Occult Horror Fiction

A group of friends reunite after one of them has returned from a mysterious two-year disappearance in this edgy and haunting debut. Julie is missing, and no one believes she will ever return—except Elise. Elise knows Julie better than anyone, and feels it in her bones that her best friend is...

A chilling anthology in tribute to the genius of Shirley Jackson. Shirley Jackson is a seminal writer of horror and mystery fiction, whose legacy resonates globally today. Chilling, human, poignant, and strange, her stories have inspired a generation of writers and listeners. This anthology, edited by legendary horror editor Ellen Datlow, brings together today’s leading horror writers to offer their own personal tribute to the work of Shirley Jackson.

The Oblivion Guard is trying to kill Cain. That should be impossible. After all, Cain has a bargain with the summer and winter queens that keeps him safe from them directly or indirectly harming him. Cain discovers that many of these would-be assassins come from Alpha and Beta dimensions, and they seem to have found a loophole that allows them to kill him without harming the queens. Anyone associated with Cain is fair game, and Aura and Layla are forced to hide out at Sanctuary with Cain. But not even his secret hideout is safe anymore.

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.

You wouldn’t think events happening years apart, at points in the solar system hundreds of millions of miles distant, would have anything to do with each other. When she was six, Daphne was taken into a neighbor’s tool shed and came within seconds of never coming out alive. Most of the scars healed. Except for the one that went all the way through. You wouldn’t think that the serial murders of children and the one who got away would have any connection with the strange fate of one of Jupiter’s moons.

There are dark places in the forest.... Cold, sun-starved places where man wasn’t meant to go. But the hunters didn't—couldn’t—know that. They just knew what their leader had told them that the expedition was meant to test their mettle, to separate the men from the boys. Four men went into the forest that day, entering the valley where the ancient evil hid. And when the winds came to collect them, when the animals they slew refused to die, they quickly learned who among them was weakest and strongest.

It's 1934. Businesses went under by the hundreds, debt and foreclosures boomed, and breadlines grew in many American cities. In the midst of this misery, some folks explored unscrupulous ways to make money. Angel-faced John Partlow and carnival huckster Ginger LaFrance are among the worst of this lot. Joining together they leave their small-time confidence scams behind to attempt an elaborate kidnapping-for-ransom scheme in New Orleans.

Valroy will let nothing block his path to the Unseelie Crown. He is willing to stop at nothing to see both Tir n’Aill and Earth as his dominion, and he'll crush the self-righteous Seelie beneath his bootheels. He had wished for Abigail to stand beside him as his queen, but that went terribly wrong when she chose death over becoming his bride. It was a setback, certainly, but not one he could not overcome. Yet despite being wrenched from the song of life, Abigail returns to Tir n’Aill, only to be hunted by both Seelie and Unseelie alike.

Los Angeles and Lucifer are a lot alike. They both seduce and lure with promises of wealth, fame, beauty, or love. But those promises are often empty; and even when they’re not, there’s a price to pay.

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.

A collection assembled by HorrorBabble, comprising some of Machen's most highly regarded works.

It’s the mid-'90s. Grunge and flannel are fading as the Spice Girls and Hot Topic conquer the malls. Cherry gloss glistens on the lips of the youth. Modems hiss as America comes online. And in a fog-drenched cove at the edge of New England, something terrible awakens when a fisherman reels in a gruesome catch: the remains of a young woman. Remains still pulsing with furious life.

Ruby Wilcox, owner of the Crystal Cave, Pecan Springs’ only New Age shop, has always tried to downplay her psychic gift - until she experiences a horrifying nightmare that just won’t stop. Again and again, she dreams that a woman is abducted on the hike-and-bike trail and knows that the victim is in deadly danger. Prodded by her friend and partner, China Bayles, Ruby goes to the police - only to find that her dream has already become far too real.

Much to the chagrin of his girlfriend, Gia, Repairman Jack doesn't deal with electronic appliances. He fixes situations for people, often putting himself in deadly danger. His latest project is recovering a stolen necklace, which carries with it an ancient curse that may unleash a horde of Bengali demons. Jack is used to danger, but this time Gia's daughter Vicky is threatened. Can Jack overcome the curse of the yellow necklace and bring Vicky safely back home?

The legend of the werewolf is as old as man himself. From Ed and Lorraine Warren, the world's most famous demonologists, comes perhaps their most incredible and horrifying case: the true story of William Ramsey, whose bizarre seizures terrified the English town of Southend-on-Sea. Believing Ramsey to be a victim of demonic possession, the Warrens arranged for the rite of exorcism to be performed.

My family has always found me lacking. From the way I dress, how I look, to the type of magic I have. My family name is full of pomp and prestige, and I want nothing to do with it. I’m a witch that knows how to set a goal and I have one in mind. I want a real family. It seems too good to be true that I can give the list of traits I want in a partner and have my deepest desire answered, but I’m out of options. From the very first moment I meet Elliot Bramblewick, I have hope. But he’s tricky. I’m not expecting him to be hiding two other mates.

The powerful sense of evil – darkness, creepy hairy presences, cloaks, hoods, talons and tentacles – pervades these classic ghost stories by M.R. James. A Cambridge scholar himself, James explored what happens when academics dabble in things they don’t understand and unleash forces of which they know nothing.

Thrust into Nightmare Penitentiary, I meet a group of hard, alpha, psychotic inmates who believe I’m the answer to all their prayers. Me? I’m just trying to survive and figure out what it means to live. My new home isn’t just a prison, but a labyrinth with horrors around every corner.

Repairman Jack, F. Paul Wilson’s vigilante hero first seen in the New York Times best seller The Tomb, returns in a thriller that thrusts Jack back into the weird, supernatural world that he thrives in. Looking for clues to the mysterious disappearance of leading conspiracy theorist Melanie Ehler, Jack attends a convention of bizarre and avid conspiracy theorists. It’s a place where aliens are real, the government is out to get you, and the world is hurtling toward an inevitable war of good versus evil incarnate. Jack finds that nobody can be trusted - and that few people are what they seem.

In the dead of winter, on a highway in Quebec, a man crashes his car and survives. In New York, a homeless person is run over by a bus and lives. A teenager jumps off a high-rise building in Tokyo and fails in her attempt to take her own life. All around the world, miracles like these are taking place. Death seems to have taken a holiday, and humanity breathes a sigh of relief. But over the course of the next week, some people will begin to suspect the terrible truth behind these marvels. A handful will even search it out. One man will find it.