Elegy for the Undead

Matthew Vesely

Jude and Lyle's newlywed life is shattered when a vicious attack leaves Lyle infected with a disease that transforms him into a violent and often incomprehensible person. With no cure for the "zombie" virus in sight, the young husbands begin to face the last months they have together before Lyle loses himself completely. Fond remembrances of young love meet the challenges of navigating a partner's terminal illness in this bittersweet tale that explores both how we fall in love and how we say goodbye when the time comes far too soon.

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The Spider Silk Scarf: A Short Story

Ana Reyes

From the New York Times bestselling author of The House in the Pines comes a haunting short story about grief, growth, and regret that asks the question, “What do you get when you steal from a witch?” Nora has always gotten a thrill from stealing things—from shoplifting nail polish as a young teenager to now, in her twenties, reaching higher than a receptionist’s salary allows. Her handyman fiancé, Ben, doesn’t ask questions when she shows up with a new necklace or cracks open a bottle of high-end cognac that they clearly can’t afford. When Ben comes home from a repair job for a notoriously reclusive neighbor, he passes along rumors of an extraordinary object hidden away in her gloomy old house. A scarf, woven from the silk of black widow spiders. It’s priceless, not only because it’s completely unique, but also because, as legend has it, it took twelve weavers seven years to create. Only eleven survived. As obsession takes hold, Nora finds herself breaking into her neighbor’s home. But what happens next defies explanation. One glimpse into the world of a witch could change Nora’s life forever—if she makes it out.

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The Unhaunting

Micaiah Johnson

Award-winning author Micaiah Johnson invites you to Abernathy House.A house, itself, is nothing. It’s not a shelter until it is sheltering someone. A house is a housefire, waiting for its match. A house is a ghost story, waiting for its death.At the end of the Civil War, a daughter of the confederacy made what she thought was an innocent to build a house where nothing bad could happen. But peace came at a price, and one hundred and seventy years later Shantell and her friends are about to discover where all that darkness ended up.When Shantell’s best friend, Avery, tells her he has inherited a house big enough to make their dreams of a sanctuary come true, she’s too cautious to be optimistic. A lifetime of loss — her father to the Iraq war, her brother to police violence, and her mother to suicide — has taught her cynicism, and even though Avery swears the house has never experienced a tragedy, she goes along expecting everything from black mold to evil spirits.But not only is the house in better shape than they’d expected, it makes them better Shantell’s anxiety stops flaring up, terminally shallow Avery is suddenly capable of deeper emotions, and Tobias, Avery’s older brother and the contractor for the job, even quits chain smoking.There’s an eeriness to the calm, and it’s almost a relief when they realize they do not walk alone in Abernathy House. If nothing bad has ever happened here, where are all these ghosts coming from? As they dig into the house’s history, Shantell, Avery, and Tobias discover that there’s only one thing worse than a house that’s a house that desperately wants to be.

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The Spider Silk Scarf: A Short Story

Ana Reyes

From the New York Times bestselling author of The House in the Pines comes a haunting short story about grief, growth, and regret that asks the question, “What do you get when you steal from a witch?” Nora has always gotten a thrill from stealing things—from shoplifting nail polish as a young teenager to now, in her twenties, reaching higher than a receptionist’s salary allows. Her handyman fiancé, Ben, doesn’t ask questions when she shows up with a new necklace or cracks open a bottle of high-end cognac that they clearly can’t afford. When Ben comes home from a repair job for a notoriously reclusive neighbor, he passes along rumors of an extraordinary object hidden away in her gloomy old house. A scarf, woven from the silk of black widow spiders. It’s priceless, not only because it’s completely unique, but also because, as legend has it, it took twelve weavers seven years to create. Only eleven survived. As obsession takes hold, Nora finds herself breaking into her neighbor’s home. But what happens next defies explanation. One glimpse into the world of a witch could change Nora’s life forever—if she makes it out.

