Horror Fairy Tales

"Perfect deadpan marks the opening of Ali Simpson’s The Monster'" writes Susan Merrell of The Southampton Review in her introduction to this issue of Recommended Reading.

For Rose Marshall, death has long since become the only life she really knows. She's been sweet 16 for more than 60 years, hitchhiking her way along the highways and byways of America, sometimes seen as an avenging angel, sometimes seen as a killer in her own right, but always Rose, the phantom prom date, the girl in the green silk gown. The man who killed her is still out there thanks to a crossroads bargain that won't let him die, and he's looking for the one who got away. When Bobby Cross comes back into the picture, there's going to be hell to pay - possibly literally.

Malice has to save her friends from the fairy tale parasites infesting their souls. They have each been combined with the fairy tale that bit them. This has caused them to become hybrids—the Mad Hatter, for instance, is now half Cinderella. To drive the fairy tale portion out, Malice has to drive a stake through their hearts. So, ironically, to save them, Malice essentially has to fight and kill her friends—the Mad Hatter, Tweedle twins, Humpty and the Knight. Hopefully, afterwards, Wonderland will finally get back to how it was before the twisted fairy tales came around.

These shivery tales were collected from the oral tradition, from people all over the Southwest, and represent the rich cultural diversity of the region, from the Ozarks to the Rio Grande, California to the Big Thicket.

This audiobook collects Wellman’s John Thunstone and Lee Corbet stories, written between 1943 and 1979. These stories combine the mystical and horrific with traditional Southern folk tales and legends. These stories also reveal a post-World War II modernism that make them much more then pulp romanticism. The paranoia and cynicism of modern weird icons, such as The X-files, may well have had their genesis in the pulp musings of Manly Wade Wellman.

The post-Katrina New Orleans of The City of Lost Fortunes is a place haunted by its history and by the hurricane's destruction, a place that is hoping to survive the rebuilding of its present long enough to ensure that it has a future. Street magician Jude Dubuisson is likewise burdened by his past and by the consequences of the storm, because he has a secret: the magical ability to find lost things, a gift passed down to him by the father he has never known - a father who just happens to be more than human.

At once a Gothic thriller, a passionate romance, and a cautionary tale about the dangers of science, Frankenstein tells the story of committed science student Victor Frankenstein. Obsessed with discovering "the cause of generation and life" and "bestowing animation upon lifeless matter", Frankenstein assembles a human being from stolen body parts. However, upon bringing it to life, he recoils in horror at the creature's hideousness.

Rosie Daniels leaves her husband, Norman, after 14 years in an abusive marriage. She is determined to lose herself in a place where he won't find her. She'll worry about all the rest later. Alone in a strange city, she begins to make a new life, and good things finally start to happen. Meeting Bill is one, and getting an apartment is another. Still, it's hard for Rosie not to keep looking over her shoulder, and with good reason. Norman is a cop, with the instincts of a predator.

In the Highlands of Scotland lies the Hole, a famed passageway under the town of Bethel where hundreds have vanished. After years of ignored recovery wishes, the Hole’s ownership has passed to Elisabeth Wingate. A former child star and British fashion mogul, Elisabeth wants to redeem her scandalous, reckless life. She agrees to finance an expedition to retrieve the legion of bodies that have accumulated over the years, but there’s only one catch: She wants to venture alongside the caving team. But they’re not alone down there....

Strange things are happening in the small town of Canton, North Carolina. Megan and her friends should be enjoying summer vacation and the end of the school year, but instead find themselves caught up in a nightmare.

A secret they intended to take to the grave, but the dead will tell...In 1945, Liv commits an unspeakable act. She flees from her life, but all actions have consequences. Twenty years later, she's drawn back to Northern Michigan where it all began. Dead Stream Curse weaves together the past and present in a chilling ghost story filled with mystery.

Branded a traitor, betrayed by a friend, hunted by the vampire clan - Darren Shan, the vampire's assistant, faces certain death. And even if he survives Vampire Mountain, an all-out catastrophe is headed his way that threatens the entire vampire clan. Can Darren reverse the odds and outwit a vampire prince? Can he avert the coming calamity? Darren's initiation on Vampire Mountain draws to a stunning, bloody conclusion in this sixth book of the Cirque du Freak series.

It's the weekend and Cindy is stuck at home and alone. There's a wild bear on the loose in the neighborhood and place is crawling with police to keep people indoors. Her plans for pampering herself suddenly fall apart when a ferocious wild bear bursts into her home. However, there's much more to this wild beast than meets the eye. Cindy soon finds herself being stared down by a viciously handsome alpha male with only one thing on his mind. He's looking to mate and one way or another he's going to seed Cindy, hard and fast without protection. This is a 6000+ word BBW shape shifting werebear ...

Stranded during a hiking trip gone wrong, Sandy finds herself being stalked by ferocious werewolf. Now she's trapped in the middle of the wilderness with a gorgeous young alpha male whose looking for a mate. He's deep in heat and looking to seed and nothing is going to stop him from claiming Sandy as his own, fast and hard without protection. Can Sandy handle being seeded by the werewolf of this forest? Click inside to find out. This is a 5000+ word BBW shape shifting werewolf story full of raw mating mayhem.

Seven years ago the Atargatis set off on a voyage to the Mariana Trench to film a mockumentary bringing to life ancient sea creatures of legend. It was lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a tragedy. Now a new crew has been assembled. But this time they're not out to entertain. Some seek to validate their life's work. Some seek the greatest hunt of all. Some seek the truth. But for the ambitious young scientist Victoria Stewart, this is a voyage to uncover the fate of the sister she lost.

One Christmas Eve in a small hollow in Boone County, West Virginia, struggling songwriter Jesse Walker witnesses a strange spectacle: seven devilish figures chasing a man in a red suit toward a sleigh and eight reindeer. When the reindeer leap skyward, taking the sleigh, devil men, and Santa into the clouds, screams follow. Moments later, a large sack plummets back to earth, a magical sack that thrusts the down-on-his-luck singer into the clutches of the terrifying Yule Lord, Krampus.

He's in heat and nothing is going to stop him from seeding her When a purebred werewolf catches wind of an untouched and fertile mate in his territory he becomes hellbent on hunting her down and seeding her. When he finds her things get hot and heavy before they're suddenly interrupted. However that isn't going to stop this alpha male in heat from plowing and seeding his fertile and untouched mate. He's going to take his voloptuous new mate hard with without protection as he's determined to not stop until she's carrying their pup. This is a 5000+ word BBW alpha werewolf story full of wild ...

I never thought I'd move to New York. I certainly never expected to live in a mansion, rent free, with five super hot roommates. But none of those things surprised me as much as discovering the truth about my destiny, the revelation of the ancient power flowing through my veins and how it changes my life. I am the Raven Queen.

After Grand-mere Ursule gives her life to save her family, their magic seems to die with her. Even so, the Orchires fight to keep the old ways alive, practicing half-remembered spells and arcane rites in hopes of a revival. And when their youngest daughter comes of age, magic flows anew. The lineage continues, though new generations struggle not only to master their power, but also to keep it hidden. But when World War II looms on the horizon, magic is needed more urgently than ever.

Some monsters are impossible to see. This is The Ballad of Old Joe Booth.