horror – gothic

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Summary: Turmoil consumes the Underworld when the death of a god leaves a power vacuum. Phobetor, the stern and ambitious god of Nightmares seeks to fill the gap at any cost. Murderous nightmare daemons escape to the mortal realm, placing all of mankind in peril. In the midst of the unrest, star-crossed lovers yearn for one another across the void, one disempowered and bound to the Earth, the other trapped in the land of dreams by a grave sacrifice. Will love conquer all, or is the world's only salvation a god with an iron fist? "Chaos reigns supreme in the land of dreams and in reality. Earth’s only hope is in the hands of two lovers who have been separated after making a supreme sacrifice." - David Watson, HorrorAddicts.net

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Summary: She loathes him but the cult beckons. 1908, the height of the British Empire. Clara’s autonomy is shattered when her long-absent husband summons her to join him at his eerie sect’s headquarters, insulated on a sparsely inhabited island in the Bahamas. After a harrowing sea voyage, Clara and her children disembark into an unfamiliar landscape and climate. The children explore the marvels and mysteries of Andros Island and develop friendships with a Bahamian family, while Clara struggles to find her place as a woman within the cult. But what seems at first to be a spiritual haven for Clara reveals itself to be a monster-worshiping cult intent on draining her family of more than their fortune. Must Clara give up her quest for independence to protect her children from the cult’s depraved attempts to consume their life essence?

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Summary: A Paranormal Excursion in Four Acts. It should have been a simple field experiment. Go in, prove I can do what I claim, and walk out with the cash. If they could see what I see. Feel the helplessness I do when something else takes over. I’ll bet they’re not kept awake at night by the voices in this place. They don’t see the darkness with eyes that follows us all around this estate as we gather proof. This money was going to help my little sister with her surgery. Good intentions and the road to Hell.

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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: 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: Dive into this collected edition of the first three volumes of The Darkly Enchanted Romance series. Sweet and sultry historical romances with just the right amount of spookiness! ~ THE HARVEST MOON In the shadows of late autumn, Malcolm comes across a quaint village tucked away in the forest. It seems the perfect spot for a weary traveller to lay his head, and maybe find a little company. But there is dark magic afoot, and lots of local gossip swirls around the seductive titian-haired weaver, Daniel. All Malcolm sought was a night's pleasure. He never suspected he would have to worry about losing his life. Or his heart. THE GHOST OF HILLCOMB HALL On a stormy night, landscape designer Jonas arrives at the cheerless and fog enswathed Hillcomb Hall. He finds an odd trio of ladies in residence and an eerie portrait of the hauntingly attractive portrait of a stately ancestor, which constantly seems to watch his every move. His nights are filled with weird dreams and otherworldly visitations. Is the manor house truly haunted? Or is it all just a trick of the mind, a sinister game being played by the inhabitants of Hillcomb Hall? MANCHESTER LAKE Monty, along with his best friend Bishop, discovers a mystical selkie in Manchester Lake who transforms into a gorgeous man of his dreams. Together they adventure through a tastefully debauched house party, an Edwardian novelty called a “night club,” and a macabre Parisian cabaret. As their journey unfolds, they come face-to-face with ghoulish agents of the occult as well as startling discoveries - including Monty’s realization that he is falling for the beautiful creature from the lake. Can he really be in love so soon, or is there a past connection? And what does it all have to do with his past trip to Paris? Before their adventure ends long-hidden secrets will erupt in a storm of magic and passion!