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Elegy for the Undead

Matthew Vesely

Jude and Lyle's newlywed life is shattered when a vicious attack leaves Lyle infected with a disease that transforms him into a violent and often incomprehensible person. With no cure for the "zombie" virus in sight, the young husbands begin to face the last months they have together before Lyle loses himself completely. Fond remembrances of young love meet the challenges of navigating a partner's terminal illness in this bittersweet tale that explores both how we fall in love and how we say goodbye when the time comes far too soon.

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Reliquary

Hannah Whitten

A young woman is lured to her late fiancé's remote island estate—only to uncover eerie family secrets, a haunting past, and a monstrous hunger stirring beneath the sea in this deliciously atmospheric horror debut from New York Times bestselling author Hannah Whitten. When Claire’s fiancé mysteriously dies of an unknown neurological illness, she’s prepared to sink back into the lonely life she lived before. Orphaned by a freak boating accident in her childhood, she never expected to find connection like she did with Elias, anyway. Their relationship wasn’t perfect—his coldness, his secrets, his strange aversion to the ocean—but what relationship is? When Elias’s family reaches out—his incredibly wealthy family, from whom he was estranged—and invites Claire to a three-day wake at Harrow Point, their family home on a private island, Claire is given the chance to find family again. To belong to something, just like she’s always wanted. Just like Elias knew she was desperate to have. Even if that family is a little strange. Even if their coastal home stirs up memories of the accident that killed her parents and sister. Even if Ash, Elias’s older brother, seems insistent on Claire leaving as soon as possible. As she dives deeper into the world of Harrow Point, she will uncover the nature of her own traumatic connection to the ocean. There is something swimming in the bowels of Harrow Point, and it is hungry…

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The Heirs

Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

From the award-winning New York Times and Indie bestselling author of Ace of Spades comes a mystery about five teen geniuses, their billionaire father, and the aftermath of his murder—perfect for fans of The Inheritance Games, Holly Jackson, and How to Get Away with Murder!Five prodigies, one dead father, a mansion full of suspects…Octavius the Maestro.Fola the Brain.Bilal the Olympian.Perdita the Artist.Romeo the Failure.These are the five heirs of the illustrious billionaire Leontes Button. Adopted and viciously trained with their father’s infamous “Button Method” to prove his hypothesis for creating prodigies—child geniuses—the Button siblings have had no choice but to be brilliant according to their father's impossibly high standards.Until he is murdered at his annual Prodigy Ball.Now, all who attended the ball are required to stay in the Button Manor while the police investigate. But the officers have their work cut out for them—each of the Button siblings has something to hide, but The Heirs aren't the only ones with secrets. After all, Leontes Button was especially good at making enemies. . .

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Score

Kennedy Ryan

A scorching second-chance romance between a talented screenwriter and a phenomenal musician from "a fantastic storyteller and superb writer." ―NPR ​You never forget your first love. Isn't that what they say? Verity Hill knows this truth intimately. She didn't simply miss Wright "Monk" Bellamy when they parted ways in college. She's haunted by his touch. Every kiss, any lover since—it's a shadow of what they had. Time heals all wounds. Isn't that what they say? Monk doesn't believe that for a second. He wasn't simply betrayed when he and Verity split. He was devastated, with parts of him left behind in the ruins of all that was destroyed. More than a decade after their disastrous breakup, Verity and Monk must work together on the set of an epic Harlem Renaissance biopic. With Monk, now a world-class musician, creating the score, and Verity, an award-winning screenwriter, penning the script, there's Oscar buzz before shooting even begins. This once-in-a-lifetime project could catapult them both to new heights, but can they can put the past behind them for the sake of the film…for the sake of something more?

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Bodies of Magic

Freya Marske

Grey’s Anatomy meets A Deadly Education in this dark academia fantasy from USA Today bestselling author Freya Marske. At the Academie of the Grand Duchy of Sieuxerr, every mage with the healer’s gift has five years to master their power and to prepare for the infamous Grand Exam—a five-day trial whose results will determine their entire future. The list of exam rules includes: • You will perform five practical cases. • Your exam group is chosen at random. • You pass together, or fail together. It does not include: • On the first day, your exam group will find a classmate's dead body in the exam hall. And as they will soon discover, this particular group all have something to hide... and all have a connection with the dead girl, a brilliant scholar who would have been first in their class. Five scholars. Five secrets. Five days in which to solve a murder, pass the most important exam of their lives, and uncover a secret larger than all of their own combined. One with the potential to change the world. Are you ready? Let’s begin.

