stories by some of the most terrifying names in horror is the perfect collection for a dark and stormy October night. Featuring tales to make you hide under the covers by: Jonathan Maberry, Gwendolyn Kiste, Catherine Cavendish, Tim Waggoner, Jeff Strand, Sara Tantlinger, Lee Murray, Alethea Kontis, Lisa Morton & more.

JONATHAN MABERRY - "When You See Millions of the Mouthless Dead Across Your Dreams in Pale Battalions Go"
LISA MORTON - "Halloween at the Babylon"
TIM WAGGONER - "No One Sings in the City of the Dead"
JEFF STRAND - "Ghosts of Candies Past"
LEE MURRAY - "The Ghost Cricket"
GWENDOLYN KISTE - "A Scavenger Hunt When the Veil is Thin"
SARA TANTLINGER - "How to Unmake a Ghost"
ALETHEA KONTIS - "The Ghost Lake Mermaid"
CATHERINE CAVENDISH - "The Curiosity at the Back of the Fridge"
SCOTT COLE - "Postcards From Evelyn"
DENNIS K. CROSBY - "Bootsy's House"
STEVE RASNIC TEM - "When They Fall"
CATHERINE McCARTHY - "Soul Cakes"
MAUREEN MANCINI AMATURO - "A Bookstore Made of Skulls"
HENRY HERZ - "The Ghosts of Enerhodar"
JEREMY MEGARGEE - "Always October"
DANA HAMMER - "A Halloween Visit"
DAVID SURFACE - "The Crawlers in the Corn"
EVA ROSLIN - "Pink Lace and Death Gods"




A house flipper with everything to lose must contend with an ancient evil. The playing of a horror classic in a historic movie theatre unleashes an undead terror. A mentally unstable lighthouse keeper comes face to face with the ghosts of the past. A colonial American town battles something wicked stalking them in the surrounding woods. An elderly priest recounts the harrowing tale of his family's dark curse through three generations. A house decorated for Halloween night gives trick or treaters more than they bargained for…

These creepy, atmospheric short horror stories await you in “Walking After Midnight: Tales for Halloween Part III.” Take a trip down the tree-lined roads of fall and cozy up with this collection of stories guaranteed to give you that spooky October feeling, just like Parts I & II.

When the Halloween Beyond stores appear across America, they intertwine the lives of three visitors in a web of mystery and magic.

THE TALKING-BOARD by Lisa Morton: Can ancient magic exist in the modern world?
When Kayla’s sister Hailey went missing in the nearby Ghost Woods on Halloween night, the last person to see her was the solitary, elderly Brigid. Kayla, who has long suspected Brigid of being involved with Hailey’s disappearance, dreads the first anniversary of her sister’s vanishing even as her best friend Sophie urges her to put the past behind her.
Halloween nears and Kayla pays a visit to the pop-up Halloween Beyond store, where an enigmatic clerk named Maeve convinces her to buy a talking-board. Kayla begins receiving messages which claim to be from Hailey, but is it actually something more sinister calling out from beyond the veil?
Brigid—who may be a witch—offers to lead Kayla into the Ghost Woods on Halloween in search of answers. Kayla discovers dark truths about herself as she and Brigid confront the terrifying supernatural forces that claimed Hailey.

NEW BLOOD by Lucy A. Snyder:Maddie is keen for Halloween, but when she moves to a strange coastal town, a Devils’ Night party forces her to face eldritch dangers that threaten her entire family.

A GENTLEMAN’S SUIT by Kate Maruyama: Halloween Beyond is magic. The store’s inscrutable clerk finds Lex exactly the right costume which somehow makes people see the nonbinary Lex for who they really are.
It’s Lex’s last Halloween at home before college, and it had better be good. When Lex’s father, Beto, known locally as the King of Halloween adds an enormous animatronic Death on a boat to the collection in his elaborate front yard haunt, Halloween night takes a deadly turn.
Lex is having trouble letting go of old friendships, of home, of Halloween itself, but they now face the hardest kind of letting go.

This anthology is perfect for fans of Halloween stories, supernatural, horror anthologies, classic horror, Mystery and suspense, the occult, magic, strong female protagonists, and thrillers.

Crystal Lake’s Dark Tide series will continue soon with more tales of Mystery Thrillers and Horror Books, including themes of Weird Western, Sherlock Holmes, Grief Horror, Body Horror, Mystery fiction, Travel Horror, Deadly Duos, and Psychological Thriller books.




Nothing stays buried this Halloween!

Not with 18 scary tales of flash fiction filled with Halloween goodness.

Shallow Waters is an official monthly flash fiction contest hosted by Crystal Lake Publishing, with different themes each month. The best submissions every month are then posted on Crystal Lake’s Patreon page (an exclusive behind the scenes community of readers and authors), where patrons read daily entries and vote for the winner (you don’t have to be a patron to enter). Come find Crystal Lake Publishing on Patreon to vote in future contests (or gain access to our Still Water Bay series and so much more). Be sure to check out the Shallow Waters series page here on Amazon, where you’ll find volume 1 for free.

