Scary Stories For Adults

From the award-winning author of Hidden Talents, two remarkable short-story collections - Kidzilla and The Witch's Monkey - together for the first time. Plus several brand-new stories. Each hilarious and harrowing. A substitute teacher finds out she has some monsters for students. A group of kids attempts a levitation trick with hair-raising results. A neighborhood is so boring the grown-ups are turning into...well...you know. And dozens more.

All Esma Siban wants this summer is to stay out of her stepmother's way. When her stepsister, Morgan, suggests a road trip to Oregon to visit a friend from high school, Esma jumps on the idea. A camping trip sounds like the perfect way to help Esma recover from breaking up with her boyfriend. But when Esma and Morgan encounter a stalker, Esma's fangs come out. The death of a Sasquatch hunter wasn't on their itinerary. A terrified Esma is unsure what to do next, so she texts her ex-boyfriend for help.

Secret Seekers Society and the Beast of Bladenboro follows the young protagonists Hunter Glenn and Elly Ann through an adventure ripe with adversity, paranormal monsters, secret societies, and most haunting of all, a life without their parents. Both siblings suffer emotional struggle from the sudden loss of their parents, as well as their physical journey into a new and strange “home”: an ancient and creepy mansion known only as the Belmonte Estate.

The girls go on an overnight and share horror stories around the campfire. But it’s the one about Cropsy, the creepy old man who lives just outside the campgrounds and is known for torturing Lakeview campers, that hits closest to home. Especially when Chelsea leaves the group for a bathroom break in the woods and doesn’t return after 45 minutes. No sooner do her bunkmates go after her then do they realize they’ve completely lost their way and are now at the mercy of the evil Cropsy’s whims!

Thirteen-year-old Sully Stringfellow has always admired the great plumber heroes of Nitro City. These wrench-wielding warriors guarded the sewers - until they were discredited by the powerful Ironwater Corporation, which has a sinister scheme to take over the city. Without the plumbers, Nitro is being overrun by mutant creatures - and things are about to go totally nuclear thanks to the potentially explosive 50th Anniversary Burrito Festival!

Twelve-year-old haunt huntress apprentice Evangeline Clement spends her days and nights studying the ways of folk magic, honing her monster-hunting skills while pursuing local bayou banshees and Johnny revenants. With her animal familiar sure to make itself known any day now, the only thing left to do is prove to the council she has heart. Then she will finally be declared a true haunt huntress. But when Evangeline and her grandmother are called to New Orleans to resolve an unusual case, she uncovers a secret that will shake her to the soles of her silver-tipped alligator-skin boots.

Finn was born to stop the monsters from invading his town. But he’d really rather not. He dreams of having an ordinary life, and right now, things can’t get any worse. Legends are running riot. Half-Hunters are out of control. And Darkmouth has been taken away from him. But something even more terrifying lurks beneath the surface: an ancient horror threatening both our world and the Infested Side. So scratch that. Things can get worse. Much worse.

For 13 years, Gracen Sullivan dreamed about a red-eyed demon named Hart Blackwell who tortured her every night. Her mother freaked when she found out about her daughter's "hallucinations" and forced Gracen to go to the doctor, who prescribed some very powerful medication, which kept Hart out of her head for five years. A week ago, Hart came back and brought a friend. But something has changed, and Gracen is seeing Hart when she's awake too. And the other "friends" in her dreams? They're dead.

Reed Monroe chose Salem University for one reason: the opportunity to study with Victoria McCoy, writer-in-residence and best-selling author of horror fiction. When she learns that a lingering illness is preventing McCoy from teaching any classes, Reed starts a fan club for other McCoy obsessives. Although it only attracts a few members, the club is her passion until she hears about the opportunity of a lifetime: Victoria McCoy is hiring a new assistant. It’s a job that any horror fan would kill for.

Max’s village is absolutely normal in every single way and on every single day—except Wednesday. Most of the townsfolk shutter their windows and lock their doors to hide away from the many peculiar things that happen—things like cats getting stuck in the vacuum cleaner and birthday cakes meeting fiery and horrific ends. But Max is too curious for that, and so, breaking every rule in the village, he searches out the cause of all the Wednesday weirdness.

