Andy Simon wakes up in excruciating pain, a pain for which there is no explaination. He then hears sirens from vehicles that aren't there. Then his wife kisses him gooodbye and begs him not to die on her, though she doesn't even seem to notice her own strange words. His day only gets weirder from there. Why does the pain persist? Why does his coffee taste like blood? What is happening to him?Andy Simon wakes up in excruciating pain, a pain for which there is no explaination. He then hears sirens from vehicles that aren't there. Then his wife kisses him gooodbye and begs him not to die on her, though she doesn't even seem to notice her own strange words. His day only gets weirder from there. Why does the pain persist? Why does his coffee taste like blood? Why is he the only one who seems to notice the torrential rainstorm he's driving in? And what does that car accident he keeps hearing about on the news have to do with it all?

How does the stonemason make such perfect statues?Will the girl of young Thomas' dreams find the gift he left for her?What does the strange creature on the deserted planet want from Captain Anderson?These and other questions are explored in The Stonemason and Other Tales. Four stories of the disturbing and the macabre that will take you into the darkest nights and coldest tombs you can fathom.Two homes in the mountainsSnowed in for winter’s keep;A river in between them,A rope tight o’er the deep.A mother and her daughter,A father and his son,A cottage and a cabin,A story yet unspunBut time did freeze a tin canDangling from that ropeA messenger from days gone by,Echoing long lost hope.Until a cold November daySaw decades fall away;Young hands inscribed a folded scrap,A missive sent to say…_________________So begins the plucky correspondence of Timothy and Genevieve, two children about to uncover a story long-buried... one filled with love, with loss, and with hope. An enchanting Christmas story laced with joy, God's healing hand in the broken places of life weaves through each letter passed over the river in that tin-can strung from the rusted pulley. Enter into a simpler time in this petite tale, written to be just long enough to tuck into a stolen moment as you rest your feet and quiet your heart in the bustle of a busy season.

VAMPIRE FOR HIRE Raylene Pendle (AKA Cheshire Red), a vampire and world-renowned thief, doesn’t usually hang with her own kind. She’s too busy stealing priceless art and rare jewels. But when the infuriatingly charming Ian Stott asks for help, Raylene finds him impossible to resist—even though Ian doesn’t want precious artifacts. He wants her to retrieve missing government files—documents that deal with the secret biological experiments that left Ian blind. What Raylene doesn’t bargain for is a case that takes her from the wilds of Minneapolis to the mean streets of Atlanta. And with a psychotic, power-hungry scientist on her trail, a kick-ass drag queen on her side, and Men in Black popping up at the most inconvenient moments, the case proves to be one hell of a ride. From the Trade Paperback edition.

The many millions of V.C. Andrews fans, and particularly the younger readers among them, will thrill to the first in a new, four-book series on the struggles and secrets of children of divorce. Misty is the tale of a young girl facing the trials of her devious, divorced parents and the terrors of a deeply-held secret. When she meets three other girls in therapy, also children of divorce, she learns that she's not alone -- and not alone in sharing secrets.

Real pitch meetings happened in tiny, stuffy offices, stacked to the ceiling with towers of shoddy, half assed scripts, fast food wrappers littering the floor like greasy shrapnel because busy people tend to toss without looking, and to top it off they always (and I mean always) reeked of stale coffee and the even staler guys who chugged it.Have you ever read a book and thought, "gee I'd really like to know more about all those background characters!" Well we here at Team Pop Culture thought of that; because we're awesome, and we've got you covered. Behold, the Everything Sucks series! All of these short stories are stand-alones, and will make sense even if you haven't read the novel "Pop Culture Sucks, Manifesto of a Vampire" (*cough* it's a great book though *cough*)The series will either introduce you to, or expand on, various characters from the Pop Culture Universe. You'll get peeks at things like: Iris's time in the Underground Gary's life in the late 1940's Stitch, the Speakeasy barkeep And many all new charactersSo whether you're familiar with these guys or not, this is a series you should check out!

