A short story from critically acclaimed, bestselling author Joe Hill about a young woman who returns home from a military tour in the Middle East . . . and her dark past follows closely behind.

What happens if you've done something terrible? But you can't remember what. And you don't know how to put it right ...When Carl opens his eyes on the banks of a lake, his brother is being zipped into a body bag. What happened in the water? He can't remember And when he glimpses a beautiful girl he thinks he recognizes, she runs away. Suddenly he knows he must find her - because together they must face the truth before it drowns them.

Her Eternal Love is set in the dark Realm of Shadows, where you'll find supernatural, immortal, and sinister beings. Yet, even here, the bonds of blood are strong and love is eternal. But can they withstand a looming prophesy and the uninvited beasts who dare threaten the realm?Elena left the dark Realm of Shadows because of a decree set forth by the governor, Countess Domnina. The order prohibits Elena and her true love, the vampire Decio, to ever be together. The rules set forth by the countess are never to be questioned, and never have been—until now. Elena has grown into a defiant young woman over the years and has decided she will no longer suffer the pain of living without her soul mate. When she confronts the countess, however, she is reminded that the Realm of Shadows can be a quite surprising and very dangerous place.

The last day of Mark and Christy Strand's marriage came unexpectedly. No one filed for divorce. No one deserted, cheated, or lied. Some THING just came between them.There is something weighing on Mark's mind - and the rest of him too. Christie wants to give her husband a relaxing weekend. She has no idea it might be their last.On the Strand family crest, there are written ten little words - sixty-five letters that just might spell the end for Mark and Christy:Unum bonum torquentEligite nocumentumDuos torquetEt eligere substitutumIt's a shame they can't read Latin."Two Good Turns" is a horror story and a relationship story. It is a tale in the vein of Daphne Du Maurier's horror, inspired by the short fiction of M.R. James and John O'Hara.

Decades after the neighboring town of Ashley was plagued by inexplicable disappearances, the town of Haysville experienced their own supernatural occurrences in the form of the Odendale Hotel... Your home away from home from which you may never check out."Your end is coming now!" Ezekiel 7:3

Meet dentist Brian Mallory. He's always considered himself a grounded man. A rational man. A reasonable man. But what he finds in the mouth of nineteen year old Amy Gladwell one afternoon during a routine cleaning makes him begin to question his own sanity. It's amazing how quickly everything can change in a a blink of an eye.Meet dentist Brian Mallory. He's always considered himself a grounded man. A rational man. A reasonable man. But what he finds in the mouth of nineteen year old Amy Gladwell one afternoon during a routine cleaning makes him begin to question his own sanity. It's amazing how quickly everything can change in a a blink of an eye. From the author of the Pandora's Children collection of short stories, the novellas Dogs of War and King of the Merge, and the short story Last Dance of a Black Widow, comes Blink, a chilling, 3500 word short story about a simple day gone horribly wrong.

The Man in the Fire took everything Daniel ever held dear. Now Daniel sets out for one final confrontation. This tale is from the short story collection, BURIED IN THE BASEMENT, by the author of the Temple of the Blind series. About 4800 words.An orphan girl named Mol wakes in the middle of the night to music. Enchanted, she follows the sound into the forest of Arden, where she is taken captive by a man known only as the Erlking; a man who rules a kingdom of monsters. Leaving her life as an urchin far behind, Mol becomes part of the Erlking's Bower, where she is among hundreds of other children just like her who are forced to follow the commands of the Ilyn that rule over them. But there is a deadly secret lurking behind the Bower, and with growing certainty Mol finds that she was taken for a reason - a reason that might kill her.

Eryx is just trying to do his job when something happens that will change his life forever. The Dark is an elusive and tempting choice. This story is under 5000 words.In developed countries, social cohesion has been sacrificed on the altar of individual gratification. Individuals wanted more and better. Inventors and entrepreneurs rallied to serve our desires. We progressed – pulled along by our hunger for improvement. This strategy worked well for centuries. Survival rates benefitted more from technological advances than from recognising individual social contributions. But the paths of ‘what we want in the short term’ and ‘what is good for us in the long term’ diverged. As we moved forwards, we increasingly abandoned non-commercial activities – regardless of their contribution to social wellbeing.We’ve now reached point where the benefits of technological advances are becoming outweighed by the disadvantages. New consumer inventions make us less active. Improved food production is turning us fat. Social media is stopping us socialising. Even medical advances will become less important to the majority – focusing, quite rightly, on a shrinking minority of ill people or providing more years of relative infirmity for the very old.The wellbeing of the majority during the majority of their lives can now be improved more by positive social interaction than by technological advances. To do this, we need to amend our reward system. We need to provide additional motivation for carrying out beneficial social activity. Although many already help others altruistically, there’s no moral reason why they shouldn’t receive further tangible rewards. And tangible rewards might encourage even more people to help one another. This would deliver additional social benefits – thereby improving general wellbeing.

