A pact made over fifty years ago to protect the town has expired and a slumbering evil is about to awaken in a sorrowful place just outside of town, The Crymost.
When the last surviving resident of the pact is murdered, it’s up to Mick Logan and a small group of friends to decipher the mystery left behind.
Long-kept secrets will need to be unearthed before the entire town succumbs to the will of a powerful stranger who works hand in hand with the hungry entity crossing Knoll’s borders, invading its homes and executing a soul-draining grip on its citizens.
Join Mick Logan and his small band of friends as they battle The Crymost!
Dean H. Wild grew up in east central Wisconsin and has lived in the area, primarily in small towns surrounding the city of Fond du Lac, all his life. He wrote his first short horror story at the tender age of seven and continued to write dark fiction while he pursued careers in retail, the newspaper industry and retail pharmacy. His short stories have seen publication in various magazines and anthologies including Bell, Book & Beyond, A Feast of Frights, Night Terrors II and Horror Library 6. His novel, The Crymost is an exploration of tradition, superstition and encroaching horror in a small Wisconsin town. He and his wife, Julie, currently reside in the village of Brownsville.
There she was, that whore. Once more. There she was.
Beneath the flickering gas lamp at the corner of Dorset Street, Whitechapel, she strode, grinning a seductive smile at a passing sailor, just ashore and looking for company. He, as bad as the bitch whose breasts he felt and whose ear he nipped with yellowing teeth, the unseen Watcher thought. With eyes burning hatred and a menace previously unseen and misunderstood. It was, he thought, a righteous hatred, and they blaze all the brighter for it. The beast within told him so. For he was the beast and he was its creature, at once the same.
She could have been twenty or forty; the Watcher neither knew nor cared. She’d not see another year, another week, another night. The dim streets grew ever wickeder to those of her sort spreading around their sin, their poison. Defiling this town, this land, defiling HER. The Watcher shook his head; no more whores and this place would rise like the jewel it was. Not jaded and dull but glorious and fit for a queen. The beast within whispered in his head. “Cleanse this town, make it fit again.” And so he did. A knife in the darkness, once more.
Geneva liquor and poverty aged a person far better than mere passing of the years. In the greatest Empire on Earth, they blighted the land. Gin palaces, opium dens, and hash houses aplenty gave heaven and hell to those with money, and those without. Life was cheap, and oblivion cheaper. The Watcher knew these unfortunates dropped their drawers for a taste of it, panting and moaning beneath the bridges and in the alleys, with their grunting men, and their penny a tumble.
The sailor moved on. He’d had his pleasure with another of her kind and spent his last pennies in the tavern, and she was here to work. Nothing was free in her line of employment. Except for death.
So there she was, alone. Death walked these streets – and tonight it watched the red-haired whore, who sang and smiled and patted her new bonnet. There she was. The whore. Alone.
The minutes passed, creeping towards death; ebbing away from heaven and him ever closer to immortality. The whore did not know it. Of course, she’d heard the tales, everyone had. Screamed by newsboys on every corner “another ‘orrible murder” but rent still needed to be paid. And so she plied her trade. Afraid. Denying it would be her turn this night. A whore, alone.
Another night, another customer. Fear curled in her belly; these streets were streets of blood, four of her sisters slain in just a few weeks. But hunger was the greater force. Desperation made Mary-Jane brave – so she walked the streets, as she had often done. It wouldn’t be her, she thought. As they had. It couldn’t be her. Besides the police watched the alleys and the thoroughfares. The streets were largely empty, save the desperate and the foolhardy, and those too much in drink or lust to know or care.
The Watcher stood, beyond the pool of light from the gas lamp. This night was his. She would be his. This woman wasn’t as much a drab as some of her sisters-in-sin. Lust rose, entwined with his loathing. Two joined as one, desire and disgust, powerful and compelling. He’d never understood why they went together, but then he was a simple man, not one of the mind-doctors who had been so influential of late. The beast within did not care. Lust and hatred, pain and desire…bound so close he could experience little else when the darkness overtook him. Now, however, he watched.
The hunt was almost as enthralling as the kill; the knowledge of their fear, their desperation, and yet still they strutted themselves, offering a screw in the alleys and passages of the East End, and more if the customer had money and the taste for it. Filthy strumpets, he’d said to any who’d listen. Never did he consider the terrible choices they made. Never did he consider their choice was no real choice. What cared he for desperation and poverty? Respectable women did not sell their bodies. They kept sex for the marriage bed. SHE did – his icon, the woman he loved above all others.
The whores’ sins, the watcher thought, was what damned them. And they would pay, in this world and the next. He’d save London. He’d save it for HER. Blood would cleanse the streets.
