Horror Town

When five friends are invited to a religious celebration in a small, isolated town, they are initially showered by the townsfolk with gifts and attention. As the days go by, however, it becomes clear that the community is not as innocuous as it initially presented itself. Mysterious, robed figures violently beat people who express different opinions, strange rituals take place in the church at night, and armed gunmen patrol the town perimeters–all under Prophet Martin’s orders.

Things still linger in the creeks, swamps, and low places of our childhoods. They never venture into the road, nor rise to stand in open fields. They crawl about in the spider corners of aging barns, moan from mist-choked river banks, and stand hunched and patient in the shadows as we age and die. These beings neither heaven nor hell can claim.

Detective Matthew Cunningham is haunted by ghosts. He spends his days skulking through Boston, lost in depression and angst. His wife loves him but cannot stand his darkness much longer. He needs to be given a direction to face and a problem to confront. And a problem does come.

Today is Liz Adams' first day on the job as an agent of the Center for Specter Control. Established by Theodore Roosevelt in 1890, its clandestine mission is to protect the world from the stuff of myths and legends or, at the very least, cheesy movies. To say that she has a few questions would be an understatement. However, before Liz can be fully briefed by her new partner Craig Wright, alarm bells sound, indicating that the perimeter of Res-Site-Alpha has been breached. Not an escape. An incursion.

In 1944, Oakwood's town council is desperate to save their young men from being lost to the devastation of the far-reaching effects of WWII, and as such make the unconscionable decision to make an evil deal with an agent of the devil in order to protect their own children, town's citizens and peaceful way of life. Little does journalism student Jim Norton know that his decision to write an article on the town, that seems to have been able to have escaped the pitfalls of progress for his school paper in 1984, will lead him down the treacherous rabbit hole that might end with his demise.

A mysterious suicide. An airbus A380 heads over the Colorado mountains, before crashing through the snow clouds. The only bridge over the River Styx is taken out. No phones, no internet, no communication with the outside world. Then things start to get strange. Welcome to a town called Hell. This collaborative collection of short stories takes place over the last seven days in Hell. Poisonous green slime, murderous rampages, talking trees, rogue wolf-packs - the residents of Hell are having a bad week.

Ben Weaver relocated to a small desert town to escape his past failures. But not everyone is happy with Ben’s arrival. When a young girl vanishes from her bedroom the morning of the town’s famous Harvest Moon Festival, Ben uncovers an unsettling legend dating back to the town’s inception. With the local’s distrust of outsiders, Ben will discover how dangerous this sleepy desert town can be.

It was a simpler time. Widower Jacob Ernst struggles to raise his young sons, Nathan and Mead, on their modest farm in the small town of Painted Post. Listening to the songs of their hounds while pursuing the wily raccoon through the nighttime forests, Jacob teaches his children a deep respect for all woodland creatures and the many legends abounding in these tall hills. For Painted Post is a storied place where the lessons of life, love, and death play out beneath its mighty oaks. And Nathan and Mead grow loyal to each other and their coonhounds till the end.

Linda Harner Metzner has spent almost 40 years away from the town where she met and married her recently deceased husband, Alex. Nostalgia leads her to buying the old Victorian house where they had lived briefly and had been very happy. But Linda’s desire to find healing is disrupted by a singing spirit, determined to draw her back into the past.

Sadie has spent her life haunted by the horrors of her childhood in Merryville, where Christmas is anything but merry. Now, as the season looms again, she faces a terrifying choice: confront her darkest memories or risk losing everything she loves. And Christmas is coming to town ...

Ashley was just trying to get through a tough day when the world turned upside down. A terrifying virus appears, quickly becoming a pandemic that leaves its victims, not dead, but far worse. Attacked by zombies, Ashley discovers that she is a "Wild-Card" - immune to the virus - and she is recruited to fight back and try to control the outbreak.

Brad's mostly been a loner, content with his job and his tiny apartment. He's never thought much about being part of something. He's never really thought about the bigger picture. Until he meets a beautiful (and possibly psychotic) girl named Dawn. Dawn leads Brad into a vicious world as hedonistically carnal as it is brutal, forcing Brad to decide if he's going to dig deep within himself and continue to resist the community he's remained apart from his entire life or embrace it and accept his new reality.

In Forestdale, a new girl has arrived. She carries a dark secret. There is a darkness attached to her that follows her wherever she goes. She made a pact, a promise she could not keep. Mark, a town outcast, has taken notice of the mystery girl and is infatuated with her. The locals are fascinated by her for all the wrong reasons. There is a magical magnetism she presents that is unexplainable.

Welcome to Pearl, a town obsessed with Halloween: the spooky decorations, the costumes, the candy. No one seems to notice that every October 31st, a kid goes missing. Mason Miller does, though. Somehow he’s the only one who has any memory the person existed at all. When Mason’s sister, Meg, vanishes while they’re trick-or-treating, Mason and his friends are pulled into an underworld where monsters roam the streets. They need to fight the evil taking over Pearl, but none of them know the true danger they're facing.

From the Bram Stoker Award-winning publisher Crystal Lake Publishing comes the fiction series, Still Water Bay. In the first episode, “The Guild”, we meet Asadi and his pregnant wife, Taqiya, a couple who have just moved to the small Georgia town of Still Water, on the edge of Still Water Bay. Asadi has joined a group for those suffering from grief to discuss the violent nightmares associated with his past. What he doesn’t know is that Still Water Bay is a haven for monsters, and they’re about to make his worst nightmare come true.

A horrific car crash leads to problems for the people who scavenged the remnants of the accident scene. A small and peaceful town becomes a nightmare for those involved. This 19,000 word short story makes for a nice afternoon or evening listen!

Due to an error made by Li, the Guild is split while on a monster hunt. Jonathan and Sam wind up at the Guild's cemetery, while Asadi and John make their way back to the library. Here they learn the true identity of the monsters and what they need to trap them. Unfortunately for John, the materials can only be found at the bait shop owned by his estranged wife, Gladys.

Sheila Tulane is in love with the resort's pool boy, Teague Harmon, and will do anything to please him - even if it means murdering Guild member Sam Carstens. Meanwhile, Asadi doubts his position in the Guild when he is forced to violate his own personal code. Are his days with the Guild numbered?

A horrific monster has robbed Asadi of what he loves most, forcing him to make a decision that will change his life forever. Will he make the right choice? Discover the truth in Still Water Bay's episode two, A Call to Action.

Asadi's world has ended with the murder of his wife, Taqiya. Yet, even as he buries her, a new tragedy occurs in the small town of Still Water. It seems the sheriff has returned and a member of the Guild has fallen at his hand. As the Guild reels from the blow, Asadi meets a strange being who will challenge the way he sees them. Is the creature telling lies? Or will Asadi learn the Guild is not all it seems?