Occult Horror

On a seemingly ordinary day, 17-year-old Lia Haddock hears news that will change her life forever: 300 men, women, and children living at a research facility in Limetown, Tennessee, have disappeared without a trace. Among the missing is Emile Haddock, Lia’s uncle. What happened to the people of Limetown? It’s all anyone can talk about. Except Lia’s parents, who refuse to discuss what might have happened there. They refuse, even, to discuss anything to do with Emile.

In Ghost of a Smile, the Ghost Finders answer a desperate call for help from one of the world’s biggest drug companies. A team of police enforcement agents has already disappeared, and the Ghost Finders have no idea how to proceed. But they’d better figure something out fast, because time is running out—and failure means an entire building full of innocent victims will cease to exist.

Born a witch, I went into forensics so that I could use my talents to close cases. This worked great in the morgue, but I’ve just been transferred to active duty at the 9th Precinct, and doing magic in front of normals is strictly forbidden. It’s the sort of thing the Arcane Council will kill you for. Unfortunately, bodies are turning up fast, and with each passing day, I have to face the deadly truth. There is a serial killer working the streets of New York, and I don’t think he’s human.

After surviving the destruction of Chaenbalu, new mysteries and greater threats await Annev and his friends in the capital city of Luqura. As they navigate the city’s perilous streets, Annev searches for a way to control his nascent magic and remove the cursed artifact now fused to his body. But what might removing it cost him?

Barcelona, 1957. Daniel Sempere y su amigo Fermín, los héroes de La Sombra del Viento, regresan de nuevo a la aventura para afrontar el mayor desafío de sus vidas. Justo cuando todo empezaba a sonreírles, un inquietante personaje visita la librería de Sempere y amenaza con desvelar un terrible secreto que lleva enterrado dos décadas en la oscura memoria de la ciudad. Al conocer la verdad, Daniel comprenderá que su destino le arrastra inexorablemente a enfrentarse con la mayor de las sombras: la que está creciendo en su interior.

Ghost stories became hugely popular during the 19th century, and the Victorians became the masters of the genre. This deliciously chilling collection of Classic Hallowe'en Stories includes authors such as Charles Dickens, Edith Wharton, Edgar Allen Poe, Elizabeth Gaskell, Henry James, Bram Stoker, H. P. Lovecraft, Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen, M. R. James and Vernon Lee.

Tasha Solomon’s world turned upside-down when the psychic abilities she had tried so hard to live with in secret suddenly made her a target stalked by unseen enemies. John Brodie is by nature, by training, and by instinct a Guardian. He is a member of an intricate and secretive network of individuals who have devoted their lives to the deadly struggle of saving psychics in danger of being taken or being killed. It is a war very few other people even know exists, and yet its tentacles stretch deeply and dangerously into every aspect of society.

Naomi Queen swore to herself she’d never get involved with criminals. She didn’t want any part of the world that raised her because she knew the trouble the malicious underground could bring. But all that changes when she witnesses a murder between a gang of mermen shifters. Swept into the maelstrom of the paranormal criminal underbelly wasn’t exactly high on her to-do list. Neither was being hunted by the murderous gang that called themselves the Rogue Waves.

Meet the ultra-rational Dr Newton Barlow. Cool, cynical, scientific, he’s the last man you’d want to be a bridge between the living and the dead. But with his academic reputation in tatters, and nothing to lose but his few remaining marbles, the great skeptic is about to discover that the past that haunts him will be nothing compared to his ghost-ridden future.

Something follows the Conover family as they drive from L.A. to Chicago. Nine year old Michael sees a face form in the window of the family car. Fourteen year old Alison sees two creepy children at a motel. A car stays behind them on the road, never passing or falling behind. Wherever the Conovers go, wherever they look, they see a large woman and her children. Patiently, relentlessly, the woman gets closer.

More than a decade ago, Mira fled her small, segregated hometown in the south to forget. With every mile she traveled, she distanced herself from her past: from her best friend Celine, mocked by their town as the only white girl with black friends; from her old neighborhood; from the eerie Woodsman plantation rumored to be haunted by the spirits of slaves; from the terrifying memory of a ghost she saw that terrible day when a dare-gone-wrong almost got Jesse—the boy she secretly loved—arrested for murder. But now Mira is back to attend Celine's wedding at the plantation.

During an archaeological dig, a hidden chamber filled with the skulls of children is discovered. At first glance they seem to have been there for thousands of years but closer examination reveals a more shocking secret. The opening of the chamber triggers a series of horrific murders, each victim mutilated and their entrails used to form a different letter of the alphabet. Who is behind this outrage? And how is it linked to a subterranean chamber thousands of years old? Inspector Stephen Wallace must unmask this crazed killer.

Finally accepting that there would be no leaving Harrow Faire, Cora sets out to try to find her new way of life as part of the family. With that comes her slow acceptance of her attraction toward and, even worse, her feelings for the Puppeteer. But just as things seemed to be falling into a pattern, they turn upside down - seemingly literally - as Harrow Faire enters “the Inversion”.

In order to save his friend's life, Wyr sentinel Rune Ainissesthai made a bargain with Vampyre Queen Carling - without knowing what she would ask from him in return. But when Rune attempts to make good on his debt, he finds a woman on the edge.

While in London, American heiress Denise Thorne disappears from a nightclub, never to be seen again. On that very same night Sonja Blue, a tough-as-nails vampire hunter-slayer, conceived in terror and born of blood, rises from the city's gutters. Saved by modern medicine before she completed her transformation into one of the undead, she becomes a living vampire, determined to fight for what remains of her humanity.

In Metsan Valo, her family home on Lake Superior, Anni Halla’s beloved grandmother has died. Among her fond memories, what Anni remembers most vividly is her grandmother’s eerie yet enchanting storytelling. By firelight she spun tall tales of spirits in the nearby forest and waters who could heal - or harm - on a whim. But of course those were only stories.

Alison Hart, a medium by trade, tours the dormitory towns of London's orbital ring road with her flint-hearted sidekick, Colette, passing on messages from beloved dead ancestors. But behind her plump, smiling persona hides a desperate woman: she knows the terrors the next life holds but must conceal them from her wide-eyed clients. At the same time she is plagued by spirits from her own past, who infiltrate her body and home, becoming stronger and nastier the more she resists....

Weird Tales magazine is known for launching a number of sub-genres of fiction—cosmic horror, swords & sorcery, dark fantasy, and others. It has also greatly added to existing genres like science fiction, horror, and—a personal favorite of editor Jonathan Maberry—weird mystery stories. Or, as they became known—occult detective tales.

Patrick Lahm is down on his luck. Late for his book signing, out of gas, and stuck in a storm. He hitches a ride to the Kurtain Motel, where he is forced to spend the night. The small motel seems harmless enough at first, but as the night drags on, Patrick and the other guests slowly begin to realize there is a lot more to their temporary lodging than meets the eye. Something evil is at work at the Kurtain Motel; something that creeps into the deepest, darkest corners of your mind and tugs at the chords of sanity until they finally break.

In 1861, foreign ships have forced open Japan's doors to the West. Missionaries have come to Japan; they are there to save men's souls, but to the Japanese they are there to spread false religion. The young Lord Genji, who possesses the power of prophecy, flees to the Cloud of Sparrows castle, where he shelters two American missionaries. Together with a legendary swordsman and an enigmatic geisha, they embark on a harrowing journey through a dangerous landscape to prepare for a final battle.