Occult

Twenty-five year old Calla Williams is struggling since becoming guardian to her brother, Jamie. Calla is overwhelmed and tired of being the one who makes sacrifices to keep the family together. When Jamie’s actions at a protest spiral out of control, the siblings must go on the run. Taking refuge in a remote cabin that looks like it belongs on a slasher movie poster rather than an AirBNB, the siblings now face a new threat where their lives–and reality–hang in the balance. Their sister always warned them about her nightmares. They really should have listened.

When Kit's fiancée orders a DIY seance kit online, he's not sure whether to be relieved or horrified. On the one hand, Faith's nightly rituals seem to provide peace during the most upsetting time of her life, following the sudden and violent deaths of her parents. But on the other hand… Kit begins experiencing increasingly frightening phenomena. Bodiless footsteps stalk him in the halls. A sinister phantom watches him sleep from the foot of the bed.

David Hunter, ein Jurastudent aus Glasgow, lässt sich ziellos durchs Leben treiben, aber er spürt, dass ihm etwas fehlt. Als ihn eines Abends jemand zu töten versucht, entdeckt er, dass er einer alten Dynastie von Hexen – auch bekannt als Traumtänzer – entstammt und plötzlich steht sein Leben Kopf. Ehe er sich versieht, findet David sich in einer Welt voller mächtiger Hexen, geheimer Organisationen der Regierung, und einer Schlacht zur Rettung der Akashic-Chroniken wieder.

There’s something wrong in Renfield County. It’s in the water, the soil, the wood. But worst of all, it’s in the minds of the residents, slowly driving them mad. When Lawrence Renfield massacred his family and drew The Giant in his farmhouse with their blood, no one imagined the repercussions. At the very least, the bloodstained wood should have been set aflame, not chopped down and repurposed as furniture, décor, and heirlooms across the county. But that’s exactly what happened.

Our Own Unique Affliction is the story of Alice Ann, a dejected immortal who longs for her life in the sun. Navigating guilt, loss, family, meaning, murder, and all that comes with the curse of living forever. An existential, bleak, quiet until it’s not, hallucination on duality, rife with fangs, empathy, blood, and grief.

A year ago Sophie Wickham stumbled into the isolated Lancashire village of Withered Hill, naked, alone and with no memory of who she is. Surrounded by a thick ring of woodland, its inhabitants seem to be of another world, drenched in pagan, folklorish traditions. As Sophie struggles to regain the memories of her life from before, she quickly realises she is a prisoner after multiple failed escape attempts. But is it the locals who keep her trapped, with smiles on their faces, or something else, lurking in the woods?

When sisters Lily and Della Pedley are persecuted for the shocking murder of their parents, they flee from their home in Cornwall to a remote and unnamed island in Scotland - an island known for its strange happenings, but far away from the whispers and prying eyes of strangers. Lily is terrified of what her sister might do next, and she soon realises that they have arrived at a place where nothing is as it seems.

A recruiting event at an amusement park turns deadly when the attractions develop minds -- and purposes -- of their own. A woman struggles with whether to stay in her soulless job, unaware that far more than her career is at stake.

In The Past Awakens, they uncover the haunting legacy of the Ven De Berg family, delving into cursed properties and supernatural threats that test their understanding and courage. Ritual at Dyeworks pits them against malevolent spirits when a developer’s plan to rebuild the old Dyeworks factory reveals the town’s dark history and leads to a deadly supernatural confrontation.

Damián huye de dos asesinos que lo persiguen en una solitaria carretera en el desierto. Logra eludirlos pero su automóvil se está quedando sin gasolina. A la distancia descubre un hotel que por fuera parece abandonado. Llama a la puerta y lo recibe Mercedes, una hermosa rubia quien lo invita a pasar. Por dentro el hotel es espectacular: cada detalle está cuidado a la perfección, pero hay algo sombrío que se esconde entre sus paredes y pasillos. Damián cree escuchar voces que mencionan su nombre, aunque las atribuye al estrés y su cansancio.

Poor Ezra was about to have a very bad accident. One that would leave him trapped where he might never be found. Trapped with Virgil, who was not a very nice dummy. Virgil, who was about to make this blood-soaked nightmare so much worse....

People may not have heard of Robert Leroy Parker or Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, but everyone in America—and most of the rest of the world—have heard of their better-known aliases: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. This infamous duo carved out their place in American history stealing horses and cattle, and ingeniously robbing numerous banks, stagecoaches, and trains.

At the Summer Solstice, the prophecy states the greatest powers in the history of the sisterhood will pass down to the next daughter of Eve, imbuing her with an ancient and powerful energy. She must be made to understand her purpose by the previous daughter of Eve. It is a great honour, and the ancient powers should be used wisely. The ancestral light energy is full of love and passion, remembering, the light will always beat the dark.

When Sarah returns to her hometown of Cedarbrook for her brother's funeral, she expects grief and sorrow—but not fear. Her brother's death, ruled a mysterious drowning in the frozen waters of Echo Lake, doesn't add up. As Sarah digs deeper, she discovers her brother wasn't the first to meet this fate. Several others have drowned or vanished under strange circumstances, their bodies pulled from the icy depths of the lake with no explanation.

Cheryl is barely getting by. Struggling to find clients after escaping an abusive relationship, the tarot reader still feels she's helping folks…even if she doesn't actually believe in the paranormal. But when a desperate man badgers her into clearing his haunted house, the fake fortune teller is terrified when she discovers she can suddenly see real ghosts.

Former Texan beauty pageant queen Annabelle Stonewood is lured to Hollywood in 1932 with promises of being an extra at the renowned Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios. She's in awe of the glitz and glamour surrounding her but soon discovers being a small fish in a big pond is tougher than it looks. This bubbly gal never had such a tough time making friends before! Having failed to make an impression after a few shoots, Annabelle is poached by the notorious publicity department.

Barbara Connolly thought she was giving her daughters a better life when she left her abusive ex-husband and moved back to her home town. But Rapture, Pennsylvania, just wasn't the same anymore. There have been two murders right on her street, in the same house her brother disappeared in over twenty years before. Bodies are turning up everywhere, all missing flesh and with the same ragged teeth marks on the bones. Teenage girls are disappearing. And something—or someone—is crawling around inside Barbara's walls.

As a young child, Mack was separated from his brother in a cave on the Irish coast. Years have passed, but the hole left by the disappearance has only grown. He'll do anything to get his brother back. Mack inadvertently reads an ancient passage that opens his eyes to an unexpected reality: demons, angels, and jinn in our world, and the battle between Heaven and Hell rages on. Mack is forced into the battle as he tries to carry on his normal life at his best friend's destination wedding.

Ronald Kelly returns to the land of his ancestry and explores the dark superstition and frightful folklore of Ol’ Éire. Seven stories of Celtic gothic terror… tales to quicken the beat of the heart and chill one’s bones to the very marrow.

Suggesting this historic anthology is just a regional horror collection is like calling Frankenstein's monster a simple misstep in medical technology. Road Kill is no longer just an annual anthology of horror stories. It's a serial collection of some of the most serious voices in Lone Star literature. It's a chronicle of Texas terror, and Vol. 9 is eerie, edgy and feral. It will haunt you long after its first reading. It's as fine a selection of horror fiction as you'll find today. It's alive!