June Spotlight – Anthologies & Collections

This month the spotlight moves on to one of most popular selections of books – anthologies and short story collections. The list below comprising of a wide range of books, featuring stories by some outstanding authors. Take a look through the list, grab a few books, and dive in.

Wakeful Children by S.P. Oldham

When you open the pages of Wakeful Children, you peer into the mind of a depraved killer who started out small; the panic-stricken thoughts of a recovering alcoholic, just trying to get to a group meeting; the anguished, silent prayers of a man whose only wish is to get a peaceful night’s sleep. You get a glimpse into the greediness of a collector of old, even ancient artefacts – just don’t ask how he came upon them; the idle thoughts of a girl, playing innocently in the grounds of her grandparent’s house, oblivious to what she really is; the calculating machinations of an apparently frail, beautiful woman who is not all she appears to be.

The thoughts and actions of all these beings and more, including entities too old to truly age, spirits too nebulous to name, make up eleven short, intriguing, unsettling stories by S P Oldham, every story fresh and original. Beautifully descriptive prose, sometimes shockingly brutal passages coupled with vividly imagined and clearly depicted storylines make Wakeful Children: A Collection of Horror and Supernatural Tales an intriguing, inventive debut for this author. Buy from the author’s website, from Amazon UK and US, or from Troubador (50% off with he code WAKEFUL). Read our review of Wakeful Children here

Karma & Other Stories by P.J. Blakey-Novis

Karma & Other Stories is a collection of six terrifying stories, with tales of vengeance, the occult, a deadly competition, a weekend trip which turns violent, witchcraft, and things which go bump in the night. These short stories pack a punch, with endings that will haunt your dreams. Buy here

 

 

 

Devil’s Night: Bite-Sized Horror by Pippa Bailey & Myk Pilgrim

From the Authors of Poisoned Candy and the publishers of The Little Book of Harm, comes Devil’s Night, a collection of bite-sized horror stories for Halloween. Buy UK and US

 

 

 

 

Elements of Horror Book One: Earth

Elements of Horror Book One: Earth, is the first in a series of four horror anthologies based on the Elements. Within these pages you will find a variety of stories from some of the best independent horror writers on the scene today, including Theresa Jacobs, R.C. Rumple, David F. Gray, and many more. Fall into sinkholes, brave the tales of witchcraft, grotesque creatures, and demons, and feel the terror of explorations gone wrong. Buy here

 

 

Collected Halloween Horror Shorts by Kevin J. Kennedy

If you love horror, Halloween is probably your favourite time of the year. Well… It’s ours, too.

A mixture of authors from Collected Christmas Horror Shorts and Collected Easter Horror Shorts have come back together, and invited a few friends, to make this Halloween an extra special one.

Lock your door, dim your lights, add some pumpkin spice to whatever you are drinking and light your jack-o’-lanterns. This will be a Halloween you will never forget. Buy UK and US

Black Dogs, Black Tales – Where the Dogs Don’t Die

From the Foreword by Alan Baxter: “As the stories in this book point out, dogs are the best, and we should all try to be a little bit more like them. Except the butt-sniffing. We don’t need that. Unless it’s your personal kink, in which case, enjoy! Meanwhile, read this book, be transported by the dark tales, and enriched by the wagging tails. And remember, you are awesome.”

17 short dark fiction stories, some poems, some illustrations. featuring dogs that you know won’t die… Buy UK and US

Shrouded Voices

Wondrous adventures await you beneath Shrouded Voices.

Ageless and timeless, four adventurers set out on journeys all their own, but fate wound their tales together. Lead by the fearless Theresa Jacobs, they threw their lots in as a team with one goal – to vanquish the evil wizard of time, Obscuritmos. Follow their individual tales as they weave together to form the powerful weapon that will one day vanquish their dark enemy to bring their new light into the world. Buy here

Carnival of Nightmares

You lie awake at night fearing them. Wondering when they will come for you.

Some nights they leave you in peace. Other nights they dig their claws into your mind, taking you to places of sheer terror and unfathomable horror.

Whether it’s walking through the haunted house while its secrets threaten to keep you prisoner, or staring at the room of mirrors while the deformed faces of circus freaks smile at you with malicious intent—sooner or later you will realize that what you fear most is the evil which waits beneath the surface of your dreams.

