Hailed by “The New Yorker” as “a wise and astonishing conjurer of convincing realities,” Maile Meloy is one of our country’s most celebrated short story writers. In her scalp-prickling Byliner Original “Devotion: A Rat Story,” she shows how easily an everyday reality—a young woman’s struggle for an independent life— can become a nightmare, toothy monsters included. It’s not easy being twenty-something in America, with the economy down and jobs scarce, especially if you’re also a single mother. An art school graduate with a four-year-old daughter, Eleanor is desperate to move out of her parents’ house at last. When a tiny yellow bungalow comes on the market, with a yard and a tree for climbing, it seems perfect for the two of them, and mysteriously affordable. Not until Eleanor enters the house to unpack does she realize she has made a terrible—and terrifying—mistake. Eleanor hadn’t met the next-door neighbors, and didn’t know what lived there with them—seething through the house, multiplying daily, fat and hungry and spreading out into the neighborhood. When Eleanor tries to confront the onslaught, she is told that these “pets” are not the ones intruding—she is. An engrossing, exquisitely unsettling tale from an American literary treasure, “Devotion: A Rat Story” will leave you suspicious of your neighbors and fearful of what’s lurking in your backyard, in your living room—or even in your own head.

Famous writer Joyce Carol Oates is a young girl on the verge of beginning her writing career when a strange being visits her.Please be advised that this is a short story (4,000 words).When his father loses his job, a young painter offers to take him fishing for muskellunge, a barracuda-like freshwater fish, at Big Eagle Lake, in Ontario, Canada."Haunting and beautiful."Cornucopia PressJ.G. Sandom is the author of six thrillers and mysteries, including The God Machine, Gospel Truths and The Wall Street Murder Club, plus the eco-thriller The Wave – A John Decker Thriller. Booklist called Gospel Truths "a splendid, tautly woven thriller . . . (and) an intelligent mystery of tremendous spiritual and literary depth." And Library Journal termed it, "A masterful first novel, based on a true incident, which spins a complicated web of corruption, greed and deception." Kirkus Reviews called The Wall Street Murder Club "A Big Apple Deliverance, endowing New York culture with all the corrosively dehumanizing power of Dickey's wild nature." And Booklist said, "(Sandom) writes with stunning elegance . . . A sure hit with any suspense reader." Caroline Thompson (author of Edward Scissorhands) said, "Move over, Dan Brown . . . All hail J.G. Sandom . . . (The God Machine) is a thrilling and breathless, rapturously-written and mind-blowing read. It'll keep you up all night, turning pages as fast as your little fingers can manage." And Historical Novels Review said, "History galore, violence, and intrigue fill the pages of this tightly plotted, twisting and turning adventure story . . . The God Machine is a very impressive historical thriller!" Kirkus said, "Sandom's strength lies in the verve of his story, with writing that has both muscle . . . (and) brains . . . (The Wave) races from improbable to crazywild, all in good fun, with Sandom always one step ahead . . . A story with enough manic energy to be worthy of a nuclear explosion." While known mostly as a writer of thrillers and mysteries, Sandom is also the author of several Young Adult (YA) novels, including the award-winning Kiss Me, I’m Dead and Confessions of a Teenage Body Snatcher. The Washington Post said, "(Sandom) writes with a precision and delicacy unusual for YA fiction," and called Kiss me, I’m Dead "a subtle gem."

In 1691 the town of Crossfall taught the witch Thessaly how to die. Now she has come back with an army of scarecrows.Hell will surely follow.In 1691 the town of Crossfall taught the witch Thessaly how to die. They beat her, they shot her, they hung her - but nothing worked. When they finally tried to bury her alive Thessaly set the field against them. The first man died as a gust of wind harrowed the meat from his bones. A root,flung like a dirty javelin, cut a second man down. Many more deaths followed. The Preacher Fell impaled the witch upon her very own broom but she dragged him down into the field to wait for three more centuries.Three hundred years later Maddy Harker will murder her bullying husband Vic. She will bury him in the field as she buried her abusive father years before that. The very same field where the revenant spirit of Thessaly Cross lies waiting.In three days Vic will rise again - a thing of dirt, bone and hatred.Men will call him the Tatterdemon.And hell - and Thessaly - will followThis is the first volume of the Tatterdemon Trilogy. If you liked this first volume you can purchase all three volumes either separately or you can save money and purchase them all together in a three volume omnibus.

Padrik is desperate to be rid of his nagging wife, and his growing fantasies of murder have become too much to bare.Padrik Myszka is sick of his wife. Sick of her insults, sick of her nagging, sick of her existence. The past ten years have felt like a waste and he's beyond ready to move on with his life. When he starts having dreams about killing her, he's more than a little concerned. But as he quickly discovers, they're the only things keeping him going.

The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Ward Radcliffe

This collection of literature attempts to compile many of the classic works that have stood the test of time and offer them at a reduced, affordable price, in an attractive volume so that everyone can enjoy them.

