Word Count: 81,198
Summary: Tyler Vaughan is a wildlife biologist who spends his days ear-tagging elk and monitoring bear populations in the Oregon Cascades. . . until the day one of his remote cameras captures an image of a strange, thin, eyeless humanoid—right around the time that children start disappearing from the nearby town of Crooked Creek. Tyler, his would-be girlfriend Rainey Carrington, and the skeptical, blustering Chief of Police Dale Blodgett, are reluctantly drawn into investigating a terrifying possibility—that their town is being visited by the specter of Slender Man, an evil entity long associated with kidnapping of children. The stakes only get higher when their inquiries turn them into targets. Will they be able to stop whoever is abducting the children of Crooked Creek, or will they be the next ones to disappear?
Word Count: 58841
Summary: "In range alone, Richard Thomas is boundless. He is Lovecraft. He is Bradbury. He is Gaiman." —Chuck Palahniuk With a Foreword by Brian Evenson In this new collection, Richard Thomas has crafted fourteen stories that push the boundaries of dark fiction in an intoxicating, piercing blend of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Equally provocative and profound, each story is masterfully woven with transgressive themes that burrow beneath the skin.
- A poker game yields a strange prize that haunts one man, his game of chance now turned into a life-or-death coin flip.
- A set of twins find they have mysterious new powers when an asteroid crashes in a field near their house, and the decisions they make create an uneasy balance.
- A fantasy world is filled with one man’s desire to feel whole again, finally finding love, only to have the shocking truth of his life exposed in an appalling twist.
- A father and son work slave labor in a brave new world run by aliens and mount a rebellion that may end up freeing them all.
- A clown takes off his make-up in a gloomy basement to reveal something more horrifying under the white, tacky skin.
Word Count: 18619
Summary: Varon Cambeul has made it to the top: Royal Magician of the Kingdom of Lothia, at the right hand of the King, who is his lover. He has always kept the promise he made to his mother and his apprenticeship master: he has used his magic for good. This promise is tested when the King asks him to make a curse, a curse that will be cured by the King and so everyone will love him. Helping the King is using his magic for good, right? But, is Varon doing this because he has fallen in love with the King? What about those who will suffer from the curse and slowly transformed into ghosts, people like Theo and Russell in the town where the curse is released? Can Varon undo this great wrong? Can he save Theo and Russell and the others as they turn invisible? How can he love someone who is not doing good?
Word Count: Information not available
Summary: "Dear Tyler, I was hoping I wouldn't have to write this letter for a long time..." Tyler is a young gay man with his whole life ahead of him. Then his Uncle Jodie died and left him the deed to Memory Lane Antiques, a small shop in an even smaller town. When he and his best friend, Madison, arrive to assess the inventory, they're led by unseen forces to an old journal. Only then do they realize the full meaning of ownership and possession. Memory Lane is filled with curious items. Some mundane, others deadly. As they dive deeper into Jodie's writing, Tyler cannot help but notice the similarities between their lives, nor is he prepared for just how deep his own ties run to a dark-glassed mirror that hangs in the showroom and the ghost of a boy named Frankie who will do anything to escape its murky depths.
Word Count: Information not available
Summary: There’s something magical about that sense of terror that grips you in the middle of sleep, when your heart pounds, you can’t catch your breath, and you know the monster is seconds away from grabbing you. While this anthology occasionally records the odd hallucination or vision from beyond, you’ll find no dream sequences here. These nine stories are designed to induce nightmares. Table of Contents: In “La Japonesa” by Lisa Morton, a college professor chasing tenure comes face to face with something with sharp claws and even sharper teeth. Weston Ochse cuts deep in “Glue and the Art of Supermodel Maintenance.” Officer Warren Hastings can’t escape the crime he didn’t prevent in Yvonne Navarro’s “Recall.” In Jennifer Brozek’s “Twenty Questions,” Sara discovers some games must be played until the end. E.S. Magill reminds us that every civilization has its myths of supernatural protectors of the natural world. During a hiking expedition, Harris Kimball encounters the spectral guardians of California’s Santa Lucia Mountains, whose mission is to stop the greatest threat to nature: humans. In Angel Leigh McCoy’s “The Haunting of Mrs. Poole,” Amelia seems to have it all: wealthy husband, devoted sister, perfect daughter…and a gothic mansion on the shore of the James River where nothing is what it seems. The line between reality and delirium blurs for an exhausted new mother in Alison J. McKenzie’s “Into the Quiet.” In Bill Bodden’s “The House on River Road,” Ed and Jerry discover some urban legends are more than legendary…and some abandoned houses are better left alone. Finally, Loren Rhoads grew up in a small town. She remembers how they can be in “Elle a Vu un Loup.”
