Psychological Thriller Short Stories

When you're only five years old the world is held together by strange and mysterious things like zippers. And the greatest mystery is what ants do when they go down in the ground. Trying to follow the ants, Johnny opened the zipper that turned the world inside out.

Robert Hunter, Anfang zwanzig, ist das Wunderkind der amerikanischen Polizei. Er verfügt über eine besondere Gabe: Er weiß, was Mörder denken. Als jüngster Ermittler in der Geschichte der USA tritt er in den Dienst des LAPD Morddezernats. Worüber sein neuer Chef alles andere als glücklich ist. Was soll er mit diesem Anfänger? Er übergibt ihm einen einfachen Selbstmord. Am Tatort angekommen, stellt Hunter fest, dass das Apartment von innen verschlossen war. Auf dem Bett liegt eine junge Frau in einer riesigen Blutlache.

Thirty years hasn't changed Las Vegas - the desert just got dirtier. The biggest game in town centers on a massive, deadly roller coaster that winds its way through the Strip's most famous attractions. On the first Saturday of every month, twenty-four desperate passengers get strapped into the notorious ride and gamble with their lives in a twisted game of chance, to the thrill of webcast audiences worldwide. One of them will win, and one will die, but the other twenty-two will escape with nothing but their lives.

Gerald is his Mother's precious one, but his father doesn't share her opinion and neither do his school friends. He is both pampered and bullied until he discovers a unique telepathic skill. Aged seven, he wonders, what if everyone were a house, and what type of house would they be? These two moments eventually come together in adulthood, with frightening consequences....

Twenty-eight-year-old Kade hasn't been able to make it past his sidewalk in eight years. In this chilling short story, you will be given a glimpse into the inner workings of his mind as he goes through the process of trying to face his irrational but very real fears.

Marguerite Antonia Caludio grew up in the looming shadow of her mother, a beautiful, talented flamenco dancer. But Anastasia had been taken down by breast cancer when Marguerite was only 14, and Marguerite's grandparents succumbed to grief only scant months later. Now, Marguerite lives along in the same three-bedroom apartment, maintaining the shrine to all which has been lost.

From Book 1: Warning cliffhangers and jaw-droppers ahead! Perfect for fans of The Leftovers, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Gone Girl...a chilling pause-resister with delicious dialogue and a plot that creeps and crawls! Home, Syd West’s twisted thriller series, will get under your skin!

Haruki is traveling to the vast plains of Hokkaido, Japan, on a lone bus about to enter a three-kilometer-long tunnel. He is grieving for the loss of his wife when the tunnel collapses and traps the bus inside. In the darkness that follows, he manages to fumble out of the bus with the only other survivor, an astute and gentle woman who reminds him of his late wife. Without any light to guide them and with only each other to depend on, they try to escape the stifling darkness and along the way find themselves confronted by their pasts and given their last chance at intimacy, and ultimately, absolution.

Un'oscura genia di umanoidi che minaccia la sopravvivenza di tutti gli uomini. Una folle fuga nel microcosmo psichedelico della metropolitana di Londra. Un cagnolino in grado di diventare lo strumento più forte del male assoluto. Il lato in ombra della mente può oltrepassare i limiti della ragione, confondendosi con la realtà e sostituirsi a essa? I racconti di "È solo nella tua mente ed è reale" si muovono in queste atmosfere stranianti e bizzarre, inquietanti e surreali, cercando di rispondere al segreto della psiche con uno sguardo attento e brillante.

This is a story about one family's fight with a mentally ill mother and how as she gets further and further away from reality; how the family falls apart.

Meet Catherine and Erin. The relationship is complicated and sometimes toxic. When they invite another friend into their life, they discover that, of the three, only one of them can survive. Who will outlive the dysfunction?

After Chloe and her daughter, Freya, are rescued from disaster by a man, Chloe decides she must find him again to thank him. But instead of meeting her knight in shining armour, she comes across Nadine Caspian, who warns her to stay away from him. The man is dangerous, Nadine claims, and a compulsive liar. Alarmed, Chloe knows that the sensible choice would be to walk away. But she is too curious. What could Nadine have meant?

In stories like "A Night in the Cemetery," "Night of Horror," and "Murder," not only will Chekhov's dark humor and twisted crimes satisfy even the most hardboiled of mystery fans, but readers will again appreciate the penetrating, absurdist insight into the human condition that only Chekhov can bring. Whether it is the death of a young amateur playwright at the hands of an editor who hates bad writing, or a drunken civil servant who ends up trapped in a graveyard, these stories overflow with the unforgettable characters and unique sensibility that will forever make Chekhov one of the most fascinating figures in literature.

It’s the hottest winter on record, but Raymond’s demanding, bedridden mother doesn’t mind. She likes it warm. Lately, however, control over the thermostat has become a nasty struggle. And each morning that she’s still alive is a suffocating new challenge for Raymond. How high can the mercury climb before he boils over?

Glitzer und Staub – zwei Dinge, die nicht zusammengehören und doch hier an diesem Ort vereint sind wie ein Paar Socken, von denen eines ein Loch hat. Ich bin die Socke mit dem Loch, war es immer gewesen. Ich bin der Staub, den man gern unter den Teppich kehrt wie unliebsame Wahrheiten. Melissa kehrt nach fünfzehn Jahren an jenen Ort zurück, wo sie ihre Kindheit verbrachte. Ihre Mutter überreicht ihr einen Karton, in dem ein altes Handy liegt. Es empfängt Nachrichten, die nicht real sein können. Oder doch? Erinnerungen sind subjektive Wahrnehmungen, die unser Gehirn speichert.

Poison-tongued film critic Reginald Wright is known for his creative insults and intolerance for the garbage culture, insufferable rudeness, and thoughtless racism of predictably common people. Now, against his better judgment, and with a marriage in crisis, he’s attempting a getaway in the Poconos that quickly fulfills his every low expectation. In fact, it’s becoming a nightmare. And that’s just what Reginald needs to wake up.

The serial killer takes on many guises. But what happens when you unknowingly take him as your most trusted and loyal husband? Pathological is proof that even though you think you know your spouse inside and out, you might not really know him at all. This is the first of many Digital Shorts from Vincent Zandri.

Neighbors are shocked when Harold Pardee reports his wife dead. No one even knew the eccentric TV repairman was married. Within hours, horrible rumors spread about what that poor woman must have endured for 30 years. Until the Pardees' carefully guarded world is exposed. New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Haigh delivers an endearing short story about our misguided perception of strangers, the nature of love, and the need for secrets.

Since he was a child, Jack’s been tormented by the Imp—a diabolical unseen presence that feeds his darkest impulses with horrifying images. To protect others from the monster’s twisted desires, Jack lives in self-imposed exile, a plan that’s worked well…until Celia. His new neighbor’s warmth and charisma break through Jack’s defensive walls, but letting her in means exposing her to the Imp.

Karley Diobi is the wife of successful mayor of Brockton, Massachusetts, Cash Diobi. While their marriage seems successful to the public, Karley is dealing with hell indoors. Trying to portray the perfect mayor wife, Karley tries to find her way out by any means necessary.