Amaliya Vezorak never believed in happy endings… When Amaliya harnessed her necromancer powers to defeat her greatest enemy, she believed she had finally found a happy ending with Cian, her lover and the master of Austin. That happiness is short-lived when the vampire ruling over San Antonio attempts a takeover of Austin in order to capture Amaliya and use her power for his own devices. To make matters worse, Samantha, Cian’s ex-fiancée, is seeing ghosts, the untested vampire hunters of Austin are running scared as a supernatural war looms, a mysterious man is hunting Amaliya with the help of her one time lover, Pete, and Racho?, the Summoner’s favorite progeny, appears to be out for revenge. When Amaliya’s grandmother, a powerful medium, experiences terrible visions that reveal there is another necromancer vampire and she is crying out for help, Amaliya realizes happy endings do not come easily…

Pivot is:Winner of the Indie Reader Discovery Awards for HorrorWinner of the top prize (Gold) in Horror for the eLit Book AwardsFinalist for the Next Generation Indie Book AwardsAre psychopaths born, or are they made? Jack Harper is taught to murder from the age of five, setting off a chain of horrific events that could lead to deliverance… or ruin.Charles Baker of IndieReader says, "PIVOT is an intelligent, beautifully written thriller filled with equal parts terror and bizarreness, but never forgetting that it has a heart far larger than it at first lets on." - See more at: https://indiereader.com/2014/05/pivot/For some, the Devil introduces himself as an average man. For others, he crushes their souls and makes them bleed. For Jack Harper, the Devil renders himself a savior.But things are changing.Once a loyal follower of Cyrus and an accomplished killer, Jack Harper now begins to question everything. There are new, strange forces at work that are intruding on Jack's kills, abilities, and very being. Maybe, though, deep down Jack has been waiting for this intrusion, and maybe Cyrus is not as powerful as he seems.

A young man's hideaway is invaded by some unexpected guests. A free short story for your Halloween enjoyment.Skip McMurray's life has been on a downward spiral for several months. To escape from the stress he spends his time at an abandoned theater on the edge of town, dreaming about the day when he will have enough money to purchase the property and restore it to its glory days. One day while working on some items in the projection room, he hears someone else walking around. Could it be the owner, or is it someone more sinister? There is only one way out and that means he'll have to zip right past his unexpected guest.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin comes the ultimate novel of revolution, rock ’n’ roll, and apocalyptic murder—a stunning work of fiction that portrays not just the end of an era, but the end of the world as we know it.   Onetime underground journalist Sandy Blair has come a long way from his radical roots in the ’60s—until something unexpectedly draws him back: the bizarre and brutal murder of a rock promoter who made millions with a band called the Nazgûl. Now, as Sandy sets out to investigate the crime, he finds himself drawn back into his own past—a magical mystery tour of the pent-up passions of his generation. For a new messiah has resurrected the Nazgûl and the mad new rhythm may be more than anyone bargained for—a requiem of demonism, mind control, and death, whose apocalyptic tune only Sandy may be able to change in time . . . before everyone follows the beat.

The new ‘James Asher’ vampire novel from the best-selling author - It’s 1911. War is coming, and according to one of the vampires of St. Petersburg, the Kaiser is trying to recruit vampires. James Asher, Oxford don and formerly on His Majesty’s Secret Service, is forced to team up again with his vampire partner Don Simon Ysidro for a journey to the subarctic Russian capital. Are they on the trail of a rogue vampire with a plan to achieve the power to walk in daylight? Asher wonders. Or is Ysidro’s real agenda to seek the woman he once loved?

A twisted tale of what can happen when you turn to witchcraft to heal an aching heart.Besotted Steven is so desperate to make Bridget love him that he decides to try supernatural means to win her heart. But is he ready to face the consequences of dabbling in witchcraft? And dare he try to outwit the famous and fatal Witch of Cromer?

A viral disease originating from Africa breaks out and transforms anyone it touches into a monster beyond comprehension. The virus soon spreads to the United States. As panic sweeps the nation, one man loses everything he once knew in the wake of death. As time goes on, and desperation pushes everyone to the brink, he must fight to survive the raging infection and his diminishing hope.This man’s story brings to light not only the monsters outside, but also the monsters within. At each turn, he is pushed closer to the edge of desolation, with the rising number of infected ready to send him plummeting over it. Each survivor he meets along his journey remains as nameless as the man himself, but each one represents different hopes that seek to preserve the light that he believes has been smothered by the darkness that rages around him. But the question remains: can he stay vigilant long enough to keep from turning into the monster he so fears to become?

When the world goes crazy, Piper no longer cares what the system says, she's going to keep her sister, friends, and begrudgingly Stalker Chick alive. Returning to their childhood home, nicknamed The Bunker, Piper and Mica have to protect their new family from zombies, other survivors, and even a possible nuclear meltdown. *Recommended for 15yrs and up due to violence & language*A car accident leaves Piper with shattered dreams, a bum knee, and her younger sister Mica in foster care. She's trying to scrape herself and her life together, in order to get Mica back where she belongs. When the world goes crazy, Piper no longer cares what the system says, she's going to keep her sister, friends, and begrudgingly Stalker Chick alive. Returning to their childhood home, nicknamed The Bunker, Piper and Mica have to protect their new family from zombies, other survivors, and even a possible nuclear meltdown.*Recommended for 15yrs and up due to violence & language*