As evil ravages the north and the dead walk, all eyes fall to Arn… The apprentice journeys south, home to the College, unaware of the dark events that transpired in the High Passes after his departure. His leg in ruins, and haunted by watching shadows, the College council in Arn awaits him, but he does not travel south alone.

Arnulf and his warriors must travel to Arn also, with tidings for the king of the risen dead and the terrible curse which has destroyed all that he knew. Arnulf seeks vengeance upon the College, but must choose wisely if he is to save his son.

Meanwhile in the west, Bjorn and his strange Wildman companion report back to High Lord Archeon at Oldstones with grim news of cannibal Stonemen encroaching from the Barrens, but is embroiled in news of war and invasion as Archeon requests his service once more.

In the capital sickness awaits them all, Nym has fled to the city and must now continue her struggle for survival on the plague ridden streets of Arn, keeping all who she cares for safe from the halls of Old Night.

The many threads of this Saga converge on the city of Arn, but amid plague, invasion and terror, a greater darkness is looming. Dark forces are seeking to unleash evil upon Arnar, honour and renown is all, and sword, axe and shield is all that stands between the living and the grasping hands of the dead.

THERE IS SOMETHING STRANGE HAPPENING IN PLACIDVILLE!

It is 1962. Kathy Anderson, a serious actress who took her training at the Actors Studio in New York, is

stuck playing Vivacia, the Vampire Woman on Vivacia’s House of Horrors for a local Chicago TV station.

Finally fed up showing old monster movies to creature feature fans, she quits and heads to New York

and the fame and footlights of Broadway.

She stops off to visit her parents and old friends in Placidville, the all-Ameican, middle-class, blissfully

normal Midwest small town she grew up in.

But she finds things are strange in Placidville.

Kathy’s parents, her best friend from high school, the local druggist, even the Oberhausen twins are all

acting curiously creepy, odiously odd, and wholly weird. Especially the town’s super geeky nerd, Gerald,

who warns of dark days ahead.

Has Kathy entered a zone in the twilight? Did she reach the limits that are outer? Has she fallen through

a mirror that is black? Or is it just—just—politics as usual!

• Read a book that fits the category. You can check off multiple squares with one book if it fits multiple categories. 
• Complete a row - up, down or diagonal!
• For extra credit, go for a blackout. That means every square filled!
• All books must be started and finished in the months of September and/or October 2020 to count.

That's it! Pretty easy huh? And don't worry if you don't really do the spooky stuff. Any of these categories could work for urban fantasy as well. You don't have to have a blog to play either. Anyone is welcome to jump in!

The Z Word

Walkers, Zeds, Deadheads, Biters. Whatever you call them; If it should be dead and it's not, it counts!

Strange Fiction
This is that category for the book that you say "Wow, WTF did I just read?"

Don't Sneeze
Ebola? The Plague? Kellis-Amberlee? Whatever ails you, this is the category for you. 

Under the Sea

It's a big, big ocean out there. And I doubt it's full of red-headed mermaids pining for princes named Eric.  

Short Story Collection

Variety is the slice of life. 

Let's Summon Demons

Don't do this. Gates of Hell should stay closed and your arms should remain in the circle at all times.
Any book with a demon or possession gets you a square.

Howl at the Moon

Shapeshifters. Werewolves. Were-rats. (Yeah, they are a thing. Ask LKH.) Shifty people don't count.

Bite Me

Walk softly and carry a sharpened stake. Vampires aren't the only thing that suck.

Crazy Town

Straight jackets are surprisingly comfortable...so I'm told. This square is for location - asylum, mental hospital, etc.  or just a book that's bat sh!t crazy.

Scooby Dooby Doo

Any book that has an investigation, or just some bumbling kids searching for clues while saying things like "Zoinks!".

Afterlife Express

10:15 to Boo Town. Tickets, please! Ghostly apparitions, haunted dolls, and the house on Haunted Hill all count in this square.

Monster Mash

It was a graveyard smash. It caught on in a flash. Here's your catch-all monster square. 

Up Close & Personal

Pick a book that scares you. 

Eye See You

This one can be literal. Either an eye on the cover, eye(s), or seeing in the title somehow, or body horror for you crazy horror fans.

Witching Hour

Spells, Curses, or good old fashioned witchcraft. 

End of the Line

Post-Apocalyptic, natural disaster or dystopian get you this square.

Bloody Good

Either a red cover, blood on the cover, or splatterpunk

Killer Instincts

Is there a killer on the loose? Then, yes, check this square if you dare.

Cabin in the Woods

This one is for those great abandoned locations, like a cabin in the middle of the woods, or a bunker in the middle of the artic. Home sweet home.

Lost Highway

Count this one if your book has a road trip, hitchhiker, or songs by the Eagles.

I Come in Peace

The truth is out there. It doesn't matter if they are little gray men or plants from outer space. 

Stock up on tin foil and bandaids. You're gonna need them. 

Camp Crystal Lake

Any book with a campground or tent camping. Hockey mask optional. 

Oh, the Humanity

Sometimes the monster is more human than expected. This square is for when the monster is us.

Don't Fear the Reaper

Count this square for any book with Death incarnate or anyone with a scythe.

Ready for the board? 

Feel free to download and use the board for your fall reading! Just link back to this page if you do. :)

There is no stopping it.

The Cloud is armageddon, steamrolling the world at a walking pace.

In his thrilling debut novel Monstre, author Duncan Swan crafts a relentless, terrifying, genre-bending tale of courage, desperation, and redemption that shows just how fragile our civilization is... and how far we will go to survive.

Day 0. From the wreckage of a research facility in Switzerland, a plume of toxic smoke and ash pours into the sky, forming an impenetrable cloud that is slowly smothering the world in darkness. As Europe disappears beneath the Cloud, a squad of United States Marines are sent on a desperate mission to find out what went wrong, and how to undo it before it's too late. Venturing into a cold, dark world, the Marines must travel deep under the Cloud, with no comms, no backup, and no idea of what they will face.

Day 89. Half a world away, the Cloud has reached the East Coast of the U.S. With nowhere to run and no hope of survival, the American people have descended into madness, turning on themselves and each other. From the sidelines, an old Tennessee sheriff watches as his country unravels. But he can't bring himself to take the easy way out. Quitting isn't in his DNA. So when one of his deputies asks him to help protect her family, he leads them west, chasing a miracle-a rumor of an old nuclear bunker that just may be their only hope for survival. Because if the Cloud doesn't kill them, what's hiding in the dark will.  

From the author of The Reattachment comes a frightening and twisted collection of stories that demonstrates Douglas Ford’s imagination at its best.

In these stories, a woman uncovers the buried memory of how she once disappeared inside the house of a murderer; a father waits and waits for his son to come out of a playground structure, unprepared for what finally does emerge; a group of foster children play an unconventional form of divination while protecting a secret together; the closet of a hotel room hides an unspeakable voyeur; and in the title story, a carnival offers ritualized combat with something that may or not be an ape.

 

11 stories to fright and delight. As the air turns cooler and bonfires take over the night, gather around the fire for stories of fall fun, strange occurrences and abject terror.

These stories published by authors S. C. Morgan, Marie McGrath and Alaine Greyson are sure to get your heart pumping and take your imagination on a wild ride.