Monday, December 31, 2012

The Best of 2012

I didn't think I would be making a "Best of" list this year because of the Mayan apocalypse (just kidding, did anyone actually believe that?). I've complied a list of my favourite horror movies, books and T.V. shows from 2012 and I'm looking forward to more horror in 2013.

MOVIE: Sinister

I thought of Sinister as 2012's version of Insidious - both films are about families who move into a new house where creepy paranormal things happen and both films terrified me. I liked Sinister a bit more though. I watched Sinister in the theatre on Halloween. I jumped so many times during the film I lost count. Then I had to wait alone in the dark for the bus and I couldn't stop thinking about the movie. If a horror film can scare me that much, it's definitely a good one.

Honourable Mention: Lovely Molly

Netflix Canada only got Lovely Molly about a week ago so I just watched it and found it to be extremely creepy. Molly and her new husband, Tim, move into her deceased parents' house after their wedding and strange things start to happen. It sounds like your typical ghost story, but it's so much more than that. I don't want to give anything else away, so check it out for yourself. 

A few thoughts on other horror films I saw this year:

I found The Cabin in the Woods to be entertaining, but a bit overrated after hearing everyone rave about it. But it was definitely original and unpredictable.

I don't understand the love for V/H/S. It had a good concept but most of the segments were predictable and dull (with the exception of "The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger"). 

After hearing a lot of people comparing Excision to May (which is one of my favourite films), I was excited to see it, but I didn't find it to be nearly as good as May. It was still a pretty good flick about a weird young woman. 

I noticed The Pact was on Netflix a while ago, but wasn't sure if it would be any good and didn't watch it until a few days ago when it appeared on a few Best of 2012 lists. I thought it would be a predictable ghost story, but it was original and I never came close to guessing the ending.

BOOK: Die, You Bastard! Die! by Jan Kozlowski

This year a new line of horror novels, Ravenous Shadows, was created with John Skipp as the editor-in-chief. Ravenous Shadows aims for "smart, gripping, kickass pop literature with all the boring shit left out. Books you can read in roughly the time it takes to watch a feature film... and probably more entertaining than the movie you could have been watching instead." After reading Die, You Bastard! Die! I must say that Skipp's statement is true. It only took me a few hours to read this book because I couldn't put it down. It was so suspenseful and entertaining. The book is about a woman who was sexually abused by her father and is convinced by a friend to get revenge. It sounds like it's just a book version of I Spit on Your Grave, which it sort of is, but there's more to it than that. Read it to find out.

I also read another Ravenous Shadows book this year, Tribesman by Adam Cesare and thought it was awesome as well. I have yet to read the others: The Devoted by Eric Shapiro, House of Quiet Madness by Mikita Brottman and The Dark by Scott Bradley and Peter Giglio.

Honourable Mention: The Castle of Los Angeles by Lisa Morton

Okay, this wasn't released in 2012, but it came out for Kindle this year. The Castle of Los Angeles won the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel in 2010 and Lisa Morton definitely deserved the award. The book is about a woman who moves into a building called "The Castle" and comes to believe that it is haunted. It sounds like another predictable ghost story, but there's a twist and a completely unique and surprising ending.

T.V. SHOW: American Horror Story

I finally started watching this show when FX came to Canada and it quickly became my #1 show. I think everyone should watch it and have recommended it to friends who aren't horror fans and they always say that it's too scary for them. They're probably right because I've been watching horror movies as long as I can remember and nothing has frightened me as much as this show. After watching an episode of American Horror Story late at night, I would have to run and jump in my bed after turning all the lights out. I used to close the bathroom door and then turn the light on so I wouldn't disturb my boyfriend (the light shines directly into the bedroom), but now I can't because it reminds me of the Piggy Man.

The show is now in its second season and it's just as creepy as the first - maybe even more disturbing and shocking. This season takes place in 1964 at Briarcliff Mental Institution. The nuns who run the asylum are sadistic and Briarcliff's doctor performs bizarre experiments on patients. A serial killer dubbed "Bloody Face" has been brought to Briarcliff but swears he didn't kill anyone and blames aliens. Jessica Lange and Evan Peters return, but in new roles. If you haven't seen American Horror Story yet, make it your New Year's resolution to do so.

I hope you all have a safe and happy New Year!

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

T.V. REVIEW: The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XXIII

I look forward to The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode every year (read my list of Top 10 Treehouse of Horror Segments here), even though they have (mostly) been a disappointment for the past several years. I watched my Treehouse of Horror DVD before I watched this year's installment, which was a mistake because the new episode pales in comparison with the classic episodes.

In the opening sequence, the Mayans calculate the end of the world as being on December 21, 2012, but they plan on avoiding it by appeasing the gods with a human sacrifice: Homer.

But Marge saves Homer by tricking Moe into being sacrificed instead. Since they sacrifice the wrong guy, the world is doomed and, in the present day, Mayan Gods destroy the Earth.

I thought this was hilarious, topical and a great start to Treehouse of Horror XXIII (I especially liked the Mayan Crazy Cat Lady, throwing lizards instead of cats).

The Greatest Story Ever Holed

In this segment, Lisa has convinced Springfield to build a particle accelerator instead of a baseball stadium. But when two particles crash into each other, they create a black hole. Lisa warns everyone that throwing garbage into it could make it bigger, but they all ignore her warnings (Homer even starts a business called Magic Craphole Waste Removal).

I wasn't blown away by this segment, but it had its moments. The ending was especially funny.

UNnormal Activity

In this parody of Paranormal Activity, strange things have been going on in the Simpson household and Homer is determined to catch it all on camera.

This was by far the best segment in the episode. Anyone who has seen Paranormal Activity will appreciate this parody.


Bart & Homer's Excellent Adventure

Bart is outraged that a comic book that says 25 cents on the cover is now being sold for $200. Comic Book Man says "The only way to buy that comic for 25 cents is to go back to 1974." So Bart takes Professor Frink's time machine to 1974 to buy the comic and inadvertently meets Homer and Marge.
Bart prevents Homer from dating Marge, changing the future for the family.

This segment had so much potential, but instead, was a huge disappointment. It started as a funny parody of Back to the Future, but then the plot became nonsensical with a bunch of Homers throughout time coming to the future (or present?) to woo Marge. Definitely the worst segment of the bunch.

Overall, I wasn't impressed with this year's Treehouse of Horror offering. But it was worth watching just for the UNnormal Activity segment.

Rating: 3/5

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Read-a-Thon Wrap-Up

I was reading Seed by Ania Ahlborn but I could barely keep my eyes open so I switched to a graphic novel, Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe Hill. This was the first graphic novel I've read and I really enjoyed it.

