For three days every June, the town of Friendly, Alabama, sequesters in their homes in hopes of being spared by an unseen creature that feeds on their community. Isolated and fearing no one would believe them, the town has endured the annual macabre ritual for as long as anyone can remember. But when Truman Malone begins to dig deeper into the killings, his life begins to unravel, and he starts to wonder if he really wants to know the truth. Could the creature be an old woman allegedly hai...

When a personal injury lawyer and a down-and-out musician meet for the first time, it’s a fatal car accident, but then they awaken to relive the same day over and over. Plagued by strange occurrences and vague memories of the crash, they live the last day of their lives in a loop until finally, Carver Willis slams on his brakes and avoids the collision. But his relief is short-lived when he sees that the world around him has come to a complete stop.Thrown by the incomprehensible oc...

When Brandon Stivers and his family move into his dead grandmother’s river house for the summer, he is immediately drawn to the swampy area at the river’s edge. Susceptible due to his autism, it doesn’t take long before Brandon succumbs to the call of the dark spirits that reside there. He begins to offer small sacrifices to the muck in exchange for the euphoric feelings he’s never experienced, but when he meets a neighborhood girl named Amy, his summer takes a deadly turn. When Amy begins...

Overlooked by grief-stricken parents, 13-year-old Miranda follows a raven into the woods behind her house. When it leads her to the dead body of a young boy, her past awakens in ways she could never imagine. After deciding to keep the body a secret and taking on the role of protector, she realizes that the remaining flock of ravens also have their sights set on the body, whom she has named Andy. Haunted by memory fragments of the death of her younger brother, the desire to protect Andy qui...

When Camille Powers hits her head in a seemingly harmless fall, she finds herself in a strange world between life and death. Able to see but not interact with her regular life, she turns to the only friend she has left—Anna Grace, the spirit of a young girl Camille has seen around her since childhood. With Anna Grace’s help, Camille learns she didn’t just slip into this strange world but was dragged into it by a powerful centuries-old spirit that has been watching her for years, waiting fo...

O is for Outbreak is the fifteenth book in an epic series of twenty-six horror anthologies. In this book you will find a selection of thirteen unsettling tales from some of the most talented independent horror authors writing today. From government conspiracies to historic plagues, otherworldly viruses to deadly insects, O is for Outbreak brings a wide selection of pandemic-inspired horror tales that will have you hiding away, face mask in place.

This book is based on my personal experiences. I have always felt that what I did was just my job and what was required of me to do as a Marine following orders. It became apparent to me when I visited the island of Okinawa for a month in 1997. I was honored by Marines, young and old, who were stationed there at the time. They wanted to hear of my experiences, to meet me and shake my hand. I started writing this book late in my life and I am not a professional writer. For a long time after...

In this delightful, funny, and moving first novel, a librarian and a young boy obsessed with reading take to the road.Lucy Hull, a young children's librarian in Hannibal, Missouri, finds herself both a kidnapper and kidnapped when her favorite patron, ten- year-old Ian Drake, runs away from home. The precocious Ian is addicted to reading, but needs Lucy's help to smuggle books past his overbearing mother, who has enrolled Ian in weekly antigay classes with celebrit...

Meredith Martin Delinn just lost everything: her friends, her homes, her social standing — because her husband Freddy cheated rich investors out of billions of dollars.Desperate and facing homelessness, Meredith receives a call from her old best friend, Constance Flute. Connie's had recent worries of her own, and the two depart for a summer on Nantucket in an attempt to heal. But the island can't offer complete escape, and they're ...

Dubbed the “American Princess” after her rescue from months in the hands of ISIS, soldier and firefighter Penelope Turner has struggled silently since her return to Texas. The media, the danger of her job, the pressure of knowing lives are in her hands…all of it and more has combined to slowly fill Penelope with seething guilt and doubt. Missing memories from her moment of capture cause even more angst. Is she responsible for the deaths of her Army patrol unit? And without knowing what hap...

Years of adversity have molded Henley McClure into the attentive, conscientious psychologist she is today. She lives for her daughter, Jasna, and her work at The Refuge, an exclusive retreat for victims of PTSD. Her life is fulfilling…if a little lonely. But the only man who’s captured her interest, the most standoffish of the mountain retreat’s seven owners, lives in self-imposed isolation. It will take a little vulnerability on her own part, a dead car battery, and the surprising help of...

For over three decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. Now, with the seventh volume of this series, Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night.Encompassed in the pages of The Best Horror of the Year have been such illustrious writers as:Neil GaimanKim RobinsonStephen KingLinda...