Who willingly walks into a haunted house?

Our readers do!

Since we launched Haunted: 11 Tales of Ghostly Horror in October we’ve received some excellent reviews and recently we won an award for the anthology. We also just found out that Haunted: 11 Tales of Ghostly Horror won the Best Anthology category in the Preditors & Editors Readers’ Poll. The P&E Readers’ Poll is an annual event hosted by the Critters Writers Workshop where readers and fans can vote on their favorite books, authors and publishers. Thanks to our readers we took the top spot in this year’s event and we’re honored that so many would vote for our little collection of horror.

Haunted: 11 Tales of Ghostly Horror is available in eBook (PDF, ePub and Mobi/Kindle) and Print formats at DriveThruFiction.com. It is also available at the B&N Nook Store.

Being a fledgling author, I had often pondered what it would be like to participate in a public reading of one’s own work. I recently had the chance to find out. I agreed to assist in the promotion of Haunted: 11 Tales Of Ghostly Horror (Flames Rising Press, 2011), particularly since, as a contributor to the anthology, I have a personal stake in how well the book sells. Knowing that readings could help us immensely by generating interest and word-of-mouth advertising, I cast about town looking for likely venues.

It turns out that bookstores are good choices for readings, as one might expect. Also good, and perhaps not as obvious a choice in our Internet-driven culture, are public library branches.

Carl Kolchak, hard-bitten reporter of the supernatural from the TV series of the 1970s returns to action courtesy of an ongoing series of comic books and graphic novels from Moonstone Books. This time, Carl’s been fired by the owner of the newspaper that used to employ him, and he must find another way to make ends meet. He’s approached by a young couple, Otto and Mo Brerhahrer, who are ghost hunters in their spare time, and Kolchak can hardly say no, particularly when they offer to buy him lunch.

Through three related vignettes, the reader learns more about Kolchak, and why he has such a close connection to the supernatural. The first, titled “Fifteen Minutes,” find Kolchak at his wits end regarding where his next meal is coming from.

Who willingly walks into a haunted house?

Ghost hunters explore dark places, investigate clues and uncover secrets of the dead. Evidence of an afterlife may prove elusive and few hunters recognize some things are best left buried and forgotten.

Suspense and intrigue lurks inside HAUNTED: 11 Tales of Ghostly Horror. Unlock the clues in these eleven mysteries. HAUNTED features stories by Alana Joli Abbott, Georgia Beaverson, Jason L Blair, Alex Bledsoe, Bill Bodden, Richard Dansky, Preston P. Dubose, Nancy O. Greene, Jess Hartley, Jason Sizemore, Chuck Wendig and was edited by Monica Valentinelli.

HAUNTED is now available in Print! Normally the softcover edition sells for $14.99, but as part of the Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sale extravaganza going on all over the web we have a special discounted price on this title from FR Press!

Get HAUNTED: 11 Tales of Ghostly Horror for only $9.99 in print!

Josh, Renai and their 3 children are the typical middle class American family. In what feels like a cliched setup, the Lambert family has just moved into a house, only to learn soon enough that it happens to be haunted. Various staples of ghost story elements follow, which are seemingly set up to where you feel a “poltergeist” clone coming on. But then… the entire feel and angle of the film is turned on its head, creating one of the best ghost story films released in years!

I intended to review INSIDIOUS when I saw it at the theater months ago. I so dug the hell out of this flick, so much so that I went to see it twice, which was a big deal as I’m currently a full time student who really has to mind his funds.

“That house is not fit to live in. No one’s been able to live in it. It doesn’t want people.”

As Flames Rising is looking for ghost related posts for this year’s Halloween season, I found this to be an opportune time to dive into some ghost flicks. And while I’m the kind of mook who’s all about “saving the best for last”, I’m going completely opposite with this one. “The Changeling” was chosen as my first ghost story flick to review, and honestly, it’s the movie that I hold all ghost movies in terms of masterpiece quality.

The story centers around John, whose wife and daughter die in a tragic accident before his very eyes.

