Small Horrors

Back in the summer of 1988, a young Richard Chizmar was catapulted into the centre of a living nightmare as the serial killer Joshua Gallagher - dubbed by the media as 'The Boogeyman' - stalked his tranquil Maryland town. These days, Chizmar enjoys a certain level of notoriety himself as he is the only person to whom Josh Gallagher will talk, on or off the record. Chizmar likes to visit Gallagher in prison but when a masked figure leaves a horrifying calling card in the front of his home, Chizmar finds there is a price for dancing with the devil.

Something dark lurks in the swamp behind Emily’s new home. When twelve-year-old Emily moves into her late grandfather’s house in Whispering Pines, she expects the usual new-kid struggles. Instead, she finds herself caught in a decades-old mystery surrounding her grandmother’s disappearance. Her mother’s desperate warnings to stay away from the swamp only fuel Emily’s curiosity about what really happened all those years ago. But as strange events begin to unfold, Emily discovers an ancient presence watching from the shadows—one that has been patiently waiting for her family’s ...

Ben lost his father some months back and is doing his best at being a boy amidst the new tragedies in town when he is confronted by an unseen threat. With nowhere to hide, no one to help, and his mother worried that she is losing him to mental illness, Ben teams up with an unlikely ally who has a horrible secret. Dan Leeds takes the boy under his wing. Each having their own demons to battle, they are confronted by an ageless power unlike anything they could have imagined. Prophecy, the past, and a boy's need become entwined with Leeds, his secret, and saving the world.

Nothing can harm them - or can it? There's a house on a hill at the very edge of the small town of Warren's End, a house that no one had any business in building up there. It's been said many times before now, but there's nothing quite like hindsight to bring everything into focus. Morris Stumper never was too good at taking advice, even when that advice could save a person a bushel load of heartache. Unfortunately, this hill was once the site of a cemetery with a ghastly history. Morris, anxious to pay as little money as possible for a home with a view, heedlessly sat his house on the ...

When Chloe turns the key to Small Angels, the church nestled at the edge of Mockbeggar Woods where she is to be married, she is braced for cobwebs and dust. What she doesn't expect are the villagers' concerned faces, her fiancé's remoteness or the nagging voice in her head that whispers to her of fears she didn't even know she had. Something in the woods is beginning to stir, to creep closer to the sleeping houses. Something that should have been banished long ago.

The village of Slyford St. James is no stranger to supernatural happenings, as long-time residents Jed and Emma know all too well. Although Jed’s spiritual connection with the dead was once a source of pride, it now fills him with dread. When he receives an invitation to the family estate of his old army friend Simon, who wants Jed to use his gift to solve the brutal murder of his elder brother, Jed is initially reluctant, but Emma encourages him to agree, hoping that this new sense of purpose might lift him out of his melancholy, despite the circumstances.

When Emily Hayes arrives in Fairbrook for its annual Festival of Masks, she’s already haunted by her mother’s recent death. But the festival’s dark charm turns sinister when she encounters a creepy mask vendor, cryptic warnings, and whispers that the masks choose their wearers—not the other way around. After finding a bloodstained mask, Emily is pulled into a nightmarish game where festival-goers treat murder as entertainment, and her friends transform into either victims or hunters. As the body count rises, she discovers a horrifying truth: her mother’s death wasn’t an accident...

In Riverton Falls, a small New England town, globe-trotting bartender Celeste Fortune stands in her kitchen puzzling over last night’s frightening dream - a woman at a window, lilacs blowing in the breeze, someone’s hands tight around her neck. Celeste is sure the dream belongs to someone else. Perhaps she has finally broken through to the collective dreams of Dreamland cult. Hoping her therapist and cult leader will help her untangle it, she heads off into the cold November morning to her final appointment with him - or so she hopes.

Osira was born and raised in the insular, suffocating town of Curdle Creek. Stuck in time and entrenched in elusive traditions, Curdle Creek has one particularly strict policy: one in, one out - and one day, it is Osira's turn. Forced into the great unknown, the sinister reality of her birthplace unravels around her. As she comes face-to-face with those she believed were lost, Osira must reckon with all she has ever been told and confront the insidious cruelties of inheritance.