I did it! I made it to the end of the Read-a-Thon! Well, sort of. I did fall asleep for about three hours at the beginning, but that's close enough for me. Now I'm going to get some sleep. Good night!

Total pages read: 722

End of Event Meme

  1. Which hour was most daunting for you? The beginning of the Read-a-Thon because I felt sick. I didn't think I could do it because I felt so lousy. I probably wouldn't have if I hadn't fallen asleep on the couch for a few hours. It was tough when my boyfriend went to bed at 3:00 a.m. as well because I just wanted to go to sleep too.
  2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? I highly recommend Die, You Bastard! Die! by Jan Kozlowski. It read like a movie - suspenseful and action-packed.
  3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Nope. I thought everything was great!
  4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? I loved the Mini Challenges. They were so much fun! A nice break from reading.
  5. How many books did you read? 4 and 1/4
  6. What were the names of the books you read? The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury, Die, You Bastard! Die! by Jan Kozlowski, The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker, Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe Hill and part of Seed by Ania Ahlborn.
  7. Which book did you enjoy most? Die, You Bastard! Die! by Jan Kozlowski
  8. Which did you enjoy least? Seed by Ania Ahlborn (Well I didn't finish it but it's only starting to pick up now and I'm 30% into it.)
  9. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I'm definitely going to participate again! I'm already counting the days. I would be a reader again.

Read-a-Thon Update #3

I just finished reading The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker. Wow, Clive Barker has a crazy imagination. This book is so gruesome and original. I've never seen the first Hellraiser film (shocking, I know), so I can't say how the book compares.

I'm getting pretty tired at this point. My boyfriend went to bed half an hour ago and I really wanted to go to sleep too. I think I'll have a coffee when I'm done with this post.

Books read so far: 3

Total pages read: 490

Snacks consumed: I made a quick trip to the store to get a few more snacks. I got spinach dip and pumpernickel bread (I ate this during the last Read-a-Thon so I thought I would get it again) and Dr. Pepper.

Book Sentence Challenge

For this challenge, you're supposed to make a sentence from book titles. Here's what I came up with:

Beware Blood Crazy Dead Souls In Silent Graves

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Read-a-Thon Mini Challenge: Marking Books

For this mini challenge I'm supposed to tell you what I use as bookmarks and why. I always use paper bookmarks. I'm obsessed with buying them. I have a whole envelope filled with them and have kept pretty much every single one I've ever had. I still have a ton from my childhood.

My bookmark envelope.
 Here are my favourite bookmarks:

A bookmark I made for my mom in 1999.

My Goosebumps "Reading is a scream!" bookmark.

Read-a-Thon Update #2

I just finished reading Die, You Bastard! Die! by Jan Kozlowski and it was awesome! I'm so glad I chose this book for the Read-a-Thon! It was so exciting that I couldn't tear my eyes from my Kindle screen. But it's very gruesome and deals with child abuse so I wouldn't recommend it for everyone - but if you like graphic horror definitely check this one out.

Total pages read: 326

Snacks consumed: I've been snacking on Halloween snack mix all day and had chicken fried rice for dinner. Oh, and I ate some Reese's Pieces from the bag because I didn't put enough in the snack mix.

Mid-Event Survey
1) How are you doing? Sleepy? Are your eyes tired?
 I'm not tired at all, but that's probably because I slept in a bit.
2) What have you finished reading?
The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury and Die, You Bastard! Die! by Jan Kozlowski.
3) What is your favorite read so far?
It's hard to choose, I loved them both. I guess I enjoyed Die, You Bastard! Die! a bit more because it was more suspenseful and exciting.
4) What about your favorite snacks?
Well I haven't really eaten much besides the Halloween snack mix I made, but it's so good! I think I might run to the store and get something else because I don't think it will last me the rest of the night.
5) Have you found any new blogs through the readathon? If so, give them some love!
I haven't been reading blogs that much because I'm trying to just focus on reading. But I did click on a few links and found Midnight Book Girl (the first book she read today was Halloween Night by R.L. Stine!) and Adventures in Borkdom. Oh, and I checked out my cheerleaders' blogs: Bibliophibian, Inside the Mind of a Mag-a-Holic, Jenn and The Cats and Louise Reviews.

Dewey's Read-a-Thon Update #1

After my first post about the Read-a-Thon, I started reading The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury and fell asleep on the couch after about three pages. But when I woke up at 11:30 my headache was gone and I didn't feel sick anymore, so now I'll definitely be able to last all night! I'm a bit behind in my reading though.

I just finished reading The Halloween Tree and I loved it. I can't believe I've never read it until now. It's a must-read if you're looking to get into the Halloween spirit.

Next I'm going to read Die, You Bastard! Die by Jan Kozlowski on my Kindle.

Total pages read: 145

Snacks consumed: Halloween snack mix (I was so excited to try it I ate that instead of a proper breakfast or lunch.)

Dewey's Read-a-Thon

Today I will be participating in Dewey's Read-a-Thon. If you don't already know, it's a fun event where you read for 24 hours and blog about it. Today I'm feeling a bit under the weather, so I don't know if I will last the full 24 hours.

I have my book stack ready. Today I have chosen to read:


1. The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
2. Seed by Ania Ahlborn
3. Die, You Bastard! Die! by Jan Kozlowski
4. The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker
5. Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe Hill
6. Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge
7. Valley of the Scarecrow by Gord Rollo
8. Baxter by Jessica Hamilton

I also have my snacks ready:


Halloween snack mix!

And beverages:


Timothy's Perfectly Pumpkin k-cups!

Introductory Questionnaire

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

Oakville, Ontario

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Snack mix!

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

 I love Halloween so I chose some Halloween-themed books to read today.

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?

I participated in the last read-a-thon and I think the only thing I'm going to do differently is blog less and concentrate more on reading.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

BOOK NEWS: Red Rain by R.L. Stine

Today R.L. Stine's new adult novel, Red Rain, was released. This is his fourth adult novel - the first three being Superstitious, Eye Candy and The Sitter. Here's what it's about:

Before there was J. K. Rowling, before there was Stephenie Meyer or Suzanne Collins, there was R.L. Stine. Witty, creepy, and compulsively readable, his books defined horror for a generation of young readers— readers who have now come of age. In Red Rain, Stine uses his unerring knack for creating terror to tap into some very grownup fears. Travel writer Lea Sutter finds herself on a small island off the coast of South Carolina, the wrong place at the wrong time. A merciless, unanticipated hurricane cuts a path of destruction through the island and Lea barely escapes with her life.

In the storm’s aftermath, she discovers two orphaned boys—twins. Filled with a desire to do something to help, to make something good of all she witnessed, Lea impulsively decides to adopt them. The boys, Samuel and Daniel, seem amiable and immensely grateful; Lea’s family back on Long Island—husband Mark, a child psychologist, and their two children, Ira and Elena—aren’t quite so pleased. But even they can’t anticipate the twins’ true nature—or predict that, within a few weeks’ time, Mark will wind up implicated in two brutal murders, with the police narrowing in.

