The Workshop of Filthy Creation by Richard Gadz is a chilling gothic horror story about what it means to be human. In these pages, you will see plenty of the darkness that humanity can create, but you will also see the light!

Centering around an artificially-created being who goes by Maria, this story is unsettling from the start!

As Maria and her host, a biologist named Professor George Hobson, arrive in London after fleeing the man that created Maria, Hobson tries to keep her a secret at first. But his quest for knowledge gets the better of him and he reveals her to a small group of friends.

As you can likely guess, this reveal doesn’t go well and it sends the story into a tailspin of horror. From betrayal and violence, to an attempted forced exorcism or something along those lines from the transfixed religious folk… we see it all!

From the start, readers hearts will go out to poor Maria. The further into the story you get, that feeling will only grow. She’s such a powerful character, you can’t help but be drawn to her and hope for only the best.

Throughout the tale, the atmosphere and the settings that the author creates really paints a dark picture. Some of the description is done so well, you will feel like you’re standing in the streets or in the factory watching the scenes play out. And as a heads up to squeamish readers, there is some body horror involved, so tread lightly here if that bothers you.

The author also finds time to discuss the horrible working conditions for the lower classes and the unfairness of the class system itself.

As Maria sees everything playing out, I loved getting to see how she approached every situation with a bit of innocence but a heavy sense of logic. This was such a neat blend that even though I dreaded seeing her go through something else, I also couldn’t wait to see how she handled a new tricky situation. Maria is certainly a character that never disappoints!

It was almost six o’clock in the evening, and the docks were crowded and noisy. London was beginning to breathe out its workers, just as it had breathed them all in twelve hours earlier. From home to work, work to home, in and out, inhaling and exhaling the industry and economy of the city. A steady flow of people pulsed through the capital’s streets and alleys, blood flowing through the veins of a living creature.

To the north of Whitechapel High Street, a spider’s web of dim streets and alleyways crept out into spitalields and the Mile End New Town. Narrow passages met to form small backyard squares, overlooked by surrounding buildings and cloaked in perpetual shadow, like deep sinkholes in the forest of brick and slate. Chimney smoke from dwellings and factories oozed into the low clouds, congealing the air into a bilious-smelling, viscous mist that languished around street corners and upper floors, never lifting.

Here, people walked with their heads down, minding their own business. The bright hubbub of the high street could have been a thousand miles away.

“The ability of your species to hate is breathtaking.” 

The cavernous entrance hall of the museum was a cold mass of shadows.

Ready to dive into a dark and dreary tale about gruesome medical practices set in Victorian London? Go pick up The Workshop of Filthy Creation today! I can’t wait for you all to meet Maria!

Diaries of the Damned by Ivan Radev is a collection of tales that span numerous dark fears. But as always, even in the darkness, there’s a bit of light.

In the foreword, the author warns that this is a book of fears, and boy does he play on fears wonderfully! Each tale is presented to readers in the first person to really get readers in the characters shoes. Please use caution here when you dive in. The author does not shy away from the darkness.

My favorite stories from this collection included:

Here are my notes on each story:

This story is set up as a selection of diary entries. In the installments, we learn that this man has a lot going on and that the stress is sucking the life out of him. He’s mainly focused on the fear of losing his mother, but soon readers will learn that there is something more sinister going on here. This one has some killer body horror!

When a boy who was forced to overcome his fears by path of punishment via his harsh father grows up, he marries and refuses to pass on the torch of poor fatherhood. However, while he may have quickly overcome many fears over the years, he soon finds that deeply fears one main thing… This one was so unsettling!

When a man hits the road with a heavy load in his truck, he goes through a rollercoaster ride of emotion while on a stretch of road. But then odd things begin to happen and he wishes he could just be home safe. This one was a heart-pumping one! I was so nervous with every turn the road took.

When a trio goes camping in the north, something odd occurs within the first few hours. Two of them are willing to brush it off, but one of them seems spooked. When they all dream of an old woman, one man runs off, chasing down what he was being “called” to. These men thought they were going on a fun camping trip, but things are about to take a turn. Another super unsettling tale with quite the ending!

