Learn more about Head Cases for Kindle at Amazon or Amazon UK
THESE THINGS HAPPENED
By Scott Nicholson
It's been a strange life. It's been my life. Features stories, poems, and essays on relationships, romance, writing, and taking oneself far too seriously. Plus some humor. You may laugh, you may cry, you may decide you want to be a writer, too. You may hate me after if it's over. That's okay. You wouldn't be the first. Learn about These Things Happened. Or view it for Kindle at Amazon US or Amazon UK
IF I WERE YOUR MONSTER
Children's book by Scott Nicholson, art by Lee Davis
Creatures of the night teach a lesson of bravery in this full-color, illustrated bedtime story for all ages. Let vampires, ghosts, scarecrows, and mummies protect your little one from the bullies and mean people of the world. 24 screens or pages. View it at Haunted Computer or at Amazon US or Amazon UK
TOO MANY WITCHES
Children’s book by Scott Nicholson, art by Lee Davis
When Moanica Moonsweep plans a Halloween party, she needs the perfect potion of stinky stew. But when she asks her friends for advice, she ends up with one big mess and lots of hurt feelings. 28 full-color screens or pages. See it at Haunted Computer or for Kindle at Amazon US or Amazon UK
DUNCAN THE PUNKIN
Children's book by Scott Nicholson, art by Sergio Castro
A momma pumpkin must teach her young pumpkin all about the dangers of Halloween, while a mysterious creature known as Skeerdy-Cat-Crow watches over the pumpkin patch. 30 full-color pages or screens. See it at Haunted Computer or view it for Kindle at Amazon US or Amazon UK
IDA CLAIRE
By Scott Nicholson, art by Lee Davis
Little Ida is a handful of feisty fun for her harried dad, bursting with imagination and play while Dad tries to keep up. Features 32 full-color screens. View it for Kindle at Amazon US or Amazon UK.
TROUBLED (UK)
By Scott Nicholson
When twelve-year-old Freeman Mills arrives at Wendover, a group home for troubled children, it’s a chance for a fresh start. But second chances aren’t easy for Freeman, the victim of painful childhood experiments that gave him the ability to read other people’s minds.
Little does Freeman know that his transfer was made at the request of Dr. Richard Kracowski, whose research into the brain’s electrical properties is revealing new powers of the human mind. Freeman simply wants to survive, take his medicine for manic depression, and deceive his counsellors into believing he is happy. When he meets the anorexic Vicky, who may also be telepathic, he’s afraid some of his darkest secrets will be uncovered. But when the other children develop their own clairvoyant abilities, and insane spirits begin haunting the halls of Wendover, he can’t safely hide inside his own head anymore.
The author’s preferred edition of the 2005 U.S. paperback release The Home, in development as a feature film.
Learn more about the paranormal thriller Troubled or view it at Amazon UK
SOLOM (UK)
By Scott Nicholson
Katy Logan wasn’t quite sure why she left her finance career in the big city to marry religion professor Gordon Smith and move to the tiny Appalachian community of Solom.
Maybe she just wanted to get her 12-year-old daughter Jett away from the drugs and bad influences. Maybe she wanted to escape from the memories of her first husband. Or perhaps she was enchanted by the promise of an idyllic life on the farm that has been in Gordon’s family for 150 years.
But the residents of Solom know all about the man in the black hat. The Reverend Harmon Smith has come back more than century after his last missionary trip, and he has unfinished business. But first Katy and Jett must be brought into the family, and the farm must be prepared to welcome him home. Gordon has been denying his heritage, but now it’s time to choose sides. Does he protect the ones he loves, or surrender to the ancestral urge for revenge?
Author's preferred edition of the 2006 U.S. paperback The Farm.
Learn more about the supernatural thriller Solom or view it at Amazon UK
THE GORGE (UK)
By Scott Nicholson
An experimental rafting expedition, an FBI manhunt for a delusional killer, and the worst storm in decades collide in the remote mountain wilderness...and then THEY come out.
Bowie Whitlock and a team of celebrity athletes is commissioned to test two experimental rafts in the rugged Unegama Wilderness Gorge in the remote Appalachian Mountains, considered the most dangerous whitewater rapids in the eastern United States. The expedition is tense from the start as jealousy, romance, and money are riding on the mission's success.
