Psychological Science

Each winter the crew at the Shackleton South Pole Research Facility faces nine months of isolation, round-the-clock darkness, and one of the most extreme climates on the planet. For thirty-something mechanical engineer Cass Jennings, Antarctica offers an opportunity to finally escape the guilt of her troubled past and to rebuild her life. But the death of a colleague triggers a series of mysterious incidents that push Cass and the rest of the forty-four-person crew to the limits of their sanity and endurance.

In the midst of a devastating epidemic, how far will a desperate mother go to keep her loved ones safe? There is a deadly virus spreading around the world. At first it is a distant alarm bell in the background of Hannah's comfortable suburban life. Then suddenly, it has arrived on the doorstep. The quarantine traps Hannah, her husband, and their young sons in their home and forces them to rely on their own resourcefulness as water and power supplies are cut, food reserves dwindle, and their formerly idyllic backyard and quiet street become battlefields.

After Henry's girlfriend, Val, leaves him and transfers to another school, his grief begins to manifest itself in bizarre and horrifying ways. Cause and effect, once so reliable, no longer appear to be related in any recognizable manner. Either he's hallucinating, or the strength of his heartbreak over Val has unhinged reality itself.

The Addisons - Julia and Tonio, 10-year-old Dewey, and derelict Uncle Robbie - are driving home, cross-country, after collecting Robbie from yet another trip to rehab. When a terrifying blizzard strikes outside the town of Good Night, Idaho, they seek refuge in the town at the Travelers Rest, a formerly opulent but now crumbling and eerie hotel where the physical laws of the universe are bent.

These three novella-length tales explore psychological themes latent in the classic Grimm versions. Rather than presenting two-dimensional "good" heroines pitted against "evil" step-mothers, Grim portrays fully realized characters grappling with shame and self-doubt, suffering at the hands of mothers best thought of as narcissistic in modern terminology. Due to their dark themes and some graphic sexual material, these tales are not for the faint of heart and are unsuitable for children.

Starvation, violence, and death run rampant in the remains of our once-proud country. Federal troops, commissioned to protect the homeland, have turned their guns on the lawless population. Citizens find shelter in government safe zones while ruthless gangs enforce their will outside the camps. When the military transforms Washington's life-saving food bank into a gun collection center in order to disarm all but the soldiers themselves, riots ensue.

John Harmon has tried everything to cure his severe insomnia: an endless stream of doctors, treatments, and multi-colored pills. So when he's finally admitted into an experimental sleep study promising to cure his ailment and pay for his daughter's chemotherapy, it's convenient that he doesn't suspect a thing. But the Skyline Facility, nestled in the mountains and only accessible by helicopter, is anything but normal.

Lou Campion has joined the WAAFs, against the wishes of her parents and twin sister, Sasha. Lou's always been a rebel, but now finds that if she wants to succeed, she'll have to follow extremely strict rules. Can she do this, or will it all end in deep disgrace? Tragedy haunts the other members of the family, as Katie's plans for the future are dashed, Fran's young husband is close to death, and Bella's impossible passion has to remain a close secret. Yet even in the darkest hour, there is hope.

Michael B. Koep’s final installment in the Newirth Mythology trilogy brings a psychologist face to face with his greatest fear: madness. On the other side of the world, a professor of mythology struggles to interpret a sudden shift in the historical timeline, the mysterious discovery of the ruins of an ancient city, and the anomalous nature of Loche’s writing.

Both Peter Frazier and Trent Lockley thought this about the families they were born into. Two boys, the same age, miles apart. They are both from small Texas towns, born in the same hospital, on the same day. However, their lives turned out to be nothing alike. The Frazier family is a large, lively bunch. The fact that they are close-knit and share every detail of their lives with each other always seemed a little strange to Peter. Although he loves every one of his six siblings and his overly affectionate parents, he couldn’t help but feel out of place around them.

A devastating tsunami is heading towards the Cornish coast. With no early warning and limited means of escape, many people won’t get away in time. While the terrifying reality of the news hits home, one young woman posts a message on Facebook: ‘With nowhere to run to, I’m heading to my favourite beach to watch the sunset, who wants to join me?’ A small group of people follow her lead and head towards the beach; each of them are harbouring their own stories - and their own secrets.

