New Release!

 

 

Mischief Night Massacre

Ten Tales of Halloween

by

Jason Parent

 

MISCHIEF NIGHT MASSACRE

TEN TALES OF HALLOWEEN

A glorious bundle of horror stories that readers will find entertaining and unnerving.

Parent offers tales of terrifying and potentially deadly happenings, set around the October 31st holiday.

In the opening story, “Russian Dollhouse,” high school freshman Kit reluctantly takes her younger brother trick-or-treating. Her mood brightens when she runs into Jordan, a sophomore she has a crush on. She’ll happily go anywhere with him, even if it means venturing inside an abandoned house, where other kids reputedly went missing decades ago. Unexpectedly, that house has new decorations for the holiday—almost as if it’s trying to draw in unsuspecting youth. All 10 of this book’s tales unfold on or near Halloween; some include trick-or-treaters, although not all of them are harmless kids. For example, Carlos in “Keeping Up Appearances” runs an armed crew that goes door-to-door and demands much more than candy. However, when they knock on the door of one especially odd family, they get a very unwelcome surprise. These somber tales cover other October happenings, as well, including Mischief Night (traditionally the night before Halloween) and a haunted hayride. The cast, too, ranges from naïve children and a candy-swiping eighth-grade bully to a spouse who’s starting to regret his illicit affair. The longest story, “Dia De Los Muertos,” is also the best, featuring a U.S. Army gunner Russell Thompkins who’s AWOL in Mexico. As locals celebrate the Day of the Dead, his post-traumatic stress disorder dredges up memories of a Taliban assault during his second tour in Afghanistan. What happened to him back then, and what’s been affecting him ever since, is truly unspeakable.

Over the course of these tales, Parent hits on several reliable horror tropes: Creepy houses stir up anxiety, the telling of scary stories begets more frightening realities, and trick-or-treat bags and pillowcases hold hidden terrors. The collection features several unlikable characters who arguably deserve their grisly fates, but there are just as many that will elicit reader sympathy. Eleven-year-old Danielle, for one, has an understandable fear of alligators in “A Not-So-Scary Halloween,” and a holiday in Orlando, Florida, with her relatives puts her on high alert. Most of the stories trek into grim territory and contain violent, often grotesque imagery with lots of chunky bits, spurting blood, and biting teeth. There’s humor in these tales, as well, but it’s of a dark variety that complements the horrific goings-on, as in “Pulp,” which follows a film club’s Halloween party that—for one teenager, at least—becomes a real-life horror movie. Overall, the book is a fun read, and horror fans will appreciate its numerous nods to classic genre films (some of the players even share names with famous directors, actors, and cinematic characters). Parent also skillfully generates suspense with deft descriptive passages, as in the story “Rain”: “Lightning flashed through the house, casting Dad’s shadow long and thin up the wall and over the ceiling. Thunder followed quickly, crashing so violently that it rattled the picture frames hanging on the wall, knocking one askew.”

A glorious bundle of horror stories that readers will find entertaining and unnerving.
 Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2024     ISBN: 9798336822137     Page Count: 244

 

Also Available:

 

 

In Darkness, Delight: Fear the Future

Volume Three in the Series

 

Tomorrow is coming whether you’re ready or not.

In Darkness, Delight: Fear the Future delivers twenty-two strikingly original tales of terror from Bram Stoker Award®-winners, bestselling authors, genre stalwarts and rising stars.

Includes Emmy-winning, New York Times bestselling author and world-famous magician Penn Jillette’s delightfully wicked short story “The Pain Addict,” which was adapted for a hit sci-fi anthology television series and is available here exclusively for the first time in book format.

Be warned: these are not science fiction stories with a dash of dread. These are visions of the horrifying futures that await us all.

Featuring:

“Airborne,” by Lisa Morton

“Err,” by Michael Laimo

“Daddy's Girl,” by Ben Eads

“Husk,” by Marshall J Moore

“We Have Names, Too,” by Michelle Muenzler

“The Haunting of Asteroid H111,” by Van Aaron Hughes

“Shoulda Read the Fine Print, Blanche," by Ben Lawrence

“Transference,” by Jenn Hopkins

“Game Over,” by Andrew Lennon

“Schroedinger's Head,” by Joanna Koch

“Locusts,” by Dominick Cancilla

“The Pain Addict,” by Penn Jillette

“The Sluggie Rebellion,” by William Meikle

“Noise,” by Max Booth III

“Seeking Harmony with the Infinite,” by Evans Light

“Billy Campbell's Bones,” by Jason Washer

“Survival is an Act of Selfishness,” by Frank Oreto

“Boxed In,” by CS Mergo

“What It Takes,” by Phil Sloman

“Neuroworm,” by Tim Curran

“And the Winner is...,” by Sheldon Higdon

“If I Drive Before I Wake,” by Eric J Guignard

 

  

Available from retailers worldwide

in ebook, hardcover and paperback:

 

 

Dreams for the Dying

by Adam Light

 

Bad dreams don't always evaporate in the light of day.

Some refuse to fade, forever haunting dark corners of consciousness.

The dread of an approaching headlight on a deserted road . . .

Swirling black clouds claiming the sky, bringing death and madness . . .

The cabin of a trucker's rig, where a waitress lies bound and gagged . . .

A cursed soul in a moonlit pumpkin patch, desperate and lonely . . .

 

These are songs for the damned, poisons for the cure, and . . .

Dreams for the Dying.

 

 

For years, Adam Light has frightened and delighted readers around the world with his stories of horror and the bizarre. Fully revised to best represent the author's original vision, these fearsome tales of the macabre are finally collected under a single cover for the first time.

 

 

Get your copy here: https://tinyurl.com/DreamsfortheDying

 

 

Now available!

