horror

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Summary: She barely survived the last round. As the Red Dog Gang closes in on her Family, can she survive the next? After the devastating events of our last chapter, all private eye and mafia wife Jacqueline Spadros wants is to get her life back. Then a missing person she thought she'd never track down falls into her lap. Jacqui is thrown into a series of events which not only puts her and everyone around her into danger, but changes her life forever. Warning: on-screen murder, major consent issues, smoking, language, infidelity, betrayal, description of injury, gore, on-screen suicide, child injury This is chapter 9 of a 13-part serial novel. Please read these books in order: * The Jacq of Spades * The Queen of Diamonds * The Ace of Clubs * The King of Hearts * The Ten of Spades * The Five of Diamonds * The Two of Hearts * The Three of Spades * The Knave of Hearts <-- you are here Book 10 coming October 2023

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Summary: Humans are no longer alone; they have been joined by Arcanes, Lycans, and Vampires. It’s been over a hundred years since the Earth went through The Shift. Where once almost eight billion humans lived, the population now holds at four billion. But that wasn’t the only change. No one anticipated the branching of human DNA to produce new species of humans. Arcanes, Lycans, and Vampires are hidden throughout the genome, awaiting puberty before they manifest distinctly unhuman abilities. Finally, the new species of man were welcomed. No longer studied or treated as outcasts by most. People accepted these new humans and they integrated into society, albeit not easily. This allowed the UN Government to focus on colonizing space, in order to secure a future for all. Risks remain however, permitting a vampire to feed from you can cause shared memories. Tobin Corsian took such a risk. He resides in a newly reopened district of San Jose, California, where his family’s old home stood. He lives there with his friend Mikel, a Lycan, and his dog Begger. Instead of making his mandatory monthly blood donation at the government blood bank for the vampire community, Tobin decides, with the help of his therapist, to visit Biter, a vampire spa. The spa allows vampires to feed from humans directly while providing spa and sexual services, granting the donor a three-month reprieve from their required donations. Tobin’s encounter at Biter opens a window to his past and an experience he had as a child on the moon. Questions abound as he tries to unravel his past and make sense of his life.

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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.

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Summary: “Pain is pain. It all hurts the same.” Inflicted with dark desire, one man chooses between idyllic pretense and disturbing reality. Haunted by the silence of deep space, an engineer chases an eerie melody. Torn between penance and pride, a dishonored prince challenges the course of history. Suffering cracks our hearts and splinters our minds. It scars and alters us in irreversible ways. Yet while pain breaks us apart, it also binds us together. Our broken pieces can never rejoin as they once were, but they fit together to create new and distinctive wholes. Like the Japanese art of kintsugi, we can fill the velvety darkness of our scars with gold. Inflicted with life, an intelligent machine questions the illogic of family. Tempted by the desire to die, a shop clerk confronts the promise of his life. Offered the chance to transform his disfigurement, a ruined being looks to the smallest of lives for acceptance. An amalgamation of science fiction and fantasy subgenres, Inflicted invites you to peer into your own pain, examine your scars, and remember you are not alone. Pain binds us all, and how we face our brokenness redefines us. Immerse yourself in the brokenness of others and come away with a new understanding of self.

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Summary: There’s something in the dark … but is Lem’s imagination worse than reality? Out in the vast emptiness of the galaxy, anything can happen. It’s a fact that Lem and her trusty companion Spock know all too well. Sometimes, the things lurking in the darkness are all in your head. Then again, maybe there really is something out there. With her talking dog and an infuriatingly literal AI by her side, Lem must rely on nothing but her strength and wits to help her. As a humorous homage to Arthur C Clarke’s classic A Walk in the Dark, this short adventure is a not-actually-scary sci-fi horror story that’s perfect for fans of Martha Wells and John Scalzi.