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Summary: Clarity (noun) Four definitions to inspire writers around the world and an unlimited number of possible stories to tell: 1) Coherent and intelligible 2) Transparent or pure 3) Attaining certainty about something 4) Easy to see or hear Clarity 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: Misty Blake is a first-generation college student from rural Alabama…and this is her diary. Upon arrival at the University of Montevallo, she’s greeted by the quaint, small-town charm, including the historic, pastel colored Jeffcoat house situated at the edge of town. But the picturesque setting soon becomes the landscape for something darker as Misty spirals into emotional and psychological turmoil. On her own for the first time, Misty must navigate school and new relationships, including her burgeoning queer identity, in a place where a beautiful veneer can be hiding something gruesome. A dead pig in an overgrown garden. A missing person. Is it all in her head or could something supernatural be afoot? This thrilling Southern Gothic from the author of the Hard Way Home series is told through the diary entries of a sarcastic and witty narrator, creating a page-turner full of dark humor, early 2000s nostalgia, and lush depictions of a natural world that doesn’t always seem to follow the laws of nature.

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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: Claustrophilia is a genre-bending sci-fi Gothic that dives deep into the psyche’s need for love and control while exploring the darker side of human (and non-human) relationships. After the tragic death of his entire family, Thomas lives under a conservatorship overseen by his lover, Ethan. But Ethan’s job keeps him away. Isolated in the family’s decaying Connecticut mansion, Thomas lives a monotonous life under the watchful eye of a live-in security firm until one day, he discovers an alien hiding on the grounds of his estate. Confronted with the challenge of helping to save an alien species from extinction, Thomas must overcome the forces that control him in his own home. In a world where reality is not always what it seems, and trust is a double-edged sword, one wrong move could turn his whole world upside down… again.

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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: No one wants to be fooled, but that’s what Frankenstein did to you all. Victor's words were the mere ravings of a coward and madman. The truth is a fickle mistress. I was the one that raided the graveyards and robbed the dead of their terrestrial remains. It was I who pursued your creation across continents when you hadn't the spine to see to it yourself. It was I who held my begotten son in my hands that day. Frankenstein took the glory, took the fame, and horded the money from our misfortunes. The time for my retribution has come.

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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: Nobody believes Jonah, a mild-mannered mental patient with split personalities, that his doctor is working with his evil alter ego, Maldeus, to sacrifice women to a sex-crazed demon in the hospital basement. Determined to expose his doctor’s evil plan, Jonah goes undercover as Maldeus. Assisted by a cute nudist mental patient named Aurora, Jonah is thrust into a diabolical plot that forces him to confront the very limits of his own identity. Will Jonah defeat his doctor in time to stop the rise of Satan?

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Summary: Luella Carey isn’t crazy, not really, not that anyone believes her. Sent to Barrow Haven Asylum for a melancholic nature, she’s locked away at the behest of her father and his new wife. Grieving for her mother’s death, Luella finds comfortable solitude in the asylum until several anonymous letters appear. Mr. Winifred Carey’s new wife intends murder. She plans to claim the Carey fortune as her own. Mere days to escape the asylum and warn her father, Luella turns to a new friend, Mr. Isaac McEwen. The clock ticking down the hour, Luella fears her final decision. A grave mistake, perhaps? But who can she trust?

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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…

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Summary: Katja has long spent her life buried in the pain and sorrow of her past, a vampire abandoned to her fate for over 300 years, she never expects to meet another who could help her reclaim her existence. Raven, a poet and fellow lost soul, could be the one to spur her on, but in order to have the future she has only begun to grasp, she must uncover the truth about her origins and the awful event which left her alone centuries before. If she cannot face her past and reclaim her strength, she will lose everything.

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Summary: As an immigrant, Fredrick Wolf has to succeed at Morrow Academy of Anatomy and Science. Not merely succeed, he must prove to his peers he belongs—he isn’t the poor local Dr. Morrow accepted out of pity. Fredrick will do anything to procure a prime medical specimen. Calling upon his uncle, a dependable partner in crime since moving to England, Fredrick plans to use his uncle’s position at Clayton Bridge’s gaol to select the perfect candidate. Not all prisoners are the usual drunkards or petty thieves. Some possess dark secrets, especially the man known as Eugene Wallaby. Biding his time, Eugene sees young Fredrick’s murderous plan as a means of escape…if he survives the night.

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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.