After a man loses his wife to sickness, he fills his home with clocks and becomes obsessed with time. But then one day, one clock gets stuck at sixteen to nine. Soon after, the other clocks follow along and this man begins to count down the time in which he will see his wife again. This one was so sad!

This troubling interrogation had the goal of finding out exactly what happened at Deep Dive before it spreads and kills others. The interviewee clearly had nothing to lose from the very start, so he brought a snarky and blunt edge to the interrogation, meanwhile, the interviewer wasn’t holding any punches either. The premise of this one is terrifying! From the testing on humans to the results they were trying to replicate.

Written as a letter to her ex, this woman tries to beg for forgiveness while she recaps what has been going on. BUT THAT ENDING!

Diery –

In this stream of consciousness from a very troubled person, we learn about the people in this small town that he is fixated on, especially the pretty neighbor. This poor person is totally delusional. Reading this spooked me!

Set as journal entries that are each a month apart, we learn how enamored this man is with his wife. In the first entry, he has a nightmare that turns him a bit paranoid. He knows it was just a dream, but he can’t help feel it was a warning… The course of this tale is so unsettling! There’s a sense of dread, but toward the end, things get really complicated!

When a kid that just wants some soda and toilet paper from the store witnesses something occur in the toilet paper aisle, he quickly jumps to action! A situation that must have only taken a minute or two spans these pages, breaking down the steps in wonderful detail. The tension here was thick!

When a man’s dying wishes were that his daughter stay out of the attic, she is forced to go up there to sort out this things so her mother doesn’t throw them all away. When going through the old film collection, she find a camera she can’t remember her father ever using. Turns out, there’s a reason why he never used it, and it’s quite the dark secret!

I shook as hard as a leaf on a stormy June day, failing to grasp what had just happened to me.
And most importantly, what was about to.

I’m fearful of the road; I always have been. It’s because I respect it; I spent my whole life on it. Its rules, its unwritten rules are what we must all abide by. Doesn’t matter if one is a professional driver or a single mother of two, if they just turned eighteen and got their license or have a whole family to feed, the road is what guides us and judges us. One wrong move and I’ve seen firsthand, it’s truly unforgiving. We are all drawn to it, to the promise of adventure, of a new place, of a new dream. It’s a drug, perhaps the first addiction man ever had.

I forfeited trying to match her pace after the second slice of cake, but she… there is a monster inside her, craving to devour all that is sweet in the world. Thinking about it, maybe that’s why she is so incredibly delightful – after all – we are what we eat.

It seems fate won’t just forgive the wrongdoings that I did. In its twisted ways, it punished me for holding on to life. It showed me that once you are a murderer, you will dream nightmares in the day and be cursed to have your eyes wide open in the night. There is no rest, no respite, no remission.

Phew, this read will take readers on quite the journey! It was the perfect read for a dark and rainy spring weekend.

Prepare yourselves before diving into this book of fears!

When Old Fires Ignite by Shana Frost is the latest release in the Aileen and Callan Murder Mysteries Series. Per usual, this tale starts with a bang and leads readers through a stressful case while also showing how Aileen and Callan’s relationship continued to grow.

When I interviewed Shana last month, she had a note that, “This fifth novel has been a tough one for Aileen and Callan.” Since then, I have been SO nervous to see what would happen next!

The fifth book in this series was just as much of a delight as the others, but it sure had my blood pumping! There’s something that happens that had me in total disbelief. I read just as quickly as possible to see the situation through…

The story begins with a car burning near Dachaigh and unfortunately there was a body inside. It’s a strange occurrence for the small town, but even more troubling is the debate on if this was an isolated crime, or if it was an attempt to spread the fire and burn down the inn!

Soon, Aileen is shocked to be drawn into the case, but this time it’s not just because of her curiosity! This sends Aileen and Callan on a twisted path to find the killer before they take down others.

From start to finish, the story is tense! But per usual, there’s also a lot of love within these stressful situations.

Aileen continues to be one of my all time favorite characters as she constantly looks for answers while also looking out for those around her.

