Step into the abyss of horror and dark fiction with To Hell and Back...where each story is a gateway to the unimaginable.To Hell and Back serves as a mosaic of contemporary fears and timeless terrors, curated and edited by the Bram Stoker Award-winning Joe Mynhardt. This collection of horror stories brings together a diverse array of tales from both beloved and emerging voices in the horror genre, each story a unique exploration of the dark corners of the human psyche.With an introduction by Lee Murray, this horror anthology includes disturbing tales by Jeff Strand, Gage Greenwood, Gregg Stewart, Jasper Bark, Kenneth W. Cain, James Aquilone, Taylor Grant, Colin J. Northwood, Chad Lutzke, Felix Blackwell, J.P. Behrens, Bridget Nelson, Jay Bechtol, Nick Roberts, Kyle Toucher, Diana Olney, Devin Cabrera, Naching T. Kassa, John Durgin, Francesca Maria, James H. Longmore, and Rowan Hill.To Hell and Back invites readers on a journey through cityscapes and small towns, into office blocks and family homes, along lonely roads, and wooded trails. It confronts external threats like predators and cults as well as internal battles with ambition, mental illness, and moral weakness. Themes of road rage, childhood trauma, the horrors of war, and the supernatural intertwine, offering a chilling snapshot of contemporary societal fears. With stories that range from political and cultural tensions to tales of creeping unease, this anthology not only aims to terrify but also to offer a means of confronting and reflecting on our fears from a safe distance.Uncover the shadows lurking within and beyond with To Hell and Back-dare to turn the page and confront your darkest fears.
With an Introduction by Shirley Jackson Award-winner Gemma Files, this outstanding anthology of all things monstrous includes spine-chilling stories from Bentley Little, Simon Clark, Elizabeth Massie, Tim Waggoner, Sumiko Saulson, plus some of the best emerging horror writers working today."This anthology gives us a chilling glimpse at the dark and dangerous things prowling in the minds of some of today's best horror writers." - JG Faherty, author of Ragman and Songs in the Key of Death"Throughout the pages are creepy tales by up-and-comers who you may have read, plus writers brand new to a horror reader's discerning eye. Embark on a journey to the realm where monsters-familiar or unique-dwell. Highly recommended to horror aficionados obsessed with eldritch fiction-this one's for you!" - Nancy Kilpatrick, author of Thrones of Blood Series and the Darker Passions series
A chilling assemblage of twenty-five of Madame Gray's darkest and most twisted short stories to stalk your nightmares. Here's just a taste of what awaits you inside... "Tendrils of dread crept into my soul when I saw what was inside the red velvet lined box..."THE ABSINTHE BOTTLE "As his eyes met his reflection, he immediately let out a horrified scream that sounded like a cow being stabbed in the ass..."BEAUTY IS THE BEAST "Would they tear her apart and devour her flesh until all that remained were her skull and bones? Or would they gang rape her and impregnate her with some sort of hellish half-human monster?"THE GREEN-EYED MONSTER "We found your sister's decapitated head inside your bedroom closet when we searched the house. It was hanging from a coat hook by its nose ring..."MARCY'S DIARY "As if inspired by the gaffs of old carnival sideshows and dusty dime museums, there were multi-headed monstrosities, Frankenstein-ish grotesqueries that combined both male and female pieces, and nightmarish creations that were part human and part animal..."A MATTER OF TASTE "He was mostly skeletal, his bones held together by the remains of leathery connective tissue and rotting clothing. But in my eyes he was as handsome as ever..."JUDY'S TURN TO DIE
"It took me by surprise. The flight's thematic significance and the aerial imagery coupling with Hunter's inner landscape kept me aloft-and horrified."-Jennifer HegemanAviator Charles Lindbergh's aw-shucks schtick is a mask for a monster who destroys strangers and loved ones with equal indifference. Hunter makes a fortune exposing fraudsters. When Hunter stumbles across the corpse of his German teacher on his old reformatory grounds, he's certain he is onto something evil and becomes drawn into the mystery. Unsure who is own father is, Hunter is no angel himself. A former "black ops" military officer, he knows what he has to do to get the job done, no matter the cost. Nightmares, hallucinations, and fragments of grisly memories knock on the door of his subconscious. Even the stage prop "Old Sparky" in his new lover's lurid Grand Guignol connects a deadly circuit in Hunter. Orisa cards warn of air disaster. Brainy Pia offers a path out of his disintegration. Traveling the globe-Paris, Berlin, Geneva, and London-Hunter can't resist the magnetic scene south of New York where the Crime of the Century once played out. Hunter is falling through the universe's trap door. He's headed for hell-unless he can redeem himself with one final flight.
