Occult Fiction

Make Pretend is the first book in a series collecting all of Armand Rosamilia's short fiction. Twenty-one tales ranging from horror to crime thriller to science fiction, contemporary fiction to fantasy and more. From stories a few days ago to one 40 years old.

I’ve spent my whole life seeing monsters, but they could never see me back...until now. Turns out, I’m not crazy like I’ve spent my whole life believing. Too bad it took being locked in a cage and tortured almost to the point of insanity to realize that. But I’m not alone. In a cage to my left, there’s a monster who’s given up hope. He stays in the shadows and moves with chains wrapped around him, but his golden eyes watch. To my right, there’s a girl with purple wings and familiar gray eyes.

Hildreth House. On a moonlight night in early spring, 27 people entered the mansion's labyrinthine halls, to partake in an orgy of diabolical debauchery, the likes of which beggared description. And one by one, 26 of them were butchered in place. The 27th body was never recovered.

College. A time of transition from youth to young adulthood. New lessons, new responsibilities, new distractions. A period of life treasured by most. Unless you happen to attend an institute of higher learning where the bullies are werewolves, the teachers are sadists, and the pretty girls are all deadly. A school like that demands a special kind of student, someone with the skills and power to survive. Someone like Declan O'Carroll.

In Sandman Slim Stark came back from hell for revenge. Once again all is not right in L.A. Lucifer is back in Heaven, God is on vacation, and an insane killer mounts a war against both Heaven and Hell. Stark’s got to head back down to his old stomping grounds in Hell to rescue his long lost love, stop an insane serial killer, prevent both Good and Evil from completely destroying each other, and stop the demonic Kissi from ruining the party for everyone. Even for Sandman Slim, that’s a tall order. And it’s only the beginning.

In 1218 an extraordinary princess is born. Her mystical powers and unquenchable spirit will alter the course of history. Raised by her fiercely Welsh nurse to support the Celtic cause against the predatory English king, Princess Eleyne is taught to worship the old gods and to look into the future and the past. However, unable to identify time and place in her terrifying visions, she is powerless to avert forthcoming tragedy.

When a chance invitation to a magical ball revives Lina’s spirit, but none of her memories, she’s left with more questions than answers. Lucky for her, she was also left with someone determined to help her uncover them. With her Guardian, Nord, at her side Lina begins her search, but neither of them expected that the dangers of her past would resurface and threaten her future. A future she finds herself hoping will include the Viking-like man who makes her heart race.

The team has grown to three, but the workload isn’t getting any smaller. With reports of Hell’s Angel's werewolves, dead relatives returning to haunt their loved ones, unspeakable aberrations hiding in the shadows, and the unwanted attention of a macabre serial killer, the team at Blue Moon Investigations is in even more trouble than usual.

As the daughter of Dracula, you would think I’d be born the perfect monster. You couldn’t be more wrong. As far as monsters go, I’m a screw up—if I’m not tripping over my own feet, I’m accidentally murdering someone (it’s a real issue, guys). Left with no choice, Dad decides to send me to Prodigium—otherwise known as Monster Academy—to train me on how to be a better monster. When bodies turn up on campus, I’m the prime suspect (not that I can blame them).

There’s a hit list circulating the prison, offering up large sums of cash for our deaths—me and all of my men. Assassins, serial killers, and murderers...They’re all coming out of the woodwork to collect their prize. Even a queen and her kings can't fight off an entire army. Escape is our only option if we want to survive.

Many full moons ago, a young American boy with ambition in his belly and the moon in his veins followed his destiny west, determined to carve a path to success no matter the carnage. Two centuries later, a city is captivated by the strange and savage murder of a young woman. Her roommate, Natasha, no longer able to afford their apartment alone—and hounded by both rumors of wolves and a pop-star’s angry fan-swarm—has resorted to living in her car. There’s nothing left for her ... except vengeance.

College student Meg Talley survives a violent attack, but when she insists her assailant was a hideous, monster-like creature, she is called hysterical. Journalist Douglas Morgan, private eye Nick Grundel, and horror novelist Blake Corbett, however, have each theorized the mangling, incredible though it seems, might be the work of a werewolf. Now they team up with Meg to peruse an intensive investigation. Neither skeptics nor believers are prepared for the bone-chilling terror and cataclysmic violence that will be unleashed in the night of the January full moon....

Liam Elloway is the survivor of a terrible accident, but when he gets swept up into the world of the occult and enrolled at a strange academy for practitioners of dark magic, things get really interesting really quickly. As the first necromancer enrolled at the school in years, and the only mage of a certain type known to exist in centuries, all eyes are on Liam as he begins to discover his destiny. But can his sneering headmistress be trusted?

Benton Bertrand is a banshee, cursed with the ability to sense death. Every time he sleeps, he becomes a trapped passenger within a murderer’s skin: able to hear, see, and feel every part of their kill. No matter how hard he tries, it always ends the same way - with death.

Ronnie doesn't know it yet, but her fate rests in the hands of the dead. Silent film star Venita Rost's malevolent spirit lurks spider-like in her cliffside mansion, a once-beautiful home that's claimed countless unlucky souls. And she's not alone. Snared in her terrible web, Inspector...

From New York Times bestsellers Preston and Child, archaeologist Nora Kelly and FBI Agent Corrie Swanson are tasked with the mysterious deaths of two people found at a site where a UFO allegedly crashed decades before. Lucas Tappan, a wealthy and eccentric billionaire and founder of Icarus...

Private investigator (and secret werewolf) Sara Flores has made a life out of rescuing people from men who think they can get away with murder. But this case is different. This time someone has taken Mason Spencer — her partner, her resident hacker, and the closest thing to family Sara has. Mason is the one person Sara can’t afford to lose. His computer skills were how they’d found all those missing people. Tracking them down was his job, not hers. She’d come in later — a one-person rescue committee with a big surprise for any bad guy trying to stop her.

More than a decade after Kelley Armstrong first opened the doors to the Otherworld, fans are still clamoring for more. In response to their demands - and to coincide with the Syfy Network show based on the series - Plume has signed up three Otherworld anthologies, each of which revolves around a different theme. The second in the trilogy, Otherworld Secrets, features fan favorites such as Cassandra, Savannah, and Adam in rare and never-before-published short stories - plus a brand new novella.

Set high on top of Widows Hill, Harrow House has remained empty for years. Now, on behalf of a prospective buyer, Ishmael and Penny are spending a night there in order to investigate the rumors of strange lights, mysterious voices, and unexplained disappearances, and establish whether the house is really haunted. What really happened at Harrow House all those years ago? Joined by a celebrity psychic, a professional ghost hunter, a local historian, and a newspaper reporter, it becomes clear each member of "Team Ghost" has their own pet theory as to the cause of the alleged haunting.

Book 3 of the Demon Accords. Partnered in an uneasy alliance with federal law enforcement, Chris Gordon has been hunting down the outlaw gang Loki's Spawn, who attacked his vampire girlfriend. But when he finds unexpected hostages who trigger his baser instincts, Chris is thrown into a search for answers to dark questions: how to control his inner demon, what do the Spawn want with children, and who is hunting him?