Showing results by author "Matthew S. Cox" in All Categories

In August of 2021, they tried to disprove the adage that violence doesn’t solve anything — by killing everyone. No people, no problems. Fifty years later, humanity has emerged from the ashes. As if nuclear war didn’t do enough, a cruel virus followed on its heels, reducing many survivors to mindless killers. Drivers are the only link between scattered towns. Anyone with the skill to maintain a vehicle (and the balls to hit the road) can seek fortune and glory running jobs for the Roadhouse.

It’s been a few weeks since the Nolmek scattered giant crystals around the world that unintentionally gave some people superpowers. They also nearly eliminated war and shared technology to solve famine, drought, and pollution, so pretty much everyone loves them. Alas, the aliens didn’t visit Earth purely out of kindness. They needed a primitive species to enslave.

Six months ago, Harper Cody stressed out over finding the right college. Now, she’ll be thrilled if she makes it to her 18th birthday. Unexpected nuclear war destroyed the world she knew, along with her dreams for a future. Violent thugs took away her parents and home, sending her fleeing into the ashes with her traumatized little sister. Following her best hope for survival, she chased a rumor of safety in the mountains.

Life in suburban New Jersey with her mother is comfortable, not to mention boring, to an introverted 14-year-old. As if her friend’s surprise trip didn’t suck enough, her best summer ever falls to pieces when she’s sent across the country to stay with a father she hasn’t seen in six years.

For most 12-year-olds, being kidnapped is terrifying. For Althea, it’s only Tuesday. Her powers of healing make her a precious commodity in the Badlands, a place where the strong write the law in blood. For as long as she can remember, she has lived either as a possession or a goddess. Althea contents herself with captivity as long as she can help others, even those who killed to own her. After three whole months in the same village, the friendship of a young warrior makes her feel almost like a member of the tribe rather than a prisoner.

Magical forces don't always play nice. In fact, they can be downright evil. Life is going fairly well for Detective Maddy Wimsey. At 35, she's an accomplished detective, practicing Wiccan, has a wonderful relationship with her long-time boyfriend, and even a much-needed vacation after dealing with a cursed gem. Alas, her break doesn't last long. A creeping darkness interrupts the solace of the woods with a supernatural vendetta against her coven. Maddy had opened a particular can of worms looking into the past, and the entity has decided to make her a target.

Eleven-year-old Kiera Quinn is sure she’s having a nightmare. She doesn’t believe a nap that started in her suburban bedroom ends in an empty wasteland. She doesn’t believe everyone she’s ever known may have never existed - and she definitely doesn’t believe an old man who tells her she will resurrect the world. The odd shaman clad in junk and old computer parts claims she is "the child born of the earth", humanity’s only chance to survive. Desperate and scared, Kiera humors him, hoping her bad dream ends soon.

Saving the world isn’t easy. It’s even harder when you’re only nine. Kelly Donovan used to be a nobody. Well, a smart nobody. Skipping ahead a year in school made her the smallest kid in fifth grade and a target for bullies in search of an easy mark. She tried to follow her father’s advice and ignore them, but it didn’t do any good. Escaping into her favorite comic books at least helped her through the day. Who needs friends anyway? Sometimes, dreams find a way to come true, even if nobody asked them to.

The universe holds various immutable constants: death, gravity, taxes...and the Wright family road trip. Every summer, Dad plans a vacation-by-car somewhere across the country. Lameness has increased each year, but Sarah blames that on growing older. She thought dying might get her out of going, but her father’s not about to let something that trivial put an end to the tradition. Of course, as a vampire, Sarah can’t seem to go anywhere without attracting the weird...and the deadly.

God’s will be done. After 11 years as a priest living by these words, Father Antonio Molinari never imagined who would teach his strongest lesson of faith - vampire. A case of possession brings him to the French countryside, where two local clergy offer him the chance of a lifetime...When their monster turns out to be a little girl.. he cannot bring himself to destroy her. Hunted by the Church he once served as well as the fiends he once destroyed, Father Molinari clings to his faith there is still room for him in God’s plan. But God is quiet, and the darkness tempting.

