Horror Fairy Tales

This lovely and nevertheless rather spooky tale by Nikolai Gogol is rooted in Ukrainian lore. It starts quite ordinary - a young man is in love with a beautiful young girl, but other people and unforeseen circumstances stand in the way of their happiness. Quite unexpectedly, our young hero receives an offer of help from a very unlikely source.

The Black Goat is a short story that takes on a contemporary approach of the legend of Van Hunks and the devil. Jan van Hunks is down and out, a functioning alcoholic who is battling a divorce from his wife. One wintry night, he decides to escape the clutches of his studio apartment in the heart of Cape Town and venture out to find the darkest bar he can. He meets a mysterious character along the way who advises him against his journey.

In the mountains of Transylvania there stands a castle. It is the home of Count Dracula – a dark, lonely place, and at night the wolves howl around the walls. In the year 1875 Jonathan Harker comes from England to do business with the Count. But Jonathan does not feel comfortable at Castle Dracula. Strange things happen at night, and very soon, he begins to feel afraid. And he is right to be afraid, because Count Dracula is one of the Un-Dead – a vampire that drinks the blood of living people.

Trixie is a feline of a unique sort. She's hustled the streets of the Big Easy many times but never quite like this. Trixie finds that when in New Orleans, hoodoo is much more than a tourist shop full of souvenirs. Reality has never been stranger and the stakes are much higher than ever before. See how this sexy feline takes on every challenge thrown at her and in the process discovers that there's more to life than meets the eye. This is a short story in a new series by Karli Rush.

In a world where the Gods walk and their spirits commune with mankind, there must be those trained while in a trance to intercede with them, for the good of the tribe. Mondoani, a young woman, is chosen by the Gods to take the place of the Old Mother upon her passing. Is this frail young woman strong enough to hold the spirits of the Gods when they descend? For it will be her responsibility to hold the memories of all those who have lived before.

"The light from the fire against the tent cast some strange shadows, but nothing out of the ordinary, as Tony whispered that it was probably Bumi going to pee in the foliage. Leaning slowly to one side I raised the flap of the tent and stared out. Panic gripped me when I suddenly realized that the tent opposite, Bumi’s tent, was empty. Not only that, but his backpack was missing. Why would he take his stuff if he’s just going to pee? I asked myself and then Tony, out loud. In response he told me not to panic. Surely wherever Bumi had gone he would be back by morning".

Hugo is concerned and confused about adopting back his daughter after so many years apart. What if she doesn't recognize him? What if the little girl can't accept her father's hidden, beastly nature? Monica soothes those fears, and they soon adopt Clara. But with a toddler in the house and a baby on the way, Hugo's mind turns back to his curse. He doesn't want to burden his growing family with it anymore and seeks a way to destroy it. But finding a capable person with strong magic proves harder than expected.

Fate intervenes and Monica is stuck in a horrible Icelandic storm. She is forced to seek shelter from the last person she wants to see. Secured in Hugo's mansion, she unwilling faced her inner hypocrite who turned away from Hugo in fear and disgust despite knowing of his curse. As Monica is being swayed to give Hugo another chance, the villagers resurrect a primitive witch hunt against Hugo. Will they survive their persecution?

When a strong determined and curvy mail-order bride is forced to face her kidnappers and the truth of her father's condition, she has to decide whether she will stay by the beast's side or risk not being by her father's deathbed. Kidnapped in England by an angry mob that wants her husband-to-be dead, with her father's cancer getting worse in hospital in America, Monica is at a loss as to what to do. Outsmarting her kidnappers she attempts to get back to the mansion and faces another hurdle.

This is a collection of 10 short stories from 31 Horrifying Tales From The Dead, Volume 4.

Includes the stories "The Hunter", "Shadow People", and "The Harvest Moon".

While the image of Boris Karloff slowly shuffling across the screen with wraps of what looked like toilet paper wound around him may not have frightened me. The less well lit corners of esoteric magic did. As a scholar of history and particularly folklore, I had occasion to research the origins and uses of ritual magic within the Middle Ages. I was stunned by how much of what we think of as "medieval" magic actually finds its roots with the Ancient Egyptians.

Evil lurks in the ancient dark forest. Those perilous dangers have protected the Aljo-Gari tribe for generations. This year, however, the pleasant weather and mild climate have made the forest uneventful. Irritated with the monotony, Thulvia rashly ventures out to find excitement worthy of the nightly story circle. The forest does not disappoint; unspeakable terrors await.

Missing people. Stories of monsters lurking in the shadows. When Mason hikes into the woods searching for clues as to what happened to his father, he gets so much more than he bargained for. The real world is about to be uncovered.

A small therapy group arrives at Grief House hoping that a combination of isolation and hard work will help them begin the healing process each of them so desperately needs. But their presence has awakened something in the old dwelling. Something linked to the ancient stone megaliths at the rear of the property and a terrible crime, committed centuries before. Before the weekend is over, the group will learn the secrets of the Grieving Stones, and come to understand the true meaning of transformation.

Enjoy this short story by Mace Styx. George heaved a great sigh, dragging a hand over his face. “Rebecca...do you recall when your mother was pregnant with Orin?” he asked. “I don’t suppose you do”. Rebecca frowned in thought, then shook her head. “Not very well”, she said. “I would have only been around eight years old at the time. But I remembered she was bedridden during the last couple of months, wasn’t she”? “She nearly died”. George replied, and Amelia visibly flinched".

For Eli Larkin, the war is over. There is nothing left but to return home to his wife and children. As he draws nearer, he is pulled to the cornfield to discover a horrifying truth. The carnage he witnessed in the war is nothing compared to the savage road of slaughter he soon will traverse; for Donn, TX needs its caretaker, and it requires it to be born in butchery.

A Roman soldier steals the Cup of Life from a small church in Britannia, seeking to carry the Cup to Rome as a prize. Instead, he finds himself tempted by the legend that those who drink from the cup will have eternal life. What the legends don't talk about is the price of that eternal life.

Red Riding Hood, retold by the (fictional) AI Millenniarellabot after being fed fairy tales and texts on euthanasia.

10 Short Stories from 31 Horrifying Tales From The Dead, Volume IV 1. The Gallows on Hell Hill Island 2. Don't Flash Your Headlights 3.Voodoo Doll 4. No More Mr. Nice Guy 5. 666 6. Evil 7. The Vanishing Hitchhiker 8. Humans Can Lick, Too9. The Place Where There Were No Graves 10. Horror In The Wax Museum