Scary Thriller Suspense

The second volume in the Guys Read Library of Great Reading is chock-full of mystery, intrigue, and nefarious activity. Featuring some of the best writers around, and compiled by certified guy Jon Scieszka, Guys Read: Thriller is a pulse-pounding collection of brand-new short stories, each one guaranteed to keep you riveted until the final page.

So what happens when Bigfoot, the Trickster Coyote, the ghost of Sam Steele and the long-lost spirit of The Prophet, brother to the mighty Tecumseh and reincarnated in the form of a giant pink flying Winnebago go toe-to-toe with dark supernatural forces in a cross-Canada battle ranging from Cape Breton to Labrador to Thunder Bay? I'm not saying that it is going to be pretty...

Wren, Shrike, and Lark are three, very special siblings with one unusual calling. Raised by a father gifted with the ability to sense impending death, his visions allowed them to save people’s lives. But they never imagined meddling with fate would have horrific consequences. Now their beloved father is dead, murdered by one of the people they saved. And the Rose siblings have unearthed a terrifying secret: those who were meant to die have become hosts for demonic spirits from beyond. Ghostly apparitions who feed on misery and pain. And who delight in torturing their human victims.

A bloodthirsty evil has been unleashed. And only one man can stop it.... Dan Tate is alone. His PTSD drove his wife away years ago. Now he is left with two children he barely sees, and a head full of nightmares that grow worse each day. But Dan has one very special gift...the spirits of the dead speak to him. With the help of a young ghost, Dan works to bring peace to these restless souls. As Dan struggles to heal his own mental scars, a dark presence grows in the shadowy streets of his small town.

Benton Bertrand is a banshee, a supernatural harbinger of doom. Each night he is plagued by terrifying dreams, prophecies of death seen through the eye of killers. And this time, the face he sees in his nightmare is his own… After countless brushes with the paranormal, Benton returns home and struggles to reconnect with his parents. But his efforts to build a relationship with his estranged family are quickly overshadowed by another premonition of death. Something evil is stalking him. He can feel it watching, waiting, closing in.

Dean Lockwood learned a terrifying truth at a very young age…that ghosts were real! The Lockwoods weren’t your typical family. For decades, beginning with Dean’s grandparents, they traveled around the country helping others get answers to the unexplainable and horrifying supernatural occurrences they were going through. Dean went through life dealing with ridicule over his family’s history in the paranormal field. One day, he finally hit his breaking point and called out his bullies.

When Gilda lands a summer internship at Washington, D.C.'s International Spy Museum, she finds herself embroiled in both a museum haunting and a real case of espionage. While investigating a cemetery where Abraham Lincoln's son was once buried, Gilda stumbles upon a spy's "dead drop" of classified information. Gilda's efforts to decode the cryptic message lead to further intrigues: Is she on the trail of a mole operating inside the U.S. intelligence community?

Sixteen-year-old Lex Bartleby is a teenage grim reaper with the bizarre ability to Damn souls. That makes her pretty scary, even to fellow Grims. But after inadvertently transferring her ability to Zara, a murderous outlaw, Lex is a pariah in Croak, the little town she calls home. To escape the townspeople’s wrath, she and her friends embark on a wild road trip to DeMyse. Though this sparkling desert oasis is full of luxuries and amusements, it feels like a prison to Lex.

From the author of the Chicagoland Vampires novels, a new series about a boarding school filled with something worse than homework. Lily's parents have sent her to a fancy boarding school in Chicago filled with the ultra-rich. If that wasn't bad enough, she's hearing and seeing bizarre things on St. Sophie's creepy campus. Her roommate, Scout, keeps her sane, but keeps disappearing at night. When one day Lily finds Scout running from real-life monsters, she learns the hard way that Scout is involved in a splinter group of rebel teens.They protect Chicago from demons, vamps, and dark magic users....

After years of being away, Mihail Vaduva has long forgotten about his grandmother and his ancestral home. That is, until he comes across an exciting opportunity to reconnect with his family’s history. Enticed by his newfound escape from boarding school, Mihail decides to spend his last year of high school in Castle Vaduva. But he never could have expected the horror hidden within the ancient walls.

Mihail Vaduva didn’t know that returning to his ancestral home would throw him into a battleground between the living and the dead. His only defense against the madness was his friend and medium, Abe Claymont. Together, they bought themselves a few months of peace. And yet, the combined rage of hundreds of lost souls cannot be contained for long.

Signed over 200 years ago, the Blood Contract ensured the sanctity of the Blood lands. In return, the Blood family dedicated their lives, and their deaths to the protection of the town of Thorne. For many years, the town of Thorne was nothing more than a picturesque New England village. But in modern day, the town is enjoying a boom in real estate development. To satisfy the developers with enough land, the town has decided to break the Blood Contract...and the people of Thorne are going to learn that there is a price for ignorance.

For nearly three and a half centuries, the Boylan House has stood at the end of Meeting House Road. And something in that house has been killing boys for centuries. The town of Monson is a quaint and quiet New England town. Yet the house is terrifying and has been for as long as anyone can remember. Adults put the thing out of mind and ignore the fears of their children, admonishing them to stay away.

The disappearance of the most powerful magician in all the lands has left a power vacuum. In his absence, something beneath the ocean is preparing to take the world for its own. And as a portent washes upon the streets, making them slick with rain as red as blood, the operatives at The Circle must take it upon themselves to save the world

The Walls Around Us introduces Violet, a dancer on the cusp of stardom, and Amber, who's been jailed in a juvenile detention home for years. Tying them together is the home's long-dead Orianna, who holds the key to dark mysteries.

In the sprawling urban labyrinth of Hollow City, Halloween night is no longer a time of joy and candy-filled streets. It’s a night of fear, where parents lock their doors, and children dare not venture out in costume. For years, a shadow has loomed over the city, a figure known only as "The Reaper." He is a serial killer who targets trick-or-treaters, leaving behind nothing but eerie messages and grisly scenes. The police are helpless, taunted by his chilling clues and unable to stop his reign of terror.

After the death of his Army comrade, William Engberg moves into a simple New Hampshire home against the backdrop of the turbulent foam-crested waves of the Atlantic Ocean. It’s the ideal place to write and get on with his post-military life, except for one thing. He has unwanted house guests - ghosts - and he wants them gone.

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.

Jack is spending the summer on a private island far from modern conveniences. No Wi-Fi, no cell service, no one else on the island but a housekeeper and the two very peculiar children in his care. The first time Jack sees the huge black mansion atop a windswept hill, he senses something cold, something more sinister than even the dark house itself. Soon, he feels terribly isolated and alone. Yet he is not alone. The house has visitors - peering in the windows, staring from across the shore. But why doesn't anyone else see them...? And what do they want?

Three years after her father was killed, 16-year-old Peyton Delaney; her mother, Melody; and her new stepfather, Vance McIntyre, relocate to Shadow Bay, Minnesota, and move into an old Victorian. They are unaware of the house's dark history: 50 years ago, a jealous husband snapped, murdering his wife, her lover, and 16-year-old daughter, before killing himself. But when Peyton begins to have nightmares about the crime and is haunted by a ghostly girl named Caitlyn, she begins to investigate.