Madame Gray proudly presents twenty terrifying graveyard-themed tales that will make your flesh crawl. The 'plots' that await you in this morbid marble orchard of blood are guaranteed to chill your bones and keep you from resting in peace. Whistle your way past this graveyard... if you dare! Featuring original stories by: Charles Robertson, Eddie Spohn, J Louis Messina, Paul R. Panossian, J. M. J. Brewer, Gerri R. Gray, Sheldon Woodbury, Hugh Alan, Richard Farren Barber and Stuart Hughes, Seaton Kay-Smith, Stone Wallace, Carlton Herzog, David Dean, Nikki Lynn Blakely, Sinéad Persaud, Laura Green, KN Gould, Daniela Addamo, Phoenix Roberts, and Thomas Grdic.
Playground of the Dead is a macabre tale set in a seaside California community of Clear View. There there have been a number of unexplained deaths of the town's citizens - all related to tragic incidents involving its children. The police chief, Braden Powell, a man dealing with his own troubled, tragic history, has been investigating the mysterious occurrences with frustratingly minimal success. Gradually, he comes to realize there may be a sinister, supernatural connection too horrifying to comprehend.
Mind the moon when you leave the theater! Road Kill: Texas Horror by Texas Writers returns, and Vol. 8 definitely goes Splatterbump in the night! It's a monstrous mosh of fallen angels, prepubescent prescience, tempestuous incest, intergalactic blues, a Gulliverian massacre, cynophile racists, murderous rodents, a prehistoric Devil Head, the return of Bram Stoker's forgotten hero, and so much more...Featuring stories from the grand master of horror himself, Joe R. Lansdale, Emma E. Murray, Jae Mazer, Bret McCormick, Madison Estes, Chris Miller, James H. Longmore, Jonathan Louis Duckworth, Robert Stahl, Matt Micheli, Elford Alley, Iphigenia Strangeworth, Jacob Austin, R. L. Olvitt, Lawrence Buentello, Tom Bont, Bev Vincent, and the incomparable E. R. Bills.
"In compiling this anthology, it was my intention to focus on stories of crime motivated by hate. Not racially, politically, or religiously motivated violence, even though these are labeled 'hate crimes' in contemporary media. Edgar Allan Poe's The Casque of Amontillado opens the anthology and The Interlopers by Saki (H.H. Munro) provides an appropriately hateful bookend as the final tale. In between these two classic stories you will find seven very imaginative and original creations by incredibly talented contemporary authors: Jennifer Trumbull gives us her take on what happens when a privileged young woman with everything going for her decides to kill someone in the aptly titled I Hate You. Randall Smith cautions Don't Be Stupid in his disturbing tale of an eleven-year-old boy who's not quite right. Psychopaths, Grieving and Timeslips is a most unusual novella from P.K. Kleypas. It deals with hate and the ensuing guilt it can arouse in 'normal' people forced to deal with psychopathic family members. SF by Steven Purselley is a coming-of-age tale of profound darkness. The Last Ray of Summer by Anthony Ferguson is another tale of family drama and the extreme measures required to end the acts of a sociopathic father. Che Trujillo offers an inside look at the initiatory practices of an urban gang and a glimpse into the mind of a victim turned killer in Cherry Boy. Crepuscular, my own contribution to this collection, tells of the lingering consequences crimes of hate can generate even decades after the fact. So, immerse yourself in the strange situations and states of consciousness we have conjured for your amusement. And, be cautioned against unleashing your own crimes of hate on the unsuspecting world." Bret McCormick
The Slow Plague, a gender-targeting infection with no cure, killed billions of women and girls worldwide and created a dystopian society in which the survivors are treated as highly valuable commodities. Although their market value is high, women's rights decline as they become objects of avarice, awe, and worship - possessions to be owned or won in high-stakes games. Kutri Chandigarh, a rare beauty, is shipped from her native India to Los Angeles, a shattered metropolis barricaded behind a radiation-proof wall. Within the city stronghold, a bleak, broken, male-led society is mesmerized by stupefying programs pumped out by Little Angel Studios: an endless parade of reality TV shows. The studio's #1 hit is Good Breeding: a bevy of ethnically "pure" young women compete to marry a chosen suitor and produce a "perfect" family under the scrutiny of the public eye. Kutri has dreamed of wining the competition since early childhood. But, when she arrives in LA and meets Jakob Freeman, her assigned matchmaker, the fantasy quickly turns sour and twists into a horrific nightmare extending far beyond Kutri and the man she chooses for herself. As Kutri tries to escape the fate she once coveted, Jakob is swept up in events that threaten him body and soul and spark memories of a past he has so desperately tried to forget.
