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Showing posts from January, 2020

Welcome to the Show edited by Doug Murano

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17 horror Stories. One legendary music venue.  We all know the old cliché: Sex, drugs and rock and roll. Now, add demons, other dimensions, monsters, revenge, human sacrifice, and a dash of the truly inexplicable. This is the story of the (fictional) San Francisco music venue,  The Shantyman . In  Welcome to the Show , seventeen of today's hottest writers of horror and dark fiction come together in devilish harmony to trace The Shantyman's history from its disturbing birth through its apocalyptic encore. Featuring stories by  Brian Keene, John Skipp, Mary SanGiovanni, Robert Ford, Max Booth III, Glenn Rolfe, Matt Hayward, Bryan Smith, Matt Serafini, Kelli Owen, Jonathan Janz, Patrick Lacey, Adam Cesare, Alan M Clark, Somer Canon, Rachel Autumn Deering and Jeff Strand . Compiled by Matt Hayward. Edited by Doug Murano. Bring your curiosity, but leave your inhibitions at the door. The show is about to begin… One legendary music venue, 17 dark horror tales. Epi

Last Meal in Osaka & Other Stories by Gary Buller

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Swashbuckle Cove: Swashbuckle Cove is a closed-for-repair boat ride in a dying seaside resort. Harry Bootle and his brother climb aboard for one last ride, but little do they know what lies beneath the surface. Or how hungry it is. Last Meal in Osaka: Influential billionaire Curtis Makin, bored of the finer things in life, books a table at the secretive and exclusive restaurant 'Ouroboros.' Will the experience be as good as he hoped? Or will 'Ouroboros' claim its pound of flesh? Rise of the Chiggy-Pigs: “Don’t touch, whatever you do,” dad said. “If you do, you might just turn into one.” They live at the bottom of the garden, in the cold damp, feasting silently on decay, but someone is about to disturb them... ...and learn a very important lesson. Writing about Last Meal In Osaka & Other Stories Gary Buller said: “We have three completely different protagonists in this collection, from the innocent all the way through to unexpectedly nasty. Unfortunately, it d

Crowded House

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I'm so thrilled to be starting 2020 with a brand new batch of horror stories. Crowded House and other stories will be released 31st January from Demain publishing. Containing the stories:  UNTIL I GO  – Selina longs to be free from her mother’s hatred. They haven’t spoken in years until Selina is asked to visit her dying mother in hospital one final time. This is it. Soon Selina will be free but will their last goodbye go smoothly?  CROWDED HOUSE  – A young woman finds out she is the sole heir of her Uncle’s estate after he vanishes. She comes to Canterbury for a new life but the house is not what she was hoping for. It has been left in a terrible state and holds many secrets she must confront if she is to take control of it before it takes control of her.  A BUBBLE OF FRIENDSHIP WILL KEEP US  – On the cusp of adolescence, Ella fears for her best friend Jade who is turning her back on their childhood friendship and the mysterious forest beyond their homes. Jade wants to grow

An Invitation To Darkness by Hailey Piper

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In ‘Invitation To Darkness’ sea captain Jamie Thames meets wealthy heiress Elizabeth Leavenworth and the two women quickly fall in love. Of course, it’s never that simple in a Gothic story. Leavenworth Manor is haunted, but ghosts are the least of the lovers’ troubles. This is one of the best gothic tales I've ever read! Dark atmosphere and brooding chilling suspense this is a tale that reels you in from the first sentence. Captain Jamie Thames returns from a long and successful career upon the seven seas but after having made her fortune she wants to settle down. Arriving in Lucre Shores  a small town that is quiet and still by the sea she finds an old abandoned home, Leavenworth Manor, ravaged by the sea and decides she must have it. The house is in fact owned by Lord Leavenworth a man in considerable decline and his young daughter, Elizabeth, who hides a terrible secret... There's a lot packed into this really gripping tale. I was sad it ended so quickly and imm

The Haunting of Henderson Close by Catherine Cavendish

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Ghosts have always walked there. Now they’re not alone… In the depths of Edinburgh, an evil presence is released. Hannah and her colleagues are tour guides who lead their visitors along the spooky, derelict Henderson Close, thrilling them with tales of spectres and murder. For Hannah it is her dream job, but not for long. Who is the mysterious figure that disappears around a corner? What is happening in the old print shop? And who is the little girl with no face? The legends of Henderson Close are becoming all too real. The Auld De’il is out – and even the spirits are afraid. I had a great time reading this tale. I loved the setting which is based on St Mary King's Close in Edinburgh. Hidden underneath the Royal Mile it is a warren of narrow streets where the city's poorest worked, lived and died.  Hannah has just moved to Edinburgh after a painful divorce and seeing her only child move to Australia. After being made redundant from her successful but finished career as a