American Horror

Deep in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, this maximum-security penitentiary held some of the most vicious criminals...One of them was Billy Black Hawk, a murderer and rapist...he was not only a master of mind control, but he was also a fluent out-of-body traveler and shape-shifter. Sampson Faith, a cold blooded assassin, wanders the wastelands in search of the man who killed his beloved wife. Little does he know that Billy Blackhawk, the man who killed Missy, will soon escape his musty prison cell and come looking to kill Sampson and claim his soul as well.

Prepare for thrills and chills as three acclaimed authors unite in Twisted Fate, a spine-tingling collection of stories: Hunted by Traci Hunter Abramson; Death House by Gregg Luke; and Haunting Reminders by Stephanie Black.

James Hogg was an 19th century Scottish writer. Mary Burnet is a traditional Scottish ghost story which he retold.

Melody Stallworth, a 37-year-old hefty heiress who had it all. An ample bank account, a beautiful home, and family and friends who adored her. One would think she has it all, but one thing was missing...her one true love. She had all the qualities any sane man would fawn over. Growing tired of her failed attempts at relationships, she seeks revenge on the men who have hurt her, and the penalty is death.

Since the massacre at Heavenly Hope, the once breathtaking home has been empty, with no one daring to come close to it; until the Blackwells were made an offer they couldn’t refuse. Moving into the smaller house at the foot of Heavenly Hope, the smell of fear nearby revealed the creatures were still alive and starving for the taste of fresh blood. With the creatures again on the attack and threatening to expand their feeding to the people of the cities, they need to be stopped for good.

Christian Sands, an FBI profiler with unique abilities, is called upon, once again, to investigate the mysterious disappearance of several children from their homes over one night in the small town of Swanton, Vermont. It's been a year since the disappearance, and the town is swamped with media frenzy, law enforcement, and paparazza from every walk of life with their own spin on the disappearance. And as others are discovered mutilated in the nearby forest, the town is a powder keg waiting to explode.

How could Sadie have lived so long in this town without knowing it was harboring a very old secret? The dark side of the woods was a place she walked by nearly every single day and it seemed perfectly normal. But one day, she realized that nothing that walked in there walked back out. Curses and wolves are somehow entangled in Sadie's new romance, and a gruesome transformation threatens to change everything she has ever known. She's the only one who can save her town, her love, and herself. It has to end where it started, in the center of the forest.

This is a story from the "Great Ghost Stories" collection.

Grade school teacher and aspiring author Peregrine Long sees a Chinese family on board a ship - in his morning tea. The image inspires him to write the story of this family, but then a woman turns up at his door, claiming that he's writing her family history exactly as it happened. She doesn't like it, but she has one question: What happened to the little boy of the family, her long-lost uncle?

Delbert Thompson lived all by himself on a farm deep in the country and never bothered anyone until a group of teen's car broke down about a half mile down the road from Delbert's farm. The teens were only looking to use Delbert's phone to get help, but Delbert was in no mood for company, so the teens picked the wrong door to knock on for help. Delbert was sitting in his rocking chair on his front porch whittling a piece of wood when he stopped what he was doing and noticed a group of people headed his way.

During a visit to her dying friend, a woman discovers to her horror that his family and his home are one. SonicMovies are premium audios with strong vocal performances enhanced by music and sound effects to such an extent they sound like movies, hence, SonicMovies.

Elizabeth Gaskell, famed author of Cranford, is cherished for her incise social observations and portrayals of the changing nature of English life through the Industrial Revolution of the Victorian era. In Cousin Phillis, Paul Manning has only recently left home to work on the railway line for the dashing Mr Holdsworth. Lodging with an Independent Minister on the outskirts of London, he becomes acquainted with his distant cousins, where he is delighted to meet his genial relations, and not least his cousin Phyllis

Deep in the heartland of Indiana, this maximum-security penitentiary held some of the most vicious criminals known to the United States. One of them was Sampson Faith, a psychopathic genius who was master of mind control. Sampson was not only a master of mind control, but he was also a fluent out-of-body traveler. He was only 38, but seven years in prison made him look much older. He had murdered 14 teenagers in numerous ways seven years before in a small Indiana farm town. He was what doctors called a missionary killer.

The Beetle tells the tale of an evil, ancient Egyptian spirit seeking revenge on an up-and-coming British politician, Paul Lessingham. The shape-shifting creature that pursues Lessingham is possessed of hypnotic powers and takes different forms, both male and female, as well as morphing into a beetle - a figure that induces terror in its victims.

Winner of the Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing, Priyanka Champaneri’s transcendent debut novel brings us inside India’s holy city of Banaras, where the manager of a death hostel shepherds the dying who seek the release of a good death, while his own past refuses to let him go.

Olivia Locke, formerly the Greek titan Mnemosyne, has built a nice little life for herself. She's bound her ancient powers, has a steady job performing inspections for an insurance company, and even goes to the dentist. But when Olivia is sent to a traveling carnival, she discovers that the claims she's reviewing aren't accidents at all but rather symptoms of a depraved bargain struck to keep the operation afloat. And, at the heart of the carnival is a force intent on capturing her very soul.

From New York Times best-selling author Seanan McGuire, a haunting urban fantasy short story in the Carniepunk anthology - for fans of all things circus, supernatural, and mysterious.... It's been 17 years since the last time Ada's carnival passed through her father's hometown in Alabama.... and no one is expecting the reception she gets.

On a remote island off the coast of Maine, a troubled family is trying to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives and start over. But, unbeknownst to them, the property they have inherited is steeped in ancient magic - magic that could seek to destroy and devour them.

Having just quit Julliard, disillusioned fiddler Melanie St. James finds herself as part of a group of traveling musicians en route to an OtherFolk carnival. Eager to break the chains of a lifetime of conformity, Melanie throws caution to the wind and enters a reckless bargain, plying her musical skills for the chance to win a violin that can open Doors to the CrossRoads. But the competition turns out to be far more than she expected.

A Charlie Madigan short story - from the series praised for "intricate world-building and richly complex characters" ( Publishers Weekly) - as it first appeared in the Carniepunk urban fantasy anthology.