FR Press, the publishing arm of popular horror site FlamesRising.com, announced today that its debut anthology is entitled Haunted: 11 Tales of Ghostly Horror. The anthology will feature stories from Alana Joi Abbott, Georgia Beaverson, Jason L Blair, Alex Bledsoe, Bill Bodden, Richard Dansky, Preston P DuBose, Nancy O Greene, Jess Hartley, Jason Sizemore and Chuck Wendig. The collection of spooky stories also includes an introduction penned by Jaeson K. Jrakman, a ghost hunter who hails from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Edited by Monica Valentinelli, Haunted: 11 Tales of Ghostly Horror will debut just in time for Halloween. The anthology will be available in both e-book format and print. Readers will be able to pick up a copy from DriveThruHorror.com and other online retailers.

British author James Herbert has been an international sensation since the publication of his first novel, The Rats, in 1974. His books have sold over forty-two million copies, earning him a comparison to Stephen King in the United Kingdom. Last year, Herbert was presented with the title of Grand Master at the World Horror Convention for his outstanding achievements in the horror genre. Now, he prepares to take the United States by storm with the release of The Secret of Crickley Hall – a blood chilling novel that puts a unique spin on a classic horror theme: the haunted house.

Would you stay in a haunted house for more than one night?

Would you live in a place where ghostly things keep happening? Where a cellar door you know you locked the night before is always open the following morning? Where hushed whimpering is heard? Where white shadows steal through the darkness? Where the presence of evil is all around you?

Being an aficionado of folklore, I was intrigued by the title of this collection, The Gaki and Other Hungry Spirits, which refers to “hungry ghosts” of Japanese legend. While the stories themselves are decidedly Western in nature, they are no less interesting. A number of the tales do feature hungry spirits, so points to Mr. Rainey for holding to his theme.

This collection starts off with the title story, “The Gaki” in which we have a tale of a man searching for something to fill his life. He finds intrigue at a clandestine gathering of people by the Copper River, and what follows will lead him down a path he never knew existed. Ultimately, he finds what he seeks, but it isn’t what he expected, and it requires a high level of devotion from him in exchange.

Good evening… and welcome to another episode of “Horror Masterpiece Theatre”. I am your host Steven Dawes. As some of you may know, I’ve always found ghost stories to be entertaining and interesting. I find them so interesting in fact that was a co-founder and the general manager of local ghost hunting group for a few years. While I’ve since retired my ghost hunting days, I still enjoy a ghostly tale or three. And it was here where my unexpected visit to “Hell House” began.

Over the last few semesters at my school, a fellow student (who by night is known as “Craig”) has been in several of the same classes I’ve attended. As fate would have it, we were partnered up for a project together last semester, and as we worked on our project we got to know each other and discovered our mutual appreciation for the paranormal.

While every day is Halloween for me, this time of year brings out the best in a lot of free television and movie websites like Crackle.com.

During the month of October, I’m writing about horror movies for Crackle.com from a fan’s perspective. This week, I take a look at the classic horror film 13 Ghosts, which was produced by William Castle.

You may recall that I’ve received a couple of reviewer books based on the “Supernatural” TV series to shoot my way through (if you don’t recall or you just didn’t know, you can click here to read all about it.) If you do, then you may also recall that I was disappointed with my first contestant and was concerned that the WB exec’s had sold out with gusto to earn a quick buck on some lame books at the expense of the fans and their beloved show. Well, I’m happy (and relieved) to report that my second foray into the book series was better than the first. But then again, that’s not saying a lot.

I’ve not experienced “Dime Novels” before. I’ve never really even seen one before, although growing up my mother owned a “collector book” composed of several dime novel reprints that I once looked through. They’re a format that seems to have died out here in the union long ago. It looks like however, that the “Dime Novel” format could be on the verge of a comeback.

My dad happened upon a new gothic horror series while visiting one of his favorite websites and asked me to check it out. Following his queue I did a little homework and indeed I’d discovered a new book series titled “Jason Dark: Ghost Hunter”, a series written in the spirit of the “Dime Novel” format.

