Short Stories Occult

A decade after Nocturnes first terrified and delighted readers, John Connolly, best-selling author of 13 acclaimed thrillers featuring private investigator Charlie Parker, gives us a second volume of tales of the supernatural. From stories of the monstrous for dark winter nights to fables of fantastic libraries and haunted books, from a tender account of love after death to a frank, personal and revealing account of the author's affection for myths of ghosts and demons, this is a collection that will surprise, delight, and terrify.

A short story regarding author Ryan Skinner's possible encounter with a werewolf next to Skinwalker Ranch. I met with Roland, a local Native American Ute, who claims he was an eye witness to a close encounter with a supposed "Skinwalker" entity. Roland provided me with directions to a secret cave, a cave he claimed housed these mytical creatures. I followed up on that lead, and here is my shocking story.

"Azathoth" is the beginning of a never-completed novel written by American horror fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was written in June 1922 and published as a fragment in the journal Leaves in 1938, after Lovecraft's death. It is the first piece of fiction to mention the fictional being Azathoth, one of the major entities in Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, though the entity only appears in the title.

Step into the world of a brilliant grad student who creates a powerful new drug that pushes the imagination to its darkest edge. Shudder with a woman who becomes lost in the catacombs beneath an ancient church, only to discover she's not alone. Feel the back of your neck tingle when an orphan brings a dangerous secret into her loving new home. Cringe as a young boy is seduced by a sinister technology. Cry out with two lovers who encounter a bizarre creature at a secluded beach.

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.

If you take enough rides with the devil, pretty soon, he'll drive. Jake learns this the hard way when the devil gives him a task he thinks he can't finish. Or can he?

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...

A ruthless killer shows a real hunger for fame. Struggling through the wilderness, an infected man tries to lead zombies away from his family. Hell hath no fury like a woman murdered. Civil War soldiers discover the secrets of a Southern swamp. Can Christmas magic survive the zombie apocalypse? A ship of the dead hunts the living on the high seas. Dinner in a diner takes on divine import. A 200-year-old vampire has a little surprise waiting for his next victim.

Un investigador que resuelve casos a partir de rastros en los insectos, una mujer acechada por un detective para desentrañar un misterio relacionado con la sangre, un hombre que sueña con cataclismos aéreos, centros siquiátricos que esconden historias escalofriantes, un asesinato colectivo que involucra a varios matrimonios, un espantapájaros que guarda los secretos de un grupo de niños, una pitonisa que sólo vaticina atrocidades, así como una guerra a muerte desatada en un pueblo durante la noche de brujas.

TouchPoint Press presents Nightmares of Strangers, an anthology of 13 eerie stories that will spark feelings of unease and paranoia with just the right helping of fear to last beyond the night - a devilish deal, the return of the murderous H.H. Holmes, a ghost that isn’t what it seems, and other spine-tingling tales that will make you double-check the locks, look under the bed, and wonder what really made that loud “thump” in the attic.

Jack Nightingale - lives in the shadows, fights in the dark. Ex-cop turned private eye Jack Nightingale is used to dealing with tricky situations. He's faced down the powers of hell a couple of times, too. In this new short story, he's called in to help a policeman who's lying at death's door. The doctors can't work out what's wrong. But the dying man's colleagues swear blind that he was cursed by a gypsy during the Dale Farm clearance. And Nightingale could be his only hope.

When a photographic retoucher is commissioned to fix the abnormalities on a Great War portrait, he finds his own past and that of the subject beginning to connect. Are his personal nightmares returning, or is it something more? A short ghost story in the M.R. James tradition, "The Last Photograph of John Buckley" is a dark tale of past crimes and unfinished business.

Imagine living in a house over 100 years old, and of course wondering about the former occupants, and now the couple living in the home meets the former residents. Only one problem; the former residents have been dead for many years, and these are the ghosts of the loving couple who lived in the home searching for treasure. Glenn Hascall does a magnificent job performing as the narrator of this charming story by Virginia Woolf.

Are you ready for a spine-tingling thrill ride? Step into the dark and eerie world of 13 chilling short horror stories from the infamous Nosleep forum on Reddit. From a haunting conversation with the dead, to a seemingly simple heist gone wrong, to a terrifying home invasion, and a father's costly mistake, these tales will keep you on the edge of your seat. But beware, once you start listening, there's no turning back. Don't miss out on this collection of creepypasta that will leave you sleeping with the lights on.

A monster demands candy on Halloween night. “Falconers” train ghosts to harvest bits of human souls. A father stretches the boundaries of reality to bring his son back from the dead. A pious man is tormented by a demon he guards.

William Hope Hodgson was an early British writer of supernatural and fantasy fiction, becoming an inspiration for later writers such as Clark Ashton Smith and others. Dating to 1904, this was his first published story, and it tells the tale of a mysterious marble statue coming to life and murdering the townspeople.

A husband, trying to rekindle his marriage in a lonely seaside village, meets a strange young woman from his forgotten past; a man taking a garden gnome to a museum gets an unexpected surprise; a lonely widow encounters an enigmatic character from an embryonic pop group; a group of scientists make an horrific discovery at a big cat conservation centre; and a baby hare comes of age with a momentous idea.

A genius vampire named Sinclair creates an alternate world where vampires can experience a traditional human life of love, marriage, and children. Sixteen-year-old Gabriel is his beta tester and volunteers to fall in love with a coffee shop girl. But when the pain of love becomes overwhelming, Gabriel wonders about his decision. “It's too real,” he tells Sinclair. “You made it too real.”

The events in the seven short stories are based on actual paranormal occurrences that are described in haunting detail in The Dead: A True Paranormal Story.

When Crag Minyac is released from prison, his demons return, begging for blood. As deranged as he is, Crag doesn't put up much of a fight. When he's forced to move into a halfway house as part of his probation, he immediately begins looking for his next victim - a tasty treat to satisfy his wicked cravings. But things get complicated when a ghost that haunts the old Astora Hotel discovers his plot. As it turns out, Crag's blood lust may cost him a higher price than he expected to pay.