After a fight with his wife, Peter returns home to find the house strangely quiet and his wife, Lilyan, acting in a way that he had not seen since they started dating years before. Forgiveness or something darker.Tristan Fairholm is an ordinary teenager who would give his own heart to save his brother. Suddenly his life is turned upside down when an earthquake hits his sleepy town of Valley City, North Dakota. He panics, and makes a fatal decision that lands him in court. While stuck in limbo at Juvie, he is cut off from his family, tormented by bullies, and treated like a criminal. Worst of all, no one believes him. After all, no one else felt the earthquake. Is he lying? Or are darker forces at play? The Last Day of Freedom is the first book in the young adult fantasy series, Natural Order.

What to do when there's something happening out there, in the world, with mysterious apparitions and a new disease that threatens the entire city?There's something outside, over the street corner, inside the hospital... And it is using people, devouring them, invading society like a parasite...Dusk has fallen, Hildur is asleep, when granny arrives, for dinner. And she isn't a vegetarian.Caution: This is no lovey-dovey modern version of vampires. You are warned. It's also possibly the darkest of all stories in the series. Won't say more, because it'll be a spoiler.--Matilda Mathildis is a series of stories about Matilda, and about others who impact on her life.Each story is different, however they all come under the general umbrella of realistic fantasy: that is fantasy that could theoretically exist in the real world (sorry, no witches on broomsticks).Many of the stories are free. Those ebooks which aren’t have a free sample read, so kindly enjoy.

The ninth terrifying installment from master of horror, Darren Shan. CAN ANYONE HURT YOU AS MUCH AS A LOVED ONE? WHEN DOES THE FIGHT BECOME TOO MUCH TO BEAR? HOW MUCH PAIN CAN ONE PERSON ENDURE? B Smith is discovering the true meaning of family . . .

“A true bizarre story” is a voltaic discharge of pure horrifying action. Before you realized, you have finished the reading, feeling cold and covered with goose bumps. If you never knew how the devil was born, it came the time to find out. On your own risk, of course.In the distant future, humanity has expanded into the stars and formed the Human Alliance. Over the centuries, they have fought numerous times with the alien Krokator Star Empire and for fifty years have been in state of perpetual cold war with their rival power. When a bomb goes off in the heart of the Alliance's capital and the krokator Emperor is assassinated during the holy week by an ultraviolent faction called the Forbidden Army, their decades-long détente will be challenged.The task of finding the perpetrators falls to Major John Gresham, an Alliance military intelligence officer tasked with finishing a colleague's investigation, and krokator Akgu Zurra, an unquestioningly loyal soldier dispatched by the Emperor's sister to hunt down the Forbidden Army's foreign supporters. When their paths cross, Gresham and Zurra come to realize that they face enemies beyond rogue terrorists, and that the Forbidden Army has friends from as high as the Alliance’s elite to gangsters in the alien slums. As the bodies pile up and the clock ticks towards the Forbidden Army’s endgame, their mission becomes more than just a mission – it becomes personal.Humans and krokator have always hated each other, but the unlikeliest of partners will have to work together in "The Forbidden Army", the first novel in "The League of Planets Adventure" from Henrik Rohdin.The League of Planets Adventure:Book One: The Forbidden ArmyBook Two: Thus Spoke the DragonBook Three: Servants of the Empire (Coming Summer 2014)

Valerie is on her own in a harsh and brutal future world, until she finally finds some allies she can trust. Now she'll do anything it takes to protect them, and to make sure she never ends up alone again.There are two poems here, the first of which is The Reign of Drops: I am a memory of my birth, and the sea of my being yearns for union with others people's seas.The second poem is The Dynamics of Growth: Will we water one another's buds so that they may blossom, or will we withhold and wilt in the light of being?No adult-only content.