 For the millions of readers who grew up on Goosebumps, and for every fan of deviously inventive horror, this is a must-read from a beloved master of the genre.

Since I am obviously a huge R.L. Stine fan, I cannot wait to read this. Hopefully I will receive it for my birthday (which is coming up soon) because I will not be shelling out the $17.81 for the Kindle edition. Especially when I could get the hardcover for the same price.

There's a great R.L. Stine retrospective at best-horror-movies.com in honor of Stine's 69th birthday (which he celebrated on October 8) and the 20th anniversary of Goosebumps.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

A Bunch of Book Reviews

I haven't blogged much in the past few months and now I have a lot of books to review. So I'm going to review them in groups rather than a post per book because otherwise I won't get around to reviewing them all.

Slugs by Shaun Hutson

I thought this book about human-eating slugs would be more entertaining than it actually was. The main character - the health inspector, which he is referred to in the novel so much that I don't remember his name - was so dull. The characters were all one-dimensional, boring and I really didn't care if they were eaten alive by slugs or not.  And the explanation behind why slugs suddenly grew teeth and started taking bites out of people made no sense.

Okay, I guess maybe I expected too much from a book about killer slugs. I didn't completely hate it - there are a few good, gory scenes that I enjoyed. If you read it with low expectations then you might like it more than I did.

This was also made into a 1988 film of the same name. I haven't seen it but I think the story might work better as a movie.

Rating: 3/5

Mandibles by Jeff Strand

This is another book about killer insects, this time ants.

I enjoyed Mandibles much more than Slugs. It's funnier, has more interesting characters and the existence of the giant killer ants is explained better and actually makes sense (as much as the thought of insects eating humans can I suppose).

The Kindle edition is available for only $2.99.

Rating: 4/5

Stranglehold by Jack Ketchum

As I've already said before on this blog, Jack Ketchum is my favourite horror author. So when Crossroad Press started releasing some of Ketchum's novels as cheap e-books, I was thrilled and bought a bunch of them for my Kindle - including this one.

Stranglehold reminds me a bit of The Girl Next Door because they both deal with child abuse, only this book isn't quite as gruesome. It's still very disturbing and realistic though. I don't want to give too much away about this book so I'm simply going to say it's amazing and I think all horror fans should read it.

Rating: 5/5

The Nightrunners by Joe R. Lansdale

This book is a lot like the movie Straw Dogs, but with a supernatural twist.
After a woman, Becky, is raped, she goes on a vacation to a cabin with her husband, Montgomery, to help them forget about it. Montgomery feels bad about his inability to protect his wife and claims to be a pacifist to cover up the fact that he's a coward.

The man who raped her is sent to prison and hangs himself. But he was the leader of a gang that is involved with an evil entity called The God of the Razor. It wants death and destruction - and for them to finish what they started and kill Becky.

The Nightrunners is incredible - definitely one of the best horror novels I've ever read. It's suspenseful, has an interesting plot and likable characters. If you haven't already read it, do it now!

This is the first book by horror legend Joe R. Lansdale I've read, but after reading The Nightrunners, I'll definitely be reading more. I bought The Complete Drive-In because I heard it was good, but have yet to read it.

Rating: 5/5

Ghoul by Brian Keene

Like It by Stephen King, Ghoul is a coming-of-age tale where a group of kids battles a monster. The trio of boys in this book make a clubhouse in a cemetery where they come across a ghoul.

I loved everything about this book - I even liked it more than It (which I found to be waaay too long and boring in spots). I highly recommend it to all horror fans.

Ghoul was made into a movie for Chiller which aired April 13 starring Nolan Gould (Luke on Modern Family), but unfortunately I couldn't watch it because Chiller isn't available in Canada. Hopefully it comes out on DVD soon so I can watch it. Has anyone seen it? I'm curious if it was as good as the book.

Rating: 5/5


Suffer the Flesh by Monica J. O'Rourke

I actually hadn't read anything by Monica J. O'Rourke when I interviewed her last year for Women in Horror Recognition Month. In the interview she said "My co-author (Wrath James White) said he approached me to write Poisoning Eros with him after reading Suffer the Flesh because he was shocked a woman had written it. I get that a lot, how people are surprised a woman could write something so extreme. I’ve been told I 'write like a guy.'" That made me want to seek out her work even more. When Suffer the Flesh was released as an e-book for a mere $2.99, I bought and read it immediately.

I can definitely see how others could be surprised that a woman wrote it. Suffer the Flesh is extremely gory and features many rape scenes. It's about an overweight woman (Zoey) who is captured off the street in New York after browsing the self-help/diet section of a bookstore and is taken to a secret research centre where they "help" women lose weight by raping and torturing them. 

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was suspenseful - I couldn't stop reading because I wanted to find out how (or if) Zoey would get out of this situation. I also found Zoey to be a very sympathetic character. I could relate to her weight loss struggles and hoped she would get out of there alive. I recommend this book for people who can handle extreme gore - including sadistic rape.

Rating: 4/5 

Dismember by Daniel Pyle

This is a backwoods novel with a twist. When a young boy is "rescued" by a man who lives in the woods after surviving a car wreck he has no idea that worst is yet to come.

Then the narrative moves forward several years and the boy has become a man not unlike his captor. Now he's looking for a new family to replace his.

The only thing I enjoyed about this novel was the first chapter. The plot is boring and excruciating slow. It took me a whole month to read Dismember and I struggled to finish it. There's no action or suspense. Other than the car accident in the beginning, there are maybe two deaths in the whole book. With a title like Dismember and a cover with a bloody axe, I expected it to have much more gore.

If you're still interested, it's available for Kindle for $3.99, but I recommend skipping this one.

Rating: 2/5

Super Fetus by Adam Pepper

When a fetus realizes its mother's intentions of having an abortion it begins working out so it can stand a chance against the doctor. But when it defeats the doctor its mother takes matters into her own hands....

Super Fetus was the first bizarro book I've read and I enjoyed it a lot. Weird and disturbing yet highly entertaining. At times I would be laughing, then read the next few pages and stop reading in disgust. Well, there were only a few moments in the book that I found gross, but they were very gory/disturbing (just thinking about them now makes me shudder). Recommended for horror fans looking for something different and humorous.

Rating: 4/5

Friday, March 9, 2012

BOOK REVIEW: Samson and Denial by Robert Ford

When a junkie brings a mummified head into Samson's pawnshop, he gives him a measly $20 for it, not knowing its true worth - and power. He quickly learns that he can use it to his advantage. His brother - and drug dealing partner - got involved with the Russian mafia, and therefore Samson, by extension. But with the help of the mummified head, he decides to take on the mob.

