A hotel night auditor must withstand the horrors of Nyarlathotep.A hotel night auditor must withstand the demanding horrors of the ultimate bad guest: Nyarlathotep. The Black Pharaoh is well known for inducing madness in his victims, by any means necessary: prank-ordering pizzas, endless phone calls, and threats of bad online reviews are just the tip of the iceberg...

Impromptu Séance is the third short story in the “Odd Socks” series. A slightly bored group of girls have grown tired of telling “normal” campfire ghost stories and decided to pull back the veil, to call a ghost of their very own.There was a time when writing a short story was an art form. The novella reigned queen and “novels” were published in serial form. Books were expensive back then, but the printing of pamphlets was cheap enough to mass-produce. Many of our most beloved classic authors flourished under these circumstances.What was old is new again. Today, the ability to read in digital format is becoming ubiquitous. eReaders are more affordable and other devices such as smart phones are now commonly used as readers, too. However, books in eFormat are steadily becoming more expensive. Perhaps it is time to walk in the footsteps of the masters. Impromptu Séance is the third short story in the “Odd Socks” series. A slightly bored group of girls have grown tired of telling “normal” campfire ghost stories and decided to pull back the veil, to call a ghost of their very own.

Three dark, fast tales, each with a hallucinatory twist: In the Worst Possible Moment a couple chooses to air personal problems whilst staving off destruction at the hands of an unseen malevolence. Hardboiled detectives witness – and must commit – unspeakable horrors in Down Deep. And, finally, Underneath: a serious of torturous tableaux and surreal encounters breaks down a man in a hurry.Three dark, fast tales, each with a hallucinatory twist: In the Worst Possible Moment a couple chooses to air personal problems whilst staving off destruction at the hands of an unseen malevolence. Hardboiled detectives witness – and must commit – unspeakable horrors in Down Deep. And, finally, Underneath: a serious of torturous tableaux and surreal encounters breaks down a man in a hurry. Three nightmarish visions, at no cost to you!

'Such whispered tales, such old temptations and hauntings, and devilish terrors' Elizabeth Gaskell's chilling Gothic tales blend the real and the supernatural to eerie, compelling effect. 'Disappearances', inspired by local legends of mysterious vanishings, mixes gossip and fact; 'Lois the Witch', a novella based on an account of the Salem witch hunts, shows how sexual desire and jealousy lead to hysteria; while in 'The Old Nurse's Story' a mysterious child roams the freezing Northumberland moors. Whether darkly surreal, such as 'The Poor Clare', where an evil doppelganger is formed by a woman's bitter curse, or mischievous like 'Curious, if True', a playful reworking of fairy tales, all the pieces in this volume form a start contrast to the social realism of Gaskell's novels, revealing a darker and more unsettling style of writing. Laura Kranzler's introduction discusses how Gaskell's tales, with their ghostly doublings and transgressive passions, show the Gothic underside of female identity, domestic relations and male authority. This edition also contains a chronology, further reading and explanatory notes.

Rebecca was a child like any other, living in the times we all recognise as our own. Rebecca was also a child from a time none of us can recognise as our own. Through horror and haunting, Rebecca and Rebecca become one...only to perpetuate the cycle of horror.“The Haeven Collection” is a series of four short stories set in semi modern times. Only through genre are the stories in any way connected and each one has a beginning, a middle and an end. The stories give the reader and inside look at the world that each of the characters live in and comes from as well as a look at how they interact with said world and each other in the individual stories.The Haeven Child-When a witty and temperamental young witch is forced into a situation not of her making and beyond her control, she must traverse the terrible waters of family life and child rearing.Kitten-Running away from home sounds like a good idea, but not when you’re and Skin Changer with major daddy issues and a dead mother. An adolescent Skin Changer runs away from home with her mother’s skin after she dies, her father is looking for her and he is not happy.150-One hundred fifty years is a long time to be with someone you hate, especially if that person is your sire and he controls your very life. A “young” vampire is stuck with the creature that changed him into a monster of the night and his rebellious attitude will not be tolerated.Diner-A diner is such as non-threatening place. However, when a meeting between to associates is cut short because of a joke, the other two men try to keep it together and take the intrusion with grace and poise.

A man returns to the site of his father's disappearance repeatedly, trying to find ghost train, trying to save his father.He must find the ghost train, he must discover what happened to his father, and so he returns to the site night after night trying to get a glimpse of the train. One night he finally encounters the train and he finally enters the train. Once inside he finds he will never leave his father again.