So, tonight when you lay your head down to sleep, remember to say your prayers…

Because you might be mere seconds away from entering…

The Carnival of Nightmares. Buy UK and US

Notches: A Collection by M. Enennbach

A Collection of dark, twisted and some humorous stories including an epic dark poem from the tormented mind of M. Ennenbach. Each story will give you a window into the darkness of the soul. Fueled by raw, powerful emotions. They will chew you up and spit you out, leaving you quivering on the floor in a gruesome mess begging for more. Are you brave enough to traverse the dark path laid before you or will you become another notch on the wall? Buy UK and US

 

United by Darkness & Other Weird Tales by Andrew Bell

What would happen if an old tradition was disturbed? Would you murder for love?Slowly becoming the statue you once worshiped? Pushed over the edge, what if you were so traumatized you would remove your jaw so that nobody would know the truth?These are just a few concepts tackled in this collection of weird tales…enjoy! Buy UK and US

 

 

Twisted Tales by D.J. Doyle

A collection of tales with a twist, from sci-fi to folklore, there’s something for everyone.
Also a number of 100 word horrors to tease the horror taste buds.
Featuring The Devil’s Tree by the talented Lee Franklin. Buy here Read our review of Twisted Tales here

 

 

 

Dark Solstice Holiday Horror Collection: A Flash Fiction Anthology

A dark solstice drapes the land
A tinge of terror in the light
The fetid breath of monsters
No longer confined to the night

The summer solstice is the longest day of the year, but even the light can’t keep away all that goes bump in the night.

From rituals and witches to summer slasher and sunny horror, Dark Solstice has it all.

How will you celebrate the solstice? Buy UK and US

A is for Aliens: A to Z of Horror Book One

A is for Aliens, the first book in an epic series of twenty-six horror anthologies. Within these pages you will find a collection of thirteen stories from some of the finest independent writers on the scene today, blending science fiction with horror. From the humorous to the terrifying, A is for Aliens contains a diverse range of stories with each author taking a different approach to the theme. Buy here

 

 

Abysmal Feast: An Agglomeration of Anthropophagic Atrocities by Toneye Eyenot

The human soul’s cavity can only be measured through a spectrum of darkness. The deeper, the more humid and colourless.
The atrocities scrutinizing your most abominable desires creep up on every single thought, escaping the pressure of your attempt to control… your hunger. Ferocious hunger increasing at every pull of the leash.
Do you think you are the one controlling it?
You think wrong. Buy here Read our review of Abysmal Feast here

 

Ode to Death by Andrew Lennon

“ODE TO DEATH is a celebration of good, old fashioned storytelling and creeping dread. I couldn’t stop turning the pages and you won’t be able to either. I had a great time with this collection.” — Richard Chizmar

From author Andrew Lennon comes a new collection of eighteen titles, including short stories, drabbles and poetry. This versatile collection will have you fearing those noises coming from the attic, questioning whether you should enter that haunted house at the fairground, thinking twice before you stay in a motel on a desert-stricken highway. It will touch you emotionally when you witness a person’s struggles, their discovery of new friends, how they can triumph and live to see another day, raising their heads to create their own Ode to Death. Buy here

Stitches and Threads by Mark Cassell

A collection of short stories inverting witchcraft and demonology tropes, bringing you the supernatural, the occult, hauntings, and creatures of the night, each with a different slant. The tales within these pages rip the fabric of our reality, where loose stitches and threads allow us to see, not just in the dark, but into the core of fear, of wonder, and beyond . . . into the void.

Here you will discover tales that include a hangover from hell, a bizarre Easter egg and its nest, a clinical trial in the 1980s, a grandfather’s secret that carries down through generations, accidental resurrections across the globe, and many other deep-rooted evils humankind should have kept buried. Buy UK and US

Arterial Bloom

Lush. Brutal.
Beautiful. Visceral.

Crystal Lake Publishing proudly presents Arterial Bloom, an artful juxtaposition of the magnificence and macabre that exist within mankind. Each tale in this collection is resplendent with beauty, teeth, and heart. Buy here

 

 

Collection Two: Enter If You Dare by Marc W. Johnson

Welcome to my collection of short stories. I dare you to unlock the door that holds back my darkest thoughts. Step into the black, I triple dog dare you. Buy UK and US

 

 

 

Under the Weather

What do you do when it’s raining cats and dogs… and pigs and whales? Take refuge in 15 stories of wild and wicked weather.
They will freeze you to the core, they will soak you to the bone.
You will find no pot of gold at the end of this rainbow, no sunshine after the rain. Just thunder and lightning that’s very, very frightening.
There’s a storm coming… Buy UK and US

 

 

Something Said by Mark Anthony Smith

Mark Anthony Smith’s “Something Said” is a splendid compilation of short “fictions and verse” artfully crafted by the long-time author. Buy UK and US

 

 

 

 

Check out our monthly spotlights on the 1st of each month –

July – Audio Books

August – Books in a Series

September – Standalone Short Stories (under 10k words)

October – 31 Days of Horror

November – Fantasy Books

December – Children’s Books