Showing results by narrator "Spencer Dillehay" in All Categories

In the lack of light, darkness permeated the universe, and from the darkness of the void, there came a miracle. It burst out of nothing and devoured the dark. God washed the universe of its obscurity and created all. He created the world, he created life, and he created angels. Lucinda, one of the three archangels of heaven, is given a task that will challenge everything she has based her entire life on. What will she do when her core beliefs are no longer the pillars of what she thought?

How does one record an extraordinary time? Confined to his Delhi apartment, Manash Firaq Bhattacharjee unravels the intimate paradoxes of the life he encounters in the first weeks of a global pandemic. His stories about local fish sellers, gardeners, barbers, and lovers merge with his concerns for the exodus of migrant labourers, the challenges faced by health workers, and a mother braving check posts to bring her son home.

1872. Life in the orphanage is hard for Emma, and she turns to life on the streets, where she pickpockets to stay alive, until she pickpockets a wealthy gentleman who wants her punished. As a frightened Emma fears for her life, handsome Lucas repays the money she stole and offers her a maid’s job in his townhome. Thankful for a second chance, Emma accepts, believing her life is finally turning around. But soon after she arrives, she is forced back on the streets.

Scipio lives the charmed life of a Roman playboy, but his indolence masks the pain of a past he refuses to face, and the bitter rejection of his estranged father, the consul Cornelius. Women and wine quench Scipio’s thirst for life, until the day he hungers for something more. Driven by staunch principles and fiery debate, Aemelia is unlike any woman Scipio’s desired and he longs to make her his wife. But Aemelia and her father know that he is a lover, not a husband.

Bodies are piling up in once peaceful Edelleen, Colorado since Deric met Lana. Now in the grasp of a darkness that he cannot subdue or escape, he seeks vengeance on the residents of the sleepy mountain town. As Deric descends into madness, the creature demands blood. It watches. It waits. With a failing marriage and exposed affair sending his personal life and career spiraling, will Sheriff Haines be able to put his personal conflicts aside in time to catch a killer? Or will Deric lose the battle between conscience and terror, unleashing unabated evil onto Edelleen?

Grief and nightmares haunt us all in the wake of a parent's passing. For one man, the nightmares begin to invade his everyday life after his father dies suddenly. His father's neighbor offers their help to alleviate the emotional pain, but the cost may be worse than the dreams and visions. Memories are worth holding on to, no matter how painful.

Todd elevates genre short fiction beyond entertainment. Whether it's the titular story of a haunted mug driving the new office hire mad, or a worrisome look at the near future where the guilty simply hire someone to do their prison time, these stories will challenge as much as engage.

Evie Brown would do anything for her uncle, the only family she's ever known. So when he comes to her with a desperate plea to help save his home and business, she takes the only job she can find—housemaid for a rancher she knows nothing about. Making friends with a ranch hand who literally sweeps her off her feet is just a bonus.

Charlotte Harrison dreams of being part of the winter festival, where romance fills the air and new starts are made. Penniless and after her family was swindled, she's always stayed home, unwilling to be looked at with pity. But this year Charlotte is desperate and willing to do whatever it takes to be there when she hears the most eligible man in town has his eye on her.

Two teenagers find a frozen corpse in the middle of the woods and decide to bring it back to town. They have no idea they just sparked the zombie apocalypse. In the morgue below the hospital, the dead begin waking up and attacking the living. The infection spreads rapidly, turning the place into a slaughterhouse as those inside fight to survive against the undead. As the situation escalates, authorities are forced to seal off the building in an attempt to contain the spread of the virus. But it may already be too late.

Cheyenne’s goals were simple - start her nursing career helping under privileged people, especially Indians living on the reservations, and find her long-lost father who’s last known whereabouts was the northwest wilderness. With all the nursing applications being denied because the west was too dangerous for an unmarried woman, she answered a mail-order bride advertisement, finding the perfect man…almost.

Two teenagers find a frozen corpse in the middle of the woods and decide to bring it back to town. They have no idea they just sparked the zombie apocalypse. In the morgue below the hospital, the dead begin waking up and attacking the living. The infection spreads rapidly, turning the place into a slaughterhouse as those inside fight to survive against the undead. As the situation escalates, authorities are forced to seal off the building in an attempt to contain the spread of the virus. But it may already be too late ...

Two teenagers find a frozen corpse in the middle of the woods and decide to bring it back to town. They have no idea they just sparked the zombie apocalypse. In the morgue below the hospital, the dead begin waking up and attacking the living. The infection spreads rapidly, turning the place into a slaughterhouse as those inside fight to survive against the undead. As the situation escalates, authorities are forced to seal off the building in an attempt to contain the spread of the virus. But it may already be too late ...

Jerry got caught up in a war he wanted no part of; one that left him paralyzed from the waist down on the day of Lee’s surrender. Now he stood the risk of losing his ranch if he wasn’t married by the deadline. But what woman wanted a man who may never walk again? Leanne was left destitute as the war raged. Her hometown was now taken over by a wealthy criminal…and he had his sights set on her.

Ren's appointment as Warden, the Queen's personal bodyguard and head of her security has created something of a stir in the walled realm of Lenmar. Opposition to his mere presence within the Crystal Palace is high, and old schemes and rivalries are kindled anew as the tension builds between the nobility and the factions pushing for change. An attack on the eve of the Moon Festival, when the Council of Nobles is set to convene, provides the spark to ignite a chain of events that threatens the very foundations that have kept the people of Lenmar safe, and puts everyone Ren cares about in danger.

They Hide: Short Stories to Tell in the Dark collects 13 chilling tales that weave through the shadows, exploring the nature of fear, powerlessness, and control.

A victim of misplaced affections, Leah Dearing dreams of starting over in Oregon where she can own land and put her past behind her. But as a single woman, she is refused a place in the wagon train, no matter that she’s more than capable of doing all she needs. Desperate to build a new life for herself, she is willing to do anything—including a marriage in name only. Stanley Keith has no intention of heading out West with a bride until he overhears Leah’s plight.

Grace just can’t do it alone anymore. When her husband died, he left her with a store to run and two children to take care of. Now, her son is friends with the wrong crowd and her daughter keeps sneaking out. When a string of vandalisms hit her store and the sheriff does nothing, she’s more than desperate for help and puts an ad in the newspaper.

Sheriff Asher Steele doesn’t plan to settle down. Not ever. In fact, he avoids the ladies all together. And he doesn’t plan to explain why that is. No one’s been able to break through the walls of his emotions and that’s just the way he likes it. But when Isabelle Bowman comes to town with a secret of her own, and a heap of trouble following her, he might be the only one who can help her. What he’s not counting on is falling in love along the way and considering opening the walls of his heart to protect her.

Two teenagers find a frozen corpse in the middle of the woods and decide to bring it back to town. They have no idea they just sparked the zombie apocalypse. In the morgue below the hospital, the dead begin waking up and attacking the living. The infection spreads rapidly, turning the place into a slaughterhouse as those inside fight to survive against the undead. As the situation escalates, authorities are forced to seal off the building in an attempt to contain the spread of the virus. But it may already be too late ...