Showing results by publisher "Isis Publishing Ltd" in Science Fiction & Fantasy

When a petrol yacht catches fire in the South Atlantic, its lone survivor, Patterson, swims to safety. He is relieved when he washes up on a tropical island inhabited by four other ship-wrecked characters. But when he discovers one of the men was cast adrift by the Titanic, he is forced to question where he really is and if he will be able to escape.

The Sargasso Sea was a popular theme for writers in the early 20th century, and ‘Sargasso’ attempts to solve the mystery of a tramp steamer that mysteriously disappeared on its voyage between Cardiff and Trinidad. The steamer is discovered four years later, riding calmly on the waves with no apparent signs of damage, but what happened to her crew? Perhaps the diary of a journalist which is found on board will shed some light on this fateful vessel.

Set along the Great Barrier Reef, ‘The Black Bell Buoy’ recalls the story of two members of the Marine Board who were sent to secure a giant buoy near a dangerous piece of coral. Only one man makes it home though as rumours of a hideous octopus abound.

Harry Pershore knocks down a wall to create a secret garden, despite warnings from his friend who has spotted that the patch of land has been walled off for a reason and is actually an altar of sacrifice. Pershore ignores his friend’s advice and it’s not long before strange things start happening in the garden.

‘The Bath-Chair’ tells the story of the Faraday siblings. Edmund is a shrewd businessman, priding himself on his impeccable health. His spinster sister, Alice, lives with him performing all domestic duties and despises him. When Edmund starts seeing a lame figure who looks startlingly like himself and his own health starts mysteriously declining, Alice revels in plotting his downfall.

Thomas Oulton has worked for a London banking house for 30 years and is widely respected by his colleagues, so when he seemingly disappears with a client’s money, everyone is shocked, none more so than his manager, Louis Carrington. When a friend comes to spend the weekend with Louis and his family at their Surrey home, a series of strange phenomena leads the narrator to discover what’s happened to Oulton.

Concerned for their recently widowed friend Harry, Vincent and Tom join him in Egypt for a boat trip along the Nile. Whilst the widower seems determined to forget his late wife, he recreates their honeymoon voyage, and their evening games of cards soon attract an unsettling presence.

A positive spin on the supernatural, ‘Pirates’ sees ageing industrialist Peter Graham return to his former family home in Cornwall after more than 40 years. The ghosts of the house represent happy memories of his childhood.

Susan has been trying for a baby for years, and when a one-night stand makes her dream come true, she’ll do anything to ensure her husband doesn’t find out - including the unthinkable. Her secret is safe. For now. But as governments embark on a genetic arms race and children around the globe start experiencing a host of distressing symptoms, something truly horrendous is unleashed. Because those children have only one thing in common and people are starting to ask questions.

Jack Nightingale was always happier dealing with criminal cases or even divorce than he was with matters of the supernatural. So when a client came with a simple request to uncover the meaning behind her father's last words, he was happy enough to take the case. Little did he know that the investigation would lead him to one of the vilest demons to ever walk through the gates of Hell.

Jack Nightingale - lives in the shadows, fights in the dark. Ex-cop turned private eye Jack Nightingale is used to dealing with tricky situations. He's faced down the powers of hell a couple of times, too. In this new short story, he's called in to help a policeman who's lying at death's door. The doctors can't work out what's wrong. But the dying man's colleagues swear blind that he was cursed by a gypsy during the Dale Farm clearance. And Nightingale could be his only hope.

Jack Nightingale knows the dangers of doing a deal with a devil, but sometimes beggars can't be choosers. And when his nemesis Proserpine comes up from the bowels of Hell to ask for a favour, he has no choice other to help. Which is why the supernatural detective finds himself going up against the Undead, and putting his own life on the line.

Supernatural detective Jack Nightingale is called in to investigate a case of stigmata. A young girl is bleeding from her hands and feet and claims to be talking to the Virgin Mary. But Nightingale soon realises that all is not as it seems - and the girl is in mortal danger.

Supernatural detective Jack Nightingale is called in to investigate when an old man appears to have been hit by a train on an abandoned railway line. But there hasn't been a train there in more than 50 years. So what killed the old man? As Nightingale investigates, he realises that there are dark forces at work and his own life is on the line.

The town of Pine Ridge has an eerie past, with tales of witchcraft and ritual murders, but when a local man is savagely killed, all hell threatens to break loose. Supernatural detective Jack Nightingale is called in to investigate the brutal slaying - a murder that seems to have been carried out by children - children with dead black eyes....

Business has been slow for Jack Nightingale, but an appointment with a Catholic priest leads to an interesting new case. Eleven-year-old Christine Warren has been showing worrying signs of developing an alternate personality, who goes by the name of Lydia. It's up to Nightingale to find out whether she's been possessed, or if there's something more to Lydia....

Sophie is bored with her perfectly nice but deathly dull boyfriend, Matthew. Sensing he’s about to lose her, Matthew takes her on a last-ditch attempt trip to the seaside, hoping to rekindle their dying flames. But things take a dark turn when Sophie visits Mr Sandman, a Haitian priest, who claims that he can change Matthew into the boyfriend that she wants. But does Sophie really know what she wants? Never has the phrase ‘be careful what you wish for’ been more apt. Because Matthew does change...just not in the way that anyone could’ve predicted.

Vowing once again to remove herself from society, Annie is once more living alone in her little cottage by the shores of a loch. But when an old enemy – now locked up in a high-security hospital – comes calling, begging her to find the son that she was forced to give up at the age of 17, Annie is tempted out of seclusion. Annie and Lewis begin an investigation that takes them back to the past, a time etched in Scottish folklore, a period of history that may just be repeating itself.

Jenna's life has always been a fight. From the traumatic and mysterious loss of her mother on a dark woodland road when she was 15, to the abusive and controlling boyfriend she's recently escaped, she has learned that trust hurts you in the end. Now Jenna's found what she hopes is happiness with her new girlfriend, Holly. But the world is full of darkness - some of it ancient, some of it closer to home. . . Evil, and those who serve it, will not let Jenna go.

Troubled ex-journalist Luke Seymour discovers an incredible untapped talent after being recruited by The Nostalgia Club – an eccentric group of time travellers who meet in the back room of an Edinburgh pub. Honing his newly discovered – and dangerously addictive – time travel skills, Luke learns the secrets of the club's members, battles to solve the mystery of their missing leader, and plunges ever deeper into his own history – where the terrible mistake that scarred his life is waiting …