Desper Hollow

Desper Hollow PDF Author: Elizabeth Massie
Publisher: Crossroad Press
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
It begins when mountain matriarch Granny Mustard decides she wants to live forever, but then is killed. Her slow-witted but equally hardheaded granddaughter Jenkie decides to pick up the ball and run with it, taking Granny's unperfected immortality moonshine recipe, a socially-inept friend named Bink, and dreams of fame and fortune to an abandoned trailer up in Desper Hollow. But slow-witted can't stand against the terrible power Granny initiated. Jenkie's experiments only worsen the troubles with Granny's original recipe, bringing dead critters and a few stray folks back to a state of hungry, vicious, mindless animation. Now a stash of the living dead is locked up in the back of the trailer, a howling herd that has Jenkie terrified. And Armistead, one of the red-eyed living dead, seems way too alert for comfort. Mountain resident Kathy Shaw and Hollywood pitchman Jack Carroll, who is looking for the next hit reality show, find themselves caught up in the growing horror surrounding Desper Hollow. They can't avoid it and must face it head on. So must Armistead, who fights the fog of his ghastly condition to discover the truth of who he really is.

Desper Hollow

Desper Hollow PDF Author: Elizabeth Massie
Publisher: Crossroad Press
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 278

Get Book Here

Book Description
It begins when mountain matriarch Granny Mustard decides she wants to live forever, but then is killed. Her slow-witted but equally hardheaded granddaughter Jenkie decides to pick up the ball and run with it, taking Granny's unperfected immortality moonshine recipe, a socially-inept friend named Bink, and dreams of fame and fortune to an abandoned trailer up in Desper Hollow. But slow-witted can't stand against the terrible power Granny initiated. Jenkie's experiments only worsen the troubles with Granny's original recipe, bringing dead critters and a few stray folks back to a state of hungry, vicious, mindless animation. Now a stash of the living dead is locked up in the back of the trailer, a howling herd that has Jenkie terrified. And Armistead, one of the red-eyed living dead, seems way too alert for comfort. Mountain resident Kathy Shaw and Hollywood pitchman Jack Carroll, who is looking for the next hit reality show, find themselves caught up in the growing horror surrounding Desper Hollow. They can't avoid it and must face it head on. So must Armistead, who fights the fog of his ghastly condition to discover the truth of who he really is.

Closer Than You Know

Closer Than You Know PDF Author: Brad Parks
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 110198564X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 434

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Book Description
Brad Parks delivers a riveting, emotionally powerful stand-alone domestic suspense thriller perfect for fans of The Couple Next Door and What She Knew. Disaster is always closer than you know. It was a lesson Melanie Barrick learned the hard way growing up in the constant upheaval of foster care. But now that she’s survived into adulthood—with a loving husband, a steady job, and a beautiful baby boy named Alex—she thought that turmoil was behind her. Until one Tuesday evening when she goes to pick up Alex from childcare only to discover he’s been removed by Social Services. And no one will say why. It’s a terrifying scenario for any parent, but doubly so for Melanie, who knows the unintended horrors of what everyone coldly calls “the system.” Her nightmare grows worse when she arrives home to learn her house has been raided by sheriff’s deputies, who have found enough cocaine to send Melanie to prison for years. The evidence against her is overwhelming, and if Melanie can’t prove her innocence, she’ll lose Alex forever. Meanwhile, assistant commonwealth’s attorney Amy Kaye—who has been assigned Melanie’s case—has her own troubles. She’s been dogged by a cold case no one wants her to pursue: a serial rapist who has avoided detection by wearing a mask and whispering his commands. Over the years, he has victimized dozens of women. Including Melanie. Yet now her attacker might be the key to her salvation... or her undoing.

