Ghost Fox

It felt like only minutes had passed when I woke up with a start. I glanced over at the digital clock I had placed on the nightstand; it read 3:19 a.m. I had been fast asleep for hours - what had woken me up? I raised my head to look around the room, and my heart leaped into my throat. There, standing at the foot of my bed, was a figure, looming in the darkness.

Once there was a young woman from a well-to-do New England family who never quite fit with the drawing rooms and parlors of her kin. Called instead to the tangled woods and wild cliffs surrounding her family’s estate, Margaret Harlowe grew both stranger and more beautiful as she cultivated her uncanny power. Soon, whispers of “witch” dogged her footsteps, and Margaret’s power began to wind itself with the tendrils of something darker.

In the forgotten town of Red Fox, a Navajo couple is tortured by things unseen and by motives unknown. Wild animals slink through their house in the dark, a barrage of stones pound their roof nightly, and mutilated sheep carcasses are turning up on their property. Armed with a camera and just enough to go on, Perry and Dex travel to the desolate locale, hoping to film the supernatural occurrences and add credibility to their flailing webcast.

In the wake of a scandal, the Montrose family and their three daughters - Catherine, Lydia and Emeline - flee Boston for their new country home, Willow Hall. The estate seems sleepy and idyllic. But a subtle menace creeps into the atmosphere, remnants of a dark history that call to Lydia, and to the youngest, Emeline. All three daughters will be irrevocably changed by what follows, but none more than Lydia, who must draw on a power she never knew she possessed if she wants to protect those she loves. For Willow Hall’s secrets will rise, in the end....

When out-of-work graphic designer Verity Long accidentally traps a ghost on her property, she's saddled with more than a supernatural sidekick - she gains the ability to see spirits. It leads to an offer she can't refuse from the town's bad boy, the brother of her ex and the last man she should ever partner with. Ellis Wyatt is in possession of a stunning historic property haunted by some of Sugarland, Tennessee's finest former citizens.

Every state has an urban legend that evokes fear and curiosity in equal parts, and we've chronicled all of these logic-defying horrors here in the Haunted States of America anthology. From the Jersey Devil to La Llorona, each story included introduces a new chill inducing, stomach churning monster, specter, or poltergeist certain to keep you up at night. A broad ranging collection of authors, including seasoned veterans and some first timers making a fright-tastic debut, have all united to unearth the scariest lore from each state in the US, as well as D.C. and Puerto Rico.

Ghost hunter Verity Long is overdue for a little R&R (rest and romance) with her boyfriend, Ellis, and a vintage train trip through the Tennessee mountains seems like just the ticket. The Sugarland Express carries history and nostalgia in every compartment, and Verity is determined to enjoy it - without ghostly interference. But the ghosts have other plans… On a dark, desolate night nearly a century ago, the train was stranded in the mountains, and a young woman was found stabbed to death in her locked compartment.

Southern girl Verity Long is about as high society as her pet skunk. Which is why she’s surprised as anyone when the new head of the Sugarland social set invites her to join the "it" girls. But this is no social call. Verity’s new client needs her to go in undercover and investigate strange happenings at the group’s historic headquarters. But while spirits are whispering hints of murder, the socialites are more focused on Verity’s 1978, avocado-green Cadillac. And when Verity stumbles upon a fresh body, she's going to need the long-dead citizens of Sugarland to help her solve the crime.

When John Wayne Gacy, one of America's most depraved serial killers, went to his death by lethal injection in 1994, that ought to have been the end of it. It wasn't. More than 20 years later, psychic mediums looking into claims of paranormal activity in an old Illinois movie theater were shocked to discover that it is haunted by a man who goes by the name of John and appears as a leering clown.

War and plague have left millions dead. In the midst of the carnage something awoke, and the wars all over the world stopped. Suddenly. Silently. Since then, people have been disappearing. Jake Thorne is a survivor. A nomad. A father. Hunting in forests of the land once called Australia, every day is a struggle. For food. For safety. To protect the ones he loves: his children Gus and Maisie. Death surrounds them in the lonely wilderness of a world with few humans left. The greatest threat comes in the night, glowing and artificial, in the shape of their dearest departed. It comes offering immortality. Where have all the humans gone? Doctor Marcus Hamlin knows. Can Jake protect his children from the terrifying spectre that haunts them?