Auf dem Planeten Solaris scheinen die Gesetze der Physik keine Geltung zu besitzen. Eine geheimnisvolle Kraft beeinflusst die Bewegungen des geheimnisvollen Ozeans, der die gesamte Oberfläche bedeckt. Als der Wissenschaftler Kelvin auf der Raumstation von Solaris eintrifft, stößt er auf seltsame Anzeichen von Chaos und Auflösung. Die zwei Besatzungsmitglieder verhalten sich merkwürdig, als würden sie von einer unaussprechlichen Furcht beherrscht.

Eight years after a virus has left half of the population of the world mentally unstable, a man named Ethan Chase enters into a program to become a "Sitter", or caretaker, to two "Unstables". One of which, is a girl, a "Mirror", who believes that she leaves for Paris every Sunday and returns on Tuesday and often mimics and repeats the actions of those around her. The other, a highly functioning "Amnesiac" named Noah who is at one moment lucid and the next completely incoherent.

Twenty years of addiction to cloud, a drug which wipes the user’s short-term memory, have left single mom Mellie with her mind in fragments. With the help of a tough-minded sponsor, and motivated by her own medically challenged daughter, Mellie clings to a fragile sobriety. Then, on the evening of her 29th day sober, a stranger pulls into her driveway and her heart surges. However, when Mellie’s pursuit of this man and the past they may share threatens her sponsor, Mellie will have to put her tiny family and her recovery at risk in hopes of saving the woman who saved her first.

Gabriel is running out of time. Desperately clinging to his humanity, the 21-year-old half-demon is determined to deny the dark destiny his father insists he fulfill. And if he can’t exorcise the manipulative, vile thing driving him to atrocities by his next birthday, the mortal world is doomed. Earth is the last place Aura wants to be. She escaped this nightmare once, and she definitely doesn’t want to go back just to help some monster control his urges.

Dr. Peter Andresen is a broken man. Once a highly respected psychiatrist, he lives alone, suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder that he steadfastly denies. As the story begins, Peter walks alone on a deserted beach. He doesn't know where he is or what he's doing until he encounters a beautiful young woman named Holly Be. She knows his story and it is her assigned mission to restore meaning to his life. But she fails to maintain the emotional distance required to prevent them from falling in love.

While on vacation on an idyllic island called Miden, a seemingly aimless woman meets an attractive man and leaves her country to be with him. A few months later, newly pregnant and just beginning to feel comfortable in her lover's space, her life is upended when a girl arrives at the door. Slight and pretty, the girl discloses a drawn out and violent affair she's had with her professor, the father of the woman's unborn child. In alternating perspectives, the professor and his girlfriend reflect upon their lives, each other, and their interloper.

When is a suicide not a suicide? You Can Leave, a novel by Laurie Calhoun, portrays a dark, disturbing, dystopic world where dissenters are permanently silenced whenever perceived of as threats by ruthless sociopaths occupying the highest corridors of power. The narrator relays her experiences at the hands of “the new mob”, a coordinated network of operatives enlisted from all walks of life on a “need to know” basis to carry out what appear to be trivial tasks for enticing sums of money. Lost in the labyrinth of an insane bureaucracy run amok, the heroine charts her path to survival using the only available means: her capacity to think. But will that be taken away from her as well?

Commercial deep-sea diver Solvig has a secret. She wants to be one of the first human beings to colonize Mars, and she is one of a hundred people shortlisted by the Mars Project to do just that. But to fulfill her ambition, she will have to leave behind everything she has ever known - for the rest of her life. As the prospect of heading to space becomes more real, 37-year-old Solvig is forced to define who she really is. Will she come clean to James, her partner, about her plans? Or will she turn her back on the project and commit to her life on Earth?

Step into a haunting vision of the future. In the year 2032, a relentless pandemic grips the world, spreading an insidious madness that knows no bounds. As society grapples with the pervasive grip of insanity, only a few glimmers of hope emerge—innovative technologies promising to shield minds from the relentless torment. But at what cost? Is surrendering one's humanity the only path to salvation?