Psychological Thriller Short Stories

What if the man you buried came back… but something deep inside you whispered he wasn’t yours? Ten years after her husband was declared dead, Claire Palmer opens her front door to the impossible: a man who looks, speaks, and remembers everything like the husband she lost. Michael is back. Or so he says. At first, Claire is swept into the miracle. Her son believes. Her friends are stunned. Even her new husband begins to doubt. But behind Michael’s familiar eyes is a silence she cannot explain… and a scar that should be there is gone. As unsettling clues stack up, Claire faces a ...

In this gothic, virtuoso debut collection, Mike McCormack dispenses nightmares both stylish and macabre. "A Is for Ax" offers alphabetized look at the killing of a parent, while the title story tracks a chilling sibling rivalry. Other works here offer multiple-quiz on the road to Calvary, a door-to-door saleswoman trafficking in strange and menacing feats, and a self-mutilating artist pushing himself to the limit. These sly and dangerous stories show us a young writer who was already a master of wicked formal play, and whose sly takes on life and death remain profoundly unsettling.

A man finds his happiest life in the world inside his coma. He also finds that the difference between heaven and hell can be a very thin line. A man wakes on a cold basement floor staring at two women who are bound to their chairs. Across the room, a dead man lies in a pool of blood.

His tour is over, but the war rages on for Dickie, one of the forever-haunted veterans who gave up his soul during the Forgotten War. Here is a glimpse of his story, of the battleground he can never leave. Only death can conclude his final objective: closure, and peace. Join him on his road, the Korean Road, as he battles horrors he carries and those that he meets along the way.

"The Deadman's Gift" is the story of Rudy Sarabelli, an orphan whose poetry strips him of everything he cares about and drives him to suicide. The more beautiful the words the darker his life becomes until he can't take it anymore and so decides to end it all with one last poem and a leap of death.

Perfect for fans of Carmen Maria Machado and Kelly Link, Jo Paquette’s Stories I Told My Dead Lover contains eight searing tales of psychological horror that probe the darkest and most deeply buried parts of the human psyche. A child is forced to grow up too soon. A woman trusts her doctor too much. An abandoned woman isn’t as alone as she thinks. An idyllic holiday masks an unspeakable act of violence. Driven, desperate, fighting for the power to choose their own fate, Paquette’s characters dare to push back at the walls that hold them in.

In the idyllic, glittering world of Cannes on the French Riviera, Richard and Louise appear to be the perfect couple. Yet beneath the surface, Louise's mental instability is evident from the beginning. Richard, utterly infatuated with her, is driven by an all-consuming obsession that blinds him to the dangers lurking within their relationship. Every month, Louise makes trips to Paris, spinning elaborate lies to cover her tracks. Driven by suspicion and his obsession with uncovering the truth, Richard follows her and discovers a world of deceit and betrayal that shakes his marriage to its ...

"I know where Allison is." Former child star Jason Turner is excited about the direction his life is taking. He is about to open the business of his dreams, and his sister is now a published author. All thoughts of his dark past are at bay. Until he meets Stacy, the new doll in his daughter's life. She looks and sounds just like Allison, his other sister who turned up missing that day in the woods while they were camping so long ago. When Stacy says she has a secret to share with Jason he realizes there is something sinister behind the doll's existence. Let the nightmares begin.

First published in an 1839 edition of Burton's Gentleman's Magazine, "The Fall of the House of Usher" is the story of the declining physical and psychological health of the residents of the House of Usher - and the way in which the house itself reflects that. Gothic in theme and style, the story is an exemplar of Poe's philosophy of composition, which dictates that literary works should be short and methodological and have a unity of effect wherein all the elements of the story are related and relevant.

Are you a Law & Order or CSI crime junkie? In these You Solve It mini mysteries, you get to be the lead detective who takes on the case. You will read the case file, collect the evidence and solve the crime. Become an iDetective.