FBI agent Jim Castle and his partner are in the gorge looking for Ace Goodall, a deranged abortion clinic bomber. Ace, accompanied by a fragile young woman, is having visions that guide his murderous behaviour. The race is on as dark storm clouds gather, the river is swollen, and Ace hijacks the rafting expedition to make his escape. But the bloodthirsty creatures swooping down from the high cliffs have been too long without prey.
Ace has one more bomb. God is talking to him. It's raining again, and his young companion is pregnant.
And killing isn't what it used to be, because the dead no longer stay dead.
Author's preferred edition of the 2007 paperback They Hunger.
Learn more about The Gorge or view it at Amazon UK
OMNIBUS EDITIONS
You can also save with the omnibus editions
Ethereal Messenger at Amazon US or Amazon UK (contains The Red Church, Drummer Boy, and Speed Dating With The Dead)
Mystery Dance (contains Disintegration, Crime Beat, and The Skull Ring, and bonus stories and essays) at Amazon US or Amazon UK
Three Ghost Stories, at Amazon US or Amazon UK (featuring Drummer Boy by Scott Nicholson, The Body Departed by J.R. Rain, and Cades Cove by Aiden James)
Horror Movies: Three Screenplays (The Gorge, Creative Spirit, and The Skull Ring screenplays) at Amazon US or Amazon UK
Skeleton Tango (Cursed! and Ghost College with J.R. Rain) at Amazon US or Amazon UK
Ghost Box Set (contains The Red Church, Drummer Boy, Transparent Lovers, Burial to Follow, Creative Spirit, and Speed Dating With The Dead) at Amazon US or Amazon UK
Mad Stacks: Short Stories Box Set (Contains Gateway Drug, Head Cases, and Missing Pieces)
Bad Stacks: Short Stories Box Set (Contains Ashes, American Horror, and Curtains)
Odd Stacks: Short Stories Box Set (Contains The First, Flowers, and Zombie Bits)
Are you a writer? Please check out Write Good or Die and The Indie Journey: Secrets to Writing Success
Contact me at hauntedcomputer@yahoo.com because I’d love to know what you think—and if you are in any way dissatisfied with this product, please give me a chance to make it right. Let me know about any misspellings and formatting issues, since books in the digital age are living documents.
Thanks to Dellaster Design, David H. Burton, and Neal Hock at Hock’s Editing Services.
Scott
hauntedcomputer@yahoo.com
www.hauntedcomputer.com
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View Scott’s other Kindle Books
Novels
The Red Church
Speed Dating with the Dead
The Skull Ring
Drummer Boy
The Harvest
As I Die Lying
Burial to Follow
Liquid Fear
Chronic Fear
Cursed (with J.R. Rain)
Bad Blood (with J.R. Rain & H.T. Night)
Ghost College (with J.R. Rain)
The Vampire Club (with J.R. Rain)
October Girls
Crime Beat
The Dead Love Longer
Story Collections
Curtains
Flowers
Ashes
The First
Zombie Bits
Head Cases
Gateway Drug
These Things Happened
Children’s Books
If I Were Your Monster (with Lee Davis)
Too Many Witches (with Lee Davis)
Ida Claire (with Lee Davis)
Duncan the Punkin (with Sergio Castro)
Screenplays
The Skull Ring: The Screenplay
Creative Spirit: The Screenplay
The Gorge: The Screenplay
Writing
Write Good or Die
The Indie Journey: Secrets to Writing Success
BOX SETS
Ethereal Messenger
Mystery Dance
Horror Movies: Three Screenplays
Ghost Box: Six Supernatural Novels
Scott Nicholson Library, Vol. 1
Scott Nicholson Library, Vol. 2
Scott Nicholson Library, Vol. 3
Scott Nicholson Library, Vol. 4
Mad Stacks: Short Stories Box Set
Bad Stacks: Short Stories Box Set
Odd Stacks: Short Stories Box Set
Return to Table of Contents
ORIGINAL ENDING:
(Warning: A lot of people despised this ending. I left it in originally because it was how I felt about life at the time. Now I feel differently. Perhaps the book should have stayed this way, but the river of time flows on and bad things get washed away. Maybe there’s hope yet. So don’t read this if you are already satisfied.)
