Gothic Short Stories

Anne is barely keeping it together. A frazzled ghostwriter and aspiring novelist, she juggles nine-year-old twins and a listless marriage from an overcrowded Manhattan apartment, spreading herself thinner each day. Just as Anne is about to give up on her dreams, she lands her biggest client yet: Melody Wells. Melody paints a picture of serenity and empowerment in the lavender haze of her visualization workshops—however, the one thing she can’t manifest are the pages her publisher is demanding for her new motivational book. Enter Anne.

Four ghost stories from England’s historic shires present a heady brew of the Gothic, folk horror, historical fiction and satire. The Ghost of Scarside Beck A newly-wed Cumbrian vicar and his wife experience a night like none they could ever have foreseen. He may have answered his calling, but who, or what, is calling her? At Fall of Night A ghostly excursion into the Victorian Gothic; a tale of obsession, terror, and vengeance. Welcome to Wiltshire in the autumn of 1843. Monsieur Benoit Lavarnier, toast of the Parisian art world and a man of cultured accomplishments, finds himself ...

A young woman's sleep is interrupted by an enigmatic voice, leading her into a tempestous storm. There, she encounters a pack of wolves, ready to devour her. A vampire saves Clara only to claim her as his prey. He wants to possess her--mind, body and soul. Their passionate encounter seals their fateful bond in blood. “Let me give you the night—forever. Walk with me through the centuries, unscathed by time, untouched by death.” --Whispers of the Night: A Vampire Erotic Horror Short Story

Emma, a college sophomore, rents a room in a mysterious Victorian house, looking for a quiet place to study. When she discovers a stunning antique mirror tucked away in the attic, everything changes. The more she gazes into it, the more her reflection transforms—flawless skin, luminous eyes, an intoxicating beauty she always wanted to possess. Strange sensations and seductive whispers begin to creep through the glass. A haunting presence reveals himself—a vampire trapped between worlds, promising eternal beauty and pleasure beyond imagination. All she has to do is help him escape. When ...

Theodora Goss's first major short story collection showcases such stories as "The Rose in Twelve Petals," "The Rapid Advance of Sorrow," "Lily, With Clouds," "In the Forest of Forgetting," "Sleeping With Bears," and many more.

From Juan Carlos Boíza López, acclaimed author of The Book of Toth, Sindone, and Taste of Earth, comes The Book of Reflections—a unique anthology featuring over thirty short stories that span thriller, drama, science fiction, and horror. But beyond genres, all these stories share a common goal: to use fantasy and fiction as a mirror—one that provokes, stirs emotions, and inspires reflection on the world we inhabit. Dare to step through the looking glass and immerse yourself in unsettling tales such as: An agoraphobic man trapped in a world that seems to have forgotten him. A future ...

Hot Sleep Sex Stories Bundle. Taken Deep While She Sleeps, Age Gap & More! The Complete Sleepy ~ While She Sleeps series: Sleepy for the Man of the House Sleepy for My Best Friend’s Brother Sleepy for the Country Doctor Includes intimacy, surprises and unexpected twists.

As the pupils of St. Joseph's Academy for Boys stream through the gate towards the chapel for assembly, there is one who remains behind. He is named after a saint, but everyone at St. Joseph's knows there is nothing saintly about this boy.

In a plague-stricken medieval convent, a nun works on a forbidden mystic manuscript. In rural South Carolina, an alligator named Dragon becomes a beloved pet for a precocious, tough-talking twelve-year-old. During a long, muggy July, an adolescent girl finds unexpected power as her family obsesses over the horror film The Exorcist. On the outskirts of a Southern college town, a young woman resists the tyranny of a shape-shifting older professor as she develops her own sorceress skills.

In every locked room, there's a secret waiting to be found—and a body left behind. From elite rehearsal spaces to package vaults, from forgotten hotel bathrooms to séance parlors sealed tight, this chilling collection of original locked-room thrillers explores what happens when the walls close in and the truth can't escape. Inside you'll find: A detective trapped in his own interrogation. A woman who wakes in a bath with her wrists taped—and no memory of why. A séance interrupted by someone who was never invited. A delivery crate that holds a body—and your name. An acting class ...