And as for Callan? We’re finally seeing him open up as he shows Aileen a glimpse into his softer side. I hope to see even more of this in the next book!

They split up, Callan taking the second aisle and Robert the first. Their mission: to locate a pale lavender two-seater. How difficult would it be to find such a vehicle?
Through the withering fog, with stacks of metal and lined cars disappearing into the mist, it was as difficult as it could be.

Aileen put one foot in front of the other, eyeing the wet footpath. Cobblestones in such weather glared at her like harbingers of doom. Slip and she’d be on her arse with no one to help.

The loud ticking of the clock felt like thorns pricking her skin. Sweat trickled down her neck. Had they turned up the heating?

A sleek, dark SUV with tinted windows, the metal on the bumper new yet muddy, blared an alarm. Her back straightened, the hairs on her neck stuck out and her ears perked up. Ready for trouble. She faced it often enough to know when it neared.

Change – sometimes it snuck up on you. Sometimes the loss and gain of something unique changed you, like waves lapping at a boat, slowly drifting off course.

An absolute blast from start to finish, this story will have you staying up to scour the pages just like Aileen scours the internet for leads. Shana really has something special here with these wonderful mysteries!

I already can’t wait to see what happens in the next book, When Distilled From Rage, coming out in November!

Maggots Screaming! by Max Booth III is an amazing body horror tale that centers upon a father and son who make a shocking discovery out in their back garden.

I had to add the book blurb here:

THE FAMILY THAT DECAYS TOGETHER, STAYS TOGETHER.

Not only was the discovery itself shocking, but everything that happens next just kept getting even more intense! I will leave the rest of the plot for you to unearth for yourself, so no spoilers here!

The pacing of this storyline is perfect. As the young boy tells the tale of what happened over the course of a weekend, it plays out like the reader is sitting in the room where everything happened. Coming in at just under 400 pages, this story will suck you right in!

One of my favorite elements of this novel was the characters. Max portrayed the young boy, who was the main character, so wonderfully. Everything from what he understood and what went over his head, to his humor and how he handled each situation, readers will be right in the same mindset.

The side characters were amazing as well! They were are all so intense in their own ways. It’s like Max took the personality dial for each of them, hit the limit, and then twisted to break it off so the personalities kept going up! 

Another of my favorite elements were the little one liners that were dropped here and there that took the dread up a notch. Max is SO good at doing this! Like this line for example:

Yikes! How spooky and dread-inducing is that?! Things like this were scattered throughout the story, but they also seemed to be perfectly placed in scenes where I had hope that everything may actually turn out okay.

While there was plenty of dread, body horror, intensity, and all around horror, there’s also a lot of family love and humor! I mean, a scene where three characters are driving to the body farm and bring up Ironic by Alanis Morissette had me cracking up! As did many of the little tifs and arguments the characters had while faced with the things they were trying to wrap their heads around.

This was an all around fun and horrific read! I had a blast!

Some things aren’t meant to be known. Some things can’t be known, no matter how hard you try to understand them.

It started with a finger.
Poking out of the dirt in Mom’s garden. Like a flower composed of flesh.
Pointing directly at the sun.

Everybody gets mad. Rage is in human DNA just as love and hunger and sadness is. And sometimes rage gets out of control. Sometimes you can’t help it.

We all have magic inside us and we utilize it every second we are alive. And sometimes, when we’re daed. It’s a subtle magic that we all take for granted until we no longer have it.

“Maggot…therapy?” I said, trying to make sense of the phrase. I imagined one maggot sitting on a comfortable recliner, legs crossed, taking notes while listening to another, depressed maggot cry about its mother while sprawled out on a tiny maggot-sized couch. Surely that couldn’t have been what she was talking about, but what if?

My left arm was missing–chewed off a couple inches below my elbow. Not a single drop of blood poured out. Some of that yellow liquid–the purge fluid–yes, but no blood. Purge fluid and maggots. More maggots than I could possibly count. Tumbling out of my exposed wound like an unstable cheerleader pyramid.

Reality is whatever our individual brains perceive it to be. Sometimes the details line up with others and sometimes they take a different path. In the end, they’re all heading for the same finish like, anyway.