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Summary: Gavin Booker, a school librarian at Cooper Road Elementary, Raleigh, Northern Carolina, leads an orderly, normal life. Work, jogging, friends from work, his son every other weekend. Gavin is also a secret. He is a hybrid, or part-fairy, and in the Columbian Empire, hybrids are under an automatic death sentence. Magic is illegal. So is loving another man, another capital crime. Fairies are locked away in ghettoes, magical beasts, such as gryphons, unicorns, and pegasi are kept in zoos. The others, the tree and water spirits, the talking beasts, fauns, and the rest, are in hiding. This is the world in which Gavin grew up. He survived, thanks to his mother. He can never forget he is different: ministers preach against people like him constantly; hating the other is a part of every school’s curriculum.   But now, things are changing fast, and apparently, for the worst. Earthquakes, volcanoes, killer storms are all frequent occurrences. The medicine Gavin takes to suppress his body’s glowing, isn’t working. The spells cast by his doctor, a witch, are losing their power. If anyone finds out what Gavin is, he is dead. Under threat, the Empire always goes after its marginalized people. Can Gavin survive the coming catastrophe? Will he ever recover from losing the boys he loved? Can he find the fairy man who has haunted his dreams all his life before it is too late? Can his scarred heart ever heal?

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Summary: From the author of the supernatural suspense series Gifted (Healer, Connection) comes a new queer paranormal romance series. Praise for Connection: "The romance element is complemented nicely by the relentless action and adventure throughout, creating an emotionally intense and page-turning narrative...A fast-paced and fun fusion of supernatural romance and mainstream thriller." ~Kirkus Vampire Creed Lowell drifts from town to town working with the elderly as a night nurse and looking to avenge his harrowing past. His youth and vitality make him a favorite of his patients and his gifts bring them peace. At long last he’s arrived in the place where he hopes to find the truth about those who betrayed him…but first he finds an unexpected love with a man who might understand him—or end him. Grad student Roman San Angelo is struggling to handle his courses, teaching schedule, and research for his dissertation on an obscure cult. He spends every spare moment with his beloved yet demanding grandmother Frances who’s recently moved to an assisted living facility—and he’s fascinated by her night nurse, who is able to bring out the inner light which had faded during her battle with dementia. Something about Creed doesn’t add up, however, Roman finds himself fighting an undeniable attraction. His concerns multiply when Roman discovers a connection between Creed and a bizarre series of vampire-wannabe assaults in the area. A moment of weakness leads to a night of passion between them, and the promise of something more, and yet Roman can’t shake his concern that Creed is not what he seems. Creed knows better than to bring a mortal into his world, even one who could help him find the link between the pack of violent vampires preying on the people of Santa Cruz and Creed’s past. When he discovers Creed’s secret, Roman is ready to step outside his comfort zone and accept everything a life with a vampire entails, and when Creed disappears, Roman will go to the ends of the earth to find the man who brought the light back to his grandmother and the warmth back to his own heart. *This book contains violence and sexual content. It is meant for audiences 18+

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Summary: Frontiers have always attracted the Other - where they find that the Other is always already there. These 22 stories explore what happens when queer characters encounter weirdness on the edge of the worlds they know. Authors include: Julie Bozza, J.A. Bryson, Dannye Chase, S.E. Denton, Miguel Flores, Adele Gardner, Roy Gray, KC Grifant, Peter Hackney, Bryn Hammond, Narrelle M Harris, Justin Warren Jackson, Toshiya Kamei, Catherine Lundoff, Bunny McFadden, Angus McIntyre, Atlin Merrick, Eleanor Musgrove, Jennifer Lee Rossman, Lauren Scharhag, Sara L. Uckelman, and Dawn Vogel.

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Summary: There are creatures lurking in our world. Obscure creatures long relegated to myth and legend. They have been sighted by a lucky-or unlucky-few, some have even been photographed, but their existence remains unproven and unrecognized by the scientific community. These creatures, long thought gone, have somehow survived; creatures from our nightmares haunting the dark places. They swim in our lakes and bays, they soar the night skies, they hunt in the woods. Some are from our past, and some from other worlds, and others that have always been with us-watching us, fearing us, hunting us. These are the cryptids, and Systema Paradoxa tells their tales. *** Life and Death and Family Secrets... Sheridan Cascaden faces more than memories when she receives a call in the darkest hours summoning her home. Sent away five years prior to safeguard her from the evil that claimed her mother, Sheridan hasn't been back since. She returns to find her home in a disturbing state and her father straddling the Veil, with no explanation of what happened. Not only must she deal with her own demons, but she will have to delve into his if she is to unlock the mystery and save Papa's life. But where lies the line between truth and madness among the shifting shadows? And can Sheridan navigate it before it's too late... for both of them?

