A young professional finally finds the apartment she's been looking for. But she can't seem to turn it into a home. And then strange things start to happen.But this is not a ghost story. Or is it?This sampler is the fastest way to satisfy your curiosity about those fabled members of the Owen Family from Shenandoah County, Virginia. Acclaimed author Marsha Ward introduces the family in three chapters from each of the first three novels in The Owen Family Saga. Then there's the bonus chapter from the forthcoming novel, Spinster's Folly, Book 4 in the Saga. A "don't miss" way to get acquainted."Marsha Ward has the ability to grab readers by the lapels, yank them into her stories, and make them care deeply about her characters." ~Phyllis Dugan, Former President, Wyoming Writers, Inc."Trail of Storms by Marsha Ward is the third book in a western series featuring the Owen family that takes place during those first years following the conclusion of the US Civil War. Ward is recognized as an award winning western writer, the founder of the American Night Writers Association, and an authority on Southwestern history. "This series chronicles the events...that send several families from the Shenandoah Valley west following the war, their journey westward, and their struggle to establish homes in the American Southwest.... It is the historical details of Colorado and New Mexico and the writer's understanding of both the American and Hispanic cultures of this place and time period that are superbly done and make all three novels worth reading.... Ward doesn't glamorize the West and some of her characters aren't particularly likable, but they are realistic and she is true to the rough times of that settlement period.... Historical and Western fans of either gender will enjoy this series from the compelling covers to the last word of this third volume. It's a series I'm glad I had the opportunity to read."~Jennie Hansen, Reviewer, Meridian Magazine

With Pandora, Anne Rice began a magnificent new series of vampire novels. Now, in the second of her New Tales of the Vampires, she tells the mesmerizing story of Vittorio, a vampire in the Italian Age of Gold. Educated in the Florence of Cosimo de' Medici, trained in knighthood at his father's mountaintop castle, Vittorio inhabits a world of courtly splendor and country pleasures - a world suddenly threatened when his entire family is confronted by an unholy power. In the midst of this upheaval, Vittorio is seduced by the vampire Ursula, the most beautiful of his supernatural enemies. As he sets out in pursuit of vengeance, entering the nightmarish Court of the Ruby Grail, increasingly more enchanted (and confused) by his love for the mysterious Ursula, he finds himself facing demonic adversaries, war and political intrigue. Against a backdrop of the wonders - both sacred and profane - and the beauty and ferocity of Renaissance Italy, Anne Rice creates a passionate and tragic legend of doomed young love and lost innocence.

On a damp October night, 24-year-old Ashley Cordova is found dead in an abandoned warehouse in lower Manhattan. Though her death is ruled a suicide, veteran investigative journalist Scott McGrath suspects otherwise. As he probes the strange circumstances surrounding Ashley's life and death, McGrath comes face-to-face with the legacy of her father: the legendary, reclusive cult-horror film director Stanislaus Cordova--a man who hasn't been seen in public for more than thirty years. For McGrath, another death connected to this seemingly cursed family dynasty seems more than just a coincidence. Though much has been written about Cordova's dark and unsettling films, very little is known about the man himself. Driven by revenge, curiosity, and a need for the truth, McGrath, with the aid of two strangers, is drawn deeper and deeper into Cordova's eerie, hypnotic world. The last time he got close to exposing the director, McGrath lost his marriage and his career. This time he might lose even more.

Four year old Stacy Ludley just got her first imaginary friend. Or so she thinks. Feeling disregarded by her parents who have sold her best friend and stuffed walrus, Mr. Tusky, at their garage sale, she can do nothing but latch onto her new friend Sophie. But is this new friend she's found in the secret room of the house truly something in her head, or an embodiment of something more sinister?This is the first translation into English of the verse drama Germanicus by the Afrikaans poet N.P. Van Wyk Louw. The work was based on the first three chapters of the Annales of the Roman historiographer Tacitus. After the death of Emperor Augustus, his successor Tiberius’ adopted son Germanicus recoils from the cruelty inherent in imperial rule. In the end he helplessly acquiesces, finally welcoming his own death as a means of escape from the burden of empire. The drama has been considered a highlight in Afrikaans literature since its publication in 1956. Its interest lies in its amazing sweep of words, Louw’s sense of history and his portrayal of the inevitability of the corruption inherent in power. Louw’s great monologues dominate the debates between his main protagonists. His poetic Afrikaans had a grand eloquence that swept his audience along in a torrent of densely-argued meaning. Such conciseness offered severe challenges to the translator. Claassen’s colloquial translation manages to capture both the essence of Louw’s dramatic dialogues and the rhythmic cadences of the original poetry. The translator provides a lengthy Introduction, aimed at both a classical and a theatre-going readership, explaining the historical background and discussing Louw’s interpretation of Tacitus’ narrative and the constraints under which a translator works. A brief overview of the contents of the drama’s eight scenes is followed by a select bibliography.

If you've ever played "light as a feather, stiff as a board", you'll understand why these five children are so excited. If you haven't played...consider this a warning.Todd, Danny, Matt, Sean and Robin let their imaginations run wild at the thought of levitation...of contact with the other side...of asking questions of the spirits and getting answers. The answers they get may be worse than death.Ouija boards aren't the only way to get in trouble. Sometimes, to speak with a ghost, all one must do is ask...but be sure you know who you are speaking to, and be ready for the answers to your questions. There are worse things out there than death.If you've ever played "light as a feather, stiff as a board", you'll understand why these five children from Walker's Woods are so excited. If you haven't played...consider this a warning.Todd, Danny, Matt, Sean and Robin let their imaginations run wild at the thought of levitation...of contact with the other side...of asking questions of the spirits and getting answers. They like being creeped out. What happens when they play their game will haunt them forever.