People weren’t supposed to see their own skeletons. That was the deal humans made with life. We lugged around these bones from birth until death and, as a reward, we never had to come face-to-face with the secret truth hidden inside us all.

“Wait,” Candy said, working on finishing her liquor. “I don’t get it. How do you, like, plant another human being, though?”
“With human beans,” I whispered, trying not to laugh and realizing I couldn’t remember how to, anyway. It didn’t matter. No one seemed to hear me–or, if they did, they were choosing to ignore my hilarious joke.

THe surgeon never stood a chance. He was still on the stool when their bodies rolled in his direction and sucked him up like dust in a tornado. Within seconds every ounce of blood stored inside him had splattered against the wall.

Horror fans are going to have such fun experiencing this weekend of events!

I highly recommending checking this one out soon! But if you have any gardening planned, perhaps you should finish that project up first… However, if you see something that looks like a finger, STOP DIGGING. Cover it up and walk away immediately!

Terror of Breakspear Hall: An Other-Worldly Ghost Story by F.R. Jameson is a tale about the powerful connection between two siblings and how far their love for one another will go when faced with the unthinkable time and time again.

A man named Breakspear has kept people out of his prison of a home for years, vowing to never succumb to the pressure to let someone in. That is, until he crosses paths with Robin and Simone one evening. 

Robin and Simone are siblings that are out to swindle people out of their money. Having set their sights on Breakspear, they think they’ve finally found a great target!

But as things do, a violent attack occurs and things quickly go sideways from there. 

Speaking of the violence, the author absolutely crushes the more intense scenes! There were a few that made me cringe!

I really enjoyed that in the beginning of the tale, the author lays the groundwork nicely but also leaves a lot of gaps. As the author adds more detail here and there as the story goes on, it’s much later in the book when things really start to fall into place!

Technically, this book is the sixth installment in the Ghostly Shadows series, however, it works as a standalone. I hadn’t read any of the other books and had a fine reading experience with this one!

He couldn’t stand the sanctimonious superiority in her eyes. So to shut her up and make her realise he was in charge, not her, he belted her full in the mouth.
Her head jerked back and it might have seemed comic at another time. Sariah deciding to make a spontaneous examination of the ceiling. She didn’t fall thought. And where her face came back towards him, her snarl was animalistic. Two lines of blood dribbled from her lips where he’d cut them.

The beautiful people consider themselves immune to the problems of the everyday. There’s always someone to do them a favour.

The first time she was Breakspear Hall – the building which would come to haunt every one of her nightmares – Simone gasped.

There was a moistness to his voice. Even in hi practised smoothness, the words sounded sticky. They were unctuous, oozing and dripping at the same time. A sound more chilling than charming.

I enjoyed this read! It was so much fun to hate the characters but also root for them. With every turn, I was drawn further in to the maze of this tale.

Of course, I can’t help but wonder what my thoughts would be if I had read the other books in this series. But whether you have read the others or not, I do recommend checking this one out.

Wicked Blood by E.C. Hanson is a vivid and unsettling tale of a family falling into chaos. With one part slasher and one part struggling family dynamic, this story is fast-paced and unputdownable!

This story begins with this passage that sets the tone:

What a killer opening line! Right away, we know that this won’t end well… Even so, while reading I couldn’t help but hope that it would have a happy ending.

In the first chapter, we meet three teenagers that are witnessing the fight to end all fights between their parents. When their mother announces that she is leaving their father, that escalates the fight even further. Before anyone can step in, an action occurs that changes the trajectory of these kids lives forever.

Needless to say, this starts with quite a bang! The rest of the plot is so intense! I’m not going to discuss what happens next as the fun lies in experiencing that yourself! But boy, am I glad I wasn’t in this poor girls shoes…

With all the pop culture references and perfectly written action and gore, this one will suck you right in!

One last note before we move on to the next section, E.C. crushes the timeline here with the light references to the pandemic. We see N95 masks mentioned, while shopping the arrows on the floor are followed, an elbow is used to open a door, and a couple times, the six-feet guideline is referenced. If authors are looking for ways to set the timeline in their stories in regard to COVID-19 without overdoing it, take note of the work here!