A haunted library is no place for a girl who can see ghosts, but when Verity Long stumbles on a dead body in the middle of the main reading room, she has to believe someone...even a dead someone...must have witnessed the crime. Her ghostly sidekick, Frankie, warns her to stay out of it. The very alive, very handsome deputy sheriff, Ellis Wydell, inadvertently places her directly in the middle of it. And her ex-fiancé, Ellis' brother, is back with an agenda of his own.

When 15-year-old Margot and her three sisters arrive at Applecote Manor in June 1959, they expect a quiet English country summer. Instead they find their aunt and uncle still reeling from the disappearance of their daughter, Audrey, five years before. As the sisters become divided by new tensions when two handsome neighbors drop by, Margot finds herself drawn into the life Audrey left behind. When the summer takes a deadly turn, the girls must unite behind an unthinkable choice or find themselves torn apart forever.

Southern girl Verity Long needs a Christmas miracle...Verity is ready to deck the halls, jingle some bells, and maybe, just maybe have a merry Christmas with her boyfriend’s stuffy family. Truly, if she doesn’t extend the proverbial olive branch to the overbearing Wydells, she’s afraid she’ll hit them over the head with it. But when her boyfriend’s mother pulls a shocking stunt, Verity finds herself with a big decision to make. And if that’s not enough, there’s an unexpected guest at her door.

Just because she can see the dead doesn't mean Verity Long wants to spend her days hunting ghosts. Instead she's over the moon to land a marketing job at the local bank...until she finds her new boss dead in the vault. Even her ghost friend, Frankie, knows that's no way to start a career. Relieved to let the police take charge, Verity steps aside, bound and determined to keep her ghost sightings to herself. But when she learns the main suspect in the murder is a very crooked, very dead mobster, Verity knows it's up to her to solve the case.

Maine, 1846. Gabriel Stone is desperate to escape the ghosts that haunt him in Massachusetts after his wife’s death, so he moves to Maine, taking a position as a minister in the remote village of Pale Harbor. But not all is as it seems in the sleepy town. Strange, unsettling things have been happening, and the townspeople claim that only one person can be responsible: Sophronia Carver, a reclusive widow who lives with a spinster maid in the eerie Castle Carver. Sophronia must be a witch, and she almost certainly killed her husband.

In 1956, Kitty Cunningham disappeared on the way to the Starlite Drive-In. Now the first real evidence of foul play is coming to light in the ghostly realm—and it links directly to a modern crime. Only a sleuth with one foot in the past can solve the mystery and make things right.

Southern belle Verity Long is back in business - as a ghost hunter. Now all she has to do is visit the town's creepiest mansion and exorcise a family of vengeful spirits. Piece of cake. After all, ghosts love her and need her...that is until she meets the ghosts of Rock Fall mansion. They'll do anything to keep their murderous secrets hidden within the cliffside fortress - even if that means getting rid of one meddling ghost hunter.

Verity Long doesn't want to see ghosts, and she'd rather not let anyone know her little secret, either. But when a restless spirit stirs up trouble in her friend's resale shop, Verity and her very new, very dead gangster friend team up to learn what is really happening. They discover an age-old secret and must learn the truth behind a mysterious disappearance...before it's too late.

Tis the season...for ghosts. Verity Long has come to terms with the fact that she can see spirits, and talk to them, and...she's actually making cookies for one of them. But she's drawing the line at any more ghost hunting or mystery solving. Until a dear friend needs help locating a missing antique at the party of the year. Not one to leave a friend in need, Verity straps on her sparkly heels and sneaks in to see what she can find - only to uncover a startling secret that will change everything.

Ireland's most ruthless gang leader is forcing me to marry him. I escape to the only place I can be safe - home of my captor's biggest rival, the Irish Kings. There's X, the living weapon with a haunted past. He won't touch anyone. Except me. Jace, the teddy bear with a warrior's heart. His melodic Irish brogue is a balm to my soul. And Magnar King, their intimidating leader - whose eyes flare with hunger when I'm near, yet backs away like I've burned him when we touch. He doesn't remember me. But I remember him.