Word Count: 49504
Summary: What if the side quest is really the main quest? Divine, a healer of the Goddess of Souls, has chased the thief who stole her talisman across half of Trelvania. The talisman is the key to accessing her magic well, and without it, she is powerless. While chasing her betrayer, former girlfriend, and servant of the Goddess of Condemnation, Divine meets Saph, a flirty tavern owner with an eyepatch and a proposition. Saph will help Divine locate her talisman if Divine helps her complete a mysterious quest in a chest. Inspired by RPGs and set in scenic autumn, prepare for an adventure with gods and goddesses, deceitful exes, axe throwing, and fantastical creatures. Can Divine learn to trust again and find romance in the middle of finding her magic?
Word Count: 62000
Summary: Wars are fought on many fronts. A battle is raging across New Colorado Protectorate with both human and demonic players. Todd and Nick Ruger are sentries with an arsenal of talents and training to combat threats from a variety of enemies. Todd and Nick are given a mission to find and stop weapons smugglers by going undercover on the riverboat, Annabelle. These aren't typical arms dealers, they're demons and they're not afraid of a pair of sentries. The Rugers will have to use all their skills and their most powerful weapon, the bond between them, just to stay alive. Stopping the supply of illegal weapons turns to trying, and failing, to thwart an assassination. Todd and Nick have each other, but will they be able to keep their love intact?
Word Count: 79000
Summary: Two years ago on a stormy night, in the dead of winter, Mike Teter experienced something that would change his life forever. Mike was a telescope operator at the world renowned Carson Peak Observatory in New Mexico. We won’t tell you what he saw that night on the mountain nor what happened afterward on a dark stretch of highway, because it would haunt you just as it has haunted Mike. But what we will tell you is that Mike is back at Carson Peak. And what he witnessed that night two years ago is about to become a reality…
Word Count: 54418
Summary: Mercy must unlearn her past if she hopes to find her future. After eluding hunters who wanted her dead, Mercy finds herself in a strange new place to call home. With the help of the bizarre Thomas Farrell and the mysterious Leyda, she discovers how different the world is from what her father taught. The violence of her past still haunts her, but the truth she uncovers rattles her core. Mercy must put her past and fears behind her, unlearn what she once believed to be doctrine, and uncover her true capabilities as a burgeoning scientist if she hopes to make a difference in Kanta. Drawn to the laboratory and to caring for the werewolves she once worked so hard to capture, Mercy discovers her own true passions instead of those demanded of her. When Andrei, a young, handsome werewolf, enters her life, Mercy sees firsthand the harsh realities of the werewolves she once demonized. She wants to help, but does Mercy have the courage and the wits to do the impossible? Book 2 of The Wolves of Kanta series
Word Count: 117000
Summary: You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family… Quirk and Moth have avoided killing each other long enough to solve another case. They decide on a local job next, and take up the search for a missing scientist. How could Quirk know this new mystery put them on a headlong collision course with his troubled past, a plethora of personal issues, and a hoard of genetic hybrid creatures with an appetite for anything that moves? When their client dies in mysterious circumstances, law enforcement pursues the dysfunctional duo all the way to a research lab in frozen Yellowknife. Can Quirk and Moth find the scientist before they are banged up for murder, or has she already been eaten? Is it coincidence Quirk’s father-in-law bought the company? Can they expose the shadow from Quirk’s past and clear their names? Quirk and Moth need time, but it’s fast running out, and the bodies are piling up. Find out what happens in The Carborundum Conundrum!
