Showing results by author "Mark Leslie" in All Categories

A small eastern community becomes over-run by a growing army of scarecrows.

Three stories which explore the darker side of the world of books. In a style reminiscent of the old Twilight Zone television show, these three tales will take the book loving listener to a place that is somewhat familiar yet frighteningly surreal and disturbing.

Peter O'Mallick isn't just having a bad day; he's having a bad life. Walking around with a powerful death curse it seems like everyone Peter knows or gets close to meets an untimely fate. But when Peter realizes he can use his powers for good, being a harbinger of death might not be so bad. Provided he's not worried about collateral damage.

There's nowhere to hide when everybody you know or meet is trying to kill you. Scotty Desmond's day begins like any other until his boss calls him into the office, pulls out a gun, and starts shooting at him. Scott manages to escape the surprise assassination attempt, but everyone else he meets - colleagues, friends, and strangers alike - is similarly obsessed with killing him.

Eighteen of the very best American short stories, each a classic in its own right. Stories include "The Little Frenchman and his Water Lots", by George Pope Morris; "The Angel of the Odd", by Edgar Allan Poe; "The Schoolmasters’s Progress", by Caroline M.S. Kirkland; "The Watkinson Evening", by Eliza Leslie; "Titbottom’s Spectacles", by George William Curtis; "My Double and "How He Undid Me", by Edward Everett Hale; "A Visit to the Asylum for Aged and Decayed Punsters", by Oliver Wendell; and more.

In 2004, Mark Leslie released his first collection of chilling fiction and disturbing poetry in a volume called One Hand Screaming. Twenty years later, this special anniversary edition that is more than twice as long as the original includes all the stories and poems from the first edition plus new ones published in the past 20 years along with all new pieces crafted specifically for this volume. This collection includes previously published award-nominees alongside original and never-before published works.

If the past teaches anything, its lesson is that religious freedom isn’t always free, and some men and women must risk all to preserve this freedom. The year is 1777. “Yours is a cause most splendid,” Robert Aitken is told. Despite the threat of prison or the hangman’s noose if caught, Congressional Journal and Common Sense publisher Aitken is determined to print much-needed Bibles for American colonial troops, churches, and families.

Michael Andrews and Gail Sommers have finally found the love that had eluded them for so long. But their romance has uncovered an ancient evil curse neither of them could have anticipated. It does more than bring down a plague on their houses - it unleashes something far more sinister that can destroy humanity. Now they must choose: battle the evil forces out to destroy them, or continue to meet in secret while the rest of the world burns.