Showing results by author "Jeff Chapman" in All Categories

Something nasty has come through one of the ley gates. It walks upright. It talks. And it looks like an oversized cat, but as Merliss can attest, it doesn't smell like a cat.

Jimmy and Orville are back for more supernatural mayhem in these four stories. Their penchant for finding trouble is as keen as ever.

An enchanted blade. An evil old man. An ancient spirit. The Weird West just gets weirder. Hucksters Orville and Jimmy struggle to buy a decent meal. When an old man asks for help with a supernatural pest, Orville smells opportunity. Jimmy smells danger. And danger is what they find. Jimmy must retrieve an enchanted knife, while fighting a huge coyote, a shapeshifting opossum, and an ancient spirit determined to keep the blade where it is, all to save Orville from the old man's clutches.

Merliss is no ordinary cat. She's far more. She's a young girl's spirit trapped in a cat's body. While the magic that banished her has snatched away her human speech, it has given her a life spanning millennia. For centuries she has lived with the cunning folk, assisting their efforts to heal the sick and ward off malevolent creatures. Now, a bleeding sickness has thrown the community into chaos. The cunning man and his apprentice are in danger from the disease. The life Merliss has worked so long to build is in jeopardy. But disease isn't her only nemesis.

Conceived during a fog-drenched car ride with nothing beyond the windshield but a horizon-less void, Larry Fessenden and Glenn McQuaid created the acclaimed Tales from Beyond the Pale, audio theater inspired by the vintage radio shows of Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles. Having previously released 10 studio-recorded tales for Season One, Fessenden and McQuaid decided to up the ante and stage a second season of Tales before a live audience at the performance venue Dixon Place in downtown New York City.

"For the love of God, cut off my head." The last request in Uncle Silas's will shocks everyone speechless, everyone except his favorite niece, Anna. More than death itself, the claustrophobic Silas fears a premature burial. Will her elders carry out his request? Anna is certain they will not. It's up to her to do the right thing, even if it is a bit grisly. Armed with butcher knife and candle, Anna heads for the crypt underneath the church in the dead of night. All does not go according to Anna's careful planning.

Ethan's family has fallen from owning a manor to scraping by on a small farm. As he approaches manhood, his prospects don't look very promising. And Arabella, the girl he's set his sights on, is the daughter of the Squire. Goaded by his younger brother, Ethan enters the Barrow, fights for his life with the tomb guardian, and escapes with a silver gorget.

The Great Corvid, a gem rumored to be the source of the monarchy's power, has been stolen. The Queen and her council demand that wizard emeritus, Learvin, and his cat familiar, Nightmawl, come out of retirement to lead the search. The most likely culprit is a dragon living in a mountain lair on the other side of Swamp Desolation. The journey to the dragon's cave will be hard, but negotiating with a dragon carries its own set of perils. Nightmawl would rather rest his old bones in a tree and flirt with the neighbor cat, but Learvin is not one to turn down a challenge.

Hans and Helga face a nasty encounter with bully Johan as the days to Christmas count down. But bullies are not the only threat the village children face. Krampus is long overdue to pay a visit. Chickens and ducks have gone missing, with hoof prints leading away. Good children like Hans and Helga have nothing to fear, or do they? Johan knows he's a target. What plot is he hatching to save himself? Is Krampus smart enough to see through it?