Showing results by narrator "Joe Hempel" in All Categories

Tanner thought church camp would be boring. That this summer would be forgettable, uneventful, and lifeless. Then, he was surprised to make two friends, both of whom share his interests and anxieties. Together, maybe the three of them have a chance of surviving this long, hot summer. But all is not what it seems at Creston Camps.

Tragedy strikes Harry's family leaving him with nothing but sorrow, grief, and a mysterious box whose contents leave him shaken to the core. Everything he thought he knew about his father teetered on the edge of lies. Despite this, he decides to carry out his late father's final wishes: to meet up with some of his old friends whose fathers had been best friends with his own—for a traditional camping trip their fathers had taken annually in years passed.

When Lorit's friend and mentor goes missing, he has no choice but to seize the leadership of the Wizards' Council to win their support. He must undertake the life and death challenges on his own to become a Master Wizard even though the trials have been subverted by the Temple. The evil Wizard Priests have bound his partner, the Sorceress Chihon, in their plan to turn her into their next High Priestess. Can Lorit avoid the traps the Temple has set for him and free his friends, or will he fall to their treachery and face them as enemies?

Welcome to Paradise. Sandy beaches. Crystalline waters. An all-inclusive resort with virtually everything you can think of. A true idyllic paradise. An event is taking place at Paradise Club that wasn’t on the brochure: a dangerous game pitting the hotel’s guests against a gang of bloodthirsty maniacs. Elliot Harper—family man and FBI agent—is about to find out how fast heaven can become hell when every single vacationer is forced to become a ruthless killer in order to survive. A team of killers have been unleashed, and they won't stop until every single guest is dead.

Welcome to a very special issue of Weird Tales. This issue celebrates the Bram Stoker Awards, the “Oscars” of the horror trade. They are presented every year by the Horror Writers Association (horror.org), a group founded in 1985 (and incorporated in 1987) by a collective of masters of that genre, including Joe R. Lansdale, Karen Lansdale, Robert McCammon, and Dean Koontz. This issue is packed with short stories, flash fiction, poems, and an essay—all written by past winners of the Bram Stoker Award.

Your future is unwritten. Your potential is yet to be discovered. You are on the cusp of accomplishing feats that may seem unthinkable at this moment. Let go of your self-doubt and THINK BIG. Give yourself permission to unlock the life you want to lead.

Matthew Lutton's debut book about demon deals gone wrong. If your a fan of Tales from the Crypt and Books of Blood, be careful what you wish for, because this one is for you. Choose your 10 drinks wisely....

On the night of a long-awaited comet sighting, Erich, a university student, comes back from the dead. Making a miraculous recovery after a horrific car accident, he quickly returns to his musical studies and seems to have a new zest for life. Though he mingles with his fellow students and dedicates himself to his work, those close to him can't help but notice something is wrong. Very wrong. Erich isn't himself anymore. His personality has changed radically, and where he was once a middling musician, he's suddenly and unaccountably developed a virtuosic talent....

A mysterious suicide. Horrific specters walking the streets. A drug that promises to change the world. An apocalyptic cult. Something is stirring in the city of Duluth, Minnesota. Ever since a celebrated researcher announced the creation of a new experimental drug - a drug with the potential to cure the mind of countless ills - people have been disappearing. When a grad student involved with the drug's development unexpectedly commits suicide, a private detective is tasked with unearthing the details of her tumultuous final days. This miracle drug may not be what it seems.

A couple of jerks wake me up at the crack of noon. Seems my klepto uncle stole an ancient deck of Tarot cards from a high-powered wizard, and too many losers want to ruin my day to get them back. The cards are cool, so I check them out, but my magic-happy cousin, Sabrina, tells me I'm not supposed to touch them. Oops. Too late. Now the damn cards are tuned to me, and if someone else wants to use them, I have to die. Why couldn't she have led with that information?

When Vince Carter takes a shortcut to work, he notices a billboard that nearly sends him into an oncoming van. The ad is for Dream Woods, New England's answer to Disney World. It closed decades ago, but now that it's back in business, Vince is eager to take his whole family, hoping the magic he remembers will save his failing marriage.

Do you want to boost your people skills to easily build rapport with anyone? Or just avoid uncomfortable misunderstandings and awkward situations? If you (1) have trouble speaking so others listen and respect you, and (2) never know what to say or how to act around new people, that feeling of dread and despair isn't something you have to live with. People Tactics is your key to social intelligence and better relationships.

For over 100 years, the Temple of Ran has been sacrificing young wizards in order to steal their power. When Lorit discovers that he holds the rare ability to use magic, he becomes their next target. At first, he runs, working to master his abilities on the move so that one day he might be able to resist them. But that was before the Temple targets his beloved sister, Chihon. In order to save her life, he infuses her with his own power. Now, they're both targets.

Hell has come to earth as sadistic zombies rampage and massacre the human population. Reverend Thomas Martin has lost his congregation to the chaos but has found two wayward survivors to protect—Becky and John. The three of them have holed up in Martin's church in a desperate attempt for survival. But as supplies run low and civilization crumbles around them, Martin must come to a realization—God has abandoned them. But why?

After receiving a large insurance settlement, young couple Gwen and George fulfill a dream by buying their own little island, a secluded, private paradise surrounded by a lush green landscape of plants. What the real estate man didn't tell them was that a tragedy took place years earlier in the cool, clear pool near the house. And the waters still hold a terrifying centuries-old secret. Soon George begins to notice strange changes in his wife.

The Rising: Selected Scenes from the End of the World is a collection of short stories set in the world of The Rising, examining the history of the Siqqusim, the arrival of the first zombie, the fall of mankind, and the terrifying events that occur after City of the Dead's conclusion.

Childhood trauma doesn't change people, it breaks them. Nathan Burns would be no different! Once a caring teen, now a diagnosed sociopath in the state penitentiary for murder. Then he is thrown into a chaotic world where everything involves RAGE! The parasitic worms make animal to human transfer sending the world into a frenzy of apocalyptic bloodshed. For once he can let himself free destroying all that get in his way.

It's Julian's turn to search for answers. Recent events have convinced him there's something wrong with the Beacon estate after all, but is it too late for him to put his skepticism aside? The horrific history of the Beacon estate is revealed in this chilling final volume of Ambrose Ibsen's Black Acres serial. In Darkness is the fourth and final novella in the Black Acres serial by Ambrose Ibsen.

Snow whirls around an elevated train platform in Chicago. A distracted woman boards the train, takes her seat, and moments later, a fiery explosion rips through the frigid air, tearing the car apart in a horrific attack on the city’s transit system. One life is spared. Twenty-two are lost. A year later, Autumn Manning can’t remember the day of the bombing, and she is tormented by grief - by guilt. Twelve months of the question constantly echoing. Why? Why? Why? Searching for answers, she haunts the lives of the victims, unable to rest.

It came from space.... Something virulent. Something evil. Something new. And it is infecting the town of Falls Breath. Carried to Earth in a freak meteor shower, an alien virus has infected the animals. Pets and wildlife have turned rabid, attacking without warning. Dogs and cats terrorize their owners, while deer and wolves from the neighboring woods hunt in packs, stalking and killing their human prey without mercy.