Hell Gate

Hell Gate PDF Author: Elizabeth Massie
Publisher: Crossroad Press
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
The year is 1909. Coney Island is a bright, malodorous, and garish place, luring work-weary folks in with its dangerous roller coasters, bizarre displays, and promises of "improper" gaiety to be remembered. Three grand amusement parks—Steeplechase, Luna Park, and Dreamland—make Coney Island their home, as do countless independent shows along the Bowery. And some, such as the sinister Snow's Symposium of Secrets and Surprises, take much more from customers than they give. Suzanne Heath is a ticket-seller for Luna Park as well a reluctant psychic. She has been called in by police Lieutenant Granger to help find and stop a murderer whose victims have been dreadfully mutilated. Suzanne feels obligated to offer her assistance even thought doing forces her to recall memories of her youth, a time when her psychic talents only brought about rejection and pain. Suzanne's one true friend is Cittie Parker, a young man who ran away from the Colored Waifs' Asylum and now performs as a bloodthirsty Zulu drummer in Dreamland. He knows of Suzanne's abilities and fears for her safety. As Suzanne digs deeper into the grisly Coney Island murders and her own past, she finds herself and Cittie caught up in a nightmare where worlds converge and collide, where death gleefully beckons, and insanity grins like a devil at the gate of hell.

Voices in the Darkness

Voices in the Darkness PDF Author: Kathe Koja
Publisher: Crossroad Press
ISBN: 1952979501
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
Sometimes the world is a very dark place. You know the magic is still out there, but it feels distant, or displaced. Voices in the Darkness is an attempt to create a link, to bring some of those voices together in a single work of art. Six award-winning authors lent their talent to this work. The stories are unique, and dark, filled with wonder and emotion. Included are: Nadia Bulkin's "Vide Cor Meum (See My Heart)" is a unique twist on true crime as fiction. Kathe Koja's "Pursuivant Island" will resonate differently with every reader, has meaning on different levels, and touches on an actual artistic event. Elizabeth Massie's "Baggie" explores the horror of losing control of one's life, self, everything to another. Cassandra Khaw takes you on a journey through the pain of bad relationships, while reminding her readers of their own self worth. Nick Mamatas takes on the historical character behind the old, old song "Mack the Knife," in his tale, titled appropriately "Ba boo Dop doo Dop boo ree." Brian A. Hopkins' novella "La Belle Époque," explores history, Winchester rifles, and addiction of a very personal persuasion. We all hear voices in the darkness; in the pages of this book you will hear six of them very clearly.

Sundown

Sundown PDF Author: Elizabeth Massie
Publisher: Crossroad Press
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 153

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Book Description
In the author's own words: "This is for all who stare into the darkness to better appreciate the light.” Sundown is a collection of stories selected from my (thus far) 26-year career in the field of horror fiction. Some were included in more major publications while others were published by small press anthologies and magazines." This new collection also includes poetry by the two-time Bram Stoker Award winner and features original cover art by the incomparable Cortney Skinner. Stories and poems included in this collection: Into the Encroaching Darkness…and Back Again Pinkie M is for the Many Things The Devil's Yo-Yo To Soothe the Savage Beast The Caretaker Journal of a Headhunter Dance of the Spirit Untouched Assault The Wills and the Way Come Unto Me Snow Day Hide and Go Peek Something You Need to Know Spider's Night Out

The Porcupine Boy and Other Anthological Oddities

The Porcupine Boy and Other Anthological Oddities PDF Author: Gary McMahon
Publisher: Crossroad Press
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 235

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Book Description
An investigative journalist uncovers the horrifying secret behind a legendary Hollywood family. After an accident, a bus driver is faced with a horrible choice. A group of skydivers face a winged terror from above. An art dealer is haunted by a portrait of a red-haired woman in a green dress. A son is reunited with his father, thirty years after his death. THE PORCUPINE BOY AND OTHER ANTHOLOGICAL ODDITIES is an anthology of dark fiction containing fourteen never-before-published stories by some of the genre’s best writers.

Gothic Appalachian Literature

Gothic Appalachian Literature PDF Author: Sarah Robertson
Publisher: Anthem Press
ISBN: 1839986794
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 71

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Book Description
Gothic Appalachian Literature examines the ways contemporary Appalachian authors utilize gothic tropes to explore the complex history and contemporary problems of the region, particularly in terms of their representation of economic and environmental concerns. It argues that across Appalachian fiction, the plight of characters to save their homes, land and way of life from the destructive forces of extractive industries brings sharply to bare the histories of colonization and slavery that problematize questions of belonging, ownership and possession. Robertson extensively considers contemporary manifestations of the gothic in Appalachian literature, arguing that gothic tropes abound in fiction that focuses on the impacts of extractive industries that connect this micro-region with other parts of the Global North and Global South where the devastating impacts of extractive industries are also experienced socially, economically and environmentally.