Samson and Denial is the best book I read in 2011. I may be mentioning this a bit late considering it's March 2012, but I've been too busy to blog lately and now that I have time I need to mention how great this novella is.

The story encompasses more than one genre. It's part crime drama, involving drugs and the Russian mob; part revenge thriller; part supernatural, featuring a shrunken head; and part gory horror. All these elements come together to create an exciting and unique plot. And at 126 action-packed pages, you can easily finish it in one sitting.

Samson manages to be a likable narrator despite being a drug dealer and owning a pawn shop where he pays desperate people practically nothing for their most valuable items.

Samson and Denial is a must-read for all horror fans - actually it's a novella for anyone who likes a quick, thrilling read. The Kindle edition is available for a mere $2.99.

Rating: 5/5

Thursday, February 9, 2012

50 Kindle Horror Books Written By Women

This year, I never planned anything special for Women in Horror Recognition Month. My posts lately have been pretty sporadic (Sorry about that!) because I've been really busy lately, so I didn't think I could commit to a month-long project. But I wanted to write at least one post for Women in Horror Recognition Month this year, so I bring you this post.

Last year I interviewed several women horror authors (the list of interviews is here) and have decided to do another literature-related post. I think it would be great if every horror fan read a horror book written by a woman this month. And since I'm Kindle-obsessed, I decided to make a list of horror titles written by women available for Kindle. I'm sure they're also available for Kobo, Nook, or whatever your e-reader of preference. So pick one that interests you and get reading!

Suffer the Flesh by Monica J. O'Rourke
$3.99
144 pages

Zoey Masterson didn’t know what pain was before, but she’s learning fast. Kidnapped off the Manhattan streets and whisked away from the safe, normal world she once knew, she finds herself the victim of one reprehensible man’s vision. 

Forced to witness the depravities of the seedy underworld where lust, rape, torture, and mutilation are a way of life, stripped of clothing, pride, and spirit, Zoey must play their games, bear their torture—but for how long? Somehow she must learn to survive the daily perversions … but how can Zoey survive? How could anyone?
 

Somewhere between ecstasy and pain, learn to Suffer the Flesh.

Also check out Jasmine & Garlic.

For Emmy by Mary SanGiovanni
$2.99
107 pages

Sometimes no matter how vigilant you are, you can't keep loved ones save. Dana McCluskey and her father know very well that there can be dangers around every corner. They wanted to keep Emmy safe. But it is impossible to see some dangers coming. And there are those corners that you'd never see, out-of-the-way places just beyond our grasp where loved ones can get very lost — and the danger there is very real indeed.

Also check out Thrall.

The Neighborhood by Kelli Owen
$2.99
105 pages

A missing girl. A found fingertip. A puddle of blood without a body. --- A small town neighborhood full of rumors and imagination through the eyes of its youth. Their world is a combination of grass stains and dried mud—the badges of childhood, that often look like blood in the right light. 

Also check out Waiting Out Winter.

The Fear Report by Elizabeth Massie
$4.99
450 pages

Originally published by Bloodletting Press, this edition is illustrated by Cortney Skinner, features a new introduction, and contains thirty-two stories, including her Bram Stoker Award winner (“Stephen”) and two stories that were not in the Bloodletting edition. Massie’s fiction is known for its quality of strangeness, off-beat humor, deceiving simplicity, and haunting prose.  

Also check out Afraid, Sundown, Abed, Sineater and Wire Mesh Mothers.

AfterAge by Yvonne Navarro
$2.99
360 pages

A plague of vampirism has crept across the country, reducing once-thriving cities to ghost towns. In Chicago, a few scattered survivors hide behind the fortified walls of office buildings and museums, raiding deserted stores for dwindling supplies of clothing and food.

Meanwhile a hungry vampire population also struggles for survival as their prey grows scarce, forcing them to capture alive the last remaining humans as breeding stock for the blood farms that will ensure their future.

Now a small band of humans makes a despearate last stand against their vampire masters, fighting back with the only weapon that can kill the dead... 

Also check out Mirror Me.

Deathwatch by Lisa Mannetti
$2.99
176 pages

In Dissolution, Stuart Granville is a would-be medical student from the South who's been expelled for drinking and believes he's heading north to Hyde Park, New York to tutor twin girls. Instead, he discovers that his charges, Abby and Eleanor, have never been to school of any kind. They are also Siamese twins and their father, a doctor with grandiose dreams, means to separate them surgically. He intends to take advantage of Stuart's expertise and vulnerability; but unbeknown to both men, the supernatural force in the house has an agenda--and a will--of its own.

In The Sheila Na Gig, Tom Smith is on a ship in steerage and bound for New York from his native Ireland after facing down the constraints imposed by his family, overcoming the loss of his first love, circumventing his grandmother's wiles and occult knowledge, and trying to save his younger, mentally challenged sister, Delia, from both witchcraft and sexual abuse.


Also check out The Gentling Box.

The Lucid Dreaming by Lisa Morton
$2.99
94 pages

Ashley, a twentysomething California girl, is a postpunk who would rather be called Spike and who worries about money, her family, and freeway traffic. She’s also a violent paranoid schizophrenic living in a state facility west of Los Angeles, her disorder kept under control by confinement and the drug Prolixin.

One day Spike is shocked to find her cell door open and so she ventures out, only to find the walls smeared with blood and the staff missing or dead. She escapes and ventures into a world that’s been driven mad by waking nightmares, where she’s now the sanest person alive. Searching for answers, Spike embarks on a road trip that will lead her from Beverly Hills to a nightmarish Texas compound to the highest office in the land...

Also check out The Samhanach.

A House Divided by Deborah LeBlanc
$2.99
340 pages

Keith Lafleur, Louisiana's largest and greediest building contractor, thinks he's cut the deal of a lifetime. The huge old, two-story, clapboard house is his for the taking as long as he can move it to a new location. It's too big to move as it is, but Lafleur's solution is simple: divide it in half. He has no idea, though, that by splitting the house he'll be dividing a family- a family long dead, a family that still exists in the house, including a mother who will destroy anyone who keeps her apart from her children. 

Also check out Family Inheritance, Grave Intent, Water Witch, Morbid Curiosity, White Hot, Bottom Feeder and The Wolven.

Eternal Sunset by Sèphera Girón
$2.99
248 pages

Vanessa moves away to college after an extended break of hard living, casual sex, and dabbling in the occult. But little does she know what fate has in store for her where she accepts a gift from her new friend: an ancient book that holds the secret to eternal life...

