Fire exploded right in front of Holly as the Shellpoint Inn went up in a flash. The young veterinarian raised her cloak to protect her face and quickly ducked into the alley at her back. The flames roared past, but the intense heat still scorched her exposed skin; the acrid tang of her frizzing hair filled the winter morning air. The small dragon perched on Holly’s shoulder cooed; it loved fire.Fire exploded right in front of Holly as the Shellpoint Inn went up in a flash. The young veterinarian raised her cloak to protect her face and quickly ducked into the alley at her back. The flames roared past, but the intense heat still scorched her exposed skin; the acrid tang of her frizzing hair filled the winter morning air. The small dragon perched on Holly’s shoulder cooed; it loved fire.It seemed as though the whole town was burning now. Holly smudged tears from her eyes and dashed toward the far end of the alley, a single thought screaming in her mind as she ran: How did we ever let it come to this?Stephen D. Sullivan has written dozens of novels and stories in the fantasy, SF, adventure, horror, and detective genres. Very few of them are intentionally allegorical. www.stephendsullivan.com Views: 458
Odd-job boy Jack Leroyson, he just don’t get it. They’re saying his screen-goddess employer’s just gone and died from a drug overdose. So how come no one’s mentioning the early morning visits of all those White House staff? How come no one’s sure when she died? Rogue CIA agent Brad Friedberg tells Jack straight; sometimes you’ve just gotta accept lies as the truth. But Jack, he just don’t get it.Odd-job boy Jack Leroyson, he just don’t get it. They’re saying his screen-goddess employer’s just gone and died from a drug overdose. So how come no one’s mentioning the early morning visits of all those White House staff? How come no one’s quite sure when she died? Rogue CIA agent Brad Friedberg tells Jack straight; sometimes you’ve just gotta accept lies as the truth. But Jack, he just don’t get it. About The Caught In the real world, the novel The Catcher in the Rye has been found in the possession of a number of surprisingly naive yet amazingly successful assassins – could it contain a code that inspires otherwise vulnerable people to kill? In early 60s Hollywood, odd-job boy Jack Leroyson is caught up in the intrigues surrounding Marilyn Monroe’s supposed suicide and the treacherously murky web of the White House, Kennedys, CIA and mafia – leading him to a strained friendship with Lee Harvey Oswald and his girlfriend Marina and, ultimately, a grassy knoll in Dallas. Views: 457
He is a ghost, a whisper, a rumour, a myth...And on a cold winter's night he is a man determined to reach his target inside an isolated, snow bound house.Spy, soldier, assassin, thief...X could be any of these...or all of them!The Hour Glass DaggerCome with me and together we will journey through Leversa’s Creation from one end to the other. This book, The Hour Glass Dagger, sets the background that begins our journey. My name is J-Marr and I will be your travel guide.Come walk with me, as we tread through Kessela’s Grasslands. It is a place where things are not always what they seem. The existence of Grass Runners will seal that thought as truth. If not, I'm sure the many surprises nestled within the waist high grass and lazily rolling foothills will.We will be wading through Sinisin’s Swamp. I can't wait to show you the Water Lilies, who live within the outskirts of the swamp.. If they don't inspire true awe, the eighteen-inch dragonflies they ride certainly will. There is also a good chance we could meet the Swamp Priestess, Shell-Lee, and her guardian Jeremiah. They are always aware of who wades within their waters.We will be gliding over Gullisen Jentry’s ice-encrusted winter land. In this area, only the toughest and bravest survive. It is here that the tall and muscle bound barbarians call home. Tread cautiously; giant polar bears and ice wolves are always hungry and do not hesitate to stealthily pounce from behind.Come climb with me, and watch your step as we scale the Tuskin Mountain Range. It is home to not only the dwarves living on and around Mount Magmere, but home also to the rock trolls who have dug their home into the center of the mountain region,protected by Tuskin’s Cloak.We will be ascending high up within Everon’s Oaks, into the large trees themselves where magical wood elves have created their tree cities and towns. Along our way to them, if you were to look closely, you may spy members of the Forest Guardians, made up of the stealthy earth elves.Come swim with me as we brave the waters of Leversa’s Basin. This is the largest body of fresh water in all the land. We could sail upon it for a month and never see the true beauty to be had; the water elves generally build their wonderous cities under the surface, out of view from all except their kind.Now listen to me closely. The last area we will be visiting is not one that I like to take travelers to. It is not an area as of yet that we can walk, climb, or swim to. It is not an area known to any but the Lost and the Faithless who live there. Only a wizard or sorceress who has mastered all the Flows (Water, Air, Earth, Fire, Temperture, and Death) has the power needed to mold those residues together to create the instant transportation spell. I wouldn’t be a very good guide if I wasn’t able to, but again, I will ask you to be careful.**** POP ****We are now within the Land of the Faithless. The Faithless are humans who were brought here by a powerful wizard over nine hundred years ago. They have been here multiplying, building a skilled army numbering near into the millions, and waiting for the Coming; when the son of Death returns “at a time of HIS choosing,” and,“The Lost and the Faithless that you are now, you will no longer be.” I was just quoting a passage within the coveted “Book of the Faithless”. The people are, as a whole, very disciplined in their daily routine of making babies to farm or fight. By sheer numbers alone they are a force to be reckoned with. Throw in the Lost,the very son of Death himself, and all the shadows of death under His control… I am thinking you are beginning to understand. Yes?**** POP ****Here we are, back at Leversa’s Creation as the rest of the population knows it. You probably wouldn’t recognize where, as I do. If you check your map, you will find us to be South of Leversa’s Basin, sandwiched between the outskirts of Everon’s Oaks and the Sinisin Swamp. We are in the only large city in the immediate Southern land. Its name is Bek’noni, and it is here that the story begins. Views: 457