Jacob has found himself in a situation. Taking care of a bed ridden man on Halloween wasn't to bad. Steve's family was away for a few hours, but that didn't bother the two. But when the wind started to pick up, the dog started to growl while starring out the window, Jacob did his best to ignore what was going on. Yet when the figures showed up unannounced, his job went beyond feeding.A man with an undeniable secret, another man without a clue, both have to work together to survive the night. Jacob Williamson is about to encounter his personal Halloween night that's about to test him. As a caretaker for his girlfriend's father, he sits there on that night while they've gone to party. The father, Steve, is lying there watching television. As they mind their own business, Jacob only thinks the small things are just the wind and the dog is easily bothered, but when noises across the porch and talking deer trophies start to get the better of him, he finds to fulfill his role, he only has one thing on his mind, he had to protect Steve, no matter the cost, even his own sanity.

When are you too old to believe in monsters?An unedifying episode from the unorthodox life of Captain Hesperus, star trader. Money is tight, the engines are failing, and there's soup on the ceiling ... still, there's nothing that can't be fixed with one sweet deal. A cargo of machinery destined for a low-tech Anarchy system: what could possibly go wrong?A novella set in the universe of the classic computer game "Elite", and its fan-made remake "Oolite".

Patrick Redmayne lived to see beyond the end of the world. Along with hundreds of others survivors, he clings to life aboard a ship in the North Sea. When a foraging mission comes up Patrick volunteers. He hopes that the mission will give him the chance to find out what happened to his family during the dark days of civilisations demise.Patrick Redmayne lived to see beyond the end of the world. Along with hundreds of others survivors, he clings to life aboard a ship in the North Sea. When a foraging mission comes up Patrick volunteers. He hopes that the mission will give him the chance to find out what happened to his family during the dark days of civilisations demise. Patrick and his comrades make their way across northern Britain. Their journey rapidly turns into a fight for survival, encountering things that normally hide in the deepest, darkest nightmares. Emotions and sanity are pushed to the limits but one mysterious signal presses them on in a search for salvation, a search for hope, a search for an answer. This is the second volume in the Green and Pleasant Land series and follows on from the 5 star rated Old World.

A short story about an Architect goes into an old hotel to look at renovating it and finds more than he was expecting about his grandparents....In a secret location in a room in an old hotel, Jeremiah finds his grandfather's journal. A grandfather he never met, and he visits his grandfather's last day on this earth to find the truth.

From the upcoming anthology of short stories "Insights". Diane had to watch her words around Gina, especially after the incident. But what she saw in the photo took her breath away.What does a Buddhist priest have to offer a complex, sophisticated culture steeped in political and commercial intrigue? Shipwrecked and alone among people of an ancient tradition with deep understanding of spiritual and pragmatic ways, who speak numerous languages and are preeminent traders maintaining deep and powerful social and spiritual customs, a young priest is forced to come to grips with the deeper teachings of his own path. This historical novel follows him as his assumptions of superiority fall away and he explores both the deeper aspects of Buddhism and the complex indigenous spiritual and cultural traditions he finds himself immersed in. The Chinook people were among the most sophisticated and successful trading communities of the nations of not only the Pacific Northwest, but of the entire Continent. Their business and political machinations rivaled those of any empire or culture in history. Murder, love, intrigue and endless plots drive our protagonist's journey of personal and cultural discovery as he comes to grips with both his own and his new family's challenges, strengths and weaknesses.

Houses have pasts. But they also have futures. Not every tragedy is yet to occur. Not every haunting is spiritual.Originally written for my Patreons for Halloween 2014, this story was released on 21/01/15 to celebrate an Official Short Story Day, which doesn't actually exist, after the author misread a statement by writer Cara Ellison, so that's a whole thing.

Please allow me to introduce myself, I am known in this period as Eduardo Gissente, immortal monster and extinguisher of life, betrayer of lovePlease allow me to introduce myself, I am known in this period as Eduardo Gissente, immortal monster and extinguisher of life, betrayer of love and clarity to the existence of Heaven and Hell. When you become aware of my journey through history until present day you will most surely deny me as an apocryphal creature, merely an invention of an author’s imagination whose heartbeat thundered from the first written conception.