Had I known what would happen to my family in October of 2020, I might have done something to stop it.

I traveled through a series of zigzags until I located my brothers, still in masks, mind you. They both snored in the corner of the room. It concerned me that they would wear these rubbery things throughout the day. The fact that they slept with them on spoke to the condition of their mental state.

We were going through hell and we, like it or not, had to keep going.

If you’re a horror reader that enjoys tales that play out like films while reading, this one is going to be a hit for you! Reading this tale is like watching a scary movie through your fingers; you’ll be terrified of what is to come, but you also can’t wait to see it all play out!

Go preorder your copy of this today!

Asylum Daughter by Natasha Sinclair is a gut-wrenching tale that leads readers along a dark and brutal path. But no matter what Natasha throws in the way, readers won’t be able to stray, dedicated to seeing it through to the end.

CW: At the beginning of the book, there is a content warning note. This book covers some very dark elements! While the author handles each with care, she certainly doesn’t sugarcoat anything. For example, one chapter focused on a very descriptive suicide. If you are easily triggered, proceed with caution with this one!

In the Acknowledgements section, Natasha writes:

Full capital letters here to answer that: YES. This book certainly made me shiver and feel something. There were so many dark feelings like disgust, anger, sadness, and fear. But there were also feelings of hope and love!

The set up of this tale was absolutely brilliant. At first, I have to admit that I was having trouble keeping up with the various characters as I was trying to figure out how they were all tied together. My anxiety rattled brain wasn’t letting me just sit back and enjoy the story… Later on, we see how connected each of these people are… and oh boy, do I wish I hadn’t been asking to learn that connection!

Each chapter bleeds perfectly into the other, slowly building the history around the individuals and their lives, all leading up to the main event. Natasha did an awesome job leaving breadcrumbs along the path to keep readers on track!

There were a slew of characters that all come into play, but the two that the tale centered upon were Nancy and Bella.

Nancy’s storyline was brutal and heartbreaking. The things people put this poor woman through… My heart also broke for Bella, who was just searching for answers about her birth mother. The struggle and beauty of working to overcome traumatic things of the past was so powerful!

And with that, I will have to stop as this is a tale that you just need to experience on your own.

But life as a woman merits a content warning. Our experience in life can often be, yes, triggering. We attempt to pacify the monsters, manager their fragile egos for our own safety.

The voice wanted to connect, breaking through energy cracks like the sun splicing between the wisps of cloud, branches and leaves; veins of light squeezing between the dark.

Hues of colour washes popping the beckoning dusk; an intense watercolour painting. Ochre, lavender, and fuchsia bands painted the sky as the friends made their way from the village through muddy, rocky path between the vast footprint of meandering meadows in full blossom. The musical backdrop of rustling reeds swaying, grasshopper whistles and birdsong was their adventure soundtrack.

She could’ve been beneath the water; words lost in the building wave, the watery panic of a nightmare teased her heart which galloped hard against her ribs, racing towards her throat.

Tragedy and horror steeped the still air; a spine-chilling soup. Bella’s skin crawled. Horror had left a deep imprint, deeper than eyes could see. Beyond words and time, the energy around Lochwood was putrid, rotten and riddled with dread, trapped beyond the brick — embedding itself in root and bark like an entirely living-dead entity.

If you’re a fan of unflinching horror that blends brutality and beauty, this is one you need to pick up!

The Fall by Alan Baxter is the incredible follow up to The Gulp, and in this collection of five new tales, the twisted web drawing the town further and further into chaos is getting stickier!

Let’s dive in!

My goodness I love this town Alan Baxter has created! Just like the first book, each story here is interconnected to others. In a true small town fashion, everybody knows everybody’s business, but this town is connected by more than just the grapevine. 

Unsettling right from the start, each tale really brings its own terror to the collection, pulling readers in even deeper. 

Per usual, here are my notes on each tale. 

Gulpepper Curios –

When a man out on an adventure after a divorce and his retirement stumbles across a road that is clearly one that is less traveled, he can’t help but feed his curiosity and take it. But this fork in the road isn’t the last choice he’s to be presented with.

