Showing results by author "Essel Pratt" in All Categories

That’s what 27 writers want you to consider, here in this collection of the strange and terrible, the shocking and amazing, the frightening and awe-inspiring. Assembled here for easy perusal are some of the finest tales of ghosts, zombies, witches, cryptozoological freaks, monsters, and aliens of the past year.

For the month of October 2017, J. Ellington Ashton Press, on their Wicked Little Things blog-talk radio, broadcasted a series of Halloween stories. These “Fireside Stories” (as they were called) were a big hit with the listeners, and the decision was quickly made to publish these tales of terror in an anthology.

Gray, leaden clouds blot out the sky, a cold wind chills your bones, and a frantic whispering is heard among the trees. What is happening? There is no need to ask, for you already know the truth: The terror of Trick-or-Treat Thrillers Best Paranormal has returned for yet another year.... Whether it is a monster from your worst nightmares, an ancient evil that should not still live, a mysterious entity hiding near your home, or even your own demonic family members waiting to pounce, our authors know what frightens you.

It’s that time of year again. In the shadows, otherworldly creatures lurk, under the gravestones, the dead begin to rise, and in that old house down the lane, ghosts rattle their chains. For once more, Trick or Treat Thrillers brings you our pick of the best Indie-paranormal short stories for 2020! Before you begin listening to our selection of 13 stories, however, we recommend you first check under your bed, in your closet, and outside of your window. You never know what may be coming your way.

Shark. Tarantula. Sharkantula. When a genetically modified tarantula finds itself loose in the Great White Shark exhibit at Shark World, the feisty arachnid sinks its fangs into the main attraction. Without warning, the Great White mutates into Sharkantula and the opening day show turns deadly. The mutated shark/tarantula hybrid is hungry and ready to feast upon the flesh of those that don't run away fast enough to escape her webbing. Desperate to stop the carnage, a group of Shark World employees join forces.

Strange occurrences plague Mishawaka, Indiana’s past and present. Local lore whispers accusations of strange and peculiar happenings, prefacing uncertainty if the future is safe. A meeting of youthful inquiry and aged intellect coalesce to reveal the tales behind the secrets. Only the future will reveal if their telling will be Mishawaka’s ungodly undoing!

Racism. Hate. Delusion. Each is an integral ingredient in the recipe of genocide. Each was present during World War II. Xperimental Genocide delves into the "what ifs" as Dr. Ackerman is tasked with summoning the hatred within a young girl that was born from the ashes of Hitler’s hatred of the Jewish people. Faced with the decision to follow orders or his own ethics, Dr. Ackerman finds himself deep in trenches of Hitler’s Xperimental Genocide.

Katherine Mansfield is a no-nonsense private detective in Mishawaka, Indiana. Adopted at an early age, by a police officer, Detective Mansfield was taught early to never take shit from anyone. Tough as nails, she has been the go to investigator for the strange and macabre cases that lurk in the shadows in her small hometown. When Detective Mansfield is called to the scene of an attempted rape, her callous approach begins a journey into a world that she had no idea existed.

Evil lurks from beyond its tomb, summoning the souls of the damned to his clutches, feeding from their auras to replenish its strength so he may reclaim his throne. In his absence, a new beast rises to claim the seat of power, threatening pain and destruction upon the world. Fueled by hatred and the lust for power, the fiend known as Atrin lurks in the shadows and slaughters the creatures known as rifters, suckling on their souls to build his own power.

Upon scripted words of unification, the American president delivers an ultimatum for the citizens of the United States of America. Remain loyal to The Great Experiment that is America or relocate to Texas and Louisiana, former states that President Barry Bigly forced to secede from the Union. The New Sovereign Nation of Texiana begins as a sanctuary for those who predicted President Bigly's tyrannical rule, only to become a desolate wasteland shut off from the rest of the world by a massive border wall.

A season after Sharkantula devastated Shark World, the park reopens with a new feature attraction's arrival, a feisty sloth. As Peyton and Stephanie help Trey, the newest park staff member, prep the sloth for its release in the forest exhibit alongside the existing female sloth, the genetically modified tarantula that created the Sharkantula pays a visit. While the new sloth gains comfort in its surroundings, the gates open to thousands of visitors anxious to check out the Dolphantula show and get a peek at the majestic animals.

Being a misunderstood youth in today's society can mean many things to many people. This audiobook is about the frustrations, fears, facades, and frailties that our youth is faced with each and every day. It is an attempt to express the power of hope and desire for relief.

Repercussions of one’s actions are often not realized for many moons. Usually, such retorts result in minor inconveniences that merely mar the soul and bruise one’s pride. However, when repercussions run afoul, evil in its purest form reveals her damning desire to push one over the edge.

Horrific tales of fright told around a bonfire during remote backwoods retreats are common among close friends. As each person tests the others' ability to remain calm and resist the urge to look over a shoulder as the sounds of nature bellow out in the backdrop, only one may claim victory as the most frightening of the group. Backwoods Bonfire inserts the listener into a group of friends that unintentionally create a case study on what horror means to them, attempting to coerce the others to believe that horror is specific, not fluid.

You won’t find the place on any map. It’s somewhere else, hidden away in a wondrous parallel reality of mystery, awe, and terror. This both is and isn’t the “Old West”. They share the same stark and unforgiving terrain and exist in the same timeframe, primarily the 1800s. But there the similarities cease. In Spirit County, for example, death is often not the end, but the beginning. Sometimes even the middle. Mythological creatures prove real...and deadly. Towns can disappear by daylight and return with the setting sun.

As time marched forward in his absence, Davyn awakes in a familiar place, where he is greeted by the Reaper and urged to venture forth. In a search for answers, Davyn makes his way back to the village, only to realize it has been replaced by a small town filled with large wooden buildings and mystery. Within, he encounters the Reaper, old friends, new friends, and a mysterious man named Seraphim. Together, the new acquaintances advance his journey toward understanding the meaning of his own life, and why he was chosen to take the journey of life and death.

Along the fiery lakes of purgatory, Davyn finds himself searching for escape, until he happens upon a solitary coin that summons the arrival of the Reaper. Refusing to accept his fate, Davyn chooses to dive into the fiery lake in hopes of choosing his own demise, only to find himself awake on the shores of his favorite fishing spot many years later. As Davyn prepares to venture home and reintroduce himself to the living, a terrible tragedy befalls him that intertwines his fate with that of the Reaper's.

When monsters rule the earth...Herein you’ll find a series of sojourns to places where humans are often quite literally overshadowed by the action at hand. This collection of exciting tales from writers who love the giant monster genre runs the gamut from mutation to invasion - from insurrection to vengeance - from the distant past to a far-off future, all with a single common factor: Great big game-changing things.

Notions of the undead have fascinated and terrified humanity for centuries, and none more so than those tales revolving around zombies. From the very root of the zombie myth back in the Haitian slave days to a saturation through popular culture, zombies have crawled their way up out of their graves, refusing to stay interred. Now, as their hordes increase and their hungers grow, the undead plagues cannot be stopped. It isn't just a case of no room left on Earth. The apocalypse is here.

Dracula, Wolfman, The Mummy, Frankenstein. You've lived with the stories your whole life. You've read the tales. You've watched the films. But what if the stories were different? What if the things you read about these monsters were warped and twisted? Here lie stories you may not have heard. Stories both weird and shocking. Bizarre and grotesque. Alternate versions of your favorite classic monsters you've never read and never will again. Featuring 13 stories by Jonathan Moon, The Sisters of Slaughter, Tom Lucas and more!