This Halloween Horror Anthology includes:
Introduction by Joe Mynhardt
“Mummy’s Boy” by Karen Bayly
“Tumshie” by William Meikle
“Arts and Crafts” by Madison McSweeney
“The Halloween House” by Sheldon Woodbury
“West Pennfield Township Newsletter, October 2021” by Tom Coombe
“I Want Candy by Larry Hinkle
“Let the Darkness In” by Ricki Whatley
“Soul Cake” by Anthony D. Redden
“The Pumpkin Fetch" by Tom Deady
“Wishing” by Jay Bechtol
“One Parent Survives” by Wil Dalton
“Don’t Eat the Candy” by Matt Bliss
“The Red Scarf” by Rhea Rose
“Shackled to the Shadows” by Richard Thomas
“Apple Tree Man” by Roxie Voorhees
“Smooth Man” by Kim Mannix
“Sleepy Hallowed” by Joseph VanBuren
“How to Create the Perfect Pumpkin” by Francesca Maria

This anthology is perfect for fans of Halloween books, flash fiction, scary stories, classic horror tropes, horror books, mystery thrillers, horror anthologies, and mystery and suspense flash fiction stories. With a bit of dark humor and candy sprinkled over the top.

Skeletons, ghosts and witches. All Hallows Eve is filled with the terrors that walk the thin line of our world and the other. From the twisted minds of some of todays best horror authors, Dark Halloween is a collection of halloween themed stories sure to delight and terrify.

How will you celebrate the holidays?

Dark Halloween is book 5 in the holiday horror collection

Strang isn’t the small, quaint town it appears to be. It’s haunted every night by a creature the townsfolk refer to as Halloween. Once the sun sets each day, Halloween emerges to collect its treats: a small, live offering from each household. The residents comply because no one wants to be the target of Halloween’s tricks. But the nightmare of residing in Strang is nothing compared to the yearly ritual Halloween demands of the citizens on All Hallows’ Eve.

HALLOWEEN, 1988


A gang of twelve-year-old boys are trick-or-treating in London. Off in the distance, they hear the discordant chimes of an ice-cream truck. It seems strange to hear on a cold autumnal night, but their thoughts of maximizing their candy haul soon dismissed its incongruous melody… until they saw the rusting hulk idling in the shadows at the end of the street, its driver a faceless shadow.


That was the night he took one of them.


OCTOBER, 2016


Years later, Halloween is fast approaching and Tom Craven is still haunted by the events of that dark night, especially the fact that their friend was never found. Increasingly plagued by horrific visions, Tom returns to the place where it all began, only to discover he's not the only one who can feel it. His friends have already arrived and are preparing for a battle which could get them all killed.


The Ice Cream Man is back… and he’s come for the ones that got away.


Alice Jacobs didn't believe in ghosts... until her daughter was taken by one.

When Alice's husband disappears while investigating a series of strange and terrible incidents in the bustling seaport of Salem, she is forced to bring her young daughter, Abigail, along from Boston while she takes up the search. But she soon learns of a terrible curse that has the entire town bracing for nightfall: one hundred years after the infamous witch trials, the vengeful spirit of a woman hanged for witchcraft will rise from hell to claim the souls of Salem's children.

Alice dismisses the old legend as foolish superstition until Abigail is snatched from her bed by a sinister woman made of smoke and mist.

Desperate to find her daughter before the sun rises and she is lost forever, Alice races against time on a spine-chilling adventure that takes her from forgotten dungeons and gloomy cemeteries to the haunted forests of Gallows Hill. Along with a roguish sailor searching for his own missing child, she battles deadly supernatural forces and uncovers a dark secret that may be the key to saving Abigail's soul... if only she can survive the most terrifying night of her life.

Suspenseful, thrilling, and dripping with atmosphere, All Hallows Eve is a spine-tingling treat for fans of Darcy Coates, Amy Cross, Robert McCammon, and anyone who enjoys having their skin crawl with every turn of the page.



Halloween just got a whole lot darker...

DARK HALLOWS: 10 Halloween Haunts is a wonderfully chilling collection of creepy tales that will have readers up late into the night--but only if they leave a light on!

This new offering from Scarlet Galleon Publications and Editor Mark Parker, includes stories from industry luminaries and new voices alike: Brian James Freeman, Al Sarrantonio, Robert Morrish, Norman Partridge, Ronald Malfi, Aaron Dries, Adam Cesare, Mark Parker, and Lisa Morton. And features a never-before-published tale from Cemetery Dance founder and publisher, Richard Chizmar!

Each story is beautifully accompanied by original artwork from Aaron Dries, making this a must-have for book lovers and collectors everywhere. It’s one frightful ride readers won’t want to miss.

Exploring the chilling haunts of Dark Hallows, is to take a journey into the very heart of Halloween, where readers are reconnected with the best, and hopefully worst, the 'dark holiday' has to offer.