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“Blood everywhere,” Jacob said, mopping at the stains on the railing.
“No murder is perfect.”
“And you should know.”
“Live and learn. I guess you should go get Carlita. Think you guys will be happy together?”
“What do you care? You’re getting what you want.”
“Sure.” With Joshua dead, Jacob would inherit the house. As Jacob’s wife, no one would question her receiving it in the divorce settlement.
Jacob leaned over the railing. “He’s downriver now. As drunk as he was, nobody will question a fall.”
Renee glanced at her husband’s exposed neck, alabaster in the moon’s warm glow. The wrench lay on the seat of the Chevy. She could have it out and bring it down in a matter of seconds.
No. She loved him. And because she loved him, he owed her plenty.
Besides, another “fall” would be too coincidental. Divorce would be much cleaner.
Jacob didn’t know it yet, but Renee planned on taking the two million, too. It wasn’t blackmail. It was simply the price of pain and suffering.
“Go to Carlita,” she said.
Jacob came to her, took her hands. He almost kissed her. Then he glanced up at the hill, where the Wells house stood dark and brooding, as if remembering some memory tucked in a far, dusty closet. The first flickers teased the windows, and smoke drifted on the air. Davidson and her crew would be on the way soon, late as always, left to sift through the ashes of the Wells family secrets.
“See you in court,” Jacob said. He walked around the Chevy and slid behind the steering wheel. He looked at home there.
He grabbed the wrinkled pack of cigarettes and stuffed one in his mouth. He lit it, then reached under the seat and pulled out a beer. Warm, it sprayed foam all over his pants when he pulled the tab. He reached up and tapped the twin rubber heads, sending them swinging.
Jacob would never be Joshua, but he would enjoy trying.
He reached for the ignition and the engine burst to angry life. He shifted and backed the car off the bridge, waving before turning off the dome light.
Renee watched the headlight beams bouncing up the road.
She patted her belly.
She’d never mentioned it to Jacob. Three months along.
Of course, on one of those dark nights, it could have been Joshua who entered her bed and rode her into pregnancy. Stranger things had happened.
Not that it mattered.
A Wells was a Wells, after all. One was as good as the other.
And, if things didn’t turn out as planned, there was always life insurance for the child.
A woman lived and loved, and a woman often lost. But, no matter what, a woman always learned.
THE END
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
About Scott Nicholson
Links to view Scott’s Kindle books
Links to view Scott’s UK Kindle books
Read about Scott’s other books
Alternate Ending
VIEW U.K. KINDLE BOOKS BY SCOTT NICHOLSON:
Creative Spirit
Troubled
Solom
The Gorge
Disintegration
The Red Church
Speed Dating with the Dead
The Skull Ring
Drummer Boy
The Harvest
As I Die Lying
Burial to Follow
Cursed (with J.R. Rain)
Ghost College (with J.R. Rain)
The Vampire Club (with J.R. Rain)
Bad Blood (with J.R. Rain & H.T. Night)
October Girls
Crime Beat
Transparent Lovers
Liquid Fear
Chronic Fear
Collections
Curtains
Flowers
Ashes
The First
Zombie Bits
Head Cases
Gateway Drug
These Things Happened
Children’s Books
If I Were Your Monster (with Lee Davis)
Duncan the Punkin (with Sergio Castro)
Too Many Witches (with Lee Davis)
Ida Claire (with Lee Davis)
Writing
Write Good or Die
The Indie Journey: Secrets to Writing Success
Screenplays
The Skull Ring: The Screenplay
Creative Spirit: The Screenplay
The Gorge: The Screenplay
Omnibus editions
Ethereal Messenger
Mystery Dance
Horror Movies: Three Screenplays
Three Ghost Stories
Scott Nicholson Library, Vol. 1
Scott Nicholson Library, Vol. 2
Scott Nicholson Library, Vol. 3
Scott Nicholson Library, Vol. 4
Scott Nicholson Library, Vol. 5
Mad Stacks: Short Stories Box Set
Bad Stacks: Short Stories Box Set
Odd Stacks: Short Stories Box Set
Return to Table of Contents