Psychological Thriller Short Stories

A lifelike dummy. A strange dinner party. A soul that won’t stay dead. When struggling actor/waiter Luke Barrett is assigned to serve a bizarre memorial dinner, he doesn’t expect the guest of honor to be a creepy carpool dummy—or for the night to follow him home. But soon, Luke begins blacking out. Seeing things. Becoming someone else. As his reality unravels, he realizes the dummy isn’t just a lifeless prop. It’s watching. Waiting. And it wants in. From bestselling author William Massa comes a chilling short story of possession and occult terrors. A quick read that can be read or...

Janie is the last person Hannah and Christopher Bauer want to see again. But Janie’s moved back to Clarksville. She’s no longer the frail child Hannah and Christopher adopted over eleven years ago. The child who destroyed their lives. Now Janie is out of juvenile detention—a beautiful, confident young adult—and publicly promoting her new tell-all memoir.

The sequel to B-Sides 1 presents another collection of thrilling short stories, each featuring its own unique twist and unexpected turns. **Keeping Up with the Joneses 2** – After experiencing a significant setback in their quest for superiority, the Joneses must find a new way to gain the upper hand. The hilarious drama continues, culminating in an explosive showdown. **Waves & Women** – All he craved was the exhilaration of crashing waves and the allure of enchanting women. He believed being buried in the sand added to the excitement—until he realized he was all alone. **Wilderness*...

I didn’t know what I was walking into that night. A friend’s birthday, a high-end club, and there he was—a shadow in the corner, all piercing eyes and lethal charisma. I knew Marcus was trouble the moment he looked my way, but something in his gaze was calling me to him, despite the warning etched into every line of his face. He told me to stay away. Told me his world was too dark, that I was too good for him. But even then, I could feel it: a pull that went deeper than reason, tethering me to the danger he carried. Soon, it wasn’t enough to just watch from the sidelines—I wanted ...

No one could understand why Colin and Roy were best friends. Colin was so shy; Roy was so popular. Colin was fascinated by Roy - and Roy was fascinated by death. Then one day, Roy asked his timid friend: “You ever killed anything?” From that moment on, the two were bound together in a game too terrifying to imagine - and too irresistible to stop.

In his three novellas, In Short Measures, Strong Conspirators, and Sally Forth, Michael Ruhlman delves deeply into the nuanced complexity of romantic and sexual love - and the inevitable evolution of the heart over the span of years and decades. Each novella asks questions about the nature of love in terms of loyalty and fidelity - what are one's obligations toward one's spouse, one's family, and one's heart?

Ward Whispers: Echoes from the Locked Wing By G.J. Fene Behind every locked door, something waits to be remembered… Step inside the asylum where the patients aren't always the strangest ones on the ward. In this chilling collection of first-person psychological horror stories, hospital staff begin to hear voices that shouldn’t exist, record visitors no one can see, and uncover files that erase themselves. Each tale is a haunting descent into institutional secrets, fractured identity, and the ghosts that memory leaves behind. From therapy groups that meet after their doctor dies… to a ...

Some truths hide in plain sight. Others whisper from locked doors, static-filled frequencies, and pages that were never printed. Things I Wasn’t Supposed to Know is a haunting anthology of modern supernatural horror—each story a first-person account of knowledge that should’ve stayed buried. From cursed livestreams to echoing tunnels, from unlisted hospital wings to languages that think back, this collection explores what happens when the veil of reality wears thin… and you peer through. They warned you not to look. You did anyway. And now it knows your name.

Prepare to lose sleep with this chilling collection of modern horror stories that will make you think twice about what lurks in the shadows. "Night Terrors" presents three bone-chilling tales that tap into our deepest fears - from a relentless supernatural stalker and sinister Halloween encounters to a terrifying late-night drive that will make you afraid to travel alone. This collection includes: "He Will Follow You" - A couple's innocent exploration of an old mansion unleashes an ancient evil that refuses to let them escape "Trick or Treat" - A seemingly normal Halloween night turns into ...

If you hear the whistle… it’s already too late. Park ranger Caleb Mercer has spent a decade watching over Bitterroot Ridge — a remote national park known more for its silence than danger. But now, hikers are vanishing without a trace, and only Caleb hears the strange high-pitched whistle that seems to follow him deeper into the trees. When wildlife biologist Dr. Naomi Voss joins him to investigate, the pattern becomes disturbingly clear: the whistle isn’t random. It’s a call — and it’s been echoing through these woods for decades. As the disappearances mount and the whistle ...