Every city has its wonders and mysteries. For the Pomerantz family, the most disturbing mystery at the moment is the identity and the intentions of their new neighbor, in this eBook original short story—a prequel to The City, the gripping and moving new novel by Dean Koontz. The year is 1967. Malcolm Pomerantz is twelve, geeky and socially awkward, while his seriously bright sister, Amalia, is spirited and beautiful. Each is the other’s best friend, united by a boundless interest in the world beyond their dysfunctional parents’ unhappy home. But even the troubled Pomerantz household will seem to be a haven compared to the house next door, after an enigmatic and very secretive new neighbor takes up residence in the darkest hours of the night. Acclaim for Dean Koontz   “A rarity among bestselling writers, Koontz continues to pursue new ways of telling stories, never content with repeating himself.”—*Chicago Sun-Times  * “Tumbling, hallucinogenic prose. ‘Serious’ writers . . . might do well to examine his technique.”—The New York Times Book Review  * “[Koontz] has always had near-Dickensian powers of description, and an ability to yank us from one page to the next that few novelists can match.” —Los Angeles Times   “Koontz is a superb plotter and wordsmith. He chronicles the hopes and fears of our time in broad strokes and fine detail, using popular fiction to explore the human condition.”—*USA Today  * “Characters and the search for meaning, exquisitely crafted, are the soul of [Koontz’s] work. . . . One of the master storytellers of this or any age.”—The Tampa Tribune  * “A literary juggler.”—The Times (London)

Are you afraid of wasps? What would you do if you had to face your worst fear?Vhiper has to face his personal nightmare in this short story that will be part of the Five Minute Fears story collection to be released in 2012.A shorter version of Parasite is a monthly winner of the Edmonton Story Slam.

Eight years ago the December Plague swept through the human population of earth. The Infected were driven mad by the disease, becoming violent and cannibalistic, killing even those closest to them without hesitation. Six years ago, the tiny surviving community of Immune humans found a cure, and the Infected began to wake up and realize what they'd done. And what had been done to them.Eight years ago the December Plague swept through the human population of earth. The Infected were driven mad by the disease, becoming violent and cannibalistic, killing even those closest to them without hesitation.Six years ago, the tiny surviving community of Immune humans found a cure, and the Infected began to wake up and realize what they'd done. And what had been done to them.Over time, society began to rebuild itself. Now it is ready to judge those responsible for the Plague. Nella Rider, the court psychiatrist and Frank Courtlen a defense attorney are trying to establish the truth. But more depends on it than they know. They race to find the answers they need before the fragile remains of humanity vanish for good.

When a freak accident exposes pharmaceutical company employee Bob to dangerous levels of the ADHD wonder drug, Tranquilify, Bob finds himself capable of superhuman focus and dedication to his mindlessly boring day job. But as the side effects become apparent, the question is no longer whether Bob can focus on his job--but what price will he pay for his dedication?Like every good American, Bob hates his job. He'd rather be playing guitar, goofing off, or spending time with his family. He dreams of being a rock star while he works just hard enough not to get fired at pharmaceutical company Happiness, Inc.All that changes when a freak accident exposes Bob to dangerous levels of the ADHD wonder drug, Tranquilify. Suddenly, Bob finds himself capable of superhuman focus and dedication to his mindlessly boring day job. But as the side effects become apparent, the question is no longer whether Bob can focus on his job--but what price will he pay for his dedication?

A short haunting tale by Vincent Bivona and Trevor Firetog.Andrew and James are looking forward to meeting their favorite author, but when a homeless woman, who claims to be the author’s “biggest fan,” begins to stalk the two friends, they have to wonder if this creepy old woman is who she appears to be, and why the sound of bells follows her wherever she goes.Middle school wannabe baseball hero, Tommy Velasco, gets more help than he expects from a mysterious two-headed coin. He discovers that bad pennies keep coming back, however much you want to get rid of them. When he passes the problem on to the class queen bee, things get even more out of control, with possibly lethal consequences.Book 5, "Time Before Color TV" series

A horror comedy novella. (Editor's Note: Information contained within these pages is for entertainment purposes only. Please do not murder people because they have been bitten by "zombies".)Beaten and bloodied, a man wakes up in a cell. He doesn't know how he got there, or why someone would do this to him.His first visitor, the enigmatic Doctor Jolley, brings with him more questions than answers, and thus begins a disturbing game of cat and mouse.The prisoner has no idea of the rules of this game, but he does know this: in the Facebook Genocide one wrong answer could mean his life.The Facebook Genocide is a short story of a dystopian near future. It explores contemporary issues around the death of privacy and the secret use of personal information. The setting may be reminiscent of Orwell's '1984', but the time is now.Your future is being written...

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Dean Koontz's The City. A man and a woman meet by chance in a bar. Suddenly they are fleeing the long arm of a clandestine and increasingly powerful renegade government agency -- the woman hunted for the information she possesses, the man mistaken as her comrade in a burgeoning resistance movement. The architect of the chase is a man of uncommon madness and cruelty -- ruthless, possibly psychotic, and equipped with a vast technological arsenal. He is the brazen face of an insidiously fascistic future. And he is virtually unstoppable. But he has never before come up against the likes of his current quarry. Both of them are survivors of singularly horrific pasts. Both have long been emboldened by their experiences to fight with reckless courage for their own freedom. Now they are plunged into a struggle for the freedom of their country, and for the sanctity of their own lives. Dark Rivers of the Heart is an electrifying thriller that steers us along the razor edge of a familiar, terrifying reality.