Ghosts are in the house! With her parents away, seventeen-year-old Alyssa Dempsey is taking care of her two younger brothers for the weekend. On their first morning alone, Alyssa discovers that her baby brother Sean received a magical, glass wand from a pair of ghosts, who he calls the Buddies. Along with their thirteen-year-old brother Bradley, the three Dempsey children begin interacting with a dark and dangerous spirit-world, in which the sinister owner of the wand lives, and from whom it was stolen. "The Essence (A Ghost Story in Three Days) is a fun and quick read that will entertain young adults and their young-at-heart parents. Author Vel Grande brings his characters to life with dialog and humor and paints both dark and light imagery with deft strokes. Krystle Carkeek's plentiful illustrations capture the emotion of the scenes, cementing each character's details in the reader's mind. The Essence is great escapism." -Gary W. Stout, Readers' Favorite (5-Star Selection) "The narration feels authentic, the characters are likable and loathsome in the right doses, and unlike many other modern young adult books, the charming uses of foreshadowing and suspense are reminiscent of traditional ghost stories, not ultra-violent animes or comic books . . . Vel Grande has succeeded in both building a memorable plot with engaging characters and, more importantly, making me want to know what happens next." - Bruce Duboff, Middler Books and More

On the flip of a coin, people die around Sin. Escaped from a lunatic asylum and haunted by his dead sister, he must find out why, and discover who is trying to use his power to destroy everything and everyone. ***** Dead, dead, dead. Say it enough times and it becomes just another word. What would you do? Could you kill a killer? Does the death of one appease the deaths of a hundred? What about that hundred against a thousand? What if you had no choice? Meet Sin. No, not that sort of sin, but Sin, crazy as a loon (you ask Sister Moon), and proud of it. Sin locks himself away in an asylum and, every so often, badboy he's believed to be, gets violent. That's only so they'll give him those nice drugs, though. The ones that help him forget. It's a pity they don't work. Sin, you see, has a serious problem. Well, it's not so much his problem, as ours - yours, mine and everyone else's. People die around Sin. He doesn't like it and there's nothing he can do about it. But someone else knows, and Sin has to stop them... and himself... Flip and catch... -- WATTY WINNER!! Includes a special BONUS CHAPTER commissioned for Amazon Prime's Panic, and bonus chapters set in Sin's asylum! Featured on the following amazing lists! *The @fright profile for Top Horror Stories selected by movie The Ring!* *The Top Psychological Horror reading list for The Boy movie!* *The Terrifying Thrillers reading list for The Purge: Election Year!* *The Sinister Stories reading list for movie Sinister II!* *The Best of Thriller reading list for the Unfriended film!* #4 in MysteryThriller #6 in Horror #6 in Mystery #2 in Psychological #1 in Chiller #1 in Psychological Horror on Amazon!