Twisted Horror

In this Black Mirror style series, each Witching Hour 60-minute read takes you on an edge-of-your-seat journey that can be read in a single sitting. In Outward, we follow the life of Robby Boulder, a teenage addict who is forced to attend a new-age, walk-in-the-woods-style rehab. After the death of his father the previous year, he found himself in the throes of addiction. Then, late one evening, he woke up to a figure in his room, shaking him awake. The man dragged him into his van with three other troubled teens, promising salvation for the price of one week in the woods. But, once Robby ...

Weird Tales: Strange Stories from Egypt Embark on an extraordinary journey with "Strange Stories from Egypt," a collection of horror short stories that transcends clichés. Immerse yourself in authentic Egypt, where legends come to life, and the line between reality and fantasy blurs. The networks are buzzing: "A collection that takes us on a journey and gives us chills!" – Évasions Littéraires. "A captivating, magical, and chilling short story collection." – Lire Imaginaire. "A fantastically horrific short story collection, brilliantly written." – Books Feed Me More. "A collection ...

The award winning new book in the, "Twisting Darkness," series by J.R. Gridley. Both books are self-contained, so there is no need to read the first book to understand the sequel. The five new stories include, a group of friends who are hunted by a creature that should not exist. A serial killer whose past comes back for him. A hospital in the middle of a lockdown becomes the spawning ground for nightmares. A woman who gave up her heart is presented with an opportunity to get it back. A man with an entire city trying to kill him. This newest collection of short stories by J.R. Gridley will ...

"A gripping and gut-wrenching thrill ride, as we experience the horrors of kidnap and the terse action David has become known for. Get your copy of Grim Measures today!" – Lt. Colonel Rip Rawlings, New York Times, USA Today and Amazon Bestselling author. "Brilliant, tense, and filled with action!" ★★★★★ – Jonas Saul, International Bestselling author of The Sarah Roberts Series and The Drowning. "David Darling’s trademark crisp writing and lightning fast pacing is once again on display in Grim Measures. Even with the reduced word count of a novella, there is enough physical ...

Praise for the Music of Melancholy "This story shocked me to the core. The ending is so unexpected it left me reeling." - Kate O'Hearn, bestselling author of the Pegasus series. The unnatural and the macabre waltz to an eerie music of their own... This collection of stories takes the reader into the darkest corners of the human heart where fear, insanity and horror lurk. What links most of the stories is a sense of chilling disquiet, gathering unease, growing anxiety, rising panic and menacing crises, of lives beginning to fracture... A rich collection of memorable tales. Also by the same ...

While the vast majority perishes in quiet anonymity, a tour of any national monument quickly reveals countless names carved into stone. These names generally identify three classes of people; scribe, conquered and conqueror. Indeed, if anything, life is an endless series of contests, large and small, but these stone-graven records typically ignore the latter for the former. Too often, history overlooks the struggles of mundanity, which perhaps better define those who endure. Pause a reflective moment to ponder the future – anticipate all the boastful elite to be immortalized there. ...

Everyone loves a good joke, but nobody enjoys being subjected to the fun. Pranks are an especially childish form of delight, perhaps because they are the ultimate expression of prurient sadism, which we must disavow as civilized adults. We, the same civilized adults who teach our beloved youth the art of warfare while stockpiling an obscene surplus of thermonuclear weapons. Now that is funny! So, tease a guilty moment to titillate your secret sadist today. Giggling, it whispers. Of spoiled affluence and nothing better to do; of grotesque victimization that makes monsters from innocent ...

Rascals, rapscallions, villains and varlets; all terms of a bygone era intended to describe the guy in the black hat, that perverse character of low virtue and strayed morality who forever ties the distressed damsel to cold, steel rails. Gasp! Within fictional fantasies, they are always guys and damsels, and they must wear black. In reality, we still mostly read about bad ‘guys’, but the women tend to fight back now, often with devastating effect. Tonight, the devil laces thigh-high boots over fence-net stockings before taking a turn through town. Be warned and beware. Of evil delight ...

Tabloids invite us to gorge ourselves on tales of epic personal failures, and so many of us eagerly oblige. Guilty pleasures, we savor these stories most satisfactorily with a garnish of sex scandal, a dash of fiscal malfeasance and a generous dollop of social corruption. Next, we expect a weeping dessert of shame and regret to follow. Afterward, everything ends in a dumpster or the backseat of an aging sedan before we stagger home again, sated, smug and full of improving condemnations. Cup your ears and shade your eyes now. Peer into the gloom of your neighbor’s windows to eavesdrop. ...

Champions come in all shapes and forms. The same is true of cowards. Most of us line up somewhere between these two extremes of potential, but none of us eagerly anticipate having to prove ourselves in a crossfire. In fact, most notable acts of heroism are not the results of well-considered, carefully laid plans. Rather, these are often spontaneous yet deliberate demonstrations of selflessness occasionally on display when normal human beings must confront life-threatening risk. Take a deep, calming breath now before you dare gaze into the face of death. Trembling, heed its heckling catcalls...