Working at the mall is supposed to be fun. Trish’s job at Muffin-Mania is hardly intellectually challenging and her boss is a piece of work, but it’s worth it to have a job in the same building as her two best friends, the Hanson twins. And the hot guys who hang out there are an added bonus. But something isn’t right about this mall. It’s the oldest mall in the state, remodeled over a dozen times without rhyme or reason, and there are many strange nooks and secret passages behind the bright gleaming storefronts. Someone has been stealing housewares, furniture, and food, and now a mysterious man with ash-gray hair and a whisper-soft voice has started harassing Trish on the phone.

In this intricate, magnificently imagined sequel to Blue Balliett's international best seller, Chasing Vermeer, supersleuths Petra and Calder, along with Calder's old friend, Tommy, are cryptically drawn into another art mystery, this time involving a Frank Lloyd Wright architectural masterpiece, the Robie House.

To protect those she loves from herself, Jax will leave them all behind. She'll risk everything in a desperate search for answers. Jax Pherson fled the darkest of covens and from her own father's evil. For a brief moment, her courage was rewarded. She found everything she'd ever wanted. A normal life. An amazing boyfriend. An envy-worthy best friend. But her past put them all in danger, forcing a confrontation with the dark covens. In a life-and-death battle to save those she loved from the covens, Jax gained staggering power.

The entity is ancient. It has taken form before, in other places, other guises. This time the place is Buffalo. The form is that of a magnificent woman...created from the dreams of a child. The eternal hunger is immense. The entity must feed. And it's prey is human. Psychic detective Ryerson Biertgarten is appalled at the savagery of the first killings. Far worse lies ahead, for the detective as well as the city. He is falling in love with a wonderful woman - but Joan will die - unless he can stop... The Devouring...

Being a vegan vampire with no social graces hasn't exactly made Maddy popular with other 11-year-olds. But the day she befriends Dakota Underhill changes everything, even if Dakota only promises to be her friend for...well, for that day. Because when the leader of the Knavehearts - the most vicious of the Old World vampires - comes to town, Maddy realizes she's going to need help. She's not strong enough to face the villain alone, and there's something special about Dakota that might make her the perfect person to team up with....

Having defeated the Garr, a vicious tree monster who lived within the enchanted woods of Watch Hollow, Lucy and Oliver Tinker now have the home they’ve always dreamed of: Blackford House. Powered by a magical clock and full of curious rooms and improbable knickknacks, Blackford House brims with the promise of new adventures. Yet when a strange governess arrives from England - bringing with her the Kojima twins, Agatha and Algernon - the Tinker children’s once bright future quickly begins to dim. The Kojimas claim to be the rightful heirs to Blackford House.

Deep within the enchanted woods in the town of Watch Hollow stands the once-grand Blackford House, whose halls hold a magical secret: a giant cuckoo clock that does much more than tell time. But when the clock’s gears cease to turn, an evil presence lurking among the trees begins to come out of the shadows.

Ernestine Montgomery is the kind of kid who gets things done. She's smart, prepared, and always knows just what to do. But there's big trouble brewing inside the walls of the rambling old mansion where she lives... and only Ernestine can decipher the clues that point in one direction - murder! Can Ernestine solve the mystery before catastrophe strikes?

Tessa Dark and her friends make it to the island, but her feelings are still torn between Joe and Richard. Tessa faces greater challenges when she is welcomed by the mysterious Duncan Grey. Finding themselves in a desperate game of survival, Tessa and her group are left hanging on for their very lives.

While 18-year-old Tessa Dark was serving her prison sentence for murder, the world beyond her cell walls changed forever. The thunder came and destroyed the world she had once known. Trapped inside the prison and faced with no future, Tessa's only glimmer of hope is her friendship with fellow inmate Joe McBride. Despite Tessa's fears, Joe decides to go beyond the prison walls to seek help. But when he fails to return, Tessa is determined to go and search for him.