Showing results by narrator "Cheryl May" in All Categories

He captured my wrist, smooth black leather against my skin. The kiss was hungry, and urgent. His hard chest pressed me against the bricks and before I knew it, my hand rising to meet the wall. He had me. Gloved hand pinning my wrists above me. His finger at my temple. And his lips taking...taking...taking. The Hidden, we call them. Four Vampires who run this city west of the river. And my family runs the east.

When a sudden EMP strikes, Katy Sheets’ plane crashes in rural Tennessee, leaving her world in ruins. With her husband fatally injured and society in chaos, Katy must lead her daughter and her daughter’s friend on a desperate journey home to St. Louis. Towns are collapsing, danger lurks at every turn, and the rules of survival have changed. In a powerless world, Katy will do whatever it takes to protect her family.

Welcome to the masquerade. Two thousand twenty was a reality horror show. And like most obnoxious entertainment reality shows, this one had its own idiosyncratic rules and penalties. Call it The Big Lockdown. We were forced to go to ground, to hide in our holes. Some went underground and never came back. Uncertainty ruled because the rules kept changing. We couldn’t say for sure, so we ventured out for food, booze and sundries like scavengers in a slow-motion apocalypse, keeping our distance from fellow human beings because you never knew who might be carrying that heavy viral load.

After Seattle PD's homicide unit fails to stop the killing of young runaway girls, undercover VICE officer Susan "Susie Q" Quinton is requested to assist on the case. Susan hunts the killer who prowls the streets at night, searching for his next victim, all the while battling her own demons. But while Susan might not be able to save herself, she vows to save the runaway girls before the killer strikes again.

Brianna Colfax returns to her small-town roots to run a restaurant, but a national crisis shatters her peace. With a sudden draft, curfew, power outages, and dwindling supplies, Brianna must protect her business and loved ones. As winter sets in and threats close in, she relies on her military skills to navigate the chaos. In a fight for survival, Brianna discovers that home and family are worth any battle.

Megan Anderson thought life on her remote Texas ranch would be peaceful after her military service, but everything changes when a devastating EMP wipes out all power.

A powerful EMP attack leaves the city in chaos, plunging society into darkness and uncertainty. Stephanie Dupont, a podcast host who exposed government secrets, must navigate the crumbling streets of Chicago with her teenage brother and a frightened stranger. With limited supplies, rising violence, and no power, they race against time to escape the city and find safety. As societal order collapses, Stephanie must confront her beliefs and decide whom she can trust. Will they survive the journey, or will the city’s descent into anarchy consume them all?

31 Brand-New Dark Fantasy Horror Stories. Bloody corridors of ancient rock. A castle surrounded by poisonous thorns. A lost temple of traps and corpses. A subaqueous cave at the bottom of a cursed lake. These are the places where secrets are buried, where ancient evils are summoned, where beasts are imprisoned, where the insane lie in wait. These are tombs of darkness and nightmare, where if you stare into the abyss, the abyss will stare back. Heed the warnings of your elders and return from whence you came. Ahead lie monster lairs.

The honed point of the blade kissed the bottom of my chin. My breath stilled as I stared into my own fate…at the hands of this hunter. He was a beast. A monster. A Hexer.

When a massive solar flare wipes out power across the U.S., veterinarian Aria Jenkins is stranded at her grandfather’s remote homestead with her young sister. In this gripping tale of survival fiction, society crumbles into chaos. Aria must rely on prepper knowledge and navigate the new dystopian reality to protect her family from growing dangers. In this blend of post-apocalyptic fiction and EMP survival, Aria faces the ultimate test of resilience in a nation gone dark.

29 Brand-New Sci-Fi Horror Stories. The future is now, and it's not what we were promised. The optimistic science fiction of old was wrong. Progress is not linear, technology creates as many problems as it solves, and the concept of a better tomorrow has become an abstraction that is in no way guaranteed. When looking at the future now, we no longer ask what is possible, we wonder how we'll cope. Contained within this anthology are 29 never-before-published works by supremely talented authors.

James Bowers has spent every day for the pasty 40 years on his family’s cattle ranch outside of San Antonio, Texas. It’s hard work, but it’s honest work. And as a fourth-generation rancher, the work is in his blood. But when an EMP is detonated while his wife and son are in the city, rendering all modern conveniences obsolete, James must travel into a chaotic environment filled with danger that will test him in ways that he never thought possible.

When Alaric Mason flies a new client into a remote area of the Pacific Northwest to study a population of grizzly bears, it’s supposed to be a routine trip. But when an EMP is detonated during the early morning hours, Alaric must lead himself and his client out of the dangerous wilderness and to his family before the chaos of the EMP reaches his homestead. Life has hardened Joanna Mercer, and she has spent the years since her husband's death preparing herself against the uncertainties of life. After an EMP destroys the nation's power grid, every ounce of that strength will be tested.

An EMP bomb blasts a small town in Pennsylvania back to primitive times. Former Marine Raider Lori, a committed survivalist, finds herself in a race against the coming winter and a growing foreign threat to ensure her family's survival. As society crumbles around her, will Lori's meticulous preparation be sufficient, or will she fall to the encroaching chaos and snow?

I was their payment on a debt...and they were my salvation. My vampires dragged me from the river and brought me back to life, and in turn I saved the one man who gave his life for me...my bodyguard. Only to save him will be to turn him into the monster he despises. With Unseelie Fae blood in his veins, Russell locks himself away until danger comes for me once more. I vowed revenge on those who tried to destroy us. I’ll make them pay with five merciless Immortals at my side. Because to them, I’m not a possession...to them I am forever.

Lana Lee is a dutiful daughter, waiting tables at her family’s Chinese restaurant even though she’d rather be doing just about anything else. Then, just when she has a chance for a “real” job, her parents take off to Taiwan, leaving Lana in charge. Unfortunately, the newlyweds who just opened the souvenir store next door to Ho-Lee have turned up dead...and soon Lana finds herself in the midst of an Asia Village mystery.

After an EMP destroys the nation's power grid, a family's strength is put to the test. With food and water in short supply, people scramble to secure resources. As the crisis unfolds, one family seeks sanctuary at a ranch on the city's outskirts. For Gabby, the only thing worse than failing to reach the ranch is failing to protect her family in this dangerous post-EMP world.

Our Love Will Devour Us is a novel about the bonds of family, the depths of love, and things that hunger in the dark.

In a post-apocalyptic America ravaged by an EMP, Lori, a skilled and determined Marine Raider, sets out on a perilous journey with her daughter in tow. Navigating the ruins of the former United States, they embark on a harrowing trek from Pennsylvania to a rumoured safe haven in Washington State. Will they make it to safety, or fall victim to the dangers that threaten them at every turn?

Paid by a cruel King to track me down, they’ll stop at nothing to take my powers...my purpose...and my will. But I have a destiny. One hidden from me for my entire life. My future lies in the darkness and the untapped power in my blood. I will kill who I have to. I will bring this battle to the King’s door. So why do I find myself falling when these Hexers are near? Why do I find myself longing for more than their bed? I’m more than my desires.