Scary Science Fiction

“An invigorating kickoff to a fantasy series.” – Kirkus Reviews “Fast-paced and filled to the brim with mystery, action, and intrigue. Imagine the Harry Potter series but set in a futuristic underwater sci-fi setting.” – Readers’ Favorite ★★★★★ Twelve-year-old Jo Moonstone has never ridden a giant seahorse. She’s never had to fight a mega shark. All Jo wanted to do was stay home with her great aunt Ellie and pretend she isn’t different. Everything changes one stormy night when a lightning-flinging villain attacks Jo’s home. Now Jo has one chance to keep her ...

A small independent bookstore in Minneapolis is haunted from November 2019 to November 2020 by the store's most annoying customer. Flora dies on All Souls' Day, but she simply won't leave the store. Tookie, who has landed a job selling books after years of incarceration that she survived by reading 'with murderous attention', must solve the mystery of this haunting while at the same time trying to understand all that occurs in Minneapolis during a year of grief, astonishment, isolation and furious reckoning.

Hidden under the sea, Ora's gold collection is her best treasure. Ora will do almost anything to get more gold. But does that include fighting a big, scary giant?

Twelve-year-old Octavia grew up believing the town of Vittoria was the only one left in the world. The sole survivors of a deadly magical war and plague, the people of Vittoria know there’s no one alive outside the town walls - except the terrible monsters that prowl the forest. But then the impossible happens: Octavia meets another girl beyond the walls, someone who isn’t Vittorian. Everything she’s ever believed is thrown into question, and there’s no going back.

Gustavo is good at doing all sorts of ghostly things: walking through walls, making objects fly, and glowing in the dark. And he loves almost nothing more than playing beautiful music on his violin. But Gustavo is shy, and some things are harder for him to do, like getting in a line to buy eye scream or making friends with other monsters. Whenever he tries getting close to them, he realizes they just can’t see him. Now that the Day of the Dead is fast approaching, what can he do to make them notice him and to share with them something he loves?

Drifting in the dark waters of a mysterious river, the only thing Amelia knows for sure is that she's dead. With no recollection of her past life - or her actual death - she's trapped alone in a nightmarish existence. All of this changes when she tries to rescue a boy, Joshua, from drowning in her river. As a ghost, she can do nothing but will him to live. Yet in an unforgettable moment of connection, she helps him survive.

Deep within the enchanted woods in the town of Watch Hollow stands the once-grand Blackford House, whose halls hold a magical secret: a giant cuckoo clock that does much more than tell time. But when the clock’s gears cease to turn, an evil presence lurking among the trees begins to come out of the shadows.

As beautiful as the night can be, it often plays a role in something more foreboding, supplying the catalyst for things both terrifying and imaginative. Utilizing this hallowed time of the day, author Chad Lutzke has written and compiled 18 stories, with creature features, sleep deprivation, hiding the undead, revenge, cannibalism, morbid habits, and executions of karma being just a handful of the themes covered in this book.

A short story that was inspired by real events. When Harry and Faith Wilkens purchase several beautiful acres for building their dream home, they had no idea that they would be sharing their land with a family of rattlesnakes. Within weeks of moving into their abode, incidents begin to happen and both of the families put offense plans into motion. Which family will prevail and be king of their domain?

Twelve-year-old Ainsley Galloway and her ten-year-old brother, Tobin, have just moved to the small picturesque mountain town of Lowry. The town is famously the setting for the blockbuster Legend of Greyhallow trilogy, and there are traces of the films wherever they go. Ainsley’s parents even bought the film director’s former home, which they dream of turning into an inn that caters to fans eager to check out the local Greyhallow Movie Festival. But when Ainsley and Tobin are fooling around in the attic of their new home, Ainsley unleashes something—something she doesn’t quite understand.

Nico, Opal, Tyler, Emma, and Logan survived their worst fears come to life and saved their tiny Pacific Northwest town of Timbers from a monstrous figment invasion. Now they just want to keep their heads down, enjoy Halloween and explore the secrets of their mysterious houseboat clubhouse. And also figure out their new Torchbearer responsibilities as keepers of the Darkdeep, an ancient whirlpool hidden in Still Cove that can make both dreams and nightmares into reality.

Harper Raine faces new challenges ahead when her parents take the whole family to a remote tropical island for vacation. As Harper starts to have visions of the resort's history of disappearances and discovers more about the island's dark and fabled past, she must use her newly acquired spirit hunting talents to save everyone on the island from murderous spirits on the attack.

Every full moon, a mysterious ship is seen off the coast of Dull-on-Sea. Then, the next day, gold and jewelry are missing from homes, shops, and museums all over town. Matilda needs the Jolley-Rogers' help to investigate. Can Matilda and Jim Lad retrieve the stolen booty from the mysterious ship before the moon fades? Or will they end up stuck on board with a crew of ghostly pirates forever?

Trevor thought his zombie-busting days were over. Then his new teacher turned the gym class into radio-controlled jocks! Can Trevor save his zombified classmates from this muscle-bound madman?

Carlos works on a fishing boat in the middle of the sea. After a storm, he spots a woman clinging to driftwood. The woman's friends are lost, maybe swallowed by the ocean. But the woman says it was no storm that capsized her ship - it was a monster!

A spirit who appears in a law firm reliving the exact moment she lost her chance at love, a man haunted by the trees cut down to build his house, nefarious specters that snatch anyone who steps into the shadows in which they live, and parakeets that serve as mouthpieces for the dead - these are just a few of the characters Kevin Brockmeier presents in this extraordinary compendium of spectral emanations and their wildly various purposes in (after) life.

A ghost has been spotted lurking around Capitol City's American History Museum. It seems someone - or something - is unhappy with the museum's recent exhibit on the Vietnam War. Can Raining Sam, the son of the head of educational programs at the museum, and his friends figure out who's behind the haunting before someone gets hurt?

In a town surrounded by deadly mist, and filled with oddities, two young siblings become orphans. And that's the best thing that's happened to them all day. Howard Howard was a Wrecker (a brute and bully by profession) who was brutal and bullish to his children - Aubrey and Aubrey's sister. Howard Howard deserved to be turned into mince, and thanks to a mysterious duo called The Grinders, that's exactly what happened to Howard Howard.

In the title story, set five minutes in the future where you not only have a credit score but also a dating score, a woman who’s been banished from all dating apps attends a weekly help group with others who have been “banned for life,” and finds herself falling in love. In “Backwards,” a twist on Benjamin Button, a woman reconnects with her estranged father as he de-ages ten years each day they spend together. In “Welcome to Oxhead,” all the parents in a gated community “shut off” when the power goes out.

Who’s behind that odd writing in the sky? What’s that strange stare in the alien’s eye? What monster spouts fake news and true lies as glaciers melt and citizens die? Is it all zombie chaos or is there a plan? Perhaps you'll find out from the self-declared Man. But if you strike poison, then try not to scream. You will live to find out who will soon gas your dreams. Or will you? Let the terror begin!