Haunted Tales

Mary O'Reilly has absolutely no plans to meet with anyone on Black Friday as she sets up her office for the annual Christmas Walk that is to be held the following weekend in downtown Freeport. So, nearly eight months pregnant, she dresses for comfort - sweats, thick socks and a flannel shirt. Imagine her surprise when someone barges into her office and announces they're filming her for a guest spot on their cable television show, Ghost Discoverers.

Mandy, a novice nurse at Freeport hospital, took the elevator down to get supplies for her area. It only took a moment to go from four down to three. The elevator doors opened to a dimly lit floor. She walked out and glanced to her right. The empty nurses station was just down the hall before the double doors that she assumed led to the now empty rooms. There were a few boxes on the counter that surrounded the station, but other than those, the station was empty.  

Mary O’Reilly Alden froze and stared into the living room. She could swear that something moved in there. She walked around the counter, toward the living room, and heard a soft giggle. It sounded like a child’s voice, but there was something about it that sent chills down her spine. “Who’s there?” she asked, walking to the entrance of the room. The giggle repeated, this time clearer. “I don’t find this funny at all,” she replied firmly, trying not to show her fear. 

Was it raining outside? Dale Johnson wondered as he woke up. It was dark and he could hear the sound of rain hitting the roof. Suddenly, he was pelted with something small and hard. He opened his eyes and sat up, nearly fainting in the process. His head was pounding. What the hell happened? He was pelted again and realized he was being hit with small pieces of corn. His stomach twisted and his heart pounded. He wasn't in his house; he was in the grain silo!

"But Sol, it ain't haunted like you thought," Marty argued cautiously. It wasn't a good idea to get Sol too angry. "We've tried everything, séances, Ouija boards, mediums - everything. This place is just an old, empty house. A creepy, old house." Sol shook his head, disregarding Marty's words, and started up the tall staircase to the second floor. "It just has to seem like a haunted house," he said.

Detective Sean O'Reilly is called in to interrogate a young boy who is the only witness to a massacre during a gang war. The child's story is too far-fetched for most of the Chicago Police Force to believe - claims of an army of other-worldly creatures who attacked and dismembered the rival gangs. But Sean O'Reilly believes him, because he's seen them himself. An encounter he had as a boy in a dark forest in Ireland did not just give him nightmares, but changed his entire life.

Sean O'Reilly and the other members of the Order of Brigid's Cross have to track down a changeling who has come to the Chicago area to seduce young women and bring them down to faery. But will one of their own become a victim to his dangerous spell? 

A gunshot rings out on the night of the Super Moon and a promising college student is killed. Was it an accident, or did her research into false claims by a bio-tech agricultural company garner her too much attention? The wrong kind of attention? Mary and Bradley have to find out or Ruth McCredie will never rest.

Brooke Callahan's life might not have been perfect, but it was pretty much what she had expected. She was successful, she was admired, and she had a reputation for being a tough defense lawyer, even for her pro-bono cases. Her father was the well-respected and often feared Judge Callahan. Her mother, Amy Callahan, was a successful hostess in the politically influential circles of Cook County, Illinois.

Venus Thibodeaux had a reputation for being trouble. Some said she started at birth. When she finally left Sinful shortly after turning 18, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. When she blew back into town four years later, no one was happy about her return. She immediately launched into her same old scams, picking off Sinful residents with ease before disappearing again as quickly as she’d appeared.  

Fortune, Ida Belle, and Gertie are finally off to Florida on the vacation they’ve always talked about. Days filled with white sand, turquoise water, and fruity drinks are the only thing on the agenda. But when Gertie’s “hot date” turns up dead and she’s the number one suspect, they’re forced to hang up their bathing suits and shift to investigating mode.

Over 100 years ago, a group of witches escaping a second wave of Witch Trials made their way from New England to Whitewater, Wisconsin, known as Second Salem. Others, seeking knowledge in spiritualism and the occult, also made their way to the city and, through their ignorance, unleashed an evil entity poised to destroy the city. Three sisters, the Willoughby Witches, created an incantation strong enough to ensnare the demon.

It’s Christmas Eve, and Violet Parker has one request on her list for Santa - to make it home to her kids. Unfortunately, “home” is also the lair of her life-long nemesis, her sister Susan, aka the devil’s concubine. Standing in Violet’s way is Old Man Winter, who slammed the Black Hills with a show-stopping blizzard. However, a little snow isn’t going to ground her sleigh, not with family counting on her to deliver Santa’s goods.

A Valentine's Day Wedding at Marlow House? Love is in the air-along with secrets - some are deadlier than others. Will secrets from Clint Marlow's past come back to haunt Walt and Danielle?  

Harper Harlow has everything she wants. She has a new house...a new fiancé...and some time off work because the stretch after the holidays is generally slow. All that changes when she gets a call from her mother during a storm. Gloria’s boyfriend is dead...Harper is determined to clear her mother - and get her out of the house before Jared explodes - and she wants to do it in record time. The two sides are going to have to come together to solve this one...and even then, the final answer might tear their entire world apart.