Word Count: 114000
Summary: A Slow Burn Meet Cute! Baker. Wizard. God of Space and Time. Cupcake enthusiast. How long will it take to fan the flames and enrage this gentle phoenix? Start counting. What's a wounded and lonely little cinnamon roll to do? Stripped of his psychic powers, Calico Winghorse flees his homeworld and travels to 19th century Earth via his inter-dimensional portal. As a mixed-blood phoenix trapped in human form, he opens a bakery in the San Francisco Bay Area and quietly nurses his wounds. But the unique method of his arrival draws the unwanted attention of Infinity Corporation. Representing this angelic-run company is Agustin Chavez de la Cruz, the Demon Lord of California. Even though Agustin is IC's heir, he finds himself demoted from his duties to concentrate on his new assignment: take absolute control of Calico's portal. But Calico refuses to sell at any price. He is also very busy ensuring that the good people of the city are getting their fill of baked goods. Before Agustin can formulate a more gracious avenue of acquiring the gateway, the demanding head of IC interferes, further complicating matters. So as negotiations stumble along, Calico and Agustin come to realize they both want more than a stuffy business arrangement. However, due to Calico's injuries, the portal remains vulnerable to the darker forces that want it at any cost. Agustin will have to push both his angelic heritage, as well as his own psychic powers to the very limits to heal this sweet baker, who is also the portal world's God of Space and Time. The Demon Lord of California is the first book of an LGBTQ+ paranormal-fantasy series. You won't want to miss a first love found, hidden worlds, and a recovering workaholic grasping at his second chance. All centered around the control of an otherworldly portal. So curl up with your favorite beverage, and hang out with Cal and Gus for a while. You'll be happy you did!
Word Count: 106779
Summary: Portents of evil. Dreams of destruction, chaos, death. Feelings of terrible foreboding, heavy as the dark skies before a storm hits. Within twenty-four hours, the sudden and nearly universal presentiment of doom experienced by folks in the peaceful beach town of Furness, California is found to be horrifyingly accurate when a handful of people wake up to find that their friends, families, and loved ones—in fact, most of the inhabitants of the Earth—have simultaneously vanished without a trace. Left behind to make sense of a strange and depopulated world are an odd assortment of people. A wry and jaded psychic who knows good and well that her fortunetelling is a sham—until the day it begins to come true. A kind, idealistic registered nurse. A thirteen-year-old science nerd. A church custodian. An outspoken, pragmatic physicist. A volatile and unpredictable bakery owner. A tough-as-nails ex-Army man with a terrible secret, who is determined that he'll survive this, even if it's at the cost of the others. But they soon discover that they're not the only ones trying to find their way through the empty streets of Furness. Because the cataclysm that took 99% of the Earth's inhabitants did one other thing. It released the monsters.
Word Count: 51004
Summary: Captured! It didn’t matter that Mercy found a cure for lycanthropy or fended off bloodthirsty werewolves in Crowsmirth. Oscar the hunter still found her. Finding herself in a place she never wanted to return to again, her captor insists she play a twisted game. Oscar wants to be the father she never had, and Mercy his doting daughter. Refusal is not an option. Plotting to escape while playing along is dangerous, but Mercy is determined to get home. She must unravel the mystery of her parents’ past and conceal her growing fury if she hopes to see her friends again. Book 4 of The Wolves of Kanta series
Word Count: 34000
Summary: Dwyn is a young man in the small, isolated northern town of Manicouga, son of the Minstor, and betrothed to marry the beautiful Kessa in a few weeks. Mael is shepherding the remains of his own people from Land’s End, a village farther north, chased out by a terrible storm that destroyed the town. Both are trying to find their way in a post-apocalyptic world. When they meet, their love may change the course of history.
Word Count: Information not available
Summary: Get Your Bad-Ass On! The rumble of a Harley... The gleam of black leather... The shine of polished chrome... The freedom of the open road.... Motorcycles meet magic and mayhem as Lance Cosain, the halfling leader of The Wild Hunt MC, protects his turf and his people from attacks ordered by Dair na Scath, the high king of the fae. Holding his own against rogue fae, redcaps, and pissed-off road gremlins, all Lance wants to do is settle down with his lady. Instead he goes toe-to-toe with the high king’s champion over an ancient dagger and his claim to the throne. Who will triumph? The king of the road or the king of the realm? Either way, the Hunt is on!
