Paranormal - Ghosts & Haunted Houses Genre

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Summary: The seas spell freedom. Pirates and kraken, boats and submarines, deadly sirens, mermaids, and the women who face them all. These are our heroes. High seas adventure, fantasy, and magic weave together in this sapphic anthology focusing on the joy of the unbounded oceans. If you like diverse stories with lesbian and sapphic heroines exploring oceans, battling sea monsters, and seducing pirates, buy Farther Reefs today! With stories by: Sarah Day and Tim Pratt, Kim Pritekel, Kyoko M. Sara Codair, William C. Tracy, N.L. Bates, Robin C.M. Duncan, Vanessa Ricci-Thode, Margaret Adelle, and J.S. Fields Genres: Science Fiction / Fantasy / Adventure / Lesbian / LGBT and Non Binary Market: Adult

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Summary: Sometimes the unexpected becomes magical. When August Shaw takes an unplanned vacation at the Oaks B & B, he decides on a bold step—to slip into his vintage feminine wardrobe and let himself feel beautiful. He usually plans every detail of his life, but is counting on bestie, Nicole, to boost his courage. When Nicole can’t join him, and Jan Koskinen—the man August has crushed on for years—arrives instead, August risks accepting Jan’s invitation to join in the Beat the Winter Blues Festival. The spontaneous weekend turns romantic, but August can’t help his uncertainties, even as the people at the Oaks—along with a very uncanny house—encourage him to live in the moment. Can August accept the spontaneous whirlwind winter romance… or will his questions leave him standing in the cold?

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Summary: Coasters, carousels, an old cemetery, and a sprawling hotel on a stormy lakeside. Visit this haunted tour of scrapbook memories where legendary summers intersect with history and rumor. Told in vignettes that weave stories, newspaper clippings, postcards, and images, Ghastly Tales follows four families through the decades at a lakeside resort and amusement park where everyone eventually returns.

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Summary: Emma and her Aunt Agathe share a family resemblance - they can both speak to ghosts. But Agathe, rejected by her family and constantly beset by heartache, has spent her whole life fleeing her unusual gift. Emma, however, embraces it. Grave Songs for the Dead is a cycle of three interconnected short stories, gothic with a touch of magic realism, set in the late 19th century.

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Summary: A boy is in danger when he stumbles upon a crime committed by two prominent men of his town, but finds an unusual ally in the form of a castle ghost. Twelve-year-old Haycorn may know all about ghosts of Ohio, but even he is stunned when he and his friend Budge encounter a ghost in a castle. The boys witness a clandestine meeting there between two men involving a kick-back scheme, putting their lives, and that of Haycorn’s mother, in jeopardy. But the ghost may have other plans for all of them.

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Summary: In Sacrum Umbra you were treated to tales from the shadows, the literary darkness that lives within all of us. Here you will find tales of another sort, the type you might find in the less wholesome end of the collective unconscious and the very depths of the gut. From stories of childhood gone horribly wrong to sex and madness with an impossible cost, this is where you'll find the more gruesome end of the spectrum.

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Summary: INK (NOUN) Five definitions to inspire writers around the world and an unlimited number of possible stories to tell: 1) A colored fluid used for writing 2) The action of signing a deal 3) A black liquid ejected by squid 4) Publicity in the written media 5) A slang word for tattoos Ink features 300-word speculative flash fiction stories from across the rainbow spectrum, from the minds of the writers of Queer Sci Fi.

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Summary: A loving boyfriend, generous friendships, and a thriving business—Arnold Kreed should be ecstatic. So why does he feel like he’s standing on the edge of an abyss? When Kreed took a chance on a thief—letting Lucky into his world, his life, his heart—he hardly imagined he would find the love and acceptance he didn’t dare dream of. Lucky draws people to him, and his extended found family embraces Kreed. Now in an established relationship, despite Kreed’s ex causing trouble again, Lucky and Kreed are working toward making a life together. But Kreed is unsettled, unable to find his bliss. He is getting grumpier, and he can feel his people, including his beloved self-aware house, Mildred, pulling away… How can Kreed get back to the joy he so recently found if he has no idea what’s wrong?