For more than two decades Peter Straub has engrossed, entertained, and terrified us with his dazzling blend of cool artistry and mad, spine-tingling imagination. With Mr. X, the bestselling author of Ghost Story, The Talisman (with Stephen King), and The Hellfire Club takes us into the darkest dimensions of the human psyche and proves once again that he is without peer in the realm of psychological suspense and horror, a master storyteller whose unique and powerful gifts qualify him to be called the Edgar Allan Poe of our times. Mr. X is Straub's original and startling take on the theme of the doppelgänger. Ned Dunstan's birthday is fast approaching, and every year on this date, Ned experiences a paralyzing seizure in which he is forced to witness scenes of ruthless slaughter perpetrated by a mysterious and malevolent figure in black whom Ned calls Mr. X. Ned has been drawn back to his hometown, Edgerton, Illinois, by a premonition that his mother, Star, is dying. Before she loosens her hold on life, she imparts to Ned the name of his father, never before disclosed, and warns him that he is in grave danger. Despite her foreboding, Ned's determination to learn as much as possible about his absent father ignites a series of extraordinary adventures that gradually reveal the heart of both his own identity and that of his entirely fantastic family: He discovers that he is shadowed by an identical twin brother who can pass through doors and otherwise defy the laws of nature; he becomes the lead suspect in three violent deaths; he investigates the secret shadow-world within Edgerton; he learns to "eat time" and remembers the one occasion when he and his sinister brother united into a single being. Finally, at the moment of battle, he must call upon everything he has learned to save his own life. Brimming with the author's trademark wit, understated eloquence, vibrant characters, and brilliant sense of pace, Mr. X displays Peter Straub at the top of his form. From the Hardcover edition.

"Have we met?"He laughs again and turns to look at me. "Every day of our lives," he says. His face is familiar. I've seen him before, the stubble and the angles of his jaw. "Where have I seen you? I’m usually good with faces."He smiles and turns back to his coffee. "Oh, just about everywhere," he says."There's a diner at the wrong end of the highway. I've seen it before, but I don't know where."Frank pulls into a diner parking lot to get something to eat. The service is terrible, the cook is rude, and the food leaves something to be desired. But who is that man at the other end of the counter, and why is he so familiar? Something about him is wrong. He's a phantom, haunting the depths of Frank's peripheral vision. Has this all happened before? Is this guy a ghost from his past?From THE BODY DOUBLE:"Have we met?"He laughs again and turns to look at me. "Every day of our lives," he says. His face is familiar. I've seen him before, the stubble and the angles of his jaw. "Where have I seen you? I’m usually good with faces."He smiles and turns back to his coffee. "Oh, just about everywhere," he says.I take a bite of my hamburger, and it's about like every other diner hamburger I've ever had."We come here every day," he says.I look over at him, and he's stirring his coffee. "I've never been here," I tell him.He looks over, raising one eyebrow at me. "Sure you have. You were here yesterday. We had this conversation, only you asked me how old I was.""I wasn't even in the state. You're thinking of someone else.""No," he says. "It was you."

Normally, when readers seen Brian Lumley's byline on a book--especially one with the amazing jacket art of Bob Eggleton--the names of several colourful fictional characters spring to mind: heroes such as Harry Keogh, the eponymous Necroscope, or perhaps the occult investigator Titus Crow. While these may be the author's best-known heroes; however, they are only two of a large handful, which is why it may come as something of a surprise this time around to discover that the so-called hero of this current trilogy of tales...isn t! No, for this lesser-known character isn't so much a typical Lumley hero as an innocent bystander who all too often seems to be standing by in the wrong place at the wrong time--a man in collision with various weird horrors who can never state definitely that the things he experiences are real. After all, someone who sees a few too many pink elephants may question almost anything he experiences, right? So here he is--the neither hero nor anti-hero narrator of these stories--though in The Nonesuch he s at least seen to be brave if not actually heroic. However, when you've done reading this small trilogy, you might like to ask yourself this: pitted against horrors like those in these stories, just how much of a hero would you be?