Compiled by Xtina Marie, this heart-stopping conglomeration of terror represents the coming together of a whole bunch of the finest independent horror authors writing today.

Twenty terrifying and gruesome stories about ghosts, monsters, maniacs, and so much more!

Plagued with the talent of seeing the ghosts of murder victims, Wayne Ballard is on a hunt to find the vigilante responsible. Wayne wasn’t sure if it was a gift or misfortune being able to see ghosts. It wouldn’t be so bad if the apparitions didn’t appear to look the way they did when they died. There were some that were headless while others may have been missing extremities or suffered from a fatal gunshot wound to the chest. Sometimes it felt so unreal he thought maybe he was losing his mind, letting his imagination run wild.

Gavin Gregory often stares into the abyss - that's his job. An elite profiler at the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, he hunts serial killers for a living. He knows how they behave, how they think, what motivates them. Considered the best at what he does, Gavin goes to investigate when it appears a dormant psychopath has reactivated. The case takes a bizarre turn when psychiatrist Debra Esteves contacts him and says she knows who the enigmatic killer is. It soon becomes apparent that what she means is that she knows what the killer is.

Jason Crandall, recently widowed, is left to raise his young daughter and rebellious teenage son on his own - and the old Victorian in Shadow Springs seems like the perfect place for them to start over. But the cracks in Jason’s new world begin to show when he meets Savannah Sturgess, a beautiful socialite who has half the men in town dancing on tangled strings.

Shane Ryan knows all about pain and suffering. A retired Marine gunnery sergeant, Shane has seen the worst humanity has to offer. He survived his ordeal, but his soul has been tainted by the darkness, leaving him with a permanent connection to the world of the supernatural. Shane sees the spirits of the dead. He hears their whispered cries of pain. And it’s a gift he plans to put to good use, when he travels to Detroit to investigate the death of one woman who saw through all the darkness in his heart. A woman who became his lover, many years ago. 

After an exhausting trek through seven hells, all Lazarus wants is to kick back and relax through the holidays. Unfortunately, the supernatural has other plans. Three murder-suicides in as many weeks has New Orleans on edge. The killers? All family men, loving fathers, and wizards. Two is a coincidence, but three is a pattern Lazarus can't ignore, especially since he fits the profile. Something is driving these men insane and making them murder their beloved families. Something that strikes only at night and leaves only nightmares behind.

 The first exciting Dirk & Steele novel by the incomparable Marjorie M. Liu, Tiger Eye is a breathtaking masterwork of paranormal romance - a stunningly original tale of magic, sensuality, desire, and danger, featuring a hero who is the answer to every romance lover’s fantasy. Tiger Eye is the one that started it all, ushering audiences into the Dirk & Steele world of shape-shifters, psychics, and extraordinary beings, showcasing one of the most inventive talents currently working the shadowland where passion and the amazing intertwine.  

Slated for execution, shape-shifting assassin Dahlia Nite flees her world to hide in the human realm. As payment for the shelter they unknowingly provide, Dahlia dedicates herself to protecting humans from what truly lives in the shadows. Moving from town to town, she hunts the creatures that threaten an unsuspecting human race, burying the truth that could destroy them all. But the shadows are shifting. The lies are adding up. When Sentinel City is threatened by a series of bizarre brutal murders, light is shed on what should never be seen.

Thirteen years ago, Winter Black came home early from a sleepover to find her parents brutally murdered and her little brother gone — taken by a serial killer called The Preacher. Now a rookie FBI agent assigned to her first murder case, Winter has returned to the small Virginia town where she grew up. But when bones found by a hunter lead to the discovery of a secret burial ground containing the remains of children, the investigation suddenly hits close to home as the past and future collide with each new shocking discovery.

Ethan Barret is on trial for attempted murder. The problem is, he doesn’t remember doing it. His hands committed the crime, but he was asleep the whole time. Ethan Barret is also only 12 years old. Gordon Pope is down on his luck. He was one of the best child psychiatrists in the country before his divorce. Now he’s broke, bored, and spiraling into depression. He agrees to be an expert witness in Ethan’s case because he needs the extra cash for drinking money. What he doesn’t know is that he’s about to be thrown into a race against time to save the boy.

He slips through the unlocked window. Creeps down the hall. A shadow standing in the bedroom doorway. Will you wake when death comes ripping? A string of brutal home invasion murders terrifies Dade County, Florida. The killer strikes in the dead of the night, savages innocent people in their beds, wipes out entire families. He attacks at random. Rich. Poor. Young. Old. No one is safe. When the city sleeps, he comes alive. Stalks the night. Walks among us. 

When the director of a local mental health hospital is found murdered and mutilated, Homicide Detective Reed Davies is first on scene. What was done to the body is gruesome. Inexplicable. But Reed is dealt another curveball when he finds that the doctor who discovered the victim is someone Reed is intimately familiar with - a woman with whom he shared one passionate night weeks before. Dr. Elizabeth Nolan is somehow tangled up in the crime, and even while Reed must now question her possible involvement, he can’t help being drawn to the beautiful, enigmatic woman. 

If Lupe Dávila and Javier Utierre can survive each other’s company, together they can solve a series of grisly murders sweeping though Puerto Rico. But the clues lead them out of the real world and into the realm of myths and legends. And if they want to catch the killer, they'll have to step into the shadows to see what's lurking there - murderer or monster?   

A month after her high school graduation, small-town girl Samantha "Sam" Bronwyn boards a plane with her best friend, Ginny. Destination: San Francisco. But when Ginny disappears inside an airport bathroom wearing Sam's letterman jacket, it doesn't take her long to figure out she was the intended target. Alone in a strange city, Sam's on a run for her life - drawn into a dark past she never knew existed. A past where secrets aren't all that's buried and where revenge comes at the highest price.