Occult Horror

When I was a child, one of my favorite stories was about a haunted house on the edge of town. The tale was embellished with gory details and bone-chilling twists, leaving me both terrified and fascinated. Despite the fear that crept into my bones, I couldn't get enough of these gruesome tales. As I grew older, I found myself seeking out horror stories in books, movies, and even podcasts. The adrenaline rush that came with each jump scare and the thrill of being transported to a world of darkness and terror became almost addicting. I reveled in the feeling of being scared out of my wits, yet...

The prequel to Dracula, inspired by notes and texts left behind by the author of the classic novel, Dracul is a supernatural thriller that reveals not only Dracula's true origins but Bram Stoker's - and the tale of the enigmatic woman who connects them. It is 1868, and a 21-year-old Bram Stoker waits in a desolate tower to face an indescribable evil. Armed only with crucifixes, holy water, and a rifle, he prays to survive a single night, the longest of his life. Desperate to record what he has witnessed, Bram scribbles down the events that led him here....

Qiang is a tetrachromat—a young woman born with a rare genetic mutation that gives her color vision a hundred times more nuanced than ordinary eyesight—and she is being hunted. Living on her own for the first time, Qiang was eager to begin her college career and develop herself as an artist. Then, she began noticing people with subtle markings that no one else could see. At first, she was curious, but when the strange people learned she could see them for what they were, Qiang had no choice but to leave her life behind and run. The truth is shapeshifters live among us. They wear our ...

They Never Left When disgraced journalist Rex Mallory returns to the small town of Whisper Ridge, he expects rust, rumors, and a few ghosts from his past. What he doesn’t expect is a missing woman, a mutilated corpse, and the burned remains of a notebook that points to decades of disappearances. As Mallory digs deeper, he uncovers chilling whispers of an abandoned asylum, a preacher with too many secrets, and a sheriff who doesn’t take kindly to questions. Every lead pulls him closer to a horrifying truth buried beneath the town’s sleepy surface—one the townspeople are willing to ...

It was no secret that journalist Jack Sparks had been researching the occult for his new book. No stranger to controversy, he'd already triggered a furious Twitter storm by mocking an exorcism he witnessed. Then there was that video: 40 seconds of chilling footage that Jack repeatedly claimed was not of his making, yet it was posted from his own YouTube account. Nobody knew what happened to Jack in the days that followed - until now.

SOME HOUSES NEED US… Fifteen years after she swore never to set foot in Ashwell again, Althea Gardner is brought back to her hometown by the suicide of her high school best friend, Claire Appleton. Beatrix, Claire’s grief-stricken mother and now the last surviving member of the Appleton clan, begs Althea to stay with her at Appleton Hill. Nursing her own broken heart, Althea ends up as a guest in this vast and isolated property filled with the shadows of people that no longer walk this earth. As the days go by, the locals’ suspicions about Claire’s death create doubts in Althea’s ...

When Del Lareaux leaves the St. Augustine orphanage, she is desperate to build a normal life for herself and Jimmy, the mentally handicapped boy she spent years protecting. But when a hellish spirit is raised from the dark swamps of Louisiana, abominations of unimaginable horror begin to prey on the lost souls of New Orleans, and Del’s soul is the most coveted.

ARCHAEOLOGY IS HIS PROFESSION. PROTECTING HUMANITY IS HIS CALLING.On some level, Dr. Gideon Wolf hoped that being a demigod would have its perks. Not necessarily throngs of adoring worshipers continuously bowing at his feet, but at least, you know, a lull maybe in the endless onslaught of assassins sent to kill him and steal his power. But since reluctantly assuming the mantle of one of seven guardians of humanity—for Gideon a perplexing and occasionally unwelcome “honor” bestowed upon him by fate—he’s been shocked by how many lost souls he’s supposed to protect want him dead. ...

USA TODAY BESTSELLER! "Well past 3D, Romyn's imagination can best be described as multi-dimensional." -- Claude Bouchard, USA Today bestselling author. Jacob Hope plans for a simple life without complications. Fate has other ideas. Hell’s gates lay shattered. An ancient evil, long foretold but rarely believed, has broken loose from its shackles to roam free upon the Earth. Jake longs to confront this evil, but without knowing how, he must embark upon a journey not only of destination but self-discovery. In his attempts to thwart a fallen angel, Jake must also come to grips with his own ...