Word Count: 68,474
Summary: It’s the summer of 1971, and all ten-year-old Janina Starcevich wants to do is spend the seemingly endless warm days riding her bicycle, climbing trees, and catching frogs in the pond in her back yard. But when a young drifter named Justin Lazarus walks into the hardware store owned by her next-door neighbor, Kathy Christian, a series of events are set in motion that will change them all forever. Justin is a melding of opposites—charming but odd, friendly but frightening, seemingly ordinary but at the same time deeply strange. Kathy compares him to an optical illusion before you’ve figured it out. Something’s wrong, but it’s impossible to say exactly what. The events of that sweltering summer turn the little village of Guildford, New York upside down. So why, twenty-five years later, can Janina—now happily married, with three children of her own—barely remember what happened? A chance mention at work starts her on an obsessive quest to reconstruct how the tragedy in 1971 unfolded, and to try to figure out what had been her role in it. The more she uncovers, the more puzzling and disturbing it becomes—an enigma that has lain buried for two and a half decades, centering around one single question: Who was Justin Lazarus?
Word Count: 47421
Summary: Mercy must bring justice to Kanta. After months of being held captive in her childhood home, Mercy returns to Farrell Mill, expecting a warm welcome from her friends. But there is none. Farrell Mill has been raided and left to rot. Everyone she knows and loves is missing and even her research is gone. Thomas and Andrei have been arrested, accused of reselling werewolves, a crime they did not commit. But if they declare their innocence and reveal their true purpose at the mill of curing and freeing werewolves, they could put many lives in danger. Mercy will need to face her most terrifying opponent yet: the people of Kanta. She will need to rally the goodwill of the werewolves she has helped and hope it will be enough to turn the tide in her favor. This time without masks, without lies, and without a disguise. Can Mercy find her allies and free her friends without losing everything? The clock is ticking. An execution date looms closer and Mercy is scrambling to keep from losing the only family she has left. Book 5 in The Wolves of Kanta series.
Word Count: 56024
Summary: Mercy is on a mission. She plans to administer her partial cure to as many werewolves as she can find, giving them a new chance at life. That means leaving Kanta and convincing werewolves of her good intentions. But finding their campsites during the day isn’t easy. Hot on the heels of a large camp somewhere near Crowsmirth, Mercy and Andrei get side-tracked by an unexpected rescue mission. They soon learn that there are far more werewolves in those woods than they expected. They’re outnumbered, completely unprepared for the sheer numbers against them, and worse yet, running out of daylight. Desperate to get out of the forest before night falls and the slaughter begins, they run straight into a team of highly organized werewolf hunters. Surrounded by vicious killers and countless werewolves, can Mercy and her friends survive the long night in Crowsmirth? Book 3 of The Wolves of Kanta series.
Word Count: Information not available
Summary: Fabren Lacalian never foresaw consequences like this. Teaming with his master for a vengeful prank, the half-human magician forged a false prophecy to embarrass the wizards who belittled them. But after his teacher is murdered by a sinister pretender claiming to be the heir they foretold, the terrified apprentice flees for his life as the sole custodian of the truth. Riddled with guilt and hunted by assassins, Fabren finds an unlikely ally in an archivist who believes wholeheartedly in the escalating lie. And with only his meager keyhole magic to protect them from the vile usurper’s minions, the sham seer may be the author of everyone’s destruction. Can Fabren end the madness before the realm falls to its doom? The Keyhole Wizard is the thrilling first book in The Doorway to Magic high fantasy series. If you like underdog heroes, dire stakes, and unique systems of sorcery, then you’ll love Susan and John Ruff’s dive into destiny.
Word Count: 100000
Summary: They say, “Never work with androids or children.” Quirk had one job to do, deliver papers to a Milan mafia boss, before leaving Earth for his home in the asteroids. But that was before being tailed, poisoned—oh, yes—and hijacked into raising foulmouthed fourteen-year-old convent girl Angelika Moratti, aka Moth, who'd rather see him asphyxiate in space. Fleeing assassins, Quirk, Moth and her syRen® android S-0778 ride the space elevator to the Moon, where Quirk hires on to hunt an ex-terra-former who somehow used an android to murder his doctor. But which android of the two hundred under Lunaville’s dome? The trail of bodies grows, time is running out; the only way they can save the dome and the two thousand souls beneath it is to solve The Mandroid Murders. Genres: Science Fiction / Thriller / Mystery / Adventure / LGBT and Non Binary Market: Adult