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Summary: Never look a mannequin in the eyes! Edi has collected antiques and ghost stories for as long as they can remember. Some old objects buzz with history, and when Edi touches them, they see fragments of the item's story. But are the visions real? Edi desperately wants to believe in the supernatural until a mysterious ghost transforms their mom into a mannequin. Helped by Delilah, a thirteen-year-old psychic, Edi researches local hauntings to untangle how and why their mom became a mannequin. When Edi finally employs their ability to see an artifact’s history, they learn the terrifying truth. The ghost that turned Edi’s mom into a mannequin wants to resurrect herself, and she doesn’t care how many people she murders in the process. If Edi doesn’t put her spirit to rest by the end of the summer solstice, dozens of people will be forever mannequinized, including Edi and Delilah’s moms. Find out what happens in Junk Junction by Sara Codair!

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Summary: Rose Titus, author of The Vampire Next Door Trilogy, now brings together a collection of her best short stories. Here in this book you will find tales of vampires, werewolves, witches, ghosts, space aliens, and even a few angels. These stories answer questions such as where do we go after we die? What is the future of this planet? And what is the future of humanity? There are also stories of young runaways, old hippies, worried mothers, troubled families, love gone horribly wrong, selfish billionaires, people who find themselves suddenly homeless, old men with their recollections of days gone by, and girls gone wild! There may even be a murder or two.

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Summary: Biology professor Roman Janz was walking across campus and planning his next plant-collecting trip to Brazil, when something stung him on the neck. And now… now he’s wandering in the dark, in the blue, floating, disembodied, and confused. There has to be a good explanation, if he can just find someone, anyone, he can actually talk to about it. Xavier Faulkner is intelligent, creative, and made millions when he sold his tech-security company. But all his wealth and skills couldn’t keep his sister Tam from being poisoned by food contamination. She lived, but her health was damaged, and her job as a cop is gone. In the antebellum house he moved them to, Xavier hopes to find both a distraction and maybe a purpose for their lives. But the old house seems to come with strange noises, and odd blue lights, and maybe― if Xavier isn’t just going crazy― a naked guy, walking away into the blue…   This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love’s Landscapes" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story. Dear Author, I just moved into this old antebellum home I bought with the intentions of restoring. I often find myself awoken in the night by strange noises I cannot identify or hear during the day. At first, I think it’s just a dream… this seemingly phantom always walking away. Who is he and how can I get him to finally turn around and see me? 79,000 words

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Summary: Come along into the forest and bear your heart's hidden desire. Sit in the doctor's chair and trust that the procedure will cure what ails you. Look your demons in the eye and challenge them to fight. Enter if you're daring and feel these tales raise goosebumps along your arms as they take you from modern New Jersey to fairytale lands and back again. From witches to werecats and spirits to surgeries, this collection puts queer women front and center in some of the most popular subgenres of speculative fiction. Horror, dark fantasy, and magical realism coalesce in this stunning collection of all things dark and divergent.

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Summary: Who doesn't crave a little escape? Dreaming of small town life and rural charm, Alex and Rainey find a deal on an old rustic home they can't resist. But soon after Rainey moves, her preoccupation with weird local history and the complications of living alone in the woods take a toll. Alex worries that the long nights and growing isolation are driving her stir crazy. When the Sugar House is damaged and Rainey goes missing, Alex doesn't know where to turn. Was it a storm, vandals, or something worse? What happened at the Sugar House? The only thing worse than wondering is finding out.

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Summary: Alan I haven't been out with a guy in the last two years. Partly because I'm a gay elementary-school teacher in a fairly small, conservative town. Partly because I'm a sorcerer, and dating ordinary humans only leads to trouble. Sleeping with one though? That's doable, so when my birdbrained familiar Sunny lines up a tall, muscular firefighter for me, I'm not going to say no. Just once, though. Maybe twice. I don't need more trouble in my life. Jason I don't regret moving back to my hometown and my big family. Well, not much. I'm not out to them, and I miss the anonymity of the big city, but I like the local fire house and the slower-paced life. Still, when I see my niece's teacher, Mr. Hiranchai, in gray sweatpants talking to a mini-parrot on his shoulder, something inside me (or maybe something in front of me) perks up and says "I want that one." I can't have an actual boyfriend, but I sure wouldn't mind getting laid, and Alan's slim, dark-haired, smart-assed style rings all my bells. It's no surprise we turn out to be great together, even if my job and his responsibilities make it hard to find time. It is a surprise when I realize I want more than just an occasional night. But some weird fires out in the brush keep us firefighters hopping, and when this strange carnival comes to town and lands me with a pair of magical doll shoes, life gets truly confusing. There's more to Alan than he's telling me, and I'm getting a bad, bad feeling about all this. Magic Burning is a story in the Necromancer universe, 60 years after Marked by Death, and is part of the multi-author Carnival of Mysteries Series. Each book stands alone, but each one includes at least one visit to Errante Ame’s Carnival of Mysteries, a magical, multiverse traveling show full of unusual acts, games, and rides. The Carnival changes to suit the world it’s on, so each visit is unique and special. This book contains a snarky, matchmaking bird, a lonely young teacher, and a gay firefighter finally coming out to his large family.