This tale brings readers back into The Gulp in a brilliant way! Describing the scenery and the town while driving in, all the local hot spots, and even some of the key locals! And then before we know it, the story takes a turn that shows us all is certainly not well here. 

Will people ever learn? Fortune tellers are a no go! 

Cathedral Stack –

A crew on a fishing boat is out trying to get a big enough haul in before it storms, but on the way, they become the prey and end up stranded on the haunted rocks. 

When this story started out so heartwarming, I should have known better. Of course all wasn’t going to go smoothly so these two could get their date! 

What an absolute nightmare this one was! Yikes! I need a comic/illustrated version of this one asap please! 

That Damn Woman –

When an argument takes an unfortunate turn, this poor man is forever changed. 

This tale just gets more and more dark and creepy the longer it goes on! What a wild ride of emotion! 

Excursion Troop –

Heading out for one last excursion together, this troop jokes around but they’re all feeling a bit sad for the upcoming change. Little do they know, there’s a change that’s going to hit them much faster!  

As a kid, I spent a lot of time in the woods alone. Now? You couldn’t pay me to be out there alone! This story was so unsettling. I was worried about this crew but I had no idea what was coming next. 

The Fall –

When things in The Gulp really start to get crazy, much crazier than usual, this crew try their best to fight back before it was too late. 

This one was such a rush! So much happens and it’s certainly going to leave readers feeling a lot of emotions! This was the perfect story to end on… for now. 

” … Something you need to realise, Mr McDermott, especially around The Gulp, is that just because you can ask a question about something doesn’t mean there’s an answer to be found.”

“The Gulpepper motto: Best not to think too hard about it.” 

Blood looks black at night…

Horror readers, this is another book by Mr. Baxter that you cannot miss. Go preorder your copy today and get ready to roll back into the bizarre town known as The Gulp! Just be careful you don’t stay too long…

Lamella by Max Halper is a bizarre story that reads like a fever dream! In a situation that spans just a few days, but feels more like years have passed, this story will take readers on quite the adventure.

When a man named Mel arrives home from a difficult day at work, he thinks his wife is pulling a prank on him because out of nowhere, there’s an strange baby in their lives. But the wife doesn’t let on that anything is off both with the baby suddenly being there, or the odd appearance of the child.

As the days blur onward, things at their home only get more and more unusual…

I loved that the author creates a very unsettling situation right from the very first page. Rather than solving any questions as we read on, the questions just pile up!

Like I said in my opening, this story reads like a fever dream. There were so many instances that I paused for a moment and thought, “What the heck is going on here?!” But like the best of fever dreams, I didn’t want to stop the story because I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next.

I found it really interesting that the situation that was occurring at the main characters job was the element that grounded the story and helped me stay aware of the amount of time that had actually passed. If it weren’t for this, I would have been totally caught up in the overall flow of the story.

I rolled onto my side because looking at the crack made me nauseous, and I realized I hadn’t put anything in my stomach all day except coffee. It was a terrible habit I’d had since adolescence, one I always swore I would break.

If you enjoy unputdownable and totally bizarre reads that will leave you with lots of questions once you’ve hit the final page, then this is a must-buy!

Go preorder your copy of Max’s debut novella, and beware of returning home to a surprise baby waiting for you!

Slice of Paradise: A Beach Vacation Horror Anthology edited by Ben Long and Andrew Robert is a collection of stories filled with sun, sand, and terrifying situations.

As an island girl from Maine, I may not have frequented tropical beaches, but I’ve sure got salt water in my blood. This collection was a hit for me!

There’s two main things that ties each of these stories together… the beach and terror. I loved that many of these tales had an ambiguous ending, while others have some seriously non-happy endings. 

My favorite stories from this collection include: 

When a trip to the beach for this father/daughter duo turns dark, the father doesn’t give up, determined to save his daughter. 

My goodness. We all know how terrifying it is when you brush up against something in the water, not knowing what it was. This takes that fear to an even more terrifying level! I loved seeing this fathers’ strength shine through when everything else was pulling him down. And that last line! What a great story to begin the collection! 

