horror fiction

Five years ago, a parasite poisoned the water of Ian?s West Virginia hometown, turning dozens of locals into dark-eyed, oil-dripping shells of their former selves. With chronic migraines and seizures limiting his physical abilities, Ian relies on his best friend and secret love Eric to mercy-kill any infected people they come across. Until a new health report about the contamination triggers a mandatory government evacuation, and Ian cracks his head in the rush. Used to hospitals and health scares, Ian always thought he'd die young... but he wasn?t planning on coming back. Much less face the slow, painful realization that Eric left him behind to die. Desperate to find Eric and the truth before the parasite takes over him, Ian along with two others left behind?his old childhood rival Monica and the jaded prepper Angel?journey to track down Eric. What they don't know is that Eric is also looking for Ian, and he's determined to mercy-kill him.

Temple Baker, the daughter of a well-known serial killer, assumes the role of a camp counselor at a camp for true crime enthusiasts while she attempts to unearth the truth surrounding her mother's murder, but becomes embroiled in a disturbing series of events when a girl is found dead in the woods.

Teenage Nora uncovers dangerous secrets and eerie local lore surrounding disappearances in her small town, where a teacher and three high school students, including her best friend, go missing.

Wyatt Westlock has one plan for the farmhouse she's just inherited--to burn it to the ground. But during her final walkthrough of her childhood home, she makes a shocking discovery in the basement--Peter, the boy she once considered her best friend, strung up in chains and left for dead. Unbeknownst to Wyatt, Peter has suffered hundreds of ritualistic deaths on her family's property. Semi-immortal, Peter never remains dead for long, but he can't really live, either. Not while he's bound to the farm, locked in a cycle of grisly deaths and painful rebirths. There's only one way for him to break free. He needs to end the Westlock line. He needs to kill Wyatt. With Wyatt's parents gone, the spells protecting the property have begun to unravel, and dark, ancient forces gather in the nearby forest. The only way for Wyatt to repair the wards is to work with Peter--the one person who knows how to harness her volatile magic. But how can she trust a boy who's sworn an oath to destroy her?.

"After his father returns from treatment for addiction, highschooler Vish -- lover of metal music and literature -- is uncertain what the future holds. It doesn't help that everyone seems to know about the family's troubles, and they stand out doubly as one of the only brown families in town. When Vish is mistaken for a relative of the weird local bookseller and attacked by an unsettling pale man who seems to be decaying, he is pulled into the world of the occult, where witches live in television sets, undead creatures can burn with a touch, and magic is mathematical"--Provided by publisher.

"Growing up in the small town of Winston, Pennsylvania, feels like drowning. Leah goes to church every Sunday, works when she isn't at school, and takes care of her baby brother, Owen. Like every girl in Winston, she tries to be right and good and holy. If she isn't, the Lord of the Wood will take her, and she'll disappear like so many other girls before her. But living up to the rigorous standards of the town takes its toll. One night, when Owen won't stop screaming, Leah wishes him away, and the Lord listens. The screaming stops, and all that's left in the crib is a small bundle of sticks tied with a ribbon. Filled with shame and the weight of the town's judgment, Leah crosses the river into the Lord of the Wood's domain to bring Owen back. But the devilish figure who has haunted Winston for generations isn't what she expects. He tells her she can have her brother back--for a price. It's a bargain that will uncover secrets her hometown has tried to keep buried for decades. And what she unearths will have her questioning everything she's been taught to fear"--Provided by publisher.

"Twins Oliver and Trisha are on a canoe trip with their dad when a freak accident leaves their father badly injured. With no cell phone reception, their only choice is to continue down river and hope to find civilization. And they do-in a small village. Except the people there behave strangely, and weirdest of all is the giant scarecrow in the village square. The townspeople seem nervous-obsessed-with the scarecrow. 'He watches over us,' the twins are told. 'He keeps us safe.' An old woman whispers to the twins that they should not, under any circumstances, spend the night in the village. Not if they ever want to leave. But with the sun soon to set and their father at the medical center, can they escape? And if not, can they survive?"--Provided by publisher.

When a ghost from the spirit world transforms her sister, Ruby Chen confronts the dark upheaval in Vancouver's Chinatown as she enters into an ancient battle over the gateway to the underworld as she attempts to save her sister and her community.

"There are only two things seventeen-year-old Jericka knows about her estranged grandmother: her name, and that she abandoned Jericka's mom and uncle when they were kids. But now that her grandmother is dying, Jericka is dragged to middle-of-nowhere Coldwater, Maryland, to say goodbye. While Jericka attempts to form a connection with a woman she's never known and adjust to life in a town where everything closes before dinner, she meets 'ghost girl' Kat, who is eager to leave Coldwater and intriguing despite some troubling town gossip. As summer unwinds, Jericka uses her senior photography portfolio to capture the town as it is--and as it was--only to discover that Coldwater has a few unsettling secrets of its own. The more you try to leave, the stronger the town's hold. As she feels the chilling pull of her family's past, Jericka begins to question everything she thought she knew about her mother, her childhood, and the lines between the living and the dead"--Provided by publisher.

Convinced that a big-foot-like creature took her best friend during a scouting trip, eleven-year-old Jenna sets out into the woods to find her.