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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.”

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Summary: Humans are, so far as we know, the only creatures on this planet who mark the passage of time. As such, we are keenly aware from an early age that time is tick, tick, ticking away. In the end, for all of us, is Death. We fear it. We are intoxicated by it. We run from it and somehow find ourselves wrapped in its dark-robed arms. A small village suffering through a terrifying plague seek a solution from a prophet. A “pig” crawls on his hands and knees through the dark labyrinth of a BDSM dungeon in search of the only thing that can satiate his hunger. Two young men find themselves chased through the woods by a real-life urban legend. A lonely young man finds a boon companion in Death. These stories and more fill Darkest Death, a collection of short horror fiction by W. Dale Jordan, author of The Stop.

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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

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Summary: A young man sold into servitude has his loyalties tested in ways he never imagined. Raised in an orphanage in Dickens, Daniel doesn't know who his parents were, where he comes from, or even his last name. Like all orphans, on his 16th birthday, he's sold to the highest bidder. Not knowing where he's going, who's bought him, or what they even want with him, Daniel embarks on an adventure he never thought he'd take. He finds love, a family, and a secure future - yet in a split second, makes a decision he ends up regretting the rest of his life. Brothers begins fifteen years before the Red Dog Conspiracy series. Warning: Language, smoking, use of alcohol and drugs, attempted suicide by hanging, M/M underage sexuality with consent issues, forced servitude, blood, gun violence, a man being beaten by a horsewhip, murder, discussion of child prostitution, underage M/F sexuality with age gap (female older).

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Summary: A werewolf and seven vampires are all that stand between the world and complete annihilation. When Kai Richter and Ori Bier met, sparks flew. Then a train blew up. Tracking an organism deadly to not only humans, but vampires and werewolves alike, brings Kai and Ori into the Vampire Guard. Decades later, they, along with Operative Team Jack Rabbit, come face to face with the horrors that same virus produces. Dead bodies are coming back to life, and rational people are becoming violent and brutal killers. A massacre is taking place nearly a mile under the Atlantic Ocean. Two teams of The Vampire Guard are in the thick of it, fighting to survive.

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Summary: Living in a quiet house on the outskirts of town, Ginger isn’t like the other girls. When she wakes up and discovers the unthinkable about her adoptive parents, she runs away and goes on a rampage straight to the only friend she has. Can she control what they both become? With a violent, growing hunger and more questions than answers, Ginger has nowhere to turn.

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Summary: Flynn Keahi has had a rough year. His nightmares are starting to manifest in reality, but no one believes him. Terrifying creatures are trying to cross out of dreams into the physical realm. Only Flynn can stop them – but doing so might cost him his life. Complicating matters further, one of these creatures cannot help wanting him — in every forbidden way. Will she be able to save him from his fate? Can she even protect him from herself? Book 1 in The Metamorphoses of Flynn Keahi What People Are Saying!   “A twisted descent into arousal, madness and mad arousal, Happiness and Other Diseases pulls no punches as it peels back the layers of the human experience to reveal our soft, creamy centers. Take that how you want, but if you are looking for a disturbing, sexually charged read with solid writing, Sumiko Saulson delivers.” -- Angela Yuriko Smith, Bram Stoker Awards® Nominated author of In Favor of Pain   "If you enjoy unsettling dark paranormal romances that place power dynamics in sexual relationships under the microscope, look no further. Sumiko Saulson gives us body horror, what feels like an insiders look at mental illness and the mental health system, dysfunctional families, semi-obscure mythological characters, and an excellent depiction of how many of us teeter on the fence between sex and death. Happiness and Other Diseases is a sexy, funny, disturbing, and unflinching tale of the insane lengths people will go to in search of love and acceptance." -- Michelle Renee Lane, Bram Stoker Award Nominated author of Invisible Chains   "In this entertaining novel, Saulson incorporates mythology into what might appear to be normal, everyday life. However, characters, Flynn and Charlotte, are far from normal. I enjoyed how Saulson keeps their relationship lively but honest – even sweet, but not in a saccharine way. Buy this book! For sheer enjoyment, it’s a keeper!" – Marge Simon, multiple Bram Stoker winner, HWA Lifetime Achievement Award winner   “It is a very unconventional book that offers a supernatural dimension to the mysterious, sometimes mind-bending world of psychological pathological conditions, psychosis, and disorders.” Justin Boyer, bibliophilesreverie.com