Prepare yourself for an escape into a world of the harrowing and peculiar. McCool Mythos: Tales of the Dark and Mysterious is a collection of bite-sized tales brought to you by the brother/sister duo, John R. McCool III and M.I.H. McCool in their debut collaboration.
From stories following average people facing supernatural horrors to legends of strange circumstances involving even stranger creatures, each tale is sure to make you think twice before shutting off the light.
M.I.H. McCool grew up in southern Mississippi and currently resides in the little town of Danville, Illinois with her chunky pug, Otis, and her turtle, Roosevelt. When not writing, McCool can be found participating in her community’s rich theatre scene, making decorative color-changing potions, writing nerdy articles for 101 Militia Gaming, and enjoying being the ‘cool aunt’ to her nieces.
John R. McCool III hails from a small town in the great state of Mississippi. He fell in love with writing at a very young age, oftentimes writing stories during class rather than paying attention. He now resides in Danville, Illinois where most of his time is spent attending to the day-to-day operations of a local coffee shop, which is like a second home to him. When not writing or sipping coffee, John loves spending time with his wife and kids who give him the inspiration to pursue all of his dreams.
Something dark and malevolent stalks the majestic Northwoods of Michigan, and each corpse sends a new wave of terror through the small town of LeRoy. Anthropology professor Jack Allen uncovers a pattern of strange encounters, disappearances, and unsolved murders that shake him to his core. The deeper Jack delves into the horror in the woods, the more his life falls apart around him. With his family and all of Northern Michigan hanging in the balance, Jack must find a way to stop the cycle or risk losing everything to the ultimate predator. Meet a new kind of monster in David C. Posthumus’s bone-chilling suspenseful thriller, The Legend of the Dogman!
David C. Posthumus began his writing career at age six, when his grandfather read one of his first-grade publications and labeled him “Ernie (Hemingway) Jr.” Posthumus is a voracious reader of many genres, fiction and nonfiction, and an avid horror fan and fiction writer. He has published extensively in the fields of anthropology and Native American studies, including one published book (All My Relatives: Exploring Lakota Ontology, Belief, and Ritual, University of Nebraska Press, 2018), one book forthcoming (Lakota: Culture, History, and Modernities, University of Oklahoma Press, 2022), as well as several journal articles, book chapters, and reviews. Aside from having the perfect surname for horror, Posthumus loves dogs, the great outdoors, and is also a musician and lifelong music lover.
Dark tales of ghosts of war, blood from the Autumn of Terror, the wrath of nature, an unusual murder and a cynical vampire. Twisted poetry of loss and mayhem. Some adult themes and language. https://books2read.com/DarkTalesTwistedVerses
Are there truths in legends? How far would the people of a small town go to keep the truth? When four bored and curious teenagers; Gabby, Max, Luke and Becca explore the forest surrounding their small town. They stumble upon something terrifying and deadly.
Soon it stalks them until one of them is dead, one is missing and they send one away for twenty years.
Now adults, a determined Gabby and Max set out to find the truth about what happened to their friends. But what they find in that forest is nothing they ever could have imagined.
Sometimes the truth is far more horrifying.
“Quite intriguing, a very good read from start to finish.”
Liz started writing as a teenager and has always stayed an avid reader. With inspiration from great writers of horror fiction like Stephen King, Anne Rice, Ray Bradbury and many more. She has improved her writing style and found her niche in storytelling and entertaining. Born and raised in the Midwest. A nurse, mother to three boys, and a pit bull rescue mama. She always had a fascination with the unseen and things that can play with your mind and terrify you beyond the reach of your five senses.
Nous sommes en 1888, à Whitechapel, au cœur même de la capitale londonienne. Mais le cœur saigne. Un tueur mystérieux traque les femmes dans les rues — sa véritable identité est inconnue, mais ce personnage mythique entrera dans l’histoire. Jack l’Éventreur est au centre de cette nouvelle.
Scènes de violence : récit destiné aux plus de 18 ans.
How did you become involved with audiobook narration and production? That is a long story…but I have an Actor friend who has always said I should use my voice, eventually I reached a time in my life when I could investigate that option. I approached a voice artist local to me, Andy Turvey who is somewhat of a guru and whose advice I have valued and continue to appreciate. Audible told me to contact ACX and here I am, just over 18 months later, 16 books through ACX and various voiceover jobs completed.
Tell us about some of the titles you’ve narrated. Do you have a favourite amongst these? Titles have varied from Thrillers, the paranormal, Ghost stories, the story of Joan of Arc, and Children’s books.
