❝ Things are only as beautiful as you make them, Charlie. Including murder. ❞ It's the opening night of Burton Abbey's production of Romeo and Juliet and all is going smoothly - that is until the climactic death scene. Romeo takes a big gulp of the poison to be with his lover, except it really is poison and Elijah, who plays Romeo, is now dead. Charlie Monet, in charge of props, is the first suspect but soon the suspicion around her turns to worry as it seems she's the next target. Khaleel Rahim, an aspiring writer, is dying for a mystery to solve at his new school. When he sees Charlie sneaking around at night he thinks he's finally found something worth writing about. After discovering Charlie's ability to see visions of the past, Khaleel decides that they're the perfect pair to solve the mystery. With threatening notes, a quiet library and poison disguised as props; somebody in the school is blurring the lines between theatre and reality and the fast friends are about to discover that there's more to boarding school than just silly rumours. [2022 Watty's Shortlist]

After uncovering a sinister ritual in an abandoned factory, Jay and his friends are the only hope to save their small town from the supernatural forces brewing there. Season 1 of Mezzanine ***** When Jay moves to Sycamore Falls at the beginning of his senior year of high school, the last thing he expects is suddenly developing the ability to read minds. As if knowing everyone's darkest thoughts isn't bad enough, things get worse when Jay finds a group of cloaked figures-seemingly brainwashed-taking part in a strange ritual within an abandoned factory at the edge of town. Along with Carter, his only friend, and Lola, the mysterious girl he can't help but be drawn to, Jay investigates. As the group unravels the secrets of the factory and their town, they find themselves in danger from the sinister supernatural forces that might have been best left undisturbed forever. WARNING: This story contains depictions of violence, strong language, bullying, reference to drug and alcohol use, and content that may be shocking to some readers. Reader discretion is advised.

2022 Watty Winner || At the age of ten, Sanford Crow discovers the worst secret of all--his father is a serial killer. It was the year 1969. Sanford's dream was to grow up to be a detective. Putting his intuitions to the test, he conducts an investigation into his father. The discovery he makes brings his whole world crashing down, and to the culmination of one terrible Christmas morning. Twenty five years later, it's 1994. Sanford is a divorced and a recovering alcoholic, with an eight-year-old daughter named Sadie. His dreams of becoming a detective never came to fruition. Instead, he lives vicariously through his job of being a crime scene cleaner. As therapy begins to open up doors to his past that he'd rather keep shut, the same string of murders that his father committed when he was a child are happening again all around him. Sanford starts questioning his grip on reality. The answers he finds brings his past rushing back, and has him doubting everything he thought he knew about himself, his past, and his own sanity.

Harlow Sandoval knows how to survive. She's always been known as the 'Sandoval Survivor,' the final girl of notorious serial killer, Jason Randall. When she's asked to become the leader of a 'final girl's support group,' she knows she can't refuse. Even if escaping the horrors of her past is exactly what she wants. But when the girls start disappearing again, and Jason Randall escapes prison, Harlow knows the only way forward is to revisit her past.

WATTY 2016 WINNER of the HQ Love Award! Strange Yarns is a ball of tangled tales. Twisted, knotted, and intertwined. Like Tales of the Crypt, the Twilight Zone, and The Outer Limits. Strange Yarns is not just a collection of ghastly tales, these are yarns, and yarns are sewed together. Follow the yarns and see the grand design... think of this as an evil quilt. Ghost, ghouls, and cannibals being studied for nutrition research, Strange Yarns has got it all. ALL EXCEPT HAPPY ENDINGS!!! (The Author's Lawyer's retain the rights to define happy endings.) I'd love it if you'd vote. And if you really like them please share with a friend. And if you hated them, please share with an enemy. *Josh Saltzman is a Canadian Comedy Award winning writer and director. Recently he was the head writer of season 2 and 3 of Inspector Gadget on Netflix. His other credits include Fangbone! (Disney XD), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: The Animated Series (Sony/DHX), and in live action Call Me Fitz (HBO Canada). Josh has also made lots of weird videos you can find on youtube.

The house is safe. The hills outside are not. The basement is out of the question. Joel has been trapped in the house for what has felt like an eternity; all hope of escaping lost after the first few years. Without the company of the eight strangers who arrived with him, he would have gone mad long ago. But while living in the decrepit building is taxing, nothing could be worse than the thing downstairs. Everyone is content to just live in the six rooms that they know are safe until Joel learns that there may be something below. Something other than the creature that torments them. The house goes deeper, further down into the darkness. And while travelling through the unknown halls may be dangerous, and the thing downstairs is always following close behind, Joel is determined to find a way out of the nightmare he's found himself in; for his own sake, but more importantly, the sake of the people he loves. Watty 2022 shortlister Gloria Regali Awards 2023 winner