Prodigal by Melanie Tem
$2.99
204 pages

Her brother Ethan is dead. then why does he visit and why does he leave the doors open for Lucy and her sisters -- doors that whisper of the place that claimed Ethan's body and mind?

"Don't be afraid, Lucy."

The world of sleepy houses and glimmering summer lawns is losing its hold on Lucy Brill. Her parents don't have the answers - they don't even have the questions. ethan has changed everything. Ethan, whose drug-racked body lies in the morgue...Ethan, who beckons Lucy to follow.

"Welcome, Lucy, Welcome."

Lucy will follow, blinded by light, her head filled with anger. lucy Brill is going away...to the place that took her brother's life, where evil waits with open arms. 

When Darkness Loves Us by Elizabeth Engstrom
$2.99
217 pages

Sally Ann is a bright and bubbling farm girl, still caught in the thrill of a brand-new husband and a shining future ahead. When a careless exploration leaves her trapped underground, she learns to live again in the absence of everything she once knew. Even driven by love and light, Sally Ann finds the deepest darkness within herself in When Darkness Loves Us.

Old Martha Mannes has been a part of Morgan, Illinois since her birth. The whole town knows her as the dim-witted woman who was born without a nose, but Martha’s mind wasn’t always a blank slate. Unlocking the monster buried deep in her memories may bring back the sparkling child she once was…or it may send those around her crashing down into the nightmares of a little girl gone wrong.

A reprinting of Elizabeth Engstrom’s first book, this two-novella collection twists together the beauty and horror underlying the seeming simplicity of small town life.

Also check out Lizzie Borden.

The Safety of Unknown Cities by Lucy Taylor
$4.99
284 pages

Winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel from the Horror Writers Association! Val leads a very nomadic life. She travels from one city to another, from one bed to another, in search of a 'new' thrill -- something that will fill the void inside of herself. From whispers and gossip, Val learns of a place called the 'City,' a place that makes Sodom and Gomorrah look like Little House of the Prairie. Val becomes obsessed with finding this place and sampling all it has to offer.

Also check out Unspeakable and Other Stories and The Silence Between the Screams.

House of Fallen Trees by Gina Ranalli
$2.99
266 pages

"Two men have the carcass." These words, heard over a crackling telephone line, change writer Karen Lewis's life for the worse. Months earlier, her brother went missing in the small rural town of Fallen Trees, Washington. And now she finds out he willed his half of a bizarre bed and breakfast to her. "Two men have the carcass." Is this ominous phrase enough to draw her into the mystery of Fallen Trees? Is the answer to her brother's disappearance located there? Or is it just a trap, something designed to draw her into a nightmare world and break her sanity? What horror awaits Karen in the House of Fallen Trees? 

Also check out Chemical Gardens, Suicide Girls in the Afterlife, Brainfused Colorwheel, Peppermint Twist, Praise the Dead, Mother Puncher, Sky Tongues, Unearthed and Wall of Kiss.

Descent by Sandy DeLuca
$4.95
211 pages

In the ’70s Julia accompanied a mad man on an unforgettable road trip from Providence to Miami. She encountered demons, decadence and death. She was helpless and subservient as pain and blood became a fact of her life. She finally escaped from that hell on earth. However, the demons and the dead followed her throughout her life. For twenty-one years they came to her in dreams. They manifested onto her painter’s canvas and they called to her from the darkness.

When another murder occurs, true madness begins to unfold. Guilt, longing and terror erupt. A secret caller lures Julia to her descent, haunting and tempting her until she realizes that she must confront her past and perhaps the Devil himself.


Also check out Darkness Conjured, Into the Red, Paths of Destiny and From Ashes.

How to Recognize a Demon Has Become Your Friend by Linda Addison
$4.99
112 pages

Who doesn’t need to know How To Recognize A Demon Has Become Your Friend? From the first African-American to receive the HWA Bram Stoker award, this collection of both horror and science fiction short stories and poetry reveals demons in the most likely people (like a jealous ghost across the street) or in unlikely places (like the dimension-shifting dreams of an American Indian). Recognition is the first step, what you do with your friends/demons after that is up to you.


In Silence Sealed by Kathryn Ptacek
$4.99
320 pages

In Silence Sealed by Kathryn Ptacek first appeared in 1987. It is a brilliant period piece, evoking that brief, shining decade that produced the great Romantics in England. It also produced the Gothic Novel, a precursor to the modern horror novel. Ptacek's lamia sisters are monsters, incredibly sensual monsters who first seduce and then destroy victims. Only this time the men they are after are England's greatest poets — Byron, Shelley and Keats.

Also check out Gila.

Guises by Charlee Jacob
$5.99
288 pages

Delirium's second collection by Charlee Jacob features 7 short stories and 3 brand new novelettes. This new collection showcases her unique talents as one of the premier storytellers of the genre. 

Also check out Dread in the BeastUp, Out of Cities That Blow Hot and Cold, This Symbiotic Fascination, Soma, Still, Vestal and Geek Poems.

Dead in the Water by Nancy Holder
$7.93
428 pages

The shipwrecked, vacationing passengers of the ill-fated freighter, Morris, are picked up by the H.M.S. Pandora and sail into a cruise of metaphysical terror, madness, and death.

Search and Destroy by Nancy A. Collins
$2.99

Sonja Blue is back! In a world full of sparkling vampires, it's time someone finally brought the hurt! Before there was Sookie Stackhouse, Anita Blake, or even Buffy, there was Sonja Blue, the Stoker Award-winning tough-as-nails, wisecracking vampire/vampire slayer. Just as Iggy Pop set the tone for the Punk Revolution, Sonja Blue blazed the trail for the multitude of urban fantasy heroines that would follow her. And now she's back with a vengeance in Search And Destroy, her first original short story in 10 years. Homeless people are disappearing from the suburban No Man's Land known as The Scrub, and Sonja Blue is there to find out why--and put an end to it as only she can.

Also check out A Dozen Black Roses.

Child of the Night by Nancy Kilpatrick
$2.99
244 pages

Child of the Night is the first book in the Power of the Blood world.

Carol Robins is vacationing in Bordeaux, France trying to recover from the tragic failure of her marriage and the possibility that she has been infected with a fatal disease. At a small sidewalk café she meets the enigmatic Andre and her life changes forever in a brutal and shocking way. Andre is not a man but a vampire, cruel, intent on making Carol his next kill, and she has to find a way to save herself.


Carol’s bargain with the devil leads to her being dragged further and further down into the murky world of darkness, leaving her at the mercy of the merciless blood drinker. Suddenly, the impossible happens, and both mortal and immortal are swept to the edge of madness. Her one thought becomes an obsession: escape Andre and this nest of vampires!

But soon Carol is forced to return to the lair of the undead Andre because now more than just her life is on the line. In a final tension-packed life-or-death confrontation, Carol is desperate to prevent the disastrous outcome that both she and Andre foresee as inevitable. 