A move to the small town of Spring Falls, New York, is the perfect cure for Mia Gartner’s horrid commute. However, her new home isn’t quite empty. She adored working in fine art restoration, but a two-hour ride each way got old fast. When her husband found a house for sale at a suspiciously low price, they jumped at it. Mia expected chemical contamination, a fixer-upper, or termites, so when the problem turned out to be persistent rumors of haunting, she set aside her worries.

She saw it coming. She knew it would happen - but no one believed her. Almost a year after tragedy shattered her family, 16-year-old Paige Thomas can’t break free from her guilt. Her mother ignores her, doting on her clingy little sister, while her father is a barely functioning shell. He hopes a move to the quiet little town of Shadesboro, PA, will help them heal, but Paige doesn’t believe in happiness anymore.

Brooklyn Amari knew not to get in a car with a stranger. When a man tried to lure her - she killed him. As if taking a life at the tender age of ten wasn’t bad enough, her childhood home burned to the ground two years later. She doesn’t remember how she survived, but she’s felt a pull toward the conflagration ever since. After a troubled patch in her teens, she’s become a respectable firefighter, rushing again and again into the inferno that almost killed her.

Kerys Loring hopes an expedition to a distant alien ruin will make her career - assuming she lives long enough to still have one. When Avasar Biotechnology appeals to her unique combination of experience and desperation, she jumps at the chance. At least she’ll be thousands of light-years away from her abusive ex. Within minutes of arrival, her excitement shatters at the sight of her ex already there. Then, on her first day in the ruins, she makes a profound discovery...but something goes terribly wrong.

Sarah Wright knows she’s in for a rough week when a ghost asking for help is the least frightening thing with which she has to deal. A month after waking up as a vampire, unlife is feeling pretty sweet. Her mood swings are easing off, she’s got a decent boyfriend, and best of all, the parents let her slide on being lazy. They understand it’s a little awkward to keep a job when daylight can kill her. Oh, and the whole magical powers thing is pretty cool, too. But after two weeks of quiet, her new normal blooms into a chaotic mess.

On the way home one day, 13-year-old Keith Croft stops at a neighbor’s yard sale and discovers a book for Crypts & Creepers that the lonely old woman says belonged to her granddaughter who disappeared without a trace. Days after he convinces his friends to try this bizarre game that doesn’t require electronics, strange noises in his closet wake him. His increasing inability to focus on anything other than a girl who vanished before he was born - and his obsession with her NPC ranger - drives him to dig deeper into the past, searching for what really happened to her.

In 2411, overpopulation has spread a plaque of filthy, congested city to the corners of the Earth. Government has raised corruption to an art form, and no one hears the cries of those left to die in the dark passageways of civilization. Following the End of Nations, people cling to the only division left: social status. Since running away from home four years ago, Sima has managed to stay a step ahead of death - or worse. At 16, she’s getting too old to survive from begging, despite her best effort to pretend she’s younger.

Natalie Rausch said she'd die for a chance to meet DJ Crazy Todd, but she didn't mean to be literal. A bitter divorce shattered her family and turned her into a 13-year-old weapon in the hands of two people who want nothing more than to destroy each other. Once an accelerated student looking at early college, Natalie let anger at her parents lead her down a desperate path of self-destruction. No amount of rebellion gets her mom or dad's attention - or stitches up the hole inside her where love used to be.

Twelve-year-old Piper Bailey wouldn’t trade her friends for any amount of money - unfortunately, when her dad inherits a fortune, she doesn’t have a choice. The unexpected windfall is a blessing for her family, but it comes with a giant house hours away in the woods. Piper finds an unexpected friend in a boy who lives in the next house, and the two decide to explore Grandpa’s giant mansion. It doesn’t take long for creepy things to start happening.

No longer a small child, Wisp accompanies Dad on one of his treks, her first time more than a few steps away from the cabin. A day exploring with him is the happiest time of her life, but joy is short-lived. A monster follows them home. Safe in her haven, she hides while Dad goes outside to confront the beast. She wakes alone the next morning and waits. Alas, her hope of his return fades with the daylight. Afraid but determined, Wisp sets off on her own into the Endless Forest to find Dad - before the Tree Walkers catch her.