English Gothic

Preston Oldcorn lay quite still, eyes tight shut, trying to shrug off the cold grip of the nightmare. It was 9:22 p.m. It was always 9:22 p.m. A cold hand plunged into Preston’s chest and tightened its icy grip around his heart. In an instant, Preston was dead. Soon he finds himself in a desolate void between life and death. Preston must stay one step ahead of his terrifying enemies in a desperate bid to save his soul. He must brave his greatest fear - Cold Bath Street.

Lila Grace Carter talks to dead people. Admittedly, that's not out of the ordinary in Lockhart, South Carolina. In her words, "I'm Southern. We all talk to dead people down here. As a matter of fact, I don't believe I can truly trust anybody that doesn't speak to at least two or three dead relations on a daily basis. The difference is, they talk back to me." Now there's a murderer on the loose in Lockhart, and Lila Grace is the only one who knows a crime was committed. Can she convince the sexy sheriff that Jenny Miller didn't fall down the steps on her own? Will she catch the killer?

A beautiful girl seeks the help of an attorney when her father vanishes. Soon, her aunt also disappears from a locked house in the dead of the night. The search leads to the infamous White Cat, a nightclub frequented by crooked politicians and now, murder.

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) changed residences about once a year throughout his life. Driven by a desire for literary success and the pressures of supporting his family, Poe sought work in American magazines, living in the cities that produced them. Scott Peeples chronicles Poe's rootless life in the cities, neighborhoods, and rooms where he lived and worked, exploring how each new place left its enduring mark on the writer and his craft.

The desperate summons could not be ignored. Stephen Briar's note was more than the grief-stricken missive of a newly widowed brother-in-law. Since Ann's untimely death, evil had settled over Briarcliff, and Stephen was fighting for his survival. Jessica Rice sought to uncover the truth about the accident that had claimed her sister's life, but the mystery only deepened. Intrigue wove around intrigue, casting all the occupants of Briarcliff under the gloom of suspicion. No one could be trusted - including Stephen. Jessica had never felt so alone, or so gravely in danger.

In colonial America, a horrific darkness is brewing - and only two young lovers can prevent all of humanity from being twisted into undead demon-slaves, She will teach him to believe in himself and inspire him to courage in fighting the forces of darkness. He will instruct her in the arts of love, and show her the depths of passion that a young man can have for an extra-curvy beauty... as he strives to become the knight-errant she needs in order to rescue her - and all of humanity - from the vile plans of a demon master.

A ghostly presence in “The Lady’s Maid’s Bell” desires revenge against a tyrannical husband. In “Mr. Jones”, Lady Jane Lynke inherits an estate unexpectedly, and can’t make sense of how to manage the servants - especially since the caretaker has been dead for decades, but keeps giving orders. Meanwhile, in “Afterward”, a newly wealthy American couple moves into a large, isolated house in southern England complete with a ghost...and the mysteries surrounding the husband’s business are slowly uncovered.

First part of a trilogy of tales about sex workers, sex paid for and freely bestowed, warm affection, and accidental adventure on a Balearic island in the Med, with tragic consequences, and a happy ending of sorts.

When Ruth Townsend discovers Tessa Martin’s body in an abandoned factory, sprawled across a Ouija board, she does the responsible thing and calls 911. But by the time Sheriff Blevins arrives, the girl’s body has vanished. Blevins is convinced that Tessa is playing an elaborate hoax. But Ruth and her daughter, Cassie, know better. They both saw the body.

Mary Wingfield is a perfectly ordinary young woman. She has been raised in a strict household, but her father and mother are mostly kind towards her. Her fanciful dreams of travelling the world are entertained; she never has to go without, and she is deeply loved. Despite her wealthy, educated background, she is even being permitted to marry her childhood sweetheart, Lewis Stuart, a working class boy.

It was a homecoming. Aspiring novelist Elizabeth Farmer thinks all of her dreams are finally becoming a reality when she and her husband move to the quaint, seaside tourist town of Haven. But reality and fiction intertwine as Elizabeth discovers the disturbing secrets of her new home, in a haunting story that moves between past and present, examining the constructs of our most meaningful relationships, the concept of the American dream, and the murky depths of the human psyche.

She’s trained with him. She’s hunted with him. She’s killed with him. Now he’s missing. After the loss of her mother years ago, he is all she has left, and she will do whatever she can to find him. They had made a pact, a rule never to be broken: If we don't hear anything after three days, we investigate. Three days passed. Now Bethany must take all her years of training, all the skills she developed, and leave the place she’s called home her whole life.

Here 19 classic tales from masters of the genre. The collection comprises 'Schalken the Painter' by J. S. Lefanu; 'Sredni Vashtar' by Saki (H. H. Munro); 'The Room in the Tower' by E. F. Benson; 'Charles Ashmore's Trail' by Ambrose Bierce; 'The Mark of the Beast' by Rudyard Kipling; 'The Castle of Ratcliffe Cross' by J. Wadham; 'The Bead Necklace' by Alice Perrin; 'The Oval Portrait' by Edgar Allan Poe; 'The Leather Funnel' by Arthur Conan Doyle; 'Berenice' by Edgar Allan Poe; and many more.

Orphaned at the age of six, Jane Williams has grown up in a series of foster homes, learning to survive in the shadows of life. Through hard work and determination, she manages to win a scholarship to the exclusive Birch Grove Academy. There, for the first time, Jane finds herself accepted by a group of friends. She even starts tutoring the headmistress's gorgeous son, Lucien. Things seem too good to be true. They are.

The Phantom of the Opera is a Gothic novel, combining romance, horror, mystery, and tragedy. The story is about a mysterious figure who terrorizes a Paris opera house for the unwitting benefit of a young singer he loves.

In a forgotten corner of western Kentucky lies a haunted forest referred to locally as "The Deadening", where vampire cults roam wild and time is immaterial. Our protagonist and his accomplice - the one and only Carver Canute - set out down the Old Spur Line in search of the legendary Kudzu House, where an old couple is purported to have been swallowed whole by a hungry vine.

Times are rough for Max and Sandra. They've lost their income, live in a trailer, and struggle to make ends meet - all due to the resurrected Tucker Hull. To make matters worse, the ghost detective, Marshall Drummond, refuses to move on and resides in their trailer. Barely able to afford food, they are desperate to get back on their feet. So, when Max's sole client is murdered in the mysterious Baxter House, he knows they've reached the breaking point. And there's only one way out - push on through.

Florida Gothic Stories contains 11 of Vicki Hendricks’ best, some previously published and some new to this volume. Hendricks’ stories are riveting and unsettling - some offer surreal sojourns into the dark side of magical realism while others are pure Florida noir, with a full menu of characters twisted and damaged, yet with a gritty determination to survive.

Black humor and even blacker lives collide in a tale of love and murder on an old Scottish Borders family estate. In a grotesque story told from two consummately contrasting angles, we find the arrogant genius Frank, known as "Superbo", and his hated, ponderous brother Hubert.

Catherine’s first memories were of the fae and the misfortune they brought. No one believed her and told her she was insane. When Catherine arrives the country estate of Thornwood, she is determined to put her past and the fae behind. That is until she meets Ray Thorn. Ray introduces her into his world of the mesmerizing and deadly faery. Then a woman is murdered by one of the fae. She knew she shouldn’t have trusted a fae. But as more bodies turn up, Catherine realizes they’re targeting women like her, and she is their next victim. Is trusting Ray worth the price?