Donor by Elena Hearty 
$4.24
224 pages

Richard is a modern vampire who likes to eat in. That's why he always keeps a fresh victim trapped in his home. All of his captives eventually die; Lenore hopes to be the first to escape. 

Life at Richard's is short but never dull. Not with Richard's vampire friend, Paul, constantly popping in. Paul loves toying with Richard's victims before they die. But is Paul getting too attached to his plaything? His human servant, Charles, certainly thinks so. Charles is next in line to be turned and wants to eliminate the competition. 

If Charles's schemes don't kill Lenore, then Richard's hunger surely will. Lenore has a plan to survive, but someone will have to die in her place. She now has something terrible in common with her captor: she must kill in order to live.

Voice of the Blood by Jemiah Jefferson
$6.99
288 pages

The ordinary life of a grad student was so boring for Ariane. She was desperate for some change, some excitement to shake things up. She had no idea she was only one step away from a whole new world—a world of darkness and decay, of eternal life and eternal death. But once she fell prey to Ricari she would learn more about this world than she ever dreamed possible. More than anyone should dare to know . . . if they value their soul. 

Also check out Wounds, Fiend, A Drop of Scarlet and Mixtape for the Apocalypse.

Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite
$6.39
387 pages


Launching the Abyss imprint for Delacorte, this stylishly written, daringly provocative first novel plays on the appeal of vampires as romantic antiheroes.
In Missing Mile, North Carolina, in search of supple young flesh and thirsting for blood, three beautiful vampires--Molochai, Twig, and Zillah--follow vampires Nothing and Ann on a mad, illicit road trip south to New Orleans. 

Also check out Drawing Blood, Wormwood, Are you Loathsome Tonight? and Exquisite Corpse.

Mama's Boy and Other Stories by Fran Friel
$4.99
280 pages

The Bram Stoker Award-nominated novella “Mama’s Boy” is the cornerstone of this 14-story collection from author Fran Friel and Apex Publications. A man whose mother’s demented love for him has turned him from an innocent boy to a serial killer to a near-comatose mental patient opens his world to a psychologist determined to reach him as a way of dealing with her own mother’s battle with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. But is she helping, or is there more damage to be done?

In “Mashed,” a son’s simple request for potatoes with his birthday dinner opens up a world of past fears and childhood torments for his mother, while the flash fiction story “Close Shave” presents a horrifically funny solution to an everyday women’s issue.

From mother and son to broader family ties, Friel explores the bonds of human connection into every dark turn. The humorous yet wickedly creepy “Under the Dryer” begins as a tale told by the family dog and ends in a bloodbath; “Special Prayers,” perhaps the most disturbing offering in the collection, exposes a family secret of abuse and power; and the tragically soft and beautiful “Orange and Golden” explores the purest form of the human-animal bond as the sun sets on a natural disaster.

Also check out Beach of Dreams.

Regret by Gabrielle Faust
$2.99
140 pages

 Humanity is renowned for placing the blame for their most unspeakable actions in the palms of their "demons." It would seem that for every crime, every indecency there is a minion of the Underworld assigned to it. The lucky ones balance precariously on the edge of damnation, always managing at the last minute to halt their impending doom. The unlucky ones succumb entirely or, in Marcus Glenfield's case, find themselves following a much darker path than they ever could have imagined. After a strangely brutal twist of fate, Marcus becomes his own inner demon, that of the Demon of Regret. As he begins his new life as a tempter and collector of mortal souls, his path of damnation unfortunately crosses with that of Sonnellion, the Demon of Hatred, Cresil, the Demon of Slovenliness, Vetis, the Tempter of the Holy and finally Belial himself, the Prince of Wickedness. Through each of his interactions, Marcus gleans valuable insight into the purpose of his fellow demons within the greater hierarchy of existence, assisting his personal mission to collect the one soul that continues to preoccupy his every thought. However, will the wisdom of Hell's ancient minions be enough to save him from a deadly encounter with Belial or does Hell have another plan for Marcus altogether?

Barbed Wire Hearts by Cate Gardner
$4.99
199 pages

"A hand poked from the soil like a pale flower…"

Eddie Stock's heart dislodges from his chest, drops to his bowels and dribbles down his thighs when the girl he likes laughs at him. Well the girl he likes and his entire school year. Finding himself in a forest, which has mysteriously sprouted about his town, Eddie meets a man named Ghoate.

Ghoate collects hearts. They hang from his ceiling and they rot within his jars. Ghoate also collects minions and it appears Eddie is his latest.

Elsewhere in the forest, a dead girl is waking. Rose Lovering's heart wasn't strong enough to allow her to live and isn't weak enough to end this living death.

Can Rose help Eddie regain his heart and save their town? And, can Eddie save her?

Also check out Strange Men in Pinstripe Suits and Theatre of Curious Acts.

Engines of Desire: Tales of Love and Other Horrors by Livia Llewellyn
$6.99
214 pages

Death and pleasure. Freud’s Todestrieb, his statement that “libido has the task of making the destroying instinct innocuous, and it fulfills the task by diverting that instinct to a great extent outwards....The instinct is then called the destructive instinct, the instinct for mastery, or the will to power.” Few authors have spun stories of Thanatos and Eros as skillfully and powerfully as Livia Llewellyn.

In his introduction to this volume, Laird Barron writes “Scant difference exists between exquisite pleasure and pain.” An orphan girl with a mind for anthracite falls into the hands of a cult worshiping an entombed god. In the Pacific Northwest, evergreens lull prepubescent girls into their trunks to serve as wombs. A suburban housewife troubled by her present encounters the sixteen-year-old girl she ached to touch in her dreams. These ten stories promise to indulge the reader’s sensibilities, their fears and desires.

Blanket of White by Amy Grech
$4.50
146 pages

Blanket of White - True love knows no bounds.

Crosshairs - A young boy learns the perils of hunting fare game firsthand.

Prevention - Murderous twins help their dear mother into and out of trouble.

Perishables - A nuclear fallout survivor finds sustenance in an unlikely place.

Plus two more never before published storied by Amy Grech. A total of fourteen dark tales in all!

Also check out The Act of Deception.

Widow by Billie Sue Mosiman
$3.99
356 pages

NOMINATED FOR THE BRAM STOKER AWARD FOR SUPERIOR NOVEL.

First her husband killed their children, then himself. Now she's on her own, and she's bent on making sure it never happens to another woman. It's too late for her…she's already damaged. Yet when she stops the evil she's felt compelled to commit, the murders continue. Someone is a copycat, pinning crimes on her, stalking her, teasing her with his devious plan. She can't make him stop. There may be no way out of the trap she's created out of loss, out of desperation.