Marimar's life heads into a downward spiral the day she moves into an old Victorian house in a small town in TX. Deep secrets lie under the seemingly serene surface of the town, all surrounding her new home. What she first believes to be a urban myth has revealed itself to be all too true. She meets Sage, a local boy. Together they must unravel the mysteries of the house and their budding romance.Marimar, an attractive, biracial, strong willed yet socially awkward sixteen-year-old moves to a Victorian home in a small town. Sage is a tall handsome southern boy with a troubled family life. He can’t help but be attracted to Marimar's petite beauty and fiery disposition. Marimar discovers the house has a mysterious past which is shrouded by the superstitious townsfolk. She believes it’s all an urban legend until she starts experiencing strange phenomenon first hand. Sage is drawn both to her and to the house. They set off together to seek the truth, but no one is talking. In discovering the house’s history she uncovers a life altering family secret as well. These revelations open up a new reality for her and make her question her beliefs and even her ability to stay alive, let alone pursue a relationship with her first love.

Jade had listened to Misty and Star tell their stories. Now it is her time to speak. But she can't. For while the others in Dr. Marlowe's therapy group had exposed their hidden pains and secret pasts, they are nothing like Jade. They don't know what it is like to be a pawn in a courtroom battle too hateful to ever forgive. Or that escaping the madness had lured Jade into an ordeal too traumatic to forget....

Any scientific expedition to the Arctic expects plenty of risk. However, Dr. Welham of Miskatonic University's survey uncovers far more than the usual geologic and ethnographic samples. In the severe, rock-scouring blizzards of the far north, the team comes across a hideous object from an elder age. A relic that brings earth shattering terror in its wake...Any scientific expedition to the Arctic expects plenty of risk. However, Dr. Welham of Miskatonic University's survey uncovers far more than the usual geologic and ethnographic samples. In the severe, rock-scouring blizzards of the far north, the team comes across a hideous object from an elder age. A relic that brings earth shattering terror in its wake...  This story is loosely inspired by H. P. Lovecraft's short story, Polaris, which was written in 1918. In that story, a modern man is troubled by recurring dreams, gaining in intensity. During these visions, he assumes the role of a sentry guarding the pass against the invading Inutos people from the west. However, under the malign influence of the pole star, the watcher falls asleep. This time, when he awakes, screaming, the sentry wakes as a modern man and realises that he has failed the marble city of Olathoe in the lost land of Lomar.

It came without warning... One Sunday afternoon, those who stood in the sun caught fire and turned to ash. Forced indoors, humanity must learn to live in the darkness. Unless, what waits in the darkness catches them, too..."Sunfall: Episode 1, Season 1 is short, but not without impact. Very-detailed, the descriptions will have you visualizing each scene, and cringing at most. Each character appears real, life-like from thoughts down to conversation and makes you hate their upcoming fate. Yet, it still leaves you craving more. Great writing style... Intriguing plot… I do believe these talented authors may have just created something epic. Anxiously awaiting episode two.” -- Natalie Carlisle, author of The Shifted and Finding Keith It came without warning... One Sunday afternoon, those who stood in the sun caught fire and turned to ash. Forced indoors, humanity must learn to live in the darkness. Unless, what waits in the darkness catches them, too... Forced inside a giant retail warehouse, a group of survivors must learn to live with the darkness and each other. A father aims to protect his children from a dangerous new world, whatever the cost. An ex-cop burdened by her shaky past puts her skills to the test when people start dying. A mysterious worshiper attempts to rally the community and seek alternative refuge. Sunfall is an episodic series that will be released in "episodes" and "seasons", much like a television show. Each "season" will consist of six episodes, and each episode will be anywhere from 12k-20k words. Recommended for adult audiences.