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Summary: When college student Muriel Aubrey inherits an old house in a small town, she imagines that moving into the rural community will be deathly dull. But the old house once belonged to her eccentric granduncle, a professor said to be researching something mysterious before his untimely death. Then Muriel finds the research notes that had been hidden away in the old Victorian; and she discovers what the professor was researching: vampires. It isn’t long before Muriel meets residents of the small town who knew the professor almost a century ago, and learns that everything he wrote in the notes he kept is true...And then she finds herself stalked by a vampire hunter.

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Summary: First I was a sorcerer. Then I was a hermit. For so long—for years that seemed to go on forever—I couldn't bear to be touched. I put up not just walls but whole stone bunkers to keep everyone out, emotionally, and physically as well. I was protected from people, from ghosts, from specters real and imagined. Sure, I was alone. But I felt safe. Only, after a while, I wasn't sure any longer whether a totally "safe" empty life was really worth living. Then Tobin came along. Out of the blue, out of my past, with a summons from the king that he wouldn't let me ignore. I tried to cling to my isolation, but he wouldn't give up on me. Tobin never believed in walls. This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love Has No Boundaries" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story. 103,000 words

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Summary: Eleven tales of the queer fantastic by award-winning author Catherine Lundoff. A bookstore clerk goes on a quest for the Norns while a couple of mercenaries wake up to some big surprises at their favorite inn. Shakespeare’s sister, Judith, forms an alliance with playwright Christopher Marlowe. A witch attempts the wrong love spell and a young prince meets an irresistible monster. Swordswomen, ghosts, the Queen of the Fay, the occasional gentleman of the evening and other unforgettable characters populate these stories rich and strange. Includes the Gaylactic Spectrum Award finalist “At the Roots of the World Tree” as well as several other stories not previously collected.

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Summary: A magical bookshop holds the keys. When Mason Chynoweth inherits an old house in small-town New Zealand, he hopes to discover what happened to his great-great uncle Lewis after he returned from the war in 1945. Mason’s first encounter with the property is thankfully reassuring—his sensitive psychic powers aren’t triggered and he has a calm sense of coming home. Elijah Whitaker arrives in Kedgetown for an extended visit with his aunts. He’s quickly drawn to Mason and offers to help him try to find some answers in the dusty old house. It soon becomes clear that Mason is keeping secrets, but Elijah has a few secrets of his own. Like his closely guarded knowledge of the hidden supernatural world, and the fact that many of the townspeople are psi and supernaturals. What is the connection between the house and Postscript, the town’s enigmatic bookshop? Mason’s glimpses of the past give some clues, but not enough to make sense of the puzzle. When a hidden journal comes to light, the true story of Lewis’s journey is revealed, and his path and Mason and Elijah’s begin to intertwine.

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Summary: RISE (noun / verb) Eight definitions to inspire writers around the world, and an unlimited number of possible stories to tell: 1) An upward slope or movement 2) A beginning or origin 3) An increase in amount or number 4) An angry reaction 5) To take up arms 6) To return from death 7) To become heartened or elated 8) To exert oneself to meet a challenge Rise features 300-word speculative flash fiction stories from across the rainbow spectrum, from the minds of the writers of Queer Sci Fi.

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Summary: Sometimes, we get second chances -- at love, to make things right, to say good-bye the way it should have been said. Darian promised his dying husband Randy he would go through with the plan to teach summer school in Bath, England. Randy insisted; it was always Darian’s dream to live in England, go, do it. But once there, in Tintagel, on a street in Coverack, a small Cornish seaside village, Darian sees Randy. Grief can make us see things, right? So Darian tells himself, until the man whom he buried, whose ashes he carried with him to England, sits down beside him on a bench in front of Bath Abbey, with screaming seagulls nearby. It seems the dead can come back. But why and how? Has Randy come to take Darian with him? Or is something else going?