We’ve reached the end of the road or, in this case, perhaps the river (I suppose ferrymen haunt both). Our trip within White Wolf’s underworld concludes with a look at the newest embodiments of death . . . the Geist. Before we get too involved in the newest World of Darkness line, let’s take a step back. The World of Darkness 1.0 saw five main entities–vampires, werewolves, magi, changelings, and wraiths–haunt their shadows. When the reboot happened, four came back.

This book is a return to Wraith . . . but only to a degree.

Wraith: the Oblivion is an amazing game that did some truly inspired things. White Wolf seemed to experiment more with the two bastard children of the five lines. Changeling had their dreadful cards (the art on those were beautiful though) and Wraith had the concept of the Shadow.

Billed as Jim Butcher-light, DEAD TO ME is an urban fantasy novel for debut author Anton Strout. In this series, the main character (named Simon Canderous) struggles with his psychometric ability while working for the Department of Extraordinary Affairs in Manhattan.

Strout introduces Simon as a conflicted character who hasn’t quite figured everything out yet. His ability allows Simon to get a psychic impression (which is portrayed as if Simon is reliving a memory) off of everything he touches — including people. Sometimes those impressions are multi-layered; sometimes they’re not. His psychometric ability has affected everything from Simon’s moral judgments to his love life and even his health; there is definitely a “cost” to Simon’s inability to control his power.

Everyone that knows me knows how much I love a good ghost story. When the living meet the dead things get all kinds of interesting. What does a ghost want? Why are they haunting this place (or person)? There are tons of possibilities to explore…

Geist, the latest addition to the World of Darkness, gives us a chance to answer those questions. I’ve been waiting, rather impatiently, for a new ghost game from White Wolf for some time. World of Darkness: Ghost Stories was an excellent book that I’ve made good use out of already. Yet, it wasn’t quite enough and did not offer the chance to play a character connected to the world of the dead. Geist certainly offers that and more.

It’s a genreDiversion book like no other. New innovations set this apart from previous genreDiversion games. This new universal manual is a toolkit for your own adventures, featuring easy to learn, fast-playing rules with a number of options like exploits, scaling, and integrated support for miniatures. More versatile, more dynamic, more heroic, and more exciting… The genreDiversion 3E Manual provides rules for magic, monsters, and vehicles; plus Unbidden & Forsaken, a ready-to-use modern-horror setting is included. This is the must-have book of the year!

The genreDiversion 3E Manual is available at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.

Today’s addition to the Halloween Horror series comes from writer, reviewer and musician Jason Thorson.

Taking a bit of inspiration from his passion for music, Jason brings us a new monster.

The Fogcrawler’s Thrall

Created by Jason Thorson

When he was interviewed for the book, “Hunting Ghosts: A Skeptic’s Account of the Paranormal,” Randall Bailleaux spoke about the legend of the Fogcrawler with the same matter-of-fact drawl that he used daily to promote his swamp tour.

“Those fellas from the “Ghost Trackers” TV program might be full a’ crap, but they ain’t stupid, that’s for sure. I told ‘em they had free reign, but they wouldn’t budge. They would not come down here.”

Randall took one last drag from his smoldering cigarette, dropped it onto the dock and smashed it beneath his boot.

My own contribution (with a little help from Brad McDevitt) to the Halloween Horror series is available today. I decided to take the “ghost story” and give it a little bit of an edge. There is more to this tale if folks are interested. You’ll have to let me know…

What are ghosts afraid of?

Lost Girl

Created by Matt M McElroy
With art by Brad McDevitt

“This one here, the blue folder…” the boss had said while pointing to the files on his desk.

I remember picking it up from the stack and flipping through it while the boss rambled on about how things used to be in the city, something about respect and a hard days’ work, I honestly don’t remember at this point.

What else do you remember from that day?

Well, um, I think there were a couple of witness statements and some scans of old newspaper articles. Nothing conclusive. I do remember looking up when the boss turned away from the window to tell me something else.

Precis Intermedia bids you a wicked Halloween with a free adventure for Ghostories, the quick, easy, and versatile roleplaying game of the Supernatural. Download the classic Exit Music adventure, now updated specifically for Ghostories. If you don’t already have Ghostories, order the three-book PDF bundle now for only $8.50.

The paranormal is real, or is it? Find out with Ghostories and Exit Music!