Literary Horror

The five stories that made up R.B. Russell's debut collection, Putting the Pieces in Place, were described on first publication as demonstrating 'a subtle mastery of the macabre. Enigmatic and enticing, they combine a pleasing respect for the great tradition of supernatural fiction with a chilling contemporary European resonance.'

"If it were I who were to be always young and the picture to grow old, I would give my soul for it." So says Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde's brilliant creation who sells his soul for youth and beauty.

David is a modest man who works in a bank, lives in a rooming house, and enjoys books and quiet walks by the lake. Three months after unexpectedly being fired from his job, he takes a temporary position at a mortuary. There, sitting alone in the "slumber room" one late afternoon, he sees something he cannot comprehend, something no science can explain, something that will force him to question everything he believes in, including himself.

Medusa's Ankles celebrates the very best of A. S. Byatt's short fiction, carefully selected from a lifetime of writing. Peopled by artists, poets, and fabulous creatures, the stories blaze with creativity and color. From ancient myth to a British candy factory, from a Chinese restaurant to a Mediterranean swimming pool, from a Turkish bazaar to a fairy-tale palace, Byatt transports her listeners beyond the veneer of the ordinary - even beyond the gloss of the fantastical - to places rich and strange and wholly unforgettable.

Dove sono finite le persone scomparse lungo l'autostrada sull'Appennino? Il mistero è fitto e l'indagine è affidata a due agenti molto speciali: Sara Milani, giovane poliziotta dal grande intuito, e Lauro Sebino, adolescente dotato di facoltà paranormali. Insieme hanno scoperto segreti inconfessabili, risolvendo i casi più complicati: questo non fa eccezione. Forse la chiave di tutto è nelle visioni di Lauro, infestate da occhi color del ghiaccio: a chi appartengono questi occhi letali? Per scoprirlo serve una nuova indagine... da brividi.

Caty non è come tutti gli altri fantasmi: non sa fluttuare e quando dorme sogna. Spesso i suoi sogni si trasformano in incubi terrificanti. Da quando è uno spettro, poi, lei e i suoi amici, il gatto Pinky e lo scienziato Doc, hanno lottato uniti contro il Male, affrontando mostri terribili. Un giorno però tra loro arriva un nuovo spettro, che cerca di metterli uno contro l'altro. Cosa vuole veramente questo intruso? Per non perdere i suoi compagni, Caty è pronta ad affrontare anche le paure più insormontabili: così ha inizio la sua più spaventosa avventura.

L'agente Sara Milani e il suo giovane braccio destro, Lauro, tornano a lavorare insieme per un'indagine all'ultimo sospiro... In un piccolo paese nella ridente e florida Val Vignè si aggira un pericoloso assassino, che nessuno riesce a fermare. Ma chi o cosa sarà questa creatura che uccide, per poi svanire nel nulla? Solo due veri esperti del brivido come Lauro e Sara potranno risolvere il caso, a patto di riuscire a sopravvivere alla misteriosa mano che colpisce ogni dodici del mese, senza lasciare scampo.

Caty sa che un'orribile sciagura sta per abbattersi su Mirandola, il suo paese, già devastato dal terremoto: lo ha capito grazie agli incubi che la tormentano nel sonno. Ma i fantasmi come lei non dovrebbero fare né sogni né incubi, e questo è solo il primo di molti, inquietanti episodi che si ripetono un giorno dopo l'altro. Per fortuna, Caty non è sola: c'è Pinky, il suo gatto e animale-guida, e Doc, il fantasma-scienziato, e molti altri spettri, uno più strano dell'altro. Riusciranno Caty e i suoi amici a sventare la terribile minaccia?

Al risveglio da una caduta, Caterina, detta Caty, si ritrova davanti un gatto nero che parla. E non è l'unica stranezza: lei è diventata invisibile, impalpabile... Incredibile, è diventata un fantasma! Nella nuova dimensione, Caty entra in contatto con spettri buffi, antichi e moderni, con cui riesce a comunicare. Ma come mai è diventata uno di loro? Come è morta? Mentre i ricordi affiorano, Caty scopre di essere stata assassinata. Adesso, però, non c'è un minuto da perdere: l'assassino sta per colpire ancora e l'omicidio di Caty è solo l'inizio.