Beneath the brilliance that was behind The Age of Innocence and Ethan Frome was a dark side. A dark side which produced magnificent tales of the unseen influences in our lives, such as "Mr. Jones", "The Eyes", "Kerfol", "The Ladie's Maid's Bell", and "The Looking Glass".

A boy with a dream. A demon with no name. A childhood in suburbia like a lucid dream. It all comes together, in no way predictable. But, in every way true. The truth has emerged about life, and its parallel worlds. Many will never get it. Some, unfortunately, will forever fear it...

She inherited a house, but discovered something far more valuable within the haunted walls... When Lyra inherits Fairlane Manor from her late great-uncle, she never imagined the secrets it held within its timeworn walls. The legacy of a once-renowned artist lingers like a specter, his eerie and lifelike animal paintings haunting the minds of those who dare to behold them. In a whispered legend, a traveler sought refuge at Fairlane Manor, only to become ensnared in the painter's mysterious masterpiece. Trapped within the canvas, he was cursed to roam as a fearsome werewolf, his fate forever ...

Full of philosophical puzzles and supernatural surprises, these stories contain some of Borges’s most fully realized human characters. With uncanny insight he takes us inside the minds of an unrepentant Nazi, an imprisoned Mayan priest, fanatical Christian theologians, a woman plotting vengeance on her father’s “killer,” and a man awaiting his assassin in a Buenos Aires guest house.

In a forgotten corner of the Slavic lands, where the trees grow thick with secrets and the rivers whisper ancient tales, a grim tradition lives on. Once a generation, the villagers of Ternok offers a sacrifice to the creature that stalks the night—the vampire who has haunted their hills for centuries. This time, the lot has fallen upon Nadia. She must resist the sexual temptations of the vampire throughout the night, hoping to slay him with sunlight. Will her betrothed, Branek, make it to the sacrificial altar in time to save Nadia, or will she fall victim to a vampire who will stop at ...

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. They can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that are difficult to achieve elsewhere. The Gothic short story is one of the most enduring of genres. In this volume we explore works by classic authors from all corners of Europe as they explore and exploit narratives with their undeniable talents.

After the publication of her short story “The Lottery” in the New Yorker in 1948 received an unprecedented amount of attention, Shirley Jackson was quickly established as a master horror storyteller. This collection of classic and newly reprinted stories provides listeners with more of her unsettling, dark tales, including the “The Possibility of Evil” and “The Summer People”.

“CHILLING HISTORICAL HORROR” “Wildly imaginative” A delicious mix of history, horror, and love. Three early American gothic tales, including America’s last witch trial in 1730, the birth of the Jersey Devil in 1735, and the true origin of the Headless Horseman in 1776. In 1730 Ben Franklin published a story about a witch trial in Mount Holly, in The Pennsylvania Gazette. But did he tell the complete story, or was it a coverup of more sinister and frightening events? Emmet, an aspiring reporter, takes his first assignment for Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette and travels to New ...

A ghostly presence in “The Lady’s Maid’s Bell” desires revenge against a tyrannical husband. In “Mr. Jones”, Lady Jane Lynke inherits an estate unexpectedly, and can’t make sense of how to manage the servants - especially since the caretaker has been dead for decades, but keeps giving orders. Meanwhile, in “Afterward”, a newly wealthy American couple moves into a large, isolated house in southern England complete with a ghost...and the mysteries surrounding the husband’s business are slowly uncovered.

Step into a world where the ordinary turns sinister, and shadows linger long after the lights fade. In Reflections, a real estate broker covets an antique-filled house, but the mirrors may hold more than just his reflection. A young Thai orphan's life changes when she is sent to school—but her new beginning becomes everyone's nightmare. An artist's "too dark" painting draws the attention of a mysterious buyer, plunging her into peril. On the pristine Thai islands, beauty hides the face of death. A father's deadly secret threatens to shatter his bond with his daughter. And in the heart of ...