Horror Step

On a snowy New Year's Eve, Fennrick negotiates one last hurrah in a seedy internet cafe, but at the stroke of midnight, he receives a tantalizing invitation: "You have been invited to join the Tutorial." And when presented with the available difficulty levels, he makes the obvious choice: Hell. Soon, Fennrick finds himself in frenzied, violent combat, and it's a toss-up as to which he'll lose first: his life or what little sanity he has left. With his criminal record, estranged family, and nonexistent future, he's ready to accept death.

Listeners beware: In this startling world, desperate wishes have an unexpected cost, beautiful trinkets reveal appalling powers, and harmless pranks can go awry in ghastly ways.

When former MMORPG champion (and current indebted, isolated madman) Lo Fennrick joined the Tutorial, it seemed grit, dedication, and a willingness to kill were all he needed in order to beat each hellish floor. But as he enters the ashy wastes of this next one, he finds a familiar face awaiting him—alongside a challenge that might prove to be more than he can handle.

Melanie doesn't understand why she's not allowed in the cellar, and the curiosity is getting the better of her. Finally, she's determined there's no way around it. Even if her parents and her nanny will be angry she just has to understand why she hears noises and why she's not allowed inside. This thrilling little gem is yet another example of why Arthur Pendryll is rapidly gaining a name in the world of short horror fiction.

R. E. Howard created Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja, and Solomon Kane. Together with H. P. Lovecraft and others, R. E. Howard was one of the most prominent purveyors of the Cthulhu Mythos (the best-known contemporary author of this fictional mythology is Stephen King). "The Horror from the Mound" and "The Fearsome Touch of Death" are excellent even by today’s standards - and the stories are further highlighted by incredible vocal performances, stunning music, and superb graphics on the cover.

Adam lost his entire life to alcohol, but tonight, he is one year sober. While he never expects to be happy ever again, he is at least back in control of his life. That is, until a ghostly face appears at the window and turns his world into a nightmare. Now, the only people he can rely on are his fellow drunks, and some of them are keeping secrets.

"The Outsider" is one of most often published short stories by H. P. Lovecraft, and it has proven to be very popular with both readers and listeners. Lovecraft himself thought that he came near to Poe's style in this story (the first paragraphs are an echo of "Berenice" by E. A. Poe, and the inspiration of "The Masque of Red Death" is also pretty clear). This short story is probably the most elaborate story by Lovecraft, with echoes of his gurus and multifaceted references. The atmosphere is emphasized by actors' performances, music, and the graphics on the cover.

The author of the first short story - "The Haunted Dolls' House" - is Montague Rhodes James, "master of terror and monstrous visions". "Cool Air" and "Azathoth" by Howard Phillips Lovecraft complete the collection. The atmosphere of horror and mystery is underlined by excellent performances by all actors and music.

Have you ever wanted to write a horror story, but didn't know how to start or proceed? In this easy, step-by-step guide, HowExpert presents Randal Schaffer who is a horror fiction writer/enthusiast/fan who will walk you through the process of not just writing a compelling horror story, but writing fiction stories in general.

Eight people escape zombie-infested New York. They have only one thing in common: the addict gene. The same genetic quirk that makes alcoholics and addicts susceptible to booze and drugs gives them a mysterious ability to evade the undead. But that's not enough to unite them. They're an unlikely crew: A Botoxed Upper East Sider; a drug dealer; a resentful daughter of addicts; a recovering AA guy; a Japanese ex-dope fiend; an addicted Ivy Leaguer; and a Mexican immigrant.

"Jekzorcist. Shag vtoroj. Igra nachinaetsja" - fantasticheskaja povest' Pavla Korneva, zhanr geroicheskaja fantastika, boevoe fjentezi. Besy iz veka v vek rvutsja v dushi ljudej iz seroj bezdny, v kotoroj nikogda nichego ne proishodilo i nikogda nichego proishodit' ne budet...Jekzorcisty i jekzekutory molitvami i ognem spasajut dushi besnovatyh i izgonjajut nechistyh obratno v porodivshuju ih pustotu...Tak bylo s samogo sotvorenija mira i tak dolzhno bylo byt' do konca ego dnej.

Trapped between his real life and his dreams of being a creative writer Adam lives in quiet desperation, only on his daily commute on the train to Grand Central does he find he is able to escape in private world writing and imagination. His life as an accountant is an endless grey reality -- until one day as the train moves into the darkness of the tunnel.

In the mode of a story like the classic Twilight Zone television series: A young woman loses herself in the rush of Grand Central Station, waking up in a mysterious place with a bizarre history....

The Ghosts of Grand Central stories are interwoven with the dual themes of ghosts and the Grand Central Station Terminal. The stories vary in time period from the 1800s to the present, from pure imagination to historically based fiction. Some of the stories are humorous, some thought provoking, and some are frightening. Generally, the stories are short in length, the thought being that one might listen to this audiobook on a train, and that in transit concentration and time may be limited.

A hauntingly handsome young British man, aspiring to model stardom, finds an escape from romantic and financial problems when a train conductor at Grand Central shares a hidden secret with him. What at first seems an amazing underground palace of mystery leads him to unexpected consequences. Later in the story, ghostly cocktails are toasted in the Campbell Apartment (another Grand Central secret).

The Humorist: Adventures in Adulting & Horror Movies captures the moments both silly and sincere that define the process of coming-of-age, weaving in unexpected analogies to the history of horror cinema that speak to our universal need for human connection through cultural objects, the gift of fear, and the healing power of laughter.

"Dracula's Guest" is one of the stories published only after Stoker's death, and even though Dracula is in the title, he will not make it into the story. Interestingly enough, Jonathan Harker, the actual guest - also does not appear. This short story is actually an original introduction to Dracula. It is a slightly altered version of a chapter of the novel that was discarded during preparations for print. The final story is "The Room in the Tower", by Edward Frederic Benson. Strange, unsettling atmosphere is present right from the beginning, and it intensifies via recurrent nightmares - right up to the shocking climax of the final scene.

The pioneer of modern-era horror stories, Howard Phillips Lovecraft, meets one of his "gurus" - Edgar Allan Poe (Lovecraft himself is sometimes referred to as E. A. Poe's direct successor). "William Wilson" is a typical specimen of Poe’s fantastic, even mystic style that won him world renown. H. P. Lovecraft is also the author of the other two short stories - "The Terrible Old Man" and "Ex Oblivione". Curiously enough, Lovecraft's name now defines one of the subgenres of horror literature (the fear of the unknown, as opposed to a bloodbath).

Ghost stories by M. R. James are pretty varied, and based on the genre of Gothic novels. The plot of "Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad" is unveiled when Professor Parkins finds a whistle engraved with a Latin inscription... and blows it. "The School Story", builds a mystic and fearsome atmosphere around a mysterious Byzantine coin. Once again, well-chosen voices, superb music, and original cover-graphics serve to enhance the feel of the stories.

"Beyond the Wall of Sleep" is a short story from 1919 based on the innovative (at that time) idea of using psychology for explaining real-life issues. Incidentally, a near namesake song ("Behind the Wall of Sleep") appeared on the debut album of Black Sabbath. The second story, "From Beyond" (written in 1920, published in 1934), hovers around the theme of a mad scientist willing to peek beyond reality. It inspired a few films, songs by death-metal bands, and it even features in the PC game, "Half-Life". The last story of the trio is "The Transition of Juan Romero", from 1919. The feature "character" is a mysterious evil encountered in an ancient ritual to the Mexican deity, Huitzilopochtli.