The old house waited. For years there had been rumors that the owner, Lilith Martin, had been part of an unholy cult. People spoke of blasphemous rituals, black rites filled with blood, sex...and sacrifices. Then Lilith died and the house sat empty. Until now. Lilith’s nephew, Chris, and his wife, Ellie, are moving in. Ellie isn’t happy about living in such a dark, foreboding place, but she wants to get pregnant and this house has a lot more room to raise a baby than their apartment. Unfortunately, she and Chris will soon learn that Lilith has other plans.

Venti anni dopo la pubblicazione del primo romanzo gotico, "Il monaco" di Lewis, viene pubblicato questo romanzo di Hoffmann che approfondisce gli stessi temi con un'aggiunta di esoterismo; tale ispirazione viene addirittura dichiarata in un punto del libro, quando l'eroina riferisce di aver letto il libro e di esserne stata influenzata.

After she nearly ruins her family with a terrible misstep, Elena Spira is sent to Venice to escape disgrace and to atone by caring for the ailing Samuel Farber. But the crumbling and decaying Ca' Basilio palazzo, where Samuel is ensconced, holds tragic secrets, and little does Elena know how profoundly they will impact her.

Brightness Falls isn't just the name of the TV show that womanizing man-child Andrew Ware has been painstakingly creating for the last couple years, it's also his hometown. A town that he loves as much as he hates. By request of no one, Andrew returns home to help his sister separate from her husband, only to become sidetracked by a beautiful woman. A few drinks and few compliments later the woman is dead, killed in a tragic oral sex accident. In which Andrew would have lost his own life if it weren’t for the dapperly dressed, antler-headed, human skeleton named Doug.

Ava, 14 years old and totally on her own, has still not fully processed her mother’s death when she finds herself on a train heading to New Orleans, to stay with Lane, the grandmother she barely remembers. Lane is a well-known artist in the New Orleans art scene. She spends most of her days in a pot-smoke haze, sipping iced coffee, and painting. Her grip on reality is shaky at best, but her work provides a comfort. Ava’s arrival unsettles Lane. The girl bears an uncanny resemblance to her daughter, whom she was estranged from before her death.

The patriarch of the Licht family, Abraham has raised a brood of talented con artists, children molded in his image, and experts in The Game, his calling and philosophy of life. Traveling from one small town to the next across the continent, from the Northeast to the frontier West, they skillfully swindle unsuspecting victims, playing on their greed, lust, pride, and small-mindedness. Despite their success, Abraham cannot banish a past that haunts him: the ghost of his ancestor Sarah Licht, a former con woman who met with a gruesome fate.

The (black) magical season is here - and whether it's a solstice seance gone demonically wrong with the incomparable Kim Harrison, a grossly misshapen Christmas with the remarkable Lynsay Sands, a blood-chilling-and-spilling New Year's with the wonderful Marjorie M. Liu, or a super-powered Thanksgiving with the phenomenal Vicki Pettersson, one thing is for certain: in the able hands of these exceptional dark side explorers, the holidays are going to be deliciously hellish!

You did nothing. That doesn’t mean you’re innocent. On a night out, four friends witness a stranger in trouble. They decide to do nothing to help. Later, a body washes up on the banks of the Thames - and the group realises that ignoring the woman has left blood on their hands. But why did each of them refuse to step in? Why did none of them want to be noticed that night? Who is really responsible? And is it possible that the victim was not really a stranger at all?

Don’t think about it...don’t talk about it...and if you feel a prickling on the back of your neck...don’t turn around! Matt Hardison doesn’t believe in the Shadowstealer, an evil spirit that could steal a person’s shadow and demand they sacrifice pieces of themselves. It was just a local boogeyman, a gruesome campfire yarn to frighten youngsters; not something that adults took seriously. The Shadowstealer is Matt’s new novel, a bestseller featuring the creepy legend that frightened him as a child.

Sir Charles Ravenstreet, in his mid-50s, is unmarried, childless, and lives only for his work in the fast-paced world of business. When he is forced out of his job to make room for someone younger, Sir Charles finds himself at a loose end and facing the dismal prospect of an empty future.

En la aldea medieval de Lapvona, el pequeño Marek vive en la más absoluta pobreza con su padre Jude, viudo, devoto y agresivo. Cojo, con la cara deforme y una concepción distorsionada de la realidad, Marek solo halla consuelo en su temor de Dios y en sus visitas a Ina, una anciana con saberes ocultos que vive alejada del mundo. Cuando una muerte violenta lo sitúa en el epicentro de la vida palaciega, Marek pasa a convertirse en un auténtico aristócrata dentro de la corte del corrupto y ensimismado señor feudal que gobierna Lapvona.