Ghost Fiction

So far, while working at a ghost matchmaking agency, the past week has gone thusly: 1) a murdered ghost bride who is very, very pissed off (don’t blame her, I’d be pissed off too) 2) adopted by Chinese hellhounds (I THOUGHT THEY WERE DOGS, OKAY) 3) wake up magically soul-bonded to the sexy demon slayer Zhen (While I agree he’s—expansive hand waving—HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!) I do not need a fourth incident to make my life more interesting, please and thank you. Spoiler alert: I get one anyway.

The ghost story is perhaps the oldest of all the supernatural literary genres and has captured the imagination of almost every writer to put pen to the page. Here, Edgar Award-winning editor Otto Penzler has followed his keen sense of the supernatural to collect the most chilling and uncanny tales in the canon.

It's Christmastime at Marlow House Bed and Breakfast, and Danielle has a full house. When a woman, stranded far from home, shows up on the doorstep and begs for a room for the night, how can Danielle tell her the inn is full and turn her away? After all, it's almost Christmas. The woman makes quite an impression on the other guests, especially when she mysteriously disappears. Is it foul play - or something supernatural?

Everything is right on track for Danielle as she prepares for the grand opening of her bed and breakfast. All that changes when her cousin, Cheryl, shows up to claim her share of the inheritance - housemate Lily figures out there is a ghost in the house - and the million-dollar necklace goes missing. There is blood on someone's hands, and if Danielle isn't careful, she'll be moving from Marlow House to the Big House.

Blythe has accepted her fate and is tired of running. Who would miss her anyway? She attends her new and eccentric town’s month long Halloween masquerade for one last party before meeting her end. But what will she find...and what will find her?

When Danielle Boatman inherits Marlow House, she dreams of turning it into a seaside bed and breakfast. Since she's never visited the property, Danielle's not sure what awaits her in Oregon. She certainly doesn't expect to find one of the house's previous owners still in residence. After all, the man has been dead for almost 90 years - shouldn't he have moved on by now? Charming Walt Marlow convinces Danielle the only way he can move on is if she solves the mystery of his death.

Welcome back, horror-lovers, your long wait for new scary vibes is now over. The Midnight Society is back with even more thrills and chills to haunt your airwaves, and now is your chance to become an honorary member. From twisted hauntings from the afterlife lurking in innocent kids’ backyards, to a séance gone terribly wrong, and many other chilling tales, listen if you dare. Only truly brave souls should proceed. You’ve been warned.

If you were asked to choose the most fabulous character in English literature, who would it be? Perhaps the one and only Ichabod Crane. When this superstitious schoolmaster moves into the quiet village of Sleepy Hollow, he quickly starts vying for the affection of heiress Katrina Van Tassel. However, this puts him in the path of town bully Brom Bones. Will Ichabod win Katrina's heart, or will he fall victim to the small town's big legend—the Headless Horseman?

The Grand Hotel is a horror novel by esteemed best-selling author Scott Kenemore ( Zombie, Ohio) that takes the reader on a thrilling ride through an interconnected series of stories narrated by the desk clerk and the residents of the hotel itself. And while it is not known whether or not the desk clerk is actually the devil incarnate, it is strange that so many visitors who come for a tour of the hotel have a way of never leaving.

For four aging men in the terror-stricken town of Milburn, New York, an act inadvertently carried out in their youth has come back to haunt them. Now they are about to learn what happens to those who believe they can bury the past - and get away with murder. Peter Straub's classic best seller is a work of "superb horror" ( Washington Post Book World) that, like any good ghost story, stands the test of time - and conjures our darkest fears and nightmares.

When a local heiress goes missing, Danielle discovers it's not always possible to distinguish the living from the dead. To complicate matters, it seems Danielle is not the only one who communicates with spirits. Her new guest claims to hear Walt. But, something's not quite right with Marlow House's newest medium. Danielle must move quickly before her best friend joins the spirit world.

A big, brilliant, spooky collection of classic and contemporary ghost stories that will make you hesitate before turning off that light.

Grab a flashlight, crawl under the covers, and dive into the twisted, unexpectedly hilarious world of Rowley Jefferson’s imagination. You’ll meet zombies, vampires, ghosts, and much more in these comically terrifying tales. Rowley’s spooky stories might leave you laughing, but beware - you could end up sleeping with the lights on!

The cozy little town of Pine Deep buried the horrors of its past a long time ago. Thirty years have gone by since the darkness descended and the Black Harvest began, a time when a serial killer sheared a bloody swath through the quiet Pennsylvania village. The evil that once coursed through Pine Deep has been replaced by cheerful tourists getting ready to enjoy the country’s largest Halloween celebration in what is now called “The Spookiest Town in America.”

As the days grow shorter and the temperature drops, Halloween approaches. Come, brave listener, pull up a chair, and spend some time with master storyteller Stephen Fry as he tells us some of his favourite ghost stories of all time, in truly terrifying spatial audio. From the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow to the tortured spirits of M.R. James, from Edgar Allan Poe’s terrifying tale of a doppelganger to Charlotte Riddell’s Open Door that should definitely stay shut, join Stephen as he tells you some truly terrifying tales.

In this fifth audiobook, funny things are happening at sea so Hilda packs her adventuring satchel and sets sail to find out why ships keep disappearing near Cauldron Island. Will she get to the bottom of the mystery or end up at the bottom of the ocean? Meanwhile, back on land, an old acquaintance has taken over a windmill and promised she's turned over a new leaf, but can she be trusted?

Going to Cabin Green alone after the death of his fiancee was Ben's first mistake. His second mistake was tempting fate by saying, "There's no such thing as an evil building." Now he's caught in a nightmare of his own making deep in the woods of Northern Michigan. Even worse, a family history of mental illness makes it impossible for him to know if the ghosts haunting the cabin are real or all in his head.

Turning the one-time seaside B & B into a Halloween haunted house for a local fundraiser seems like a good idea. After all, Eva and Marie's ghosts are willing to help. However, the two spirit friends of Marlow House are not the only ghosts to stop by. Danielle and her friends are about to learn there might be something to that old legend that says on Halloween night the barrier between the living and dead becomes blurred and the spirits of the dead visit earth. Maybe not all of earth - but at least Marlow House.

Aaron Decker's life changes one December morning when his wife, Allison, is killed. Haunted by her absence - and her ghost - Aaron goes through her belongings, where he finds a receipt for a motel room in another part of the country. Piloted by grief and an increasing sense of curiosity, Aaron embarks on a journey to discover what Allison had been doing in the weeks prior to her death.

Young widow Penelope Thornton-McClure and her old Aunt Sadie are making ends meet by managing a mystery book shop - a quaint Rhode Island landmark rumored to be haunted. Pen may not believe in ghosts, but she does believe in good publicity - like nabbing Timothy Brennan for a book signing. But soon after the bestselling thriller writer reveals a secret about the store's link to a 1940s murder, he keels over dead - and right in the middle of the store's new community events space. Who gives Mrs. McClure the first clue that it was murder?