Madame Cruller's Couch and Other Dark and Bizarre Tales

Madame Cruller's Couch and Other Dark and Bizarre Tales PDF Author: Elizabeth Massie
Publisher: Crossroad Press
ISBN: 163789970X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description
A small-town psychic’s trailer burns, leaving little in the wreckage but her lovely green couch. A great find for a couple who make their living scavenging and selling secondhand items. Yet Madame Cruller’s couch is imbedded with something unpleasant, and we’re not talking fleas. A young man, accompanied by a shadowy specter since birth, unwittingly exacts revenge against those who threaten him. A hoarder learns that dogs can sometimes be loyal to a fault. A dark and terrible secret threatens the plans two brothers have of racing their car in a television-themed challenge. A pony and a steer have had enough of their arrogant owners and decide to take the “bull by the horns,” so to speak. Thanks to the couple who own her town, Christmastime has become an annoyance for Donna Wilson. But during this year’s command-performance Yuletide party, Donna discovers a nightmare that rivals any holiday horror story she’s ever read. Surviving the brutal 1968 Vietnam War riots in Chicago, a desperately optimistic man travels cross-country to join a commune…only to realize that “peace” can be as dangerous as violence. A peculiar and devastating plague rapidly spreads across the globe, throwing the survivors into a battle for their sanity and their lives. These are some of the stories in this chilling new collection by two-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author, Elizabeth Massie. ***** “Elizabeth Massie is personally one of my favorite authors.” - Bentley Little, author of The Town, The Bank “Elizabeth Massie never fails to engage the heart and mind.” – Jack Ketchum, author of The Girl Next Door, The Lost

The Vanishing Twin

The Vanishing Twin PDF Author: Valerie B. Williams
Publisher: Crossroad Press
ISBN: 1637890982
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
Since childhood, successful New Jersey realtor Yvette Rollins’ friend Celine has helped her with all life decisions. But no one can see Celine, and the only person who hears her is Yvette. A serious car accident shatters Yvette’s body and exposes the crumbling façade of her seemingly perfect life. Her loyal twin, Anna, jumps in to help care for her three-year-old nephew, Max, while Yvette is in rehab. To Yvette’s dismay, the accident has also silenced Celine. When Yvette returns home, Anna shares a recently discovered letter from their absent father, revealing the existence of a real Celine, a third sibling who died in the womb. Their father performed a Vodou ceremony and believes that Celine’s soul lives on in Yvette. Yvette is relieved to know Celine is real, while Anna has mixed emotions. Anna feels she’s spent her life competing with Celine, so is relieved that she’s gone. As Yvette recovers Celine returns, causing Anna to fear for Yvette’s stability and Max’s safety. Anna uses an old family journal of Vodou spells to launch a desperate scheme to “rescue” Max from his mother. Celine warns Yvette that everything she holds dear is at risk. Who will Yvette believe—Anna, the sister she can see and touch, or Celine, the sister who has never steered her wrong?

Freedom of Screech

Freedom of Screech PDF Author: Chet Williamson
Publisher: Crossroad Press
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
Fifteen freedom of speech-themed tales for the dark of heart. Fifteen twisted visions of consequences from some of the finest writers of the dark fantastique: Chet Williamson Elizabeth Massie Matt Hayward Jessica McHugh Richard Christian Matheson Jenny Orosel Jack Ketchum Georgia R. Buns Tom Monteleone Patricia Lee Macomber David Niall Wilson Robert Guffey Joseph Mulak Michael Picco Norman Spinrad Fifteen stories from living legends, rising stars, venerable masters and surprising newcomers, exploring our troubled past, our turbulent present, and frightening futures yet to come. Freedom of Screech. It’s not for the faint of heart.