Short Stories Occult

From time to time when I take a break from researching and writing my thrillers, I write short stories such as the ones collected for the first time in this new anthology, Trust and Other Nightmares. Each of these stories has its germination in nights when my sleep was suddenly savaged by ethereal visions and sounds sufficiently disturbing to wrench me from tangled, sweat-drenched sheets.

West Central Scotland - 1989. Hard-headed Glaswegian Ray Conrad lands himself a week's suspension from his job as a tyre fitter for brawling with a co-worker. Deciding to use the opportunity to disappear for a few days with his tent to a familiar camping area in the secluded village of Bakerage, he is completely bewildered to discover that the entire place has vanished! This is when he finds himself entering the barren desolation of Gilliemoor.

Three short stories of the paranormal and the unknown, to delight, chill, and make you wonder. This book contains "The Hollowers", "The Other Side", and "The Night of the Fairies", published under single stories and now together.

While the world's still choked with monsters - their work is never done. Tireless and dedicated, the Aces scour the globe in pursuit of the creatures that seek to terrorize humanity. For this ongoing mission, they leave no stone unturned - and no monsters alive. Whether it be in far-off wilderness, small-town America, or among the concrete canyons of the big city, Cap'n, Gats, Joker, Digger, and Trill continue to risk their lives at the cost of their own identities to keep us safe from the things that go bump in the night.

Sarafian's good buddy, homicide detective John Mayfield, once told him over drinks belly up to the bar of FOP DC Lodge #1 that the devil is always depicted as a pitchfork-toting, horned, cloven hoofed red beast with a tail, but he's not. "The devil is not repulsive," Mayfield continued, "He's attractive. Evil must be inviting... seductive. Charismatic. Tantalizing. The devil is a handsome man, a beautiful woman." Mayfield was right. Vickie was the devil. And it was high time for Dr. Thomas Sarafian to send his wife back to hell.

From astronauts in deep space to the ghosts of the Civil War, New York Times best-selling author Alethea Kontis creates worlds of wonder and delight, of weirdness and despair, of whimsy and darkness. Here are 20 stories and poems that will transport you to the magical dangerous worlds you've always known should exist, but have never quite been able to find.

Robert Cavanaugh, a traveling salesman, wakes up in his bed to find himself transformed into a large insect. He looks around his room, which appears normal, and decides to go back to sleep to forget about what has happened. He attempts to roll over, only to discover that he cannot due to his new body - he is stuck on his hard, convex back.

When an author helps the police to identify symbols carved into two dead bodies, he becomes the focus of a murderous cult. He has to become the hunter to survive.

She can't escape the stare of the poison-eyed boy, and she's not sure she wants to. The intensity of his gaze calls to her, consumes her. Why is she drawn to his stare, compelled to give herself to him? And how, when he finally moves to take her to himself, is she somehow powerless to resist him, even knowing that to give in to his advances is to lay her soul bare before him, to expose her every secret?

Sergeant Jacob Knox leads the Head Knockers, a unit of scout-saboteurs in the war against the Dread Duke and his armies. They are the favorite squad among Captain Brighton's Stormwalkers, until an ambush by shapeshifters kills the Captain, half the company, and Knox's best men. Now the new Captain has new orders: he's sending the Head Knockers to investigate an abandoned village, the possible source of the attack.

Cristina trascorre i primi giorni di settembre riordinando la secolare casetta di montagna ricevuta in eredità da una anziana prozia. Ancora non ha deciso se tenerla o venderla: il borgo di cui fa parte è abitato soltanto in estate e la ragazza, ogni sera, si sente obbligata a tornare in città. Non è ancora riuscita a trascorrere una sola notte là dentro, e le sembra impossibile viverci in totale solitudine, come sua zia Terzilia faceva da anni.

The dark strains of madness that permeate many of the works of Edgar Allan Poe make their way through this macabre story. This memorable short story bears a resemblance to Poe's Tell Tale Heart. In both stories guilt leaves a murderer with a singular choice.

In this collection of 19 short stories, Craig Nybo invites you to visit the lives of mostly unfortunate souls as they face the most terrifying moments of their existences. With everything from vampire hunting to zombie bashing, from steampunk death devices to shifty soul brokers, Nybo brings his own sense of perspective and, of course, his sense of humor to this collection of departures from reality. Terrifying Lies contains Nybo's acclaimed story, "The Mechanic", along with 18 other tales of the macabre.

He listened attentively when Grandpa talked. Curiosity is a terrible curse, he decided. And curious Zander was. He knew that they were considered outsiders on their street even when he was in the second grade. He just knew it even though people were nice to him and to his mother.

A world destroyed by itself but not totally alone. An age that prophesied Earth's destruction by meteors. Out of the air comes infestation, which appears in the year 2013 to kill the President and the populations of vamps and werewolves.

Delbert Mason has it all - or so it seems. His career is a success, and he is an important man in his small town. His future is mapped out. He knows just where he's going.

Until the night he strolls home late and sees a hearse and a limousine pull into the local cemetery. Who were those strange men by the hearse, and whose grave was that being dug nearby?

Unspeakable rituals are performed by an occult group residing in the Red Hook region of New York City in this haunting short story by H P Lovecraft, and told by Mike Vendetti.

The Doll Maker tells the tale of Clare Lydgate, a young woman studying at boarding school for her Oxford scholarship examinations. In the evenings she escapes the school grounds by climbing over the wall of Brackenbine Hall. It is here that she encounters the charismatic and mysterious Niall Sterne, the Doll Maker. This is a subtle, intelligent, and compelling tale of horror.

It is the final days of the Civil War and a column of Union Cavalry has met stiff and unexpected and stiff resistance at Mosquito Creek, Virginia.... From one very strong young Southern woman. It is them against her. And they will lose.

In a world of nightmare, do love, courage, and laughter stand a chance? Seven dark tales answer that question.