Horror Supernatural Suspense

Halloween is supposed to be fun, right? It's Flynn family tradition to host Keyhole Lake's annual Halloween party. This year, Noelle is in charge and she’s about to lose it. Between forgetting to pick up the candy and trying to work around a histrionic, living-impaired aunt, things are spiraling out of control fast. The situation goes from bad to worse when she buys a cool crystal pendant in a thrift shop, because it isn’t long before she finds out that what she really bought is trouble.

It’s the day of his ex-wife’s wedding when Dan makes the winding mountain journey to a remote cabin for an escape from the life that another man has stepped into. Less than 48 hours into his reprieve, the forest tranquility is shattered when he looks through a telescope and witnesses the violent abduction of a young woman. Dan springs into action, but there’s no evidence of an abduction nor reports of a missing woman. That is, until Dan sees the missing person’s poster for Ivy Trent.

This issue of Weird Tales presents a batch of entirely new short stories, flash fiction, poems, and an essay dealing with monsters who defy death, including zombies, vampires, mummies, and various and assorted revenants. There are some real heavy hitters here—bestsellers and names listeners might not yet know … but should. And will.

Dustin Graves can’t get a break. Murdering an Old One was only the beginning. Enraged, the Eldest have answered with searing rains of ivory fire from the stars, threatening Valero and the world itself. The madness must be stopped. Ancient gods of prophecy, death, and darkness themselves answer the call for battle. But the secret to saving the world lies closer to Dustin's heart than he knows: a ritual sacrifice, meant to end the suffering. After all...what’s one life against the fate of billions?

Still reeling from his battle with Beatrix, retired marine Shane Ryan finds evidence revealing the full extent of the Harvesters’ ghost-stealing operation. He decides he must hunt her down and destroy every deadly spirit she had freed, before they unleash more horrors into the world. Battling one vicious wraith after another, the trail of death and bloodshed takes him to a weathered beach house in Rhode Island, where Shane discovers the dark truth about Beatrix's past—and her malevolent benefactor, known as Mr. Shadow.

Brinkley Springs is a quiet little town. Some say the town is dying. They don't know how right they are. Five mysterious figures are about to pay a little visit to Brinkley Springs. They have existed for centuries, emerging from the shadows only to destroy, to kill. To feed. They bring with them terror and carnage, and leave death and blood in their wake. As the night wears on, Brinkley Springs will be quiet no longer. Screams will break the silence. But when the sun rises again, will there be anyone left to hear?

Italy, 1252. Inquisition. Accusation. Fear. Torture. The guilty and the innocent dying for sins real and imagined, in the flames of the burning stake.... Neilsville, 1978. Peter Balsam has come to this sleepy desert town to teach its youth, and finds a mystery of mounting horror. Something is happening to the young girls of St. Francis Xavier High School - something evil. In bloodlet and terror a suicide contagion has swept the town...while a dark order of its holy men enacts a secret medieval ritual.

When Ellen and her two best friends travel to Tulsa for Sue's daughter's wedding, they get the crazy idea of flipping another historical home--only this time, it's an abandoned warehouse. When they hear from the locals that the place is haunted, Ellen and Sue convince Tanya to investigate, and what they uncover is one of Tulsa's and the nation's most horrifying secrets.

On a hot summer night in Montauk, the bodies of two local bar patrons are discovered in the dunes, torn to shreds, their identities unrecognizable.... In another part of town, a woman's backyard is invaded by four terrifying creatures that defy any kind of description. What's clear is that they're hostile - and they're ravenous....

Since the late 1980's, The Square had been one of the most important clubs in New York for the alt-comedy scene. But before that it was something much darker and is now a place where evil lingers, waiting for a chance to spill blood. After a night of killing on stage, four comics find themselves in a desperate situation as the spirits of the past come out to play, and a fight for laughs becomes a fight for survival in the most unlikely of places.

Murderers and monsters, shape-shifters and the unquiet dead, cryptids and clowns. Dangerous Toys explores a world of small horrors from the subtle to the brazen, the serious to the slapstick.

Presidents, premiers, entire governments disappeared instantly, like a fragile house of cards in a hurricane. Some hid deep underground or holed up in fortified strongholds, but most were swallowed up by the dead, never to be heard from again. For Cade Grayson, doting father and patriotic Delta Force operator, the past week has been the worst dealt to him by life during his short 35-year stint on planet Earth.

Five years ago, the ghost hunting Supernaturals disbanded after being accused of faking their experiences at Summer House. Now, the eccentric, but brilliant, team of scientists and paranormal experts are being asked to join forces once again - this time to save the president. Through strenuous investigation and mysterious messages about returning home, the team soon discovers the long lost home of the president: a small town in California called Moreno, a modern ghost town.

Der Münchner Julius lebt und arbeitet in London und genießt sein Leben dort. Alles läuft gut für ihn, bis sich die negativen Ereignisse in Julius Leben häufen: Seine Freundin trennt sich von ihm, er verliert seinen Job und muss wahrscheinlich nach Deutschland zurück und er hat auf einmal das unheimliche Gefühl, beobachtet zu werden. Als er dann die Katze seines Vermieters tot und blutüberströmt in seinem Kühlschrank findet, verliert er auch noch die Wohnung. Und das gerade jetzt, da seine Tochter zu Besuch kommen soll.

Ed Landry’s choice lands him in an otherworldly love triangle. Where the barrier between the dead and the living is thin, not all sides are equal. Love can be a real killer. No stranger to difficult decisions, Landry faces what may be his toughest choice yet. Which way will he turn and will he be able to live with the decision?

Dr. Roderick Hanley, Nobel Prize-winning geneticist, dies in a plane crash. His last words: "The boy! They’ll find out about the boy! He’ll find out about himself!" When Jim Stevens, an orphan and struggling writer, learns that he is the sole heir to the Hanley estate, he is sure he has at last found his biological father. But he’s only half right. The true nature of his inheritance - and the truth about his conception - will crush him. In New York City a group of Charismatics has been drawn together - without invitation, simply showing up at a Murray Hill brownstone - with a sense of great purpose. Satan is coming....

Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the 16-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world . . . and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Crease is known in Weaver as ‘the bug guy', the man who takes care of insects and other critters. But what emerges from the shadows of the town's waste plant is beyond anything found in nature. Fist-sized cockroaches. Bird-sized wasps. Spiders, millipedes, ticks, all swollen to enormous bulk with vicious appetites to match. And other things, creatures that should never exist.

My name’s Bill Ryder and, despite being a legendary predator of the night, I’m not having the best of days. My girlfriend is trapped in another dimension, my apartment’s being staked out by werewolves, and to top it all off I’m flat broke. Too bad there’s no rest for the wicked. Monstrous beasts of biblical proportions have been unleashed upon the world, leaving me with a mighty big question. How the hell is one poor-ass vampire supposed to stop something the size of a battleship?

Fiona Garris never believed in ghosts or evil spirits. A loner by nature, all she wants to do is complete her latest freelance assignment and retreat to her city apartment. But when she suddenly inherits the sprawling estate of an uncle she barely knew, Fiona soon discovers that the supernatural is all too real. Deep within her uncle’s mansion, a vault has been hidden away from prying eyes, built to hold a very special collection of dolls. But these are no ordinary playthings. Each one is a vessel for a lost soul, an evil spirit.