There's another problem--she's falling in love with the detective who is in charge of tracking her down. Life is a complex series of paradoxes, a spiral of fear and murder where nothing is as it seems.

Also check out Legions of the Dark, Rise of the Legend and Hunter of the Dead.

Facade by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
$5.99
400 pages

Originally published by Dell Abyss in 1993.

Thomas fell in love with the Oregon Coast while filming his signature role as Anthony Short. Then his estranged daughter, Heather, died there, and Thomas fled.

He’s returned now, not to solve his daughter’s murder, but to see if he can live with himself and his past.

Only someone leaves mysterious notes, signed Your Daughter, and birds die on his porch. Strangers report a man in a cloak who looks just like Thomas, but the fans who follow him everywhere don’t see anyone.

But Thomas knows something strange is going on. Then more people die and Thomas realizes he holds the key to it all. He can solve the crisis, if he only dares…

Also check out Sins of the Blood.

Nightmare by S.K. Epperson
$3.99
284 pages

On a remote ranch deep in the Flint Hills at a clinic for women diagnosed with multiple personality disorder, patients are dying in extremely violent ways. The staff has invited Dr. Bryan Raleigh and his team, along with his journalist brother, David, to write about the clinic, and from the moment of their arrival they begin unwillingly to unravel secrets about the family who owns the ranch, including a strange blood ritual practiced by the hemophiliac son and even more bizarre rites performed by the grotesque, voyeuristic wife of the clinic's director. Soon David and the others begin to suspect the rude, imperious woman who never leaves the third floor may be somehow responsible for the deaths of traumatized patients dying one by one, and the closer they get to the truth, the bigger the threat becomes to their own safety.

Also check out Green Lake and The Neighborhood.

A Twisted Ladder by Rhodi Hawk
$10.62
541 pages

Psychologist Madeleine LeBlanc has spent her whole career trying to determine the cause of her father's schizophrenia. She always felt that she could unravel its origins and cure the man who left her and her brother, Marc, to practically raise themselves on the Louisiana Bayou. But when Marc takes his own life on a fishing boat in the middle of Bayou Black, Madeleine embarks on a journey into her family history---to a time when the antebellum era was crumbling, and the line between servant and master was starting to fade. And the more she pries the more she reveals her family’s dark past, rife with conjured demons and river magic gone awry. Madeleine’s only hope to save herself is to face the ghosts of the past, the dangers of the present, and the twisted ladder that links them all together.

Audrey's Door by Sarah Langan
$9.19
430 pages

Built on the Upper West Side, the elegant Breviary claims a regal history. But despite 14B's astonishingly low rental price, the recent tragedy within its walls has frightened away all potential tenants . . . except for Audrey Lucas.

No stranger to tragedy at thirty-two—a survivor of a fatherless childhood and a mother's hopeless dementia— Audrey is obsessively determined to make her own way in a city that often strangles the weak. But is it something otherworldly or Audrey's own increasing instability that's to blame for the dark visions that haunt her . . . and for the voice that demands that she build a door? A door it would be true madness to open . . .

Also check out The Keeper and The Missing.

The Harrowing by Alexandra Sokoloff
$2.99
320 pages

Baird College's Mendenhall echoes with the footsteps of the last home-bound students heading off for Thanksgiving break, and Robin Stone swears she can feel the creepy, hundred-year-old residence hall breathe a sigh of relief for its long-awaited solitude. Or perhaps it's only gathering itself for the coming weekend.

As a massive storm dumps rain on the isolated campus, four other lonely students reveal themselves: Patrick, a handsome jock; Lisa, a manipulative tease; Cain, a brooding musician; and finally Martin, a scholarly eccentric. Each has forsaken a long weekend at home for their own secret reasons.


The five unlikely companions establish a tentative rapport, but they soon become aware of a sixth presence disturbing the ominous silence that pervades the building. Are they the victims of a simple college prank taken way too far, or is the unusual energy evidence of something genuine---and intent on using the five students for its own terrifying ends? It's only Thursday afternoon, and they have three long days and dark nights before the rest of the world returns to find out what's become of them. But for now it's just the darkness keeping company with five students nobody wants and no one will miss.

Also check out The Price, The Unseen and Book of Shadows.

Ghosts and Other Lovers by Lisa Tuttle
$5.87
143 pages

The introduction begins, "I'm fascinated by ghosts, and entertain all sorts of theories about what they really are. That hauntings are caused by the uneasy dead, by spirits unable to find rest, seems to me the least likely explan- ation. . . ." Veteran fantasy and horror author Lisa Tuttle has assembled thirteen of her imaginative inquiries into the nature of ghosts and the people they visit, covering territory from gothic romance to the just plain creepy. Incisive, sexy, and unsettling, Ghosts and Other Lovers should appeal to both fans of classic ghost stories and those seeking bold psychological fantasy.
Also check out My Pathology.

Silk by Caitlin R. Kiernan
$10.41
368 pages

Spyder Baxter is the patron saint of the alienated and lost. She invites them into her mesmerizing world of ritual and ceremony, blood and fire...a realm of vengeful gods, of exiled spirits harboring the dark secrets of Hell-and the darker secrets of Heaven. But is she their guardian angel-or a much more terrifying force sent not to redeem, but to destroy? 

Also check out The Red Tree, Low Red Moon, Daughter of Hounds, Threshold and Murder of Angels.


A Book of Tongues: Volume One of the Hexslinger Series by Gemma Files
$9.95
280 pages

Two years after the Civil War, Pinkerton agent Ed Morrow has gone undercover with one of the weird West's most dangerous outlaw gangs-the troop led by "Reverend" Asher Rook, ex-Confederate chaplain turned "hexslinger," and his notorious lieutenant (and lover) Chess Pargeter. Morrow's task: get close enough to map the extent of Rook's power, then bring that knowledge back to help Professor Joachim Asbury unlock the secrets of magic itself.

Magicians, cursed by their gift to a solitary and painful existence, have never been more than a footnote in history. But Rook, driven by desperation, has a plan to shatter the natural law that prevents hexes from cooperation, and change the face of the world-a plan sealed by an unholy marriage-oath with the goddess Ixchel, mother of all hanged men. To accomplish this, he must raise her bloodthirsty pantheon from its collective grave through sacrifice, destruction, and apotheosis.

Caught between a passel of dead gods and monsters, hexes galore, Rook's witchery, and the ruthless calculations of his own masters, Morrow's only real hope of survival lies with the man without whom Rook cannot succeed: Chess Pargeter himself. But Morrow and Chess will have to literally ride through Hell before the truth of Chess's fate comes clear-the doom written for him, and the entire world.

