Short Stories Occult

Early retirees Maria and Richard Wilcox adore their new home out in the country. The past six months have been sheer bliss as they settled in and prepared for their golden years. Until the night they answer a knock on their door. The unexpected visitors are a pair of children. Richard tries to be cordial, but something about the kids is off. Something sinister, something menacing, something inhuman. And then the children demand to be let in. What do they want? Is this all a prank? Can Maria and Richard get them to go away, or will their dreams of a peaceful retirement together go up in flames?

My body jolted as gravity did its work, drawing my innards and their contents sharply towards the back of my throat. I opened my eyes and sat up with a start. My breathing was heavy and my heart beat uneasy. I felt cold, my body drenched in a clammy sweat, my vision blurred by tears. I looked around, confused as I tried to focus. I was in my bedroom. There was a half empty bottle of vodka on the floor. My lips were dry and my head thumped. With thoughts that were muddled and confused, I tried to make sense of things.

Outside the tent was damp and cold and moist and like nothing Kayla had ever seen. Almost immediately, she wanted to return into the tent. Supria was already swiftly ahead. Here was like nowhere she had ever seen before. The sky was an eerie purple and orange, there were lighting strikes without thunderbolts. Sequoias characterized the landscapes and then the people.

Jack Nightingale was always happier dealing with criminal cases or even divorce than he was with matters of the supernatural. So when a client came with a simple request to uncover the meaning behind her father's last words, he was happy enough to take the case. Little did he know that the investigation would lead him to one of the vilest demons to ever walk through the gates of Hell.

This anthology details encounters with ghosts, evil spirits, dark entities, malicious beings, and demonic encounters that’ll send a chill of terror tickling up your spine. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. There’s almost certainly a ghost or two peeking over your shoulder. These true paranormal encounters are unlike any you’ve heard before. And, if you don’t believe, just know that you don’t have to believe in something for it to exist.

Follow Caveman and his bros in the Road Dogs MC from Biker Heaven, to the pits of Biker Hell. In the first story, Biker Heaven, after receiving a zombie bite, Caveman hits a tree on his motorcycle at over 100 miles an hour, buying his ticket to Biker Heaven; but when there is trouble in the biker world, Caveman comes back to help his bros in the Road Dogs MC. Taking on vampires and werewolves plus evil demons from the depths of Hell, Caveman and the Halo riders, a band of trouble shooters from the great beyond, have their hands full protecting the bros on Earth.

Could you love something so hideous and offensive that it made you ill to look at it? If you travel to a little dive called Violet's Tavern in Pasadena, you are apt to hear that question from Violet herself. But whatever you do, don't give her an answer. And don't tell her your sins. Especially after closing time.

Tonia Brown shoots for the weirder side of horror with this collection of strange tales.

In The Twelve Ghosts of Christmas, you will even be chilled by the stories in the introduction to the book, never mind the devilish dozen true tales about eerie time slips, gory premonitions, heart-stopping exorcisms, heartbreaking tales of lost love, graveyard tricksters, and sinister old hags. Listen to a story about the devil that tempted a bishop with pleasures of the flesh in "The Missing Room" and of the titanic, ominous force that turned a 3,000-ton ship upside down and sent its crew of 75 into limbo, never to be seen again.

South London gangster Perry Smith doesn’t scare easily, but when four of his associates are brutally ripped apart by a demon called Amy, he calls in Jack Nightingale. Nightingale thinks it’s a wind-up - the gang contacted the demon via an iPad app whilst on holiday. But before he knows it, he’s on his way to Fuengirola, with his assistant, Jenny McLean, to send Amy back to where she came from.

Open this collection of short stories to meet a chatty ghoul, senior citizens with a unique twist on Sundowner’s Syndrome, a hard-bitten cowhand who rides into Perdition, and a host of others among the sacred, the damned, and everyday man. Tokens of Perdition is your ticket to a roller coaster ride that climbs to inspiring heights, then plunges into dark, sinister depths. Take up your sword and join in this battle of good and evil that runs across time, circumstance, humanity, and beyond. Choose a side.

Since 1941, the National Fantasy Fan Federation (N3F) has supported fannish activities across America and around the world. One of those activities is our annual short story contest. In honor of this, our 75th anniversary, we present the winning stories from our 2015 contest First Place Sean Gillhoolley – The Bazaar of Forbidden Dreams Second Place Jeff Spitzer – The Last Ordeal of James Willoughby Third Place Kristin Janz – Fabiana’s Fairy Grandmother Honorable Mention Deborah Rocheleau – Track Invasion plus fiction from other Neffers, including Angela Parson Myers, Kent McDaniel...

When a young man goes from the demands and rigors of the army to a luxurious and serene country living, his mind is bound to wander where it should not. Such is the fate of Alexei Alexeyevich Fedyashev, who becomes so absorbed in his newfound idleness that he falls in love with an old portrait. When the famous conjurer and medium Count Cagliostro accidentally ends up at Fedyashev's escape, the young man begs him to bring his dream to reality. "Be careful what you wish for" is the lesson young Alexei has yet to learn - and how!

Christmastide. A time of feasting and good cheer. Gifts, cards, and blazing holly logs. Snow falls while family and friends trim the tree and kiss under the mistletoe. But it isn’t always joyful. It’s the coldest time of year. The days are short, the nights long. Chilling myths lie concealed behind the raucous revelry...The ghoulish events in the frozen workhouse...The undead presence at the costumed ball...The pantomime that became a massacre...The winter goddess with the heart of ice...The thieves who woke the dark side of the festive spirit...

Adam Soto, author of the debut novel This Weightless World, which Robin Sloan called “the social novel for the 21st century,” returns with Concerning Those Who Have Fallen Asleep. The stories in Concerning Those Who Have Fallen Asleep, strange and unsettling, explore the quiet spaces where the living and the dead alike haunt one another through their choices, dreams, and institutions.

Human resources director, Lucy Matheson, is an expert at terminating staff members. But when she fires the most feared and notorious employee at Edmon Enterprises, a curse is set into motion, turning her nightmares into a reality for all eternity.

What Price Gory? is the new horror collection from Terry M. West, the critically-acclaimed author of A Psycho's Medley and the filmmaker best known for Flesh for the Beast. What Price Gory? is a collection of weird supernatural stories. Monsters and demons dwell in these tales.

While the world's still choked with monsters - their work is never done. Tireless and dedicated, the Aces scour the globe in pursuit of the creatures that seek to terrorize humanity. For this ongoing mission, they leave no stone unturned - and no monsters alive. Whether it be in far-off wilderness, small-town America, or among the concrete canyons of the big city, Cap'n, Gats, Joker, Digger, and Trill continue to risk their lives at the cost of their own identities to keep us safe from the things that go bump in the night.

Ever fancied taking a trip through the twilight world of the supernatural? Here's your chance to explore a terrifying universe where men fall in love with monsters, a trouble child's nightmares prove to be all too real, a house attracts evil much as a sponge attracts water, and Lovecraftian demons from a time before history make Satanic pacts in order to return from the past.

Welcome to the fourth volume of our best-selling horror anthology, featuring tales of terror and dark, slithering things to chill the marrow and keep even the most resolute of horror fans awake in the small hours of the night. This is the time when the inherently evil and deliciously malevolent come out to explore our earthly realm. Another superlative gathering of the dark and disturbing from some of the best independent authors writing today.