In stories like "A Night in the Cemetery," "Night of Horror," and "Murder," not only will Chekhov's dark humor and twisted crimes satisfy even the most hardboiled of mystery fans, but readers will again appreciate the penetrating, absurdist insight into the human condition that only Chekhov can bring. Whether it is the death of a young amateur playwright at the hands of an editor who hates bad writing, or a drunken civil servant who ends up trapped in a graveyard, these stories overflow with the unforgettable characters and unique sensibility that will forever make Chekhov one of the most fascinating figures in literature.

Robert Hunter, Anfang zwanzig, ist das Wunderkind der amerikanischen Polizei. Er verfügt über eine besondere Gabe: Er weiß, was Mörder denken. Als jüngster Ermittler in der Geschichte der USA tritt er in den Dienst des LAPD Morddezernats. Worüber sein neuer Chef alles andere als glücklich ist. Was soll er mit diesem Anfänger? Er übergibt ihm einen einfachen Selbstmord. Am Tatort angekommen, stellt Hunter fest, dass das Apartment von innen verschlossen war. Auf dem Bett liegt eine junge Frau in einer riesigen Blutlache.

Do you like addictively creepy thrillers that will keep you biting your nails until you've finished the final page? The Listeners short story collection is for you! “Gripping, thought-provoking, and unbearably tense.” ~Bestselling Author Wendy Heard HOME IS NO LONGER SAFE. From the bestselling author of The Jilted comes a twisted and terrifically macabre collection of short stories guaranteed to make you cringe, laugh, cry…and start sleeping with the lights on. From an eerie voyeur, to an appliance that doesn’t behave the way it should, to a poignant and twisted expression of ...

Susie has a humdrum life working in an airport coffee shop, but it doesn’t stop her from having big dreams. When the planes are grounded, life changes for her after she accepts a new job and a deal that puts her face to face with a serial killer. Who killed Shawn Davis? That’s the question Susie has to answer if she wants a better paycheck.

This collection of stories follows d.o. allen's previous work, The Die with vivid tales of intrigue that draw you into the minds - and fears - of each character. Each story is matched with an original song from singer-songwriters across America. Pardon Me features the erotic thriller, Deer, Sir where the line between pursuit and consent is blurred. You''ll be drawn into Clayton's struggle with a psychotic demon in the thriller Last Ride. Cavalier Redux brings mystery to life with the discovery of a long-forgotten secret within a deep, cold lake.

Step into the decaying halls of Grimwood and feel your grip on reality slip away. Every whisper, every shadow, every creaking floorboard will set your nerves on fire! A sweet warning: This psychological thrill ride will shatter your perceptions and leave you questioning everything you thought you knew! Is it real? Is it delusion? You won't know until it's far too late! Face the horrors lurking in the depths of your own mind! But remember - in Grimwood, escape is just another cruel illusion. So are you brave enough to lose your mind?

Are you a Law & Order or CSI crime junkie? In these You Solve It mini mysteries, you get to be the lead detective who takes on the case. You will read the case file, collect the evidence and solve the crime. Become an iDetective.

Edgar Allan Poe proposed that “the boundary line between instinct and reason is of a very shadowy nature” (1840). With its 21 stories of serial killers and sociopaths, fixations and fetishes, breakdowns and bad decisions crafted by authors as diverse as their writing styles, Shadowy Natures leads fans of psychological horror down dark and treacherous roads to destinations they will be too unsettled to leave.

Sisters, Strangers and Slaughter is a psychologically thrilling collection of short stories focusing on the remote and inchoate hollows of the human condition. Each of the three stories features a narrator battling inner separateness, an arcane secret that threatens an otherwise healthy existence. In their suffering, the subjects are unable to tell physical pain from its mental shape.

Meet Jeff Case before his world explodes. Former soldier. Defender of the innocent. Case may have left a war zone, but he soon discovers that the streets of America are just as dangerous. It was kill or be killed in combat, but Case is ready to turn his back on his military career and start a new life with his wife, Becky. During a final interview for his first civilian job, Case steps in to help a woman in danger. It is the catalyst that kick-starts the day from hell. A day that Case and Becky may not survive.