Ken has been waiting for this day for a long time.*** 4 1/2 STARS FROM RT BOOK REVIEWS***Arden Lesstymine (known to everyone as Trouble) likes attention as much as the next girl, but this is getting ridiculous. When an insane stranger is murdered at the inn where she works, Trouble becomes the next Soulbearer for the disembodied god of chaos, Loku. Yes, it comes with the ability to channel the god’s limitless power, but at the cost of her sanity — literally. Now she has a sexy but cynical knight claiming to be her protector, a prince trying to seduce her to his cause (and his bed), and a snarky chaos god who offers a play-by-play commentary on it all, whether she wants to hear it or not. To make matters worse, a necromancer wants to capture the soul of Loku for his own dark purposes, and the only way he can get it is by killing her first.

IT IS THE summer of 1938 when young Paul Moreaux discovers he can “fade.” First bewildered, then thrilled with the power of invisibility, Paul experiments. But his “gift” soon shows him shocking secrets and drives him toward a chilling act. “Imagine what might happen if Holden Caufield stepped into H. G. Wells’ The Invisible Man, and you’ll have an idea how good Fade is. . . . I was absolutely riveted.”—Stephen King

Another unique zombie tale from Lori R. Lopez, the author of "Heartbeat" and "The Lycaning", this time with Fruit Flies and two jaded strangers who learn that they are not as alone as they think.One of the themes of this story is to not wait for the world to be ending to start living. It's hot, and it's going to get a lot hotter when humans mutate into cannibalistic corpses. But that's not all; bugs are everywhere. In fact, bugs could be to blame in this worst-case scenario that may seem a bit close for comfort! Strap on your gas-mask while the pesticide flows. They're coming. Watch your back . . . and your front. Watch everything!

That sound. It wants me. It needs me. I can hear it getting closer now. Why is it chasing me? If it catches me it'll murder me. I can't stop running. I have to escape. I have to survive.That sound. It wants me. It needs me. I can hear it getting closer now. Why is it chasing me? If it catches me it'll murder me. I can't stop running. I have to escape. I have to survive. James DeSantis dips into the psychological horror genre to try and offer something different. Again with mixing genres we get a new look into the views of horror for James. From the creator of “Killing Your Boss” and “Sparks” James brings you his next short story.

This short story follows a boy obsessed with a velvet recliner in his house.This short story follows the life of Danton, a boy who grew up with a velvet recliner always near him, but never able to touch, and the experiences he went through being so close to his obsession yet always kept away from it, and the results of his obsession as he grows older.

The Spider Lady was supposed to be just an urban legend. A spooky story to explain away the occasional missing pet or child. But when Charlie Berger and his friends attempt to contact the spirits of her alleged victims with a Ouija board, their harmless dabbling in the occult turns into a full-blown nightmare of death, destruction and angry zombies.The Spider Lady was supposed to be just an urban legend. A spooky story to explain away the occasional missing pet or child. But when Charlie Berger and his friends attempt to contact the spirits of her alleged victims with a Ouija board, their harmless dabbling in the occult turns into a full-blown nightmare of death, destruction and angry zombies. Too late do they realize they’ve fallen into the Spider Lady’s web—a web in which the girl Charlie cares about the most could be changed forever into a monstrous arachnid. To set her free, Charlie’s going to have to wrestle with his own dark past, uncover sinister family secrets, consort with paranoid witches and quite possibly sell his soul. Sure, he can save the day—if he can keep his undead friends from killing him first.

For most children, the monster under the bed or in the closet is just a fantasy, something to grow out of. But Ben Downs’ monster is real. Now locked away in a mental institution, a young reporter turns to him for answers about his troubled past, but what she hears may be too much for her to bear.The beginning and end of love, Sands and Jade are pulled apart by circumstance, to be united again only when it's too late.Written while dealing with her father's illness, this first book reflects Ophelia's struggles faced with her father's disease and the threat of his death through her childhood and teen years.

The Secret of Rue McGrath and The Excerpt are two original short stories exploring the dark world that remains unseen to all but a unlucky few.What is the secret of the strange little building superintendent in the old brick apartment building, and what is the strange pounding at night? Follow along in a stange hunters guide that informs you the best way to hunt very special big game. The Secret of Rue McGrath and The Excerpt are two original short stories exploring the dark and horrible world that remains unseen to all but a unlucky few.