She married for money. She plotted for more. But the insurance policy had other ideas... Chantel Fletcher’s specialty is husbands. Her problem is cash. When her third husband turns out to be worth $2.5 million dead, she makes the leap from trophy wife to cold-blooded conspirator. With a mountain of debt and a dangerous past catching up to her, Chantel enlists her teenage daughter and a dim-witted ex-con to help pull the trigger on the perfect murder. But this is St. Isidore—a town that chews up second chances and spits out twisted endings. And when the cops come knocking, Chantel ...

Fatal Introductions is a collection of 20 mystery and thriller short stories written by 21 authors. With each short, you'll be introduced to the main characters featured in their own novel or series published by Milford House Press. This volume includes stories by: JC Gatlin Sherry Knowlton Carolyn Kleinman Sharon Marchisello John Timmerman John L Micek A A Weiss William Burton McCormick Robert Walton Adam Smith Ginny Fite John Lindermuth Joseph Mazerac Robert Bradshaw Kate Blair Rita L Wilson Nancy Kilgore J B Manheim Claude Berube Pat LaMarche J M West

A terrifying mosaic of transformation and terror, "Eyes Like Mirrors, Flesh Like Ash" collects twenty macabre tales by Kevin Lintner that claw beneath the skin of reality. From a solo escape room session that unlocks an ancient evil, to haunted photographs that predict one's grotesque demise, each story delivers its own brand of psychological and cosmic horror. Enter cursed houses, twisted minds, eldritch forests, and nightmarish realities where flesh remembers, shadows whisper, and dreams consume. These stories are not for the faint of heart—they are for those who seek the forbidden, the...

She remembers what she saw—or did she imagine it? When the Meekses come to stay, Marianne hopes the visit will lift the tension in her increasingly lifeless marriage to Charlie. But after a strange turn of events, Marianne finds herself doubting what she saw—and what she didn’t. Addy Meeks's behaviour was odd from the start, and now Marianne’s memories don’t seem to match anyone else’s. Has something terrible happened, or is she losing her grip on reality?

What’s in THE AKASHIC RECORDS, you might ask: An indefatigable bestselling author who’s suffering from writer’s block, the sort that could very well cost him his soul, A story of a man who finds what he’s looking for down a very dark dirt road, A ten year old Mexican boy with the miraculous power of healing, which places a Myrtle Beach hospital under siege, and forever changing the life of a doctor searching for answers, A Chicago born serial murderer, turned escapee, who won’t let anything stand in the way of him continuing his sadistic hobby while enjoying his newfound freedom, ...

A bloodthirsty sheriff is terrorizing a small Texas town where justice has been buried with his victims. Until Nameless arrives - a vigilante whose past is a mystery and whose future is written in blood. Anyone who crosses Sheriff Russell Soakes is dead, missing, or warned. One of them is a single mother trying to protect her children but bracing herself for the worst. Nameless fears the outcome. He’s seen it in his visions. Now it’s time to teach the depraved Soakes a lesson in fear. But in turning predators into prey, will Nameless unearth a few secrets of his own?

Seven Rooms. Seven Rules. One Book You Won’t Forget. The Seventh Room and Other Hauntings is a chilling collection of modern horror stories where nothing is as it seems, and the echoes of the past refuse to stay silent. From cursed architecture to sentient towns, haunted seas to fractured reflections, these tales explore the places we aren’t meant to go—and the things that wait for us there. Step aboard a derelict vessel that rewrites the names of its crew. Stand beneath a nesting tree that feeds on grief. Explore a collector’s basement where stories aren’t written in ink. Stare ...

Some things are best left alone…. When Charlie gets a text inviting her to play a game, her first instinct is to delete it. It’s obviously a scam because nothing in life comes for free. But her world is painfully dull, her future uninspiring. Surely, just looking can’t hurt… right? The rational side of her warns against it. Don’t fall for it. No one hands out opportunities like this. And yet, she goes ahead and clicks ‘yes’ and in that instant, her life veers off course in ways she never could have imagined. And once she’s in, there’s no way out...

When a serial killer hitches a ride one sunny day in a beautiful California valley, he does not suspect that he may have met his match, who is dead set to take another life. The battle of wits begins and only the most devious mind will survive. ----------- Intoxication, a suspense thriller Are you paranoid if you end up dead? Leslie has a suspicion: someone at work is trying to poison her. Can she prove it? No, and she doesn't care that she can't as she takes the law into her hands. How about those who dismiss her fears and believe she is paranoid? Well, they certainly deserve to be ...

Good or bad. Right or wrong. The choice is yours ... Josslyn has a problem. A big problem. Not only is she fed up with her loser boyfriend hitting her, but she also has Alicia to deal with … and Alicia wants to kill the said boyfriend. Alicia is the psychotic voice in her head who seems to have her own personality and can take over her body at will, resulting in blackouts and memory loss. Josslyn has never told anyone about Alicia and isn’t about to start now. But can she deal with her abusive boyfriend on her own … or will Alicia need to step in and save the day?