Short Thrillers

From its launch in 1920 until its demise in 1951, the magazine Black Mask published pulp crime fiction. The first hard-boiled detective stories appeared on its pages. Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, Erle Stanley Gardner and John D. MacDonald got their start in Black Mask. The urban crime stories that appeared in Black Mask helped to shape American culture.

Step beyond the biohazard tape and into the chilling silence of places where healing meets horror. Have you ever felt an inexplicable chill in a sterile corridor, or heard a whisper from an empty hospital room? Ghost Stories: Haunted Hospitals cracks open the locked doors to fifteen terrifying tales, each one breathing life into the unsettling atmosphere of abandoned asylums, forgotten wards, and modern medical facilities with dark secrets. This gripping horror anthology invites you to explore: The sealed ward where a "Charred Lady" weeps for a past tragedy... and a new victim. An ...

A novella by the #1 Amazon Bestselling author A P Bateman "This is an author on top of his game..." David Oaten, Breakaway Reviewers "Another riveting read from a master of the action/adventure genre..." The Mid-West Book Review "Deftly constructed, consistently compelling, unfailingly entertaining storytelling..." The US Bookwatch Divorce can be expensive, but when you have made your fortune skirting banking and financial conduct laws it can cost you a great deal more than money. Throw arms deals into the equation, and Michael Cartwright-Anderson cannot afford to have his affairs ...

THIS IS A SHORT STORY The Reliable Man is tasked to take out a corrupt banker in Frankfurt. Or so he thinks. As he starts doing his reconnaissance he comes to the notice of the German domestic intelligence agency. That is not a good thing and when bullets start flying, bodies start dropping and his anonymity comes under threat, Bill Jedburgh begins to get angry. Has someone set him up to be the fall guy?

Edgar-award winning author Dana Stabenow is best known for her Kate Shugak novels, but the unifying protagonist of almost all her writing - be it crime, fantasy, horror, or science fiction - is Alaska. This genre-spanning collection of 16 short stories features familiar characters like Kate and Jim, Liam and Wy, and Bill and Moses, but also ranges farther afield than many listeners will expect.

Deep in the sewers of New York City, the rat population is growing. Dr. Randolph Finch is determined to break the cycle. His new rodenticide, Degenesis, doesn’t kill rats. It sterilizes them from reproducing. But nothing adapts faster than a New York rat.... City exterminators and soon-to-be divorced Chris and Benita Jackson think they know how these rats think. They know how rats breed. And they fear that Degenesis has only made these rats stronger. More aggressive. More intelligent. And more ravenous than ever...

Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are back in a chilling collection of all-new tales of dark secrets, alien agendas, terrifying monsters, and murderous madmen. Edited by New York Times best-selling author Jonathan Maberry, The Truth Is out There features original stories by best-selling authors Rachel Caine, David Wolverton, Hank Philippi Ryan, Kelley Armstrong, Kami Garcia, Greg Cox, and many others.

In the Florida marshlands, three teenagers uncover a harrowing secret. Val and her brother Shane live a chaotic life with their friend Freddy, distracted from their father's disappearance. After discovering a creature in the marsh, they bring it home, only to realize it craves warm-blooded prey. As a foul odor from a mysterious RV in their trailer park spreads, Val and her friends suspect a connection. During their investigation, they witness a horrific event that sends them scrambling for their lives. With their deadbeat uncle triggering even more danger, the siblings must confront whether...

A collection of twenty-six horror/thriller stories with surprise endings to thrill you and chill you to the bone. The creepers include: REST STOP: Martin loved the story The Lady or the Tiger so much he started playing the game with real people and hybrid beasts. THE CURSE: When Rebecca found the pharaoh's tomb, she refused to leave no matter how many perished. TILL DEATH DO US PART: Isabelle discovered her new husband had been married before, and all ten brides had disappeared without a trace. THE EXECUTION: Myers has a crazy dream he's on death row, waiting to be executed. LIFE TO THE ...