Following the explosive success of "Odd Apocalypse," here is the gripping new adventure of Odd Thomas, Dean Koontz's most celebrated character. In a sinister encounter with a rogue truck driver tricked up like a rhinestone cowboy, Odd has a disturbing vision of a shocking multiple homicide that has not yet been committed. Across California, into Nevada, and back again, Odd embarks on a riveting road chase to prevent the tragedy. Along the way, he meets--and charms--a collection of eccentrics who become his allies in a terrifying battle against a sociopath of singular boldness and cleverness--and a shadowy network of mysterious, like-minded murderers whose chilling resources seem almost supernatural.

Stephen King cranks up the suspense in a different kind of bedtime story. A game of seduction between a husband and wife goes horribly awry when the husband dies. But the nightmare has just begun...

Hunger and Thirst is Richard Matheson's first and until now previously unpublished novel, written fifty-plus years ago when Matheson was only twenty-three-years old. Matheson's agent told him it was unpublishable due to its length and so to that end, Matheson put the manuscript in a drawer and left for California where his writing career changed dramatically. The action in Hunger and Thirst centers around Erick, who lies paralyzed on his bed after being shot during a botched bank robbery. As he lies there, Erick contemplates the mess that his life has become and holds out hope to be saved.

After Richard Garrison lost his sight in a terrorist explosion, he developed vast mental powers that more than compensated for his blindness. He mastered the Psychomech machine, then used it to conquer his enemies and restore his dead love to full and vibrant life. Psychomech also revealed to Garrison the Psychosphere, a startling reality where mental powers reigned supreme and could influence people and events on Earth. Once he was nearly godlike-or demonic, if one dared become his enemy-but now Garrison's mental abilities grow weaker with each use. He tries desperately to conserve his energies, but he has begun to have strange visions of a mind so different from his own as to be other than human, and knows he must stay alert and strong. Charon Gubwa has invaded the Psychosphere. Twisted and evil, sexually and mentally warped, physically corrupt, Gubwa's desires are simple: More. More drugs. More sex. More power. More of the Earth under his dominion. Richard Garrison must battle Gubwa in the Psychosphere and on Earth. And he must win, no matter the cost to himself or those he loves, or all mankind will be lost.

From four talented authors comes a collection of sexy and erotic novellas featuring gay vampires. His Hunger, by William J. Mann It's a work obligation that leads Jeremy Horne to the reclusive Maine estate of eccentric Bartholomew Craven. Now, Jeremy finds himself the man's prisoner, the victim of erotic dreams where handsome men ravage his body and Bartholomew grows younger and more irresistible with each drop of Jeremy's blood. . . Sting, by Michael Thomas Ford After his lover's sudden death, librarian Ben Hodges seeks refuge in a sleepy Ozark town. But his summer of healing turns to intrigue when he encounters soft-spoken beekeeper, Titus Durham, a man whose hidden obsession will change Ben's life forever. . . Bradon's Bite, by Sean Wolfe With his wavy black hair and turquoise eyes, Bradon Lugo can have any man he wants--but what he wants in return is more than any lover would dream of giving. And what blond, innocent Kirk Courey offers is too tempting for Bradon to resist. . .a chance at the love of a thousand lifetimes. . . Devoured, by Jeff Mann By night, Derek Maclaine loses himself in New York's leather bar underground, trying to forget the brutal murder of his lover in Scotland, centuries ago. But now, danger threatens his new lover, and this time, Derek will have his revenge. . .

Something very strange is happening to Bernie's beloved cat.One day Bernie notices that his cat, Tammy, is getting pretty big. He thinks he might need to put her on a diet. Then she grows bigger. Then the terror begins.

Surreal psychological thriller/horror short story set in a medieval fantasy setting about a queen of a conquered empire locked in a jail cell, and seeing a monster sitting in the corner of the room.Devil in the Dark is a surreal psychological thriller/horror short story set in a medieval fantasy setting about a queen of a conquered empire locked in a jail cell, and seeing a monster sitting in the corner of the room.

Loch and his sister are with their father on a scientific expedition to track lake monsters. Their father's boss, Anthony Cavenger, a ruthless publishing mogul, is determined to prove that the legends are fact. Until now, it has been a fruitless exercise. But suddenly, on a routine exploration, a hideous water beast explodes out of the water, and a photographer, hoping to get the picture of a lifetime, loses his life instead. The plesiosaurs terrorize the secluded lake community, but Loch encounters a baby plesiosaur and realizes that the monsters only attack when threatened. So he risks his life-and the lives of his family and friends-to save the prehistoric creatures from destruction. 1995 Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers (ALA) 1995 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)

From the wicked imagination of award-winning writer Warren Ellis comes DEAD PIG COLLECTOR, a love story with a classic Ellis twist. So while it might be a love story, it's also about killing people and disposing of their bodies in the most efficient manner possible. DEAD PIG COLLECTOR introduces readers to Mister Sun, a very proficient businessman whose trade is the murder and spotless removal of human beings. Like any businessman, he knows each transaction is only as good as his client - and today's client, in Los Angeles, has turned out to be so dangerously stupid that Mister Sun's work and life are now in jeopardy...