There has been a string of brutal murders in the small town of Monroe. The prime suspect is a vagrant that seems to be hanging around the area. Ida is a single mother who is starting to worry about the bloody crime spree, especially as the vagrant appears to be spending a lot of time sneaking around her property. Her only hope is for the Sheriff to solve the crime, before it's too late.There has been a string of brutal murders in the small town of Monroe. The prime suspect is a vagrant that seems to be hanging around the area. Ida Van de Veld is a single mother who is starting to worry about the bloody crime spree, especially as the vagrant appears to be spending a lot of time sneaking around her property. Her only hope is for the Sheriff and his officers to solve the crime, before it is too late.

In a windowless cell, a man hangs from a pair of handcuffs. He is an American. His torturer will stop at nothing to extract the information he requires. He, too, is an American. A Day and a Night and a Day is a Grand Inquisition for the twenty-first century, in which love, loyalty, reason, and truth are on trial, and morality hangs in the balance. It is the story of Augustus Rose, an unlikely operative in a terrorist network, and his interrogator, Harper, a ruthless ambassador for the darkest forces at work in our times. Beyond the law and without hope of escape or reprieve, Augustus endures an emotional and physical assault that brings his whole life under brutal scrutiny: his race, religion, politics, and past, the people he has loved, and the few he is still desperate to protect. Alone and certain of death, Augustus raises the only shield he has: memory. He remembers his outcast Euro-American mother, Juliet, whose erratic love was refuge from the unforgiving streets of Harlem in the 1950s; he recalls the strange solace of Elise Merkete, the ravaged vigilante who recruited him into the ranks of her underground army; he relives the cool touch of the young Spanish prostitute, In�s, perhaps the last female tenderness he's ever likely to know. Outshining them all is the memory of Selina, a stunning, troubled, and rebellious white New York aristocrat. Their epic, taboo love affair, begun in 1960s Manhattan, would yield a lifetime's worth of passion, heartbreak, and wanderlust, leading Augustus from Harlem to Greenwich Village, from El Salvador to Barcelona, from Morocco to a bleak British island where death seems his only companion. Dramatic, far-reaching, and beautifully written, A Day and a Night and a Day is both a piercing love story and a timely, harrowing evaluation of the shape the Western world is taking.

Things in the ground, thinking their thoughts . . .. . . Thoughts they can express only through Harry Keogh, NECROSCOPE. For that's Harry's talent, and his burden: he reads the thoughts of the dead in their graves - and the thoughts of the UNdead! Except . . . the undead are thinking thoughts that are totally-unthinkable!Yulian Bodescue's mother fainted at the tomb of Thibor Ferenczy, vampire. Corrupt from birth, now Yulian feels a strange compulsion: to discover his real father and spread his works abroad. Only Harry Keogh, prisoner of the metaphysical Mobius Continuum, can stop him. Harry's other big problem is this:HE DOESN'T HAVE A BODY!

Grace has been watching the cute guy in the vampire costume long enough to know he isn’t just role playing: dude’s the real thing. So what do the only zombie and the only vampire – both sworn enemies – do in a town like Nightshade on the night called Halloween? Become better acquainted, of course. But their friendship is tested when another monster crashes their party – in a costume all his own!This short story is written by francis chang a resident of chiang mai, the mountain city in north thailand. it concerns two western tourists on a rail journey between bangkok and chiang mai, their experiences and what could be a disatrous end to their holiday in chiang mai

Candy lives in Chickentown USA: the most boring place in the world, her heart bursting for some clue as to what her future may hold. She is soon to find out: swept out of our world by a giant wave, she finds herself in another place entirely... The Abarat: a vast archipelago where every island is a different hour of the day, from the sunlit wonders of Three in the Afternoon, where dragons roam, to the dark terrors of the island of Midnight, ruled by Christopher Carrion. Candy has a place in this extraordinary world: she has been brought here to help save the Abarat from the dark forces that are stirring at its heart. Forces older than time itself, and more evil than anything Candy has ever encountered.