Breeding Ground by Sarah Pinborough
$5.75
356 pages

Life was good for Matt and Chloe. They were in love and looking forward to their new baby. But what Chloe gave birth to isn’t a baby. It isn’t even human. It’s an entirely new species that uses humans only for food—and as hosts for their young.

As Matt soon learns, though, he is not alone in his terror. Women all over town have begun to give birth to these hideous creatures, spidery nightmares that live to kill—and feed. As the infestation spreads and the countryside is reduced to a series of web-shrouded ghost towns, will the survivors find a way to fight back? Or is it only a matter of time before all of mankind is reduced to a…Breeding Ground.

Also check out Feeding Ground, The Taken, The Reckoning, Tower Hill and The Hidden. 

Seed by Ania Ahlborn
$0.99
169 pages

In the vine-twisted swamps of Louisiana, the shadows have teeth.

Jack Winter has spent his entire life running from something no one else can see. His childhood is his darkest secret, but after a near fatal accident along a deserted road, the darkness he was sure he’d escaped rears its ugly head… and smiles.

But this time, he isn’t the only one who sees the soulless eyes of his past. This time, his six-year-old daughter Charlie leans into his ear and whispers: "Daddy, I saw it too."

And then she begins to change.

Faced with reliving the nightmares of his childhood, Jack watches his daughter spiral into the shadows that had nearly consumed him twenty years before.

But Charlie isn’t the only one who’s changing.

Jack never outran the darkness. It’s been with him all along.

And it’s hungrier than ever.

A new breed of dark fiction: the subtlety of Seed will haunt you, and the end will wickedly satisfy.


Badass Zombie Road Trip by Tonia Brown
$3.99

Jonah has seven days to find his best friend’s soul, or lose his own,
dragging a zombie across the country with a stripper who has an agenda of her own,
while being pursued for a crime he didn’t commit...
...and dealing with Satan.

2,000 miles. Seven days. Two souls.
One zombie.
Satan.

Also check out Lucky Stiff

Frightliner & Other Tales of the Undead by Colleen Drippe' Karina Fabian
$2.99
59 pages

When Jay Carlson has a run in with a strange, dark truck on a lonely road, his life goes south. He sees things that others don't see. He learns things he wishes he could forget, and he is drawn into an ancient battle he wouldn't have believed in even a day in the past. This time, even country music and the open road can't save him. Join authors Colleen Drippe' and Karina Fabian as they take you to the darkest places on the road. Also includes two extra stories and an excerpt from the novel Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator by Karina Fabian, available now from DAMNATION BOOKS.

Also check out Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator.

Dead Spell by Belinda Frisch
$1.99
198 pages

Harmony Wolcott's darkest secret has clawed its way back from the grave and is haunting her.

Afraid to ask for help, Harmony searches for answers in the wreckage of her childhood home where the truth is buried under the rubble of a family plagued by mental illness. 


Dead Spell is about a ghost with a past and a girl who would die to forget it.

Also check out Crisis Hospital: Dark Tales from the Ward, the World, and the Bedside.

Come Closer by Sara Gran
$8.99
180 pages

In this sparsely constructed and compellingly succinct gem of a novel, Gran's heroine leads a normal life until things suddenly and mystifyingly go wrong. Amanda does hear noises and experience bizarre situations, yet as a vague but tantalizing feeling of unease settles in, Amanda's fear feeds her needs and desires. Gran's premise, that we accept the impossible, for to do otherwise is to foolishly court disaster, informs the subtle tension beneath this deliciously wicked tale. A short book, it is nonetheless long on style, thanks to Gran's talent for quickly and convincingly portraying Amanda's reluctant terror, abject denial, and, finally, resigned acceptance of the malevolent force commandeering her life. 

Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand
$4.76
281 pages

Cass Neary made her name in the 1970s as a photographer embedded in the burgeoning punk movement in New York City. Her pictures of the musicians and hangers on, the infamous, the damned, and the dead, got her into art galleries and a book deal. But 30 years later she is adrift, on her way down, and almost out. Then an old acquaintance sends her on a mercy gig to interview a famously reclusive photographer who lives on an island in Maine. When she arrives Downeast, Cass stumbles across a decades-old mystery that is still claiming victims, and into one final shot at redemption.

Also check out Illyria

Sympathy for the Dead by P.D. Cacek 
$4.99
196 pages

Sympathy for the Dead is an outstanding collection of short stories by a Bram Stoker and World Fantasy Award winner.

Feed by Mira Grant
$7.99
609 pages

The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beat the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED.

NOW, twenty years after the Rising, Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives-the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will out, even if it kills them. 


Also check out Deadline, Blackout and Countdown.

Voracious by Alice Henderson 
$10.41
320 pages

Madeline Keye’s gift—to touch someone and see flashes of the past—has set her apart from family and friends. She finds sanctuary in the wilderness, until a backcountry hike in Glacier National Park turns into a hunt—with her as the prey. Because something that’s not human is out there. And it’s hungry.

Also check out Useful Information and Simone.

Drowned Sorrow by Vanessa Morgan
$8.95 pages
191 pages

Megan Blackwood has just lost her only son in a terrible accident. Now she has come to Moonlight Creek with her teenage daughter Jenna, hoping a change of scenery might help to put her life and that of her daughter back together.

But something odd is going on in Moonlight Creek.

When rain falls over the village, its inhabitants commit grisly murders, leaving the place deserted with the first rays of sunshine.

Beneath the lake’s surface, an eerie presence watches … and waits …. Waits to reveal a tragic past drowned in mystery and fear. One that doesn’t bode well for visitors.

By the time Megan realizes that her life, as well as that of her daughter, is in danger, it may be too late to escape.


Also check out The Strangers Outside.

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill 
$7.49
211 pages

Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor, is summoned to attend the funeral of Mrs Alice Drablow, the sole inhabitant of Eel Marsh House. Unaware of the tragic secrets which lie there, wreathed in fog and mystery, it is not until he glimpses a wasted young woman, dressed all in black, at the funeral that a creeping sense of unease begins to take hold, a feeling deepened by the reluctance of the locals to talk of the woman in black - and her terrible purpose.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Free
134 pages

"I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life and stir with an uneasy, half-vital motion." A summer evening's ghost stories, lonely insomnia in a moonlit Alpine's room, and a runaway imagination--fired by philosophical discussions with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley about science, galvanism, and the origins of life--conspired to produce for Marry Shelley this haunting night specter. By morning, it had become the germ of her Romantic masterpiece, Frankenstein. Written in 1816 when she was only nineteen, Mary Shelley's novel of "The Modern Prometheus" chillingly dramatized the dangerous potential of life begotten upon a laboratory table. A frightening creation myth for our own time, Frankenstein remains one of the greatest horror stories ever written and is an undisputed classic of its kind.

Also check out The Last Man.