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As the Snow Gathers

Mere Joyce

The forest doesn't just take what it's owed—it takes whatever it wants. Dominic was born in Aplin Shade, a remote Canadian town built on the bones of another that vanished without a trace. Bookish and quiet, he never asked to lead his family, but after a carriage crash kills his father and leaves his sister forever changed, he has no choice. The only person who truly sees him is Lex, a logger in the camp near town and the love Dominic must keep secret. Together they dream of escaping Aplin Shade, a place where isolation breeds judgment and every kindness hides a cost. But the forest is no refuge. The Fanteur dwell there—shadowed beings who come at night to drain the dead of their blood and return them for burial by dawn. They've never touched the living. Until now. As winter descends and the Fanteur strike back against the logging camp, Dominic and Lex must fight for their lives, their love, and a way out of the woods' tightening grasp. Because the forest doesn't forgive, and it never forgets.

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Maria the Wanted

V. Castro

Newly turned Mexican vampire, Maria, is not just out for blood, she wants answers. From the twice Bram Stoker-nominated author of The Haunting of Alejandra and Immortal Pleasures, a gripping tale of empowerment, desire and belonging, perfect for readers of A Dowry of Blood and Certain Dark Things. Maria is a wanted woman. She's wanted by an Aztec trafficker, a cartel boss, the people she fights for, and now the Devil she can't resist. Her journey begins as a would-be immigrant turned vampire in Juarez, Mexico until the injustices of the world turn her into something else. Forced to leave her home and family, she embarks on a journey across Mexico seeking those answers. She learns a new language and how to survive as a vampire. To ease her restlessness she finds work with an ex-boxer and learns to fight, becoming an unlikely bad ass enforcer of justice for the community that has embraced her. Is she a saint or an old God from a forgotten past? An encounter with a violent, ruthless vampire boss leads her to finally find her creator, and he is nothing like she imagined. Drawn into a world of ancient vampires, deadly conspiracies and a dangerously seductive devil, Maria must find a way to fight for herself and all humankind. A fierce and seductive vampire thriller, pulsing with rage, fear and desire, that explores the dark back streets of Mexico and a vampire woman's determination to find her place in the world.

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A Sincere Warning About the Entity in Your Home

Jason Arnopp

"Dear friend, This is no chain letter, hoax or prank. It is a sincere warning about your home and the entity which dwells within. Your home has been haunted for quite some time. I am sorry that I could not personally deliver this document. I did not even post it myself. The postmark on the envelope will not help you, should you ever attempt to locate me. When this letter is complete, I shall entrust a friend in another country with repackaging and sending it on my behalf. This letter also may or may not have been translated from its original language. You do not know me. You must never know me. Neither do I know you, beyond your name, address and appearance. I have seen you in person but you have not seen me. Think back to the day that you moved into your home. I contrived to casually pass by as you stood outside. I saw your face, but you did not so much as glance my way. I did not stop walking. I simply committed your face to memory and moved on before you became aware of my presence. Why did I want to see you? I suppose my conscience drove me to it. Just as it compels me to finally write this letter. I wanted to see exactly who I was passing the entity on to." A NEW CONCEPT IN FEAR... Imagine a supernatural horror story in which the paranormal activity happens within YOUR home. A SINCERE WARNING ABOUT THE ENTITY IN YOUR HOME takes the form of an anonymous letter sent to YOUR address. It details the terrifying events which happened in your home and which continue to this day. You have inherited a curse and are being preyed upon by a bone-chilling apparition. This 10,000-word letter from the previous resident advises you how to cope, while detailing the unthinkable ordeal they suffered before you. A SINCERE WARNING ABOUT THE ENTITY IN YOUR HOME is the ultimate way to scare yourself in your own home, because it's the only ghost story which takes place IN your home. Dare you read it?