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Summary: The daughter of a werewolf hunter will become so much more. Thirteen-year-old Mercy Pinkerton thought her days of cleaning house, fixing the barricade, and wiring electric prongs were over. She would finally get to train to be a werewolf hunter, what she has always wanted. She doesn’t know that there are worse monsters in Kanta than the werewolves that plague Kanta each night. Danger lurks around every corner. She’ll have to avoid her father’s temper and follow his orders, even if it means risking her life. It is supposed to be Mercy’s big day, but will take a drastic turn for the worse. She’ll have to keep her wits about her, remember her training, and prepare for the ultimate test of bravery if she hopes to survive. Book 1 of The Wolves of Kanta series

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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.

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Summary: The mind of a befuddled muse... is full of odd nooks and crannies. This quirky, thoughtful, engrossing collection of short fiction contains twelve short stories and a novella across sci-fi and related genres including Time Travel, Alternate History, Hauntings, Circus Noir, Historical Fiction, Interspecies Communication, emails with the dead, and more... The Stories include: Curved Space: The crew of a sleeper ship awakes to find themselves lightyears from earth and in danger of starvation. They are shocked when a pizza deliveryman knocks at their airlock. The Daemon Muse A man tries to ignore his muse and finds out she is not a jealous lover, but she demands his creativity to express her inspirations. Times of Life and Death A field historian specializing in Tudor England becomes entranced by Lady Jane, England's nine-days queen. He convinces her to forgo her execution and come with him back to 2085 where, he says, she will be safe. Heart's Desire The newly elected president of the United States finds out that even when the devil loses his bet, he wins. A Sticky End A freak accident leaves an astronaut dying and stuck in the airlock with his robot. As he prepares for his end, he desperately tries to find humanity in his one remaining friend. The Singer of Starfish A young dolphin is convinced that she is the long-prophesied "Singer of Starfish" who can finally communicate with the strange animals keeping her and her pod captive. The Offering A sculptor weeps as he carves a memorial for his painter friend who had completely failed to understand the brutality of the French Occupation of Algeria. Both is French family and his secret Algerian family would pay the price of his naiveté. The Big Gumshoes A Clown PI must solve the murder of his friend and mentor in both his careers. Along the way, he breaks up a corrupt side-show, finds love, and returns a kidnapped dog to its owner. A Day in the Life of the Great Space Explorer A nursing home finds a unique way to entertain its staff and residents by celebrating the writing of their resident Sci-Fi author who can only remember the day he is living at the moment. Something That Will Not Let Go A woman returns to her childhood home to hide from the law. Once there, she finds out her imaginary friend, who helped her live through the abuse from her father, is not so imaginary after all. Together, they avenge the pain they suffered as children. Pea Soup A mild-mannered, puzzle-loving court reporter is duped by the beautiful, but corrupt prosecutor. The Severed World The Field Historian and Lady Jane from Times of Life and Death find out her decision to travel back to his time has dramatically changed history and that his promise that she would be safe in 2085 could not have been more wrong. A Thread Across The Veil An internet scammer discovers that he can converse by email with his recently deceased lover and that she wants to reform him from his evil ways.