When a honeymoon turns into a longer stay, the couple spend a lot of time diving in the ocean. But when one snags them tickets for a night dive, they’re both a bit cautious. Are they actually ready for this?

The foreshadowing in this one was wonderful! I mean, just the hesitation initially that they were both feeling, but not discussing… then their worries about things going wrong. They should have stuck to diving in the daytime! 

This story is the narration put on a recorder when a man went on vacation with his wife and son. Promising not to work, he can’t help but tell them he’ll join them in a bit, planning to record a few things before he goes outside. And then the screaming starts….

This story is brutal! The description of what caused the screaming made my stomach flip. And it only got worse from there! 

This passage….

When a night swim while on drugs turns into a cheap excuse to put his hands on her, this woman immediately changes the tone. But there’s something in the water looking out for her as well. 

Argh, the nerve of this guy! I was so happy to see this woman immediately react and not let him just keep doing what he was doing. There were so many red flags here, I just wanted to scream at the character. 

When girls traveling around Australia are approached by two men, the atmosphere of the tale suddenly takes a tense turn….

This story will keep you on your toes! The scene diving into the shipwreck was my favorite! I couldn’t wait to find out what could be seen in every room! 

A brutally dark flash fiction piece!

Looking for adventure, a couple joins a trip to a local island that is privately owned. The tour guide tells them how exclusive it is and they all can’t wait to see it. When they get there, each couple spreads out across the beach. But then something occurs with one couple, leaving the others reeling. 

Ugh, the scary element here is really one that gets under reader skin! Pun intended… 

All these two women want to do is enjoy their day of vacation by visiting a lemon orchard and then returning to the hotel for a “nap.” But some otherworldly beings have other plans for them. 

This one is action packed and so terrifying!

On a trip that will decide if their marriage will last or not, the husband complains of horrible stomach pain. When the wife learns what is causing the pain, many things fall into place for her. 

This one will make your stomach flip! Yuck! 

After a shipwreck, a couple ventures along the coastline to try to find the captain that left them. The end up finding an underground bunker filled with more than just gunpowder…

This one was nerve-wracking! I never could have guessed at what was coming next! 

When a couple on the verge of divorce take a vacation, they both have other plans rather than spending time together. But the locals have their eye on the husband after he hits on a girl on the beach…

Even before starting this one, I was nervous. I mean, with a title like “Beach Snakes,” I’m gonna be nervous! This one ruled! 

Ah! All I will say about this one is that I freaking love flash fiction that draws you in and only lets you know what’s actually going on in the last line! This was perfect!

When a maid makes a shocking discovery in one of the hotel rooms, she’s immediately alarmed by how her boss handles the situation. Sensing some really bad vibes, she goes home rather than taking her boss up on visiting the VIP section. The next day though, he friend and coworker is missing. Knowing something was wrong, she makes a plan to go look for her. 

This one was so intense! The anxiety I felt was pretty immediate. This is one of those tales that is absolutely perfect as a short story, but one that I would love to get a longer story from! 

This one starts out so calm, you almost forget you’re reading a horror story for a second. But once the flashbacks start… it’s full out terror. 

I had first heard a version of this tale on the Horror Oasis YouTube channel. It was titled Vacations End. 

Trying to take some time for themselves, one woman realizes that something is a little off at this resort.

My goodness the sense of dread with this one is intense! My heart broke for these two women at the end.

A terrifying tale of a zipline experience gone very, very wrong!

This tale will definitely get readers hearts pumping! What an emotional journey we go on with this poor man.

When news shared over a dinner party goes poorly, a man wanders out onto the beach to search for a man that abruptly left the party. But what he finds certainly isn’t what he was expecting. 

My goodness, Scott has an incredible tale here. In just a short time, you’ll feel like you have gotten to know all of the characters over a much longer reading time. They just come to life that quickly. Such a heartbreaking and scary tale!

I had so much fun reading these stories in a cold winter month in New England! I’m certainly grateful that I won’t be venturing onto a sandy beach anytime soon.