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In These Gilded, Ghostly Hearts

Gwendolyn Kiste

Stoker winner Gwendolyn Kiste holds up a dark, queer mirror to The Great Gatsby in In These Gilded, Ghostly Hearts, a haunting exploration of the obsession and control at the edges of an American classic. In 1955, Daisy Buchanan is found dead in an abandoned West Egg mansion, but her daughter Mel knows she's really been gone for years. No one knows whether Daisy was murdered, or if it was a simpler, slower death: her yearslong spiral of alcohol, abuse, and helplessness. But when Mel enters the estate, she finds Daisy's ghost, somehow frozen at twenty-three, and a charming, bleeding phantom that used to be Jay Gatsby. To free her mother, Mel must carve a path through family secrets and decaying revelers: deep into Gatsby’s starving house, as it gorges itself on unfulfilled love and grows stronger every night.

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In These Gilded, Ghostly Hearts

Gwendolyn Kiste

Stoker winner Gwendolyn Kiste holds up a dark, queer mirror to The Great Gatsby in In These Gilded, Ghostly Hearts, a haunting exploration of the obsession and control at the edges of an American classic. In 1955, Daisy Buchanan is found dead in an abandoned West Egg mansion, but her daughter Mel knows she's really been gone for years. No one knows whether Daisy was murdered, or if it was a simpler, slower death: her yearslong spiral of alcohol, abuse, and helplessness. But when Mel enters the estate, she finds Daisy's ghost, somehow frozen at twenty-three, and a charming, bleeding phantom that used to be Jay Gatsby. To free her mother, Mel must carve a path through family secrets and decaying revelers: deep into Gatsby’s starving house, as it gorges itself on unfulfilled love and grows stronger every night.

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Birthday Girl

Penelope Douglas

JORDAN He took me in when I had nowhere else to go. He doesn’t use me, hurt me, or forget about me. He doesn’t treat me like I’m nothing, take me for granted, or make me feel unsafe. He remembers me, laughs with me, and looks at me. He listens to me, protects me, and sees me. I can feel his eyes on me over the breakfast table, and my heart pumps so hard when I hear him pull in the driveway after work. I have to stop this. It can’t happen. My sister once told me there are no good men, and if you find one, he’s probably unavailable. Only Pike Lawson isn’t the unavailable one. I am. PIKE I took her in, because I thought I was helping. She’d cook a few meals and clean up a little. It was an easy arrangement. As the days go by, though, it’s becoming anything but easy. I have to stop my mind from drifting to her and stop holding my breath every time I bump into her in the house. I can’t touch her, and I shouldn’t want to. The more I find my path crossing hers, though, the more she’s becoming a part of me. But we’re not free to give into this. She’s nineteen, and I’m thirty-eight. And her boyfriend’s father. Unfortunately, they both just moved into my house. *BIRTHDAY GIRL is a stand-alone, contemporary romance suitable for ages 18+.

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June First

Jennifer Hartmann

From the author of Still Beating comes another standalone forbidden romance turning something broken into something beautiful. Want to know what happens to a man who barely claws his way out of a tragedy, only to fall right into the arms of the one girl in the world he isn't allowed to love? Another tragedy, that's what. When Brant was six years old, his father made a choice that altered the course of his entire life. Because of what he did, the only girl Brant ever loved became the only girl he couldn't have. Though in a lot of ways, he did have her... He had her first steps, her first words, her first smile. He had her milestones, her heartbreaks, her dreams. He had her heart so woven in with his, he didn't know where she ended, and he began. Only, as the years pressed on, lines became blurred—and the blurrier the line, the easier it is to cross. They say tragedy comes in threes. For Brant, that was true. The first one changed him, the second one broke him, and the third one healed him. But at the center of all that tragedy, there is a love story. And at the center of that love story, there is June.

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