Lacey, a goth introvert with sketchy people skills, befriends Colleen, a dazzlingly beautiful ghost, during a solo Ouija board session. At last, her loneliness comes to an end. An eclectic pairing indeed, but they form an odd-but-satisfying and far-from-platonic friendship. When Lacey begins work as a stripper, she and Colleen find themselves with a conspiratorial mystery to solve in the strip club. Unfortunately, Lacey's newfound supernatural lover has a secret... or two and isn't what she seems to be at all. Colleen is not a ghost at all, but a succubus with an unfortunate habit of killing people. Accidentally. It's not long before the mounting number of deaths occurring around Lacey draws the attention of a tenacious homicide detective... Can Colleen uncover the shady happenings at the club and keep her beloved Lacey out of jail?
Evil takes on many forms -- something Rachael Daniels, an innocent care worker, is about to find out... personally. Something is roaming the streets of the city where she lives, something monstrous with a taste for sweet, red, human blood. Something that can be anything it wants to be. Soon, Rachael learns the hard way that not even the friendliest faces can be trusted. As she makes her way across that city one night on an errand of mercy, she quickly discovers the terrifying creature will definitely have no such consideration for her... Together in one book for the very first time ever, the RED trilogy is a modern, urban reworking of a classic fairy tale, which puts the horror spin on an old favorite. Blood RED picks up straight away after the events of RED, the first installment, while Deep RED throws you into a nightmarish future scenario. If you dare to open these pages, you'll face a terrifying journey into the unknown - courtesy of award-winning and #1 bestselling author, Paul Kane (the sellout Hooded Man, Monsters, Sherlock Holmes and the Servants of Hell, & Before).
New from bestselling thriller noir author, Blake Rudman."If Lee Childs' Jack Reacher or Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt tackled a terrorist scheme that utilized subliminal messaging to sow global social and economic chaos, it would look a lot like Red Line." Baltimore Police Detective Mitch Wilson wants a nice day out with his wife and son. Instead, they are all caught up in a catastrophic terrorist attack that has repercussions across the USA and triggers events that could alter the course of civilization.Having lost everything, Mitch sets out to seek justice - and revenge and stumbles upon a global conspiracy.On the other side of the world, renowned linguistic professor, Yasaman Karami, flees her native Iran for the freedom of the west; she holds one of the keys to defeating the terrorist organization. Yasaman and Mitch's worlds collide as, alongside federal agents and allies, they race against the clock to hunt down the terrorist masterminds and prevent worldwide catastrophe.
splat·ter·punknouninformalnoun: splatterpunk Definition: "A literary genre characterized by graphically described scenes of an extremely gory nature."HellBound Books are incredibly proud to present to you horror most raw and visceral, two-dozen suitably graphic, horrific tales of terror designed to churn the stomach and curdle the blood.This superlative tome is an absolute must for fans of Richard Laymon, Clive Barker, Monica J. O'Rourke, Matt Shaw, Wrath James White and Jack Ketchum - all put to paper by some of the brightest new stars writing in the genre today.Featuring stories by: Nick Clements, Carlton Herzog, NJ Gallegos, Scotty Milder, Steve Stark, Frederick Pangbourne, Cristalena Fury, Amber Willis, Kenneth Amenn, Erica Summers, Allie Guilderson, Cory Andrews, Andrew P. Weston, Shula Link, Carlton Herzog, DW Milton, Brent Bosworth, JD Fuller, Robert Allen, C.M. Noel, Julian Grant, Jay Sykes, Phil Williams, and the incomparable James H Longmore
"As with American Psycho, Blake Rudman's Goodbye Stranger has a wealthy, successful man whose wonderful family life masks a much darker side. Throw in a once-trusting, increasingly suspicious wife, and the stage is set for twists and turns you'll never see coming!" Danielle Harrington has the life many women envy: She's beautiful, rich, has two wonderful children, and is married to the Preston Harrington - the handsome, charismatic, retired quarterback who won two Super Bowls.Unfortunately, something is very wrong with Preston. Having suffered more than his fair share of injuries and concussions, he becomes quiet, withdrawn, and distant. As Preston spends more time away from his family, Danielle begins suspect an affair without realizing her husband is involved in something much, much worse...Following a series of tragic incidents and the return of an old nemesis from the past, things begin to spiral out of control for Danielle as Preston's dark side puts her and their children in terrible danger.
