Showing results by narrator "Joe Hempel" in All Categories

Agent Rock Hardin of the American Secret Security division of intelligence is sent on a mission to rescue a beautiful dilettante from an unknown assailant's clutches. Her father, a renowned scientist, is blackmailed into betraying his country with her abduction.... Can Agent Hardin rescue her before her father hands over the plans to a top secret weapon?

Somewhere out in the woods an otherworldly creature born of fire and hate lurks. When the beast emerges, lusting for blood, all that stands between it and the nearby town is a grief-stricken farmer. Supernatural ferocity meets backwoods ingenuity in a horror fable of good versus evil.

Robby Asaro is dead. And alive. He's a ghost in the machine, keeping a watchful eye on the arcade where he lost his life two decades before. And the afterlife is good. The best thing ever to have happened to him. But when the conscious electric current formerly known as Robby Asaro makes a decision to protect one of his favorite patrons, Tiffany Park, from a bully, he sets loose a series of violent supernatural events that can't be stopped.

This year's stories are by an award-nominated author of horror and suspense. Two of the stories are novellas. Hear dark tales of terror and intrigue from an alien child left on an Earth overrun by zombie cannibals to the first killer in all the world, Cain, the murderer of Abel, his brother. This is a worthy addition to the ongoing yearly series of Sinister, these eight tales will make your dreams restless.

The world is still reeling from the devastation of the Omega Virus and struggling to rebuild. A growing android workforce has given rise to the Human Defense League and anti-AI sentiment is at an all-time high. Adam, the first of the new X-3000 models, arrives into this hostile world. Field-tested on the Luna colonies, now assigned to Earth, Adam is paired with homicide detective Jane Malveaux, who has little patience for synthetics.

A husband armed with a sword hacks apart his wife in a Denver grocery store. There are dozens of witnesses, and the crime is captured on the security cameras. To the police, it's an open-and-shut case. To Naomi, the daughter of the couple, it's evidence of dark magic. She hires her ex-lover, a private investigator named Jonathan Shade to prove her father is innocent.

After the death of her mother, Bobbie Jean finds herself living with her aunt and uncle at their rural farm. Without many options, she begins to sell her body to anyone to turn a quick buck. But when she discovers Uncle Levi's dirty secret in the barn, Bobby Jean must decide whether to join the family business.

As beautiful as the night can be, it often plays a role in something more foreboding, supplying the catalyst for things both terrifying and imaginative. Utilizing this hallowed time of the day, author Chad Lutzke has written and compiled 18 stories, with creature features, sleep deprivation, hiding the undead, revenge, cannibalism, morbid habits, and executions of karma being just a handful of the themes covered in this book.

Atlanta police officer Jacob Schmidt mourns the loss of his son, Ken, the grief having torn apart his marriage in the process. Jacob, in a deep state of depression, would do anything to see Ken again, including suicide. Given the choice between a second chance at life and being reunited with his son, Jacob must decide what he truly wants.

When three desperate teens meet Aaron, a failed practitioner of the dark arts, who offers them the best high they've ever smoked in exchange for kinky sex play, things only go from bad to worse. Aaron hopes to ensnare and re-birth the spirit of a late witch to capture her power from beyond the grave for his own.

Artemis Bridge can get you what you need no matter how immoral or illegal, no questions asked. With practiced detachment, he keeps everyone around him at arm's length. But when the city of Boulder is trapped in a mysterious dome, he must set aside his detachment to help his bodyguard Aristotle's search for his missing grandmother. Every step he takes towards the dome deepens the mystery, as he is compelled to seek out the source of the strange happenings.

A collection of short stories, flash fiction, and micro works. Slush includes previously published stories "Skull of Snakes", "Jackie Boy", and "Sweet 16" alongside a fresh batch of terrifying stories to help you sleep at night.

Artemis Bridge is the know-to, go-to guy: the amoral fixer in 2028 Los Angeles, with the connection for any illicit desire no matter how depraved. He prides himself on remaining above it all. But when an associate dies in his arms, he is burdened with a damaging video of the current mayor he can't sell or trade. With assassins dogging his every step, he has only days before the corrupt mayor is re-elected, handing Chronosoft corporation complete control.

Denise Berg, a professor of psychology, and her molecular biologist husband, Gabe, expected an intelligent child. When Denise gave birth to Zack, they were thrilled. They were not surprised to find that Zack had physical and mental gifts but were astounded by their magnitude. By every parameter Zack was extraordinarily gifted, and they took pride in their genes and their good fortune.

Interested in experiencing the outdoors but overwhelmed by everything you need to know to backpack safely? Do you have a sudden itch to venture out into the wilderness, wake up next to a babbling brook somewhere and watch the sun slowly come over the horizon? Are you ready to escape (albeit temporarily) from the daily grind and a society that prioritizes consumerism over all else? Backpacking allows us to experience nature in a way that simply isn't achievable through other means.

A missing family member sends Lawson on a trip to New York City only to run smack into vampire organized crime. Now they've got Lawson right where they want him - and they want him to switch sides and betray the Balance. But Lawson's got more than one play in his book, and if he has to go to the wall to rescue his cousin and stop the Syndicate from unleashing a new synthetic drug on the masses, that's just what he'll do.

Meet Lawson. A cynical, wisecracking vampire charged with protecting the Balance - the secret existence of a race of living vampires that have evolved alongside humanity for thousands of years. Named after the Hindu god of destruction, Shiva is half-vampire and half-lycanthrope. Able to change her appearance into anyone she pleases, she is one of the most dangerous assassins on the planet. Belarus, the head of the vampire governing body, the Council, is Shiva's next target.

Jim Bauer is shocked when he inherits a large sum of money and a historic mansion. The mysterious gift comes with a stipulation, however; he must use the funds to restore Mansfeld Manor to its original condition. What Jim doesn’t know is that this home has a terrible history. As he works to restore the manor, he begins to learn the terrifying secrets of its past. He discovers tales of missing persons, rumors of occult rituals, and sightings of a ghostly wolf on the grounds. 

There's No Place Like Home. Kim and Julian Taylor are in the market for their first home, and a visit to the secluded Beacon estate finds them enamored. It's a peculiar home, rather large and in need of some renovations. The price is right however, and after a tour, they snap the house up without hesitation. The man who sells them the house has one last detail to share before they sign on the dotted line. The previous owners of the home disappeared under mysterious circumstances nearly eight years ago and have recently been declared dead in absentia.

When John Rast signed up for Knight Watch, he expected it to be all fighting dragons and rescuing maidens. You know, hero stuff. But instead he's stuck patrolling game conventions and cosplayer competitions, looking for dangerous anachronisms and the villains who may be trying to exploit them. Fortunately, all that changes when an honest-to-goodness necromancer shows up wielding a weapon created by Nazi occultists and accompanied by some badass evil valkyries, hell-bent on kicking off the end of the world.