A silly titmouse once sang sweetly to describe love as “a many-splendored thing”. Perhaps this is so. For some. For others, love’s terrible spectacle shines in its many violent twists and unexpected turns. Each feckless angle of its affection or disaffection invariably leaves a disfiguring blemish that renders exquisite facets of character from alternating impacts of tragedy, disaster, triumph and ecstasy. Too briefly, desire’s artistry sparkles the amazed eye with a fateful brilliance before fiery passion fades to leave its victims cold and trembling in its wake. Steal a secret ...

Within each human being lingers a mischievous child, but each of us also cages an unformed primitive. We keep our individual id-monster within the tempered bars of civility, yet it remains our secret delight of a darkened, unobserved evening and we make it our fondest fetish at every available opportunity. No matter how mightily we struggle, history scrawls with endless tales of failed self-control, so each scandal both titillates and disgusts depending upon personal sensibilities. Indulge your inner-beast. How it roars! Of broken souls crushed between despair and revenge; of normalcy ...

While we collectively fear wild animals and muggers, most contemporary plagues come in the guise of unavoidable corporate logos and unforgettable commercial jingles. This new and most modern form of disease presents symptoms that include unhealthy obsessions, unwise compulsions and preprogrammed responses, all accompanied by an irrepressible tune that inevitably drives a rational mind to the very brink of lunacy. Visualize anything except the latest fad slogan while engrossing yourself in a moment of hysteric interest, and then pause to think. Of dreamscape dominions wrought from the felt ...

Boogeymen, banshees, werewolves and vampires; all figments of horror drawn upon parchments of fable, each the scrawl of individual phobias revisited by trembling quills dipped into inkwells of collective nightmare. Despite vaguely amusing caricatures, these monstrous legends probably developed from grisly human origins. Indeed, we confront our violent primitives in every new atrocity, and each murder teaches a simple lesson that humankind consistently resists. Consequently, we forever lack viable means for exorcising so-called ‘inner demons’. Even now, your secret devil whispers into ...

Peddlers and snake oil, pimps and pornography, lunatics and paranoia… each pair travels the same darkened alleyways to service identical shadow-bound gates. We receive them by the backdoor, thank you, and always well into the evening. These are private matters undertaken and clearly marked by clandestine hush and furtive sidelong glance. Sometimes concealed in the open but more often hidden in a fog of disinformation, our every secret contains a kernel of truth wrapped within a burlap of proficient lies. Patience and due diligence may unwrap the enigma to decipher a hidden message, but ...

A prequel to the darkly comedic Malice in Wonderland trilogy. A peek inside the minds of Alice and the other characters of Wonderland before she killed them. This volume follows Alice from the age of 7, where Lewis Carroll left off telling her story, to the age of 12. It doesn’t detail everything that happened during that time, because frankly that would be boring, since mostly Alice served as a doormat to the citizens of Wonderland. (Don’t worry, though, she gets her revenge when she turns 13.) Instead, the book hops around between certain key points in Alice’s and the other ...

Whispers in the Ash A chilling supernatural thriller that blends psychological horror, buried secrets, and the terrifying cost of guilt. When Daniel Reeve buys an abandoned house deep in the snow-covered forest, he wants only one thing: to disappear. Hiding from his past—and the memory of the wife he lost under violent, secretive circumstances—he seeks peace in solitude. But the silence in the house is not empty. Something waits in the basement. Something that remembers. As the nights stretch on, Daniel begins to hear his dead wife's voice. Objects move. Mirrors reflect more than they ...

Why would a mother murder her four children with a smile on her face? What sinister end awaits the regulars of the local watering hole? When Beverly Havermore rubs elbows with other members of high society, what ghosts from her past come to haunt her? Could a curse be behind the mysterious speech problems plaguing an otherwise healthy Benjamin Anatole? The answers to these alarming questions can be found in this collection of seventeen nerve-racking, and at times darkly humorous, short stories that are guaranteed to chill the bones of even the most sensible reader. From a man choosing ...

🔥"50 SHADES, HUNGER GAMES, and DIVERGENT, anyone?"🔥 ☠️From New York Times, USA TODAY and Amazon Top-100 bestselling author Tamara Rose Blodgett comes the latest installment in her ★★★#1 Amazon Dark Fantasy bestselling series★★★ that has captivated readers worldwide. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Caleb's journey only gets more thrilling and unpredictable with each turn of the page." — SugarB In this heart-stopping continuation of the Death Series, Caleb Hart’s life spirals further into peril as enemies close in: Legal Trouble Meets Supernatural Danger: Facing repercussions for ...

Tuck has an obsession with time and an extreme dislike for funerals. Furthermore, he hates winter and wants for nothing more than a return to his cozy bed. Braving the elements Tuck's desire for a speedy service is answered. Still, might there be consequences for wishing his life away? The recipient of a Five-Star review from Readers' Favorite, A Place of Rest is another astounding short story from award-winning author Robert E. Kearns. Now with a Five Star Editorial Review from Readers' Favorite