Diabolic choppers. A getaway gateway. A Ghostly inheritance. A cemetery daze. A terrifying love bug. A bizarre case of Big Bend bloodshed.Be sure to look both ways before you crack the cover of this terrifying Texas tome because everything is scarier in the Lone Star State! Road Kill is back with a vengeance and bloodlust - with exceptional stories from: Stephen Graham Jones, Jacklyn Baker, Bev Vincent, Patrick C. Harrison, Johnathan Louis Duckworth, E.R. Bills, Lauran J. Campbell, Corey Lamb, Mario E. Martinez, and so many more?
There is something quite special about this fine collection of tales of terror from the Sceptered Isle, each and every one crafted in the dead of the night by twisted, fevered minds, who have brought crawling and slithering to life the darkest denizens of the blackest shadows to terrify those brave souls amongst you who are brave enough to read... For your delectation, Dear Reader, we have assembled together between these illustrious covers an array of the finest British authors: Guy N. Smith, James H Longmore, David Owain Hughes, Kevin J Kennedy, Ross Baxter, C. Bailey-Bacchus, Justin Boote, Munib Haroon, Lex H Jones, Michael Byrne, Lee Franklin, J. C. Michael, Bill Davidson, Andrew J Lucas, Nick Stead, David Turnbull, Michael Chapman, Richard Farren Barber
Tessa and Kristin Morgan are identical twins, exquisitely beautiful, and have the world at their perfectly pedicured feet; they are also profoundly different beneath their stunning facades.Tessa is the laser-focused academic with her eyes firmly fixed upon a career in neurology, while Kristin exploits her striking looks and undeniable power over men to carve out a single-minded path to fame and fortune as a model and actress; an ambition she also holds for her sister.But, on the night of the pair's debut as top-tier models, and with a high-profile movie role in the bag, tragedy strikes the twins in the form of a cruel acid attack by an unknown assailant. Thus, a gruesome chain of events begins - one that leaves a trail of blood, death, and devastation behind both Tessa and Kristin.As Tessa fights to rebuild her life and uncover the truth behind the attack, she finds herself getting closer and closer to an uncomfortable truth about her sister and her search for the truth turns into a nightmare struggle to stay alive.
"A clever twist on the age old adage, Art imitates reality, drives thisterrifying possibility into the deepest places of your imagination."Andrew Neiderman, author of The Devil's Advocate and the V.C. Andrews novels.Amazon Besteller!"Caught in a whirlwind of adverse publicity following a viewer's death, the streaming show, The Gentleman's Choice becomes the target for a sadistic killer - and it's up to PI Vanessa Young to put a stop to it before more young women are murdered." A sleazy internet dating show blamed for a viewer's death, a host with a dark, secret past, and a killer with a sadistic grudge... Someone is kidnapping and murdering previous contestants from the popular streaming show The Gentleman's Choice - a strictly-for-adults hybrid of The Bachelor and Love Island. Private Investigator, Vanessa Young, is hired by a victim's family to infiltrate the show as a contestant to expose and capture the killer. Vanessa and Cole Gianni, the show's charismatic star, begin to fall romantically for each other, until Vanessa's plan goes terribly awry when they're drugged and taken to a remote location to take part in their captor's own brutal, ultimately fatal, version of The Gentleman's Choice. With the clock ticking toward their fateful final night, Vanessa and Cole are forced into a battle of wills to survive their tormentor and escape with their lives before it's too late...
"An absolute must for Dracula, Horror, and Literary History aficionados the world over." In association with the Bram Stoker estate - The Official annotated, edited version of Dracula.In the author's full, original form, Dracula: Annotated is the very first edition of Bram Stoker's timeless classic horror novel to be written by a member of Bram Stoker's family, Dacre Stoker, his great grand nephew, with the assistance of award-winning vampire expert, Robert Eighteen-Bisang.This book includes the entire version of Dracula-not only Constable's text of 1897 and Dracula's Guest, but outlines of Bram's original first, second, and third chapters.Within these pages are all of the pre-publication deletions from the original typescript, as well as Bram's hand-written changes and the entire abridged edition of 1901-read for the first time the changes Bram made to create his dramatic adaptation of Dracula in 1897 and note the differences in the Doubleday & McClure and William Rider texts.This exceptional, incredibly unique slice of literary history represents a rare insight into the remarkable creative process of Bram Stoker, the grand master of horror himself.