Owls Hoot in the Daytime & Other Omens is the 5th and final volume of Night Shade Books' five volume "Selected Stories of Manly Wade Wellman." This volume contains all of the John the Balladeer stories (sometimes better known as Silver John), Manly's most famous character.

Kathleen Paulson has her hands full in Mayville Heights, Minnesota, running the public library and taking care of her two uncanny cats, Hercules and Owen. Kathleen's good friend Maggie says items are being stolen from the local artists' co-op. She doesn't want to call the police, because the main suspects are all close friends. Luckily, Kathleen and her faithful felines are there to put their paws on the truth!

Four ridiculously silly stories with Henry, Lassie, Murdock, and some surprise guests.

The wildfire isn't the deadliest thing in these woods. A raging inferno tears through Timberline Ridge. A six-person hotshot crew is deployed to contain it. But as smoke thickens and the forest closes in, something ancient and furious emerges from the untouched trees. They call it Bigfoot. Cut off from radio, trapped by fire, and stalked through ash and flame, the team must survive not only the blaze—but a predator that’s lived in these forests long before men ever carried axes. Bigfoot – Fire on the Ridge is a blistering horror novella of primal terror, isolation, and survival. ...

"Tearing at the Cracks" by Jonathan True is a spine-chilling collection of thirteen horror stories that will plunge readers into the darkest depths of the human psyche. Each tale is a haunting exploration of fear, desperation, and the thin veil that separates the mundane from the macabre. From the eerie whispers of forgotten ghosts to the visceral terror of ancient curses, True's stories weave a tapestry of dread that will leave readers trembling with each turn of the page. In "Tearing at the Cracks," nightmares come to life and the monsters under the bed are all too real. Enter a world ...

"Somewhere, there’s a way out. But first, you have to prove you exist." Daniel Young is trapped in a reality that no longer feels like his own. A freelance journalist known for exposing hidden truths, he always thought he was in control. That was before the glitches started—the strange messages, his laptop predicting what would happen next in his life before he even knew. Then he finds the encrypted files. Dr. Andrew Moostaaf—a scientist who vanished six years ago—left behind a warning that was never meant to be heard. The world is not what it seems. And Daniel was never meant to ...

Long lost to the public in out-of-print pulp magazines, dusty Victorian anthologies, and the pages of now defunct newspapers, these vintage vampire stories have truly proved immortal. Resurrected now for the year 2011, this is a stunning collection of nineteenth-century vampire stories by heavyweights such as Sabine Baring-Gould and Bram Stoker. These rare stories are arranged in chronological order from 1846 to 1913 and are compiled by two of the world's leading vampire anthologists and experts.

Cleveland Noir joins Columbus Noir as the Akashic Noir series continues its tour of Ohio and navigates the dregs of the North Shore.

Philosopher and amateur sleuth Isabel Dalhousie has an unstinting commitment to her principles. Sticking to her promises has always been one of them. Then Isabel runs into an old classmate facing marital and financial troubles, who reveals a secret that becomes more and more difficult for Isabel to keep. Thankfully, Isabel's devoted husband, Jamie, is there to help our heroine navigate her competing moral obligations.

Joey Morales was the last recruit of the government's full black operation, the Orphan Program. Trained to be an assassin until she washed out, she was rescued by Evan Smoak, the former agent known as Orphan X. Now Joey, a world-class hacker, starts training for one of her biggest challenges yet: having a normal life. Still a teenager, she discovers she loves music as much as hacking, if not more so. But as she carves out a space for herself, the one thing missing is a family to support her endeavors.

OVER-THE-TOP INSTA-LOVE LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN . . . FOR THE HOLIDAYS! He shows up in a black cape and iron-studded boots that look a hundred years old. He's got a daughter but doesn't know her mother. He doesn't know me either . . . So then why is he looking at me like that? Looking at me like I'm his . . . His Halloween treat. Sweetness and darkness rolled into one. No cheating. No cliffhangers. Guaranteed HEA. Over-the-top with drama, madness, steam . . . and a few scares! This is insta-love, Annabelle Winters style. WHAT AMAZON AND GOODREADS REVIEWERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE CURVY ...