Ongoing horror anthology series featuring Josh Malerman (Bird Box) and many more.

In Darkness, Delight is an original anthology series revealing the many facets of modern horror— shocking and quiet, pulp and literary, cold-hearted and heart-felt, weird tales of spiraling madness alongside full-throttle thrillers. Open these pages and unleash all-new terrors that consume from without and within.

It’s now time to find . . . In Darkness, Delight.

Worldwide Quick Links to recent publications: 

 

In Darkness, Delight: Masters of Midnight:

https://books2read.com/Masters-of-Midnight

 

In Darkness, Delight: Creatures of the Night:

https://books2read.com/Creatures-of-the-Night

 

Doorbells at Dusk: Halloween Stories

https://books2read.com/doorbellsdusk

 

Bad Apples Halloween Horror series:

https://tinyurl.com/BadApplesSeries

 

Dead Roses, Five Dark Tales of Twisted Love:

 https://books2read.com/Dead-Roses

 

Screamscapes: Tales of Terror:

https://books2read.com/Screamscapes

 

 

Masters of Midnight (Volume One)

https://books2read.com/Masters-of-Midnight 

 

Midnight strikes like an invocation,

clock hands joining in prayer to the darkness.

After the twelfth chime, there’s no escaping the nightmare.

 

Fear reigns supreme.

 

Featuring:

Josh Malerman: One Thousand Words on a Tombstone - Delores Ray
William Meikle: Refuge
Jason Parent: Violet
Ryan C. Thomas: Who Are You?
Mark Matthews: Tattooed All in Black
Evans Light: One Million Hits
Lisa Lepovetsky: Kruze Nite
Israel Finn: The Pipe
Patrick Lacey: In the Ground
John McNee: Dogsh*t Gauntlet
Michael Bray: Letters
Monique Youzwa: Rules of Leap Year
Billy Chizmar: Mirrors
Espi Kvlt: Pulsate
Paul Michaels (Paul M. Feeney): Angel Wings
Andrew Lennon: Run Rabbit Run
Joanna Koch: Every Lucky Penny is Another Drop of Blood

Creatures of the Night (Volume Two)

https://books2read.com/Creatures-of-the-Night

 

Predatory eyes flicker in darkness,

a legion of abominations seeking human destruction.

Slashing claws and gnashing teeth,

hungry for flesh, eager to kill.

 

Clutch onto hope and pray for dawn.

Creatures rule the night.

 

Featuring:

Josh MalermanOne Thousand Words on a Tombstone – Bully Jack
Jeff Strand: The Last Thing You Want to Be
Ray Garton: A Survivor
Richard Chizmar: Father
Mary SanGiovanni: The Giant’s Table
Tim Curran: White Rabbit
Christopher Motz: Scales
Kev Harrison: Snap
Evans Light: Gertrude
Mikal Trimm: Infestation
Mark Cassell: River of Nine Tails
Mason Morgan: The People in the Toilet
Andrew Lennon: Silent Scream
Chad Lutzke: He Wears the Lake
Adam Light: Valley of the Dunes
Eddie Generous: The Newell Post
Frank Oreto: The Worms Turn
Gregor Xane: The Ugly Tree
Kristopher Rufty: Hinkles
Glenn Rolfe: Human Touch
Curtis M. Lawson: The Green Man of Freetown

Doorbells at Dusk: Halloween Stories

Doorbells at Dusk is a brand-new collection of short stories from both modern masters and rising stars of dark fiction, covering a gamut of horror, literary fiction and suspense that is sure to thrill both horror aficionados and casual readers alike.

 

Authors include: Josh Malerman, Lisa Lepovetsky, Chad Lutzke, Amber Fallon, Curtis M. Lawson, Sean Eads, Joshua Viola, Ian Welke, Charles Gramlich, Joanna Koch and Thomas Vaughn, along with contributions from Evans Light, Adam Light, Gregor Xane and Jason Parent.

 

Synopsis:

Halloween has always gone hand-in-hand with horror. The holiday gives many children their first taste of terror, the discovery and overcoming of fears. For those who find they love a good scare, that first taste can grow into a voracious appetite.

 

If that describes you, then you’ve come to the right place. Here you’ll find the thrills you crave, packed into a collection of stories that are pure Halloween.

 

Carve your pumpkins and turn on the porch light, the night of frights begins with the sound of…Doorbells at Dusk.

 

Doorbells at Dusk is available now in paperback and e-book.

 

Worldwide Retailer Links for Doorbells at Dusk

 

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Click cover images for more information

BAD APPLES: HALLOWEEN HORROR SERIES

- Available Now -

Paperback & eBook

"It gets bigger and better every year...an essential Halloween read."
- Confessions of a Reviewer

About DEAD ROSES: FIVE DARK TALES OF TWISTED LOVE


Five all-new dark tales of twisted love from The Light Brothers, Edward Lorn, Jason Parent and Gregor Xane.

Featuring:


* Love Lies In Eyes, by Evans Light
* Cinder Block, by Edward Lorn
* Eleanor, by Jason Parent
* Panacea, by Adam Light
* Loving the Goat, by Gregor Xane

Get HARMLESSLY INSANE, available now!

Harmlessly Insane: The Complete Collection features twenty top-rated tales of terror (nearly 600 pages!) from The Light Brothers, authors Evans Light and Adam Light.
Harmlessly Insane: The Complete Collection features twenty top-rated tales of terror (nearly 600 pages!) from The Light Brothers, authors Evans Light and Adam Light.

WIDOWMAKERS, featuring Evans Light. On sale now.

The new anthology to benefit author James Newman. Featuring Evans Light's ARBOREATUM, and many, many more. Click image to purchase.
The new anthology to benefit author James Newman. Featuring Evans Light's ARBOREATUM, and many, many more. Click image to purchase.
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