Jessica Jennings is a paranormal writer with a strange specialty: she's an interviewer for the dead. But a typical assignment at an old mansion on Halloween turns out to be more than she can handle. Claude Elburke, a renowned pianist, is not just any other interviewee. The catch? Claude has been dead for more than a hundred years, tormented by the house's sinister spirits, and an ancient, malevolent evil. #1 in haunting 2024/3/28 Cover by Aravis Brightspell

The Alchemist, by H.P. Lovecraft. This short story was written in 1908, and first published in the November 1916 issue (No. 4) of the United Amateur.

ONC 2023 Shortlister, An Ambys 2024 Favourite (Fright) & Fright Pride Month Feature 2025. *** Accomplished writer Ríone Embers' life takes a turn when she learns from the solicitor that her dead mother has left her their childhood home in Loutham. It unearths memories buried deep in her past, threatening to unravel the life she has made since leaving that place. Seeking the advice of her therapist, she decides to confront the demons of her past. Nestled by the ocean, Loutham is a quiet town with no discerning feature that might make it different from any other American small town. It's forgettable, a mere pointer on a map. Yet it has a chilling secret hidden in the very waters by which it is situated. And it is calling Ríone to come back home. *** Started: 1/02/2023 Ended: 15/04/2023 Cover Credits: @MoranaInDesign (a total magician!)

Cece Harper had a secret that no one believed. It didn't help that she couldn't explain how her brothers and sisters lost their lives, and she certainly couldn't explain why she was the only survivor. In all her efforts to move on from the trauma, the mystery continued to loom over her like a shadow. Ten years later, Cece built a new life. She made a name for herself as a rising music talent, performing at bars and party venues in the grungy city she called home. Between therapy, a successful autobiography, and her transforming bond with her best friend, she thought she could be satisfied. But on the night of her twenty-eighth birthday, she meets a magician who changes everything. Cece strikes a bargain to return to the Wilde Isle ten years earlier, to the time and place where tragedy struck, with all of her previous memories intact. Now, she has the opportunity to save her family, if the temptation of a siren's song isn't too great. **OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2023**

Desdemona ''Des'' Winchester wants nothing to do with Melliford Academy. In fact, she's pretty sure her parents shipped her off to boarding school just to get her out of their hair. It's a move they'll come to regret if she has any say in the matter. Nothing humiliates posh folk like having a daughter sent home from the country's most esteemed educational institution. Just flunking class isn't dramatic enough, though. Des plans to get booted in the most spectacular manner possible, just to make sure her parents' social circle will never let them live it down. Her scheming, unfortunately, encounters three roadblocks within the first week of class. The first: Exie Quinnell, teacher's pet, whip-smart, and unreasonably attractive. Neither girl intended to end up on a project together, but their teacher deemed Des in need of a little... remediation