Do you have a preferred genre? Do you have a genre you do not produce? Why is this? I seem to work on a number of Ghost stories. I am not sure why. My first commission was Veiled by Kat Green, which was pretty gruesome. I have now completed 3 books for Kat and numerous other ghost stories, including a phantom caper in Las Vegas, the sad tale of a Mistletoe Bride, and of course The story of Blossom Rise.
If you could meet anyone from history or literature for dinner who would it be and what would you eat? I think it would have to be Joan of Arc, having narrated a book about her life. I have had connection with France for over thirty years, I would be interested to see what she would have eaten with the Men that supported her quest, although not in battle when she simply had bread and wine, to see if there are dishes that are still recognised on a French menu today. I expect so!
What are you working on at present/just finished? I have just completed a children’s book and I am about to work on a new genre for me, it feels very like a ‘chick flick’, in style.
*Tell us about your process for narrating? (Be as elaborate as you like.) First thing, is to read the book carefully and think about the tone and the accents of the characters. I like to know the author’s take on characters too. It is important that the author recognises their work! I then work through chapter by chapter, usually working with the author to ensure that they are happy every step of the way.
What aspects do you find most enjoyable? I enjoy finding the voices and accents for each character. It is not always easy, and if it is a long book I make sure I know in which chapter the characters appear, so that I can ensure the voice is right later on in the book.
What do you find least enjoyable? The editing side. The ironing out the lumps and bumps within the sound file. I don’t think listeners necessarily appreciate how long this takes for a humble narrator in their own studio or sound booth. They are used to seeing clips of famous actors in a studio with a sound engineer on the other side of the glass who will ultimately edit and clean the files.
Do you consider royalty share when looking for books to narrate? If not why is this? Do you think this a fair split for your time? It is a good way for a beginner to gain experience. I am hoping that one day I get to have a sound engineer on the other side of the glass!
Why do you think audiobooks are becoming so popular? My friend, who has been shielding over Lockdown says that audiobooks stop her feeling lonely. I guess, in our busy lives, audiobooks can be absorbed whilst doing something else such as driving or exercising.
Do you prefer a spoken book, or reading? For you how do they differ? Reading, every time I am afraid!
Can you remember the first audiobook you owned? To Kill a Mocking Bird, Narrated by Sissy Spacek, she is perfect.
If you are an author, do you produce your own audiobooks or do you prefer to look for an independent narrator? Why have you made this choice? Maybe I’ll write something one day…
What is the best piece of advice you’ve had? I was told to be persistent and patient.
If you could narrate any book you wanted which would it be and why? A book that went on to be an unexpected bestseller would be nice…especially if I was able to narrate it with a sound engineer behind the glass!
Please tell us a silly fact about yourself. I sneeze when I eat mints and good quality chocolate! I am the same height as Dolly Parton!
Trick or Treat! ‘Tis the month to celebrate all things paranormal, supernatural, suspenseful and mystical. If you’re like me, you’ll want to accept this very special invitation to join the festivities at N. N. Light’s Book Heaven’s 2nd annual Trick or Treat Book Bonanza. 46 authors share what they’d dress up as for Halloween as well as 53 books featured plus a chance to win one of the following:
Enter to win a $50 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card
Enter to win a $50 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card
Enter to win a $25 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card
Enter to win a $15 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card
Enter to win a $10 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card
I’m thrilled to be a part of this event. My books, Nightly Bites II will be featured on 13th October and The Secret of Blossom Rise on 26th October. Wait until you read what my Halloween costume would be. You won’t want to miss it.
New vampire Cheryl and century-old vampire Nightshade both have had a relationship with the one who turned them into otherworldly blooddrinkers. These two are engaged in emotional and physical battles, charged by hidden agendas, laced with attraction and repulsion, all of it amorous, amusing, dramatic and deadly. The crucible that completes the triangle brings them together but also keeps them apart: Aleron, who is MIA, or is he?
Enemies. Each with their own endgame. Compelled to form a fragile alliance where every encounter crackles with as much attraction as repulsion. This fast-paced, modern vampire novella vibrates with danger, treachery and Dark Romance. The plot twists and turns, the stakes are the highest, and nothing is as it seems.
Nancy Kilpatrick is an award-winning author. Her publishing credits include 22 novels, over 220 short stories, 6 collections of her stories, 1 graphic novel, 1 non-fiction book and, as well, she has edited 15 anthologies. She lives in Montreal and her work is published in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and has been translated into 8 languages. These are the genres in which she has published: dark fantasy, horror, fantasy, mystery, science fiction, erotica. Details can be found on her website below.
Library of Erana 