Down through the deathless centuries, the vampires had drunk human blood for sustenance and for sport. They preyed where they willed, for no mortal humans could resist their unclean powers. But now came the ultimate perversion, the unthinkable: someone was conscripting the vampires into the secret services of a foreign power. No government agency or bureaucrat could control the Undead. The idea was absurd, as Dr. James Asher knew all too well. Years in His Majesty\'s service had taught Asher the finer points of espionage. And he knew the secrets of the vampires--a familiarity hard-won in unwilling service to Don Simon Ysidro, oldest and most subtle of the hunters of the London night. What Asher didn\'t know was why one of England\'s established vampires would risk everything to travel across the European continent at the behest of a ruthless spymaster. But he could see the terrifying potential of such an unholy alliance... Views: 457
Sword & sorcery at its best -- the first of the Voidal trilogy, assembling Adrian Cole's sword & sorcery series for the first time. And don't miss Volumes 2 and 3, also available from Wildside Press. Views: 457
Winston Manor is “Monster Proof.” The eccentric old millionaire that owns it has spent loads of cash on the ultimate home defense system that repels every invader, no matter what species it may be. But is he, or Winston Manor, prepared for Judy Barnes?Tucked in an empty corner of the Great Plains lies Winston Manor, the “Monster Proof” home of one Mr. Winston, a rich old eccentric who believes in all sorts of scary monsters. He also believes they’re out to get him, which is why his spacious mansion has the ultimate home defense system. Nothing can get in because nothing can even reach the building.Judy Barnes is a young journalist who has managed to wrangle an interview from the old coot. She’s determined to find out just how monster proof Winston Manor really is for reasons that will quickly become apparent, but will it be too late for the old man to see what’s hiding below her Plain Jane appearance? Views: 457
This spooky addition to Alvin Schwartz's popular books on American folklore is filled with tales of eerie horror and dark revenge that will make you jump with fright.
There is a story here for everyone—skeletons with torn and tangled flesh who roam the earth; a ghost who takes revenge on her murderer; and a haunted house where every night a bloody head falls down the chimney.
Stephen Gammell's splendidly creepy drawings perfectly capture the mood of more than two dozen scary stories—and even scary songs—all just right for reading alone or for telling aloud in the dark.
If You Dare! Views: 457
It is December 1944 and Europe is still gripped by war. In the densely forested mountains of Belgium one of the conflict's most brutal battles is raging. Cut off from the front, a ragtag group of young British and American soldiers finds itself being hunted by a patrol of elite German Special Forces, including a newly commissioned officer called Kreuz—a teenage boy who will grow up to become Warden Cross (the fearsome prison director who will one day rule Furnace Penitentiary, the terrifying underground prison specially built for teen offenders). As both sides fight for their lives in the unforgiving terrain, however, they start to realize that there are worse things hiding in the snow than soldiers. There are creatures out there with gas masks and piggy eyes (ancestors of Furnace prison's "wheezers")—demonic entities that cannot be killed by guns and grenades, monsters who do not care what uniforms their victims are wearing so long as they bleed, and so long as they scream . . . Views: 457
This spectacular collection of 13 dark, haunting tales by bestselling author Straub exposes the terrors that hide beneath the surface of the ordinary world, behind the walls of houses without doors. "Straub at his spellbinding best".--Publishers Weekly. Views: 456
Grace Pizzelli is the average one, nothing like her brilliant older sister, Emily, who works for Rasmussem, creators of the world’s best virtual reality games. The games aren’t real, though—or at least they weren’t. Now Emily has hidden herself inside a pink and sparkly game meant for little girls. No one knows why, or how to convince her to come back out, and the technology can’t keep her safe for much longer. Grace may consider herself average, but she’s the only one who can save Emily. So Grace enters the game, hoping to talk her sister out of virtual suicide before time runs out. Otherwise Emily will die—for real. Views: 456
Nola isn't much of a witch. She can work only a few useless spells, like the one that lets her spy on people by enchanting a bucket of water. But there's no spell for keeping her mother-who hears voices and is a magnet for witch-hunters-out of trouble. The two of them evade the authorities by traveling from town to town, taking odd jobs and moving on-until the day Nola magically witnesses a murder. . . . Views: 456