Wandering the streets of Edinburgh late at night isn't usually the safest thing to do but I needed to. The police had a killer on the loose and had no clues. It had struck at least twice and I knew that the killer was not of our world. It was a Demon. I had found a tiny trace of its movements and now, as I moved into the alley, I knew I would find the latest victim. Who should I call first? Bishop Michael to inform His Eminence that a demon stalked the streets of Edinburgh? Or the Police? I hoped they didn't ask too many questions about why I happened to be there. The Police it was, Bishop ...

Camp Verde was a speck of dust in the rearview mirror, and Holly couldn’t wait to get to the base in Flagstaff. Being outside, seeing what people had become, it was almost too much to deal with. All she wanted to do now was lock herself inside the lab and fix whatever was happening. Max would ensure she was safe, and together they just might save the world.

Trying to exist undetected in a human world, with a human family is hard enough when you are a Vampire - but finding out your son is also the fabled Chosen One, makes things even more difficult. Will Alexi's love be enough to protect his precious child from the powers that be and prevent fate from dealing him yet another cruel blow? Or is he condemned to live out eternity alone......

Tales the Crows Taught Me Seventeen Supernatural Tales to Make Your Skin Crawl Fans of Ray Bradbury and the Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock, and Lord of the Flies have reason to rejoice! Here are 17 tales with a twist—many of them award-winning: a traveling sideshow, a shadowy something waiting in a deep Oregon forest, an ancient fishing village where there's a price to pay for magic, a strange parcel dragged for miles over ice and snow, a Florida boarding house full of residents who would VERY much like to meet you... The Uncanny waits to make your acquaintance. Included: Protection: ...

Barely surviving his last brush with evil, ghost hunter Shane Ryan's investigation into the supernatural killings in Ontario takes him to Detroit. A former police officer, Wyatt Hawthorn’s vindictive spirit is obsessed with vengeance and bloodshed. And he’s determined to make Shane’s ally, Detective Jacinta Perez, his next victim.... Locked in a sinister game of cat and mouse with this undead madman, Shane and Jacinta struggle to locate his victims, before their life is snuffed out for good. But as more blood is spilled, the two begin to realize this killer may be more than they bargained for.

She came seeking blessings. She found something already inside her—watching, waiting, waking. Karen leaves New York believing she’s prepared for India. She’s read the books. Taken the shots. Practiced the mantras. Her fiancé is Hindu, and she wants to honor his culture. A destination wedding in a sun-drenched Punjabi village seems like the perfect start. But the India that greets her is not the one from brochures and Bollywood dreams. It is humid, hungry, and humming with invisible eyes. From the moment she touches the soil, strange things begin to happen—dreams of temples that ...

1983: Three students from a small college embark on a week-long road trip to film a documentary on roadside memorials for their American Studies class. The project starts out as a fun adventure with long stretches of empty road and nightly campfires where they begin to open up with one another. But as they venture deeper into the Appalachian backwoods, the atmosphere begins to darken. They notice more and more of the memorials feature a strange, unsettling symbol hinting at a sinister secret.

A fierce sandstorm hits southern Algeria and uncovers a lost ruin, its location unknown to modern man...until now. A team led by slacker archaeologist, Harrison "Hank" Boyd, is called in to investigate the find. In way over his head, Hank must lead his team through countless dangers and survive brutal encounters with enemies both human and inhuman alike. And if that's not bad enough, a shadowy group with a thirst for violence and a blind ambition is hot on their heels and will stop at nothing to obtain what has been found. Hank and company should have heeded the warning left by the ancient ...

Camford, 1920. Gilded and glittering, England's secret magical academy is no place for Clover, a commoner with neither connections nor magical blood. She tells herself she has fought her way there only to find a cure for her brother Matthew, one of the few survivors of a faerie attack on the battlefields of WWI which left the doors to faerie country sealed, the study of its magic banned, and its victims cursed.

When I left my home town of Gleninch, I never expected to be called back on business. My business is the kind the Church and the Home Office don't like to talk about in public. I am called when there is a crime against the Church and tonight, after midnight, the local priest was found dead in his car park with his head stove in. I have gifts, the sort that make me useful in the fight against Evil, and these gifts tell me when I need to investigate the crime. Would I be needed to solve the murder of Father MacPhail? One touch and I would know. Follow Father Steel's fight against the Enemy in...

What terrible secret is your grandfather hiding in the basement? If your grandfather is like almost everybody else's, probably nothing all that dangerous. It's likely pretty damn boring down there. But if he's anything like Paul's, it may be something you should avoid at all costs. WARNING: This series of stories contains strong language and graphic scenes. First published in Horror Lover (no longer available)