Ghost hunters, an exorcism, and a ghostly grey tabby Mad River welcomes a pair of ghost hunters and their television show to town only for a murder to occur as the cameras were rolling. Now Shelby's ghost friends are being accused of the dirty deed and the good reverend is calling for an exorcism. Can Shelby find the killer before the pastor exorcises her spirit friends away from the only homes and town they've ever known? Find out in the Mad River Mystery Series.

Haunted by the loss of his wife and his best hunting dog, hunter Jari tries to stem the flow of alcohol and grief that threatens to destroy his life. As the darkness and isolation of winter settles around his small hunting community in remote Finland, it brings with it another threat. The encroachment and growing boldness of a pack of wolves endangers the villagers’ way of life. The presence of the wolves opens old feuds and cracks within the community’s makeup. As Jari tries to lead the villagers through their toughest season, it soon becomes clear that not everyone will survive the winter.

She thought she had escaped the past. She was wrong . . .16-year-old Kitty has worked hard to get her life back on track after years of traumatic abuse at the hands of her stepfather. And with the support of her boyfriend Aaron and her best friend Lexi, she really starts to believe she can put the past behind her for good. Until girls at her school start getting assaulted. Someone is stalking and targeting her friends one by one. The local sheriff has no idea who the attacker is or how to find him. Which means Kitty must try to discover the identity of this masked serial rapist herself, ...

When Rebekkah returns to her small-town home for her beloved Grandmother’s funeral, little does she suspect that she is about to inherit a darkly dangerous family duty on behalf of Claysville’s most demanding residents – the dead. Everyone in Claysville knows that the Barrows are no ordinary family, but no one can really explain why.

Prince Vladimir Odoyevsky's beautifully written and powerful take on the age-old question: "What would happen if you received exactly what you wanted?"

Kingston is a secluded East Texas town surrounded by a lake and giant pine trees. Except for Friday night football, there is not one thing worth getting excited about. Until Ronnie Javorsky runs onto the field after the national anthem and is shot to death by an unseen assailant. But Ronnie is just the first victim. A macabre game of murder has begun in the quaint town, a challenge to see which sadistic killer can rack up the most kills and do the most destruction before the sun rises. All at the invitation of a mysterious figure known as the Host.

Every spring in small town Ohio, kids get a touch more daylight, wander a little farther from the front porch, and spend a bit more time off on their own, exploring. One such spring, the Murphy twins were considered an Easter miracle. And now, almost 18 years later—Easter week, 1988—the girls approach their birthday, and busybodies around town get a little anxious. Every time their birthday falls on Easter Sunday, bad things seem to happen, and the neighbors have noticed.

In Ireland, in the Spring of 1881, a new pastor by the name of Reverend Gabriel Proctor is appointed to lead the people of the town of Brackley on the path to salvation. However, upon his arrival, he becomes smitten by the beauty of his young housekeeper, Eloise. His devotion to her become a dangerous obsession which brings him into conflict with the local RIC inspector, Abraham Gault.

Alexander Grin is known for his strange and chilling tales, and this one is certainly one of the oddest of them all. The author would like us to consider what would happen if a creation not only outsmarted its creator but became truly dangerous.

It isn’t just a wrong number. It’s her own. And it’s calling at exactly 3:28 AM. Every night. When Terri Reeves moves to the picturesque town of Pinecrest, she expects quaint shops and quiet streets—not her dead ex-boyfriend knocking on her door or calls from her own phone number in the dead of night. Unbeknownst to Terri, Pinecrest’s charming facade hides an ancient occultic pattern—one traced directly to Terri’s apartment and the middle of the night calls. “Don’t answer,” warns the local parapsychologist. “Don’t engage.” But the calls keep coming… and the texts...

Five friends. One vengeful plan. A carnival that knows their darkest secrets. When Lila Moran and her four friends crash on a lonely road, they are trapped in a nightmare where every ride is a test and every game holds deadly stakes. But this is no ordinary carnival—it’s a twisted venue where secrets must be confessed and lies are paid for in blood. A grinning Ringmaster whispers their darkest deeds out loud. Sweet-talking Miss Ruby runs a motel where no one sleeps peacefully. And a silent Strong Man makes sure there’s no escape. As her friends face deadly challenges one by one, Lila ...