Ghost Thriller

For more than 30 years, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror fans crave. Now, with the 11th volume of the series, Daltow's back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night. With each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. This light creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year chronicles these shifting shadows.

Mel Turner can't resist the chance to bring the Crockett Theater, a decrepit San Francisco art nouveau movie palace, back to life. But there's a catch for Turner Construction: Several artists are currently squatting in the building, and they aren't the only ones haunting the once-grand halls of the historic theater.... When one of the squatters is found dead, the police department has a long list of suspects to investigate.

After closing a big case for the Vampire Court, mage private investigator Alice Worth is relieved to be back solving magical mysteries with her ghost sidekick Malcolm and spending quality time with sexy alpha werewolf Sean. Her latest case puts her on the trail of a burglary ring targeting wealthy collectors of magical objects. Meanwhile, Alice's grandfather, crime lord Moses Murphy, fights a local boss for control of the city. Soon a new danger emerges: Moses's new lieutenant is someone Alice knows and this is one family reunion she wants to avoid at all costs.

Spiritual medium Emma Whitecastle knows a good ghost when she feels one - like her own sweet Granny Apples, long gone but still as famous for her apple pies as she is for helping her great-great-great-granddaughter get to the core of the most baffling mysteries...When Emma gets word of a sticky spirit problem in Las Vegas, she and the ghost of Granny Apples hit the road for Sin City. The spooked one is Dolly, a former showgirl. Dolly is haunted by Lenny, a dead Vegas hood worried about an aging mobster named Nemo coming after the leggy old bombshell.

Granny was famous for her award-winning apple pies - and notorious for murdering her husband Jacob at their homestead in Julian, California. The only trouble is, Granny was framed, then murdered. For more than 100 years, Granny's spirit has been searching for someone to help her see that justice is served - and she hits pay dirt when she pops in to a séance attended by her great-great-great-granddaughter, modern-day divorced mom Emma Whitecastle.

Some art takes on a life of its own. A beautiful house. A loving family. Two kids, a dog, and a tenure-track professorship teaching art at the local university. Dan Rineheart is living the dream. But all dreams must end. When an anonymous painting arrives at the university, Dan is tasked with uncovering the artist. No title. No name. No signature or frame. It’s a disturbing work of grotesque perfection. A work of art...that changes with each viewing. So begins the nightmare. Where painted clocks tick-tock in the dark hours before dawn.

Rita Todacheene is a forensic photographer working for the Albuquerque police force. Her excellent photography skills have cracked many cases—she is almost supernaturally good at capturing details. In fact, Rita has been hiding a secret: she sees the ghosts of crime victims who point her toward the clues that other investigators overlook. As a lone portal back to the living for traumatized spirits, Rita is terrorized by nagging ghosts who won’t let her sleep and who sabotage her personal life.

Devin Lyle has recently returned to the Salem area, but her timing couldn't be worse. Soon after she moved into the eighteenth-century cabin she inherited from her great-aunt Mina - her "crazy" great-aunt, who spoke to the dead - a woman was murdered nearby. Craig Rockwell - known as Rocky - is a new member of the Krewe of Hunters, the FBI's team of paranormal investigators. He never got over finding a friend dead in the woods. Now another body's been found in those same woods, not far from the home of a woman named Devin Lyle.

Readers who relish heated passion and chilling suspense love New York Times bestselling author Karen Robards’s acclaimed novels featuring Dr. Charlotte “Charlie” Stone. A heroine with a keen mind for catching killers and a soft heart for bad boys, Charlie is back in this third sizzling...

A Texas map marked with three red dots like drops of blood. A serial killer who claims to have dementia. A mysterious young woman who wants answers. What could go wrong? FINALIST FOR THE ITW THRILLER AWARD “Fast and furious . . . You’ll never see what’s coming.”—The Washington Post...

"The world is big enough for us," Sherlock Holmes once told Dr. Watson. "No ghosts need apply." But amateur sleuth Sebastian McCabe and his chronicler Jeff Cody don't have a choice when a popular TV reality show comes to Erin, Ohio, to record a Halloween special about the entity disturbing a local gastropub known as The Speakeasy. Jackie O'Brien was a bootlegger and speakeasy owner gunned down in 1920. Ever since, his unquiet spirit has been said to haunt the building where it happened — one which, after many transformations over the years, is once again a speakeasy of sorts.

Sloane Fox is a best-selling author with a big problem … inspiration. Her editor’s solution, a writing retreat at Lunar Peaks Resort and Spa in the middle of nowhere, Arkansas. Not just any hotel, but a haunted one. That little fact would be great for a horror author, but Sloane writes gritty murder mysteries set in the city, not the backwoods.

Estes Park, Colorado, is a place of serenity. But it wasn't always so serene. Shortly after the Civil War, Nathan Kendall and his wife were murdered there. The crime was never solved. Now...historian Scarlet Barlow is working at a small museum attached to a B and B, the same building where that murder occurred. When Scarlet unwittingly takes pictures of people who've been murdered - just like the Kendalls a hundred and fifty years before - the police look at her with suspicion.

The fourth installment in the best-selling Cassie Quinn mystery series from Wall Street Journal best-selling author L.T. Ryan and K.M. Rought. A gripping thriller with a touch of the paranormal that will keep you guessing until the end. When a friend’s relative passes away, the family suspects foul play, but the evidence doesn’t match the accusation. But in the Big Easy, nothing is as it seems, and Cassie soon discovers there’s more to the story. Deciphering clues no one else can see becomes Cassie’s sole focus.

The details of the crime scene are no coincidence. The body — a promising starlet — has been battered, bloodied and then discarded between two of Manhattan’s oldest graveyards. One look and Detective Jude Crosby recognizes the tableau: a re-creation of Jack the Ripper’s gruesome work. But he also sees something beyond the actions of a mere copycat. Something more dangerous...and unexplainable.

Kenzi Brannon's life was turned upside down when she moved into her family's abandoned home to raise her niece. Problems compound when her aging mother starts to remember things. And clues the police find regarding the knife don't match anything Kenzi knows about her family. Things go from bad to worse when she and her niece discover something horrifying in their house. But not even that compares to the strange ways her mom is acting.

Lauren and Kelsey: married, a baby on the way, and now the new owners of the Hudson Valley house they’ve always admired. The timing couldn’t be better, and the leafy, secluded area couldn’t be more beautiful. Everything’s perfect—except for the older gentleman across the street, who seems to be keeping a very close watch on them. Welcome to the neighborhood.

Anita Blake is a vampire hunter. But when someone else sets his sights on her prey, she must save them both from the inferno...

Hamming it up with equal parts history and histrionics, Phillip leads an archaeological dig of the farm's original dump site - until one student stops the show by uncovering some human bones. When a full skeleton is later excavated, Kath can't help but wonder if it's somehow connected to Geneva, the ghost who haunts her shop, and whom she met at this very site. After Phillip is found dead, it's up to Kath to thread the clues together before someone else becomes history.

The nightmare home. We thought we'd found our haven, a cottage deep in the heart of the forest. Quaint, charming, maybe a little run-down, but so peaceful. The woodland animals and birds couldn't have been more neighbourly. That was the first part of the Magic. Midge's painting and my music soared to new heights of creativity. That was another part of the Magic. Our sensing, our feelings, our love for each other - well, that became the supreme Magic. But the cottage had an alternative side. The Bad Magic.