When terrorists target an American airforce base with a nuclear bomb, Kelly Wells races to find her sister in a nearby office block, desperate for them to be together in their final moments. At the same time, a handful of others fight their way through a panicked city to reach the building-frantic to make it to loved ones before the device ignites less than fifty miles away.In the frozen instant of the detonation, Kelly, her sister and three strangers are locked in that moment and trapped in the offices. But they are not alone. An ancient god from the deepest pits in the earth has woken and knows their most private secrets and guilt. Now, horror takes the form of their darkest dreams to draw sustenance from their terror, and the beast stalking them will dine well.Because everybody is afraid of something.
When a stranger arrives in Charity Falls, Utah, he has one intent: get a drink and some rest before hitting the road again. An altercation with a lush brings back dark memories, and the woman's final taunt tips him over the edge. He abducts and drags her off to an abandoned farm.There, he introduces her to pain and suffering, on a journey into her darkest nightmares, and his bloodthirsty fantasy. However, the farm isn't as secluded as he had hoped, and he is forced to deal with several others who have wandered too close to his lair.When just two innocents remain, only a battle of survival will decide who will walk away.But, the killer strikes again, and only one who has been close to the horrors will know what must be done.Someone must put an end to the reign of terror that has begun
Three horror novellas, three superlative authors - all in one big, fat, juicy volume!ENÛMA ELI¿ (When on High) - TERRY GRIMWOODThe Babylonian Creation story is a tale of monsters and cataclysmic wars. An epic saga dominated by the gods Tiamat and Mardak, bitter rivals who battle for supremacy over the unformed universe. It is a story replete with Minotaurs and scorpion men, dragons and monstrous blood-sucking demons.A myth, a fantasy... But when a traumatised ex-soldier rescues a young woman, washed up and barely alive on the shore of a sleepy English seaside town, the fragile borders between myth and reality begin to crumble and gods and their legions wake from their long-slumber.THE REMNANT - C. Bailey-BacchusWhen fifteen-year-old Bianca Baker is blinded by rage and hatred, her inner demons take control and turn an ordinary school trip into a horrific tragedy. Witnesses to her violent act, succumb to Bianca's aggression and agree to say events were a terrible accident. Sixteen years later, those involved find the past clawing its way from the shadows to haunt them, and this time there is no way it will stay buried.ALICE IN HORRORLAND - Vanessa HawkinsAlice is an 11 year old orphan living within the veins of industrial England. When she meets a mysterious gentleman with the power to turn into a white rabbit, she finds herself tumbling down a manhole into Horrorland.Here the creatures are strange and uncanny, lost in a revolution of madness. Drug addicted Caterpillars, grinning cats and homicidal Mad Hatters gambol around Alice like blood-drunk mosquitoes. However, at the center of it all is the Queen of Hearts: said to have given up her own a long time ago...Horrorland used to be so wonderful... Can Alice make it so again?
An intense, steamythriller set in the brutal world of human traffickingAdriana Santos, a fearless, idealistic young police officer on beach patrol, interrupts the sale of a young Mexican girl into slavery.Adriana goes undercover to break up the human trafficking ring, a mission complicated by a the vicious serial killer 'Juan the Ripper'" who stalks the streets of central Texas and brutally murders young Mexican prostitutes.In Corpus Christi, Adriana is kidnapped, her partner left for dead. She struggles to establish a relationship her captor, both feeling a strong mutual attraction. In her quest to help the girls that are held captive, Adriana causes trouble with her captor's ruthless boss, and despite their disagreements, she and her captor must learn to work together to survive.
For as long as she can remember, Lauren Merriweather has fought to separate herself from her mother - by focusing on school and developing her healing powers. Like her mother, she's a natural-born witch, but unlike her mother, Lauren is not a killer driven by hatred. But, when a fight with her rampaging mother drives Lauren to seek relief in alcohol and mindless flirting, her world is twisted violently out of her control.Lauren's attraction to David is as immediate as it is undeniable - to the extent that she forgets about the spells that have, until now, kept her from getting close to a man. But, David Fredricks is the government operative investigating her mother for murder, and he and his partner have determined that Lauren is their best lead. As far as David is concerned, Lauren and her mother are both witches, and that makes them little better than monsters. Lauren's allure doesn't change the fact that her mother is a vicious serial killer, and he's prepared to do whatever it takes to stop her.An interrogation goes too far, and Lauren finds herself bound to David in a way that neither of them could ever have imagined - and her very survival depends on her trusting the same people who stole her identity.
It's 1989, the cusp of a brand new decade, a young woman deals with injustice the only way she knows how, and two friends give their hands.Twenty-one years later, that promissory note needs to be be collected, but who answers?The girl: now an educator. The second: a man of hard business and soft morals. The third: a family man who loved that young woman as much as he loves his living daughter.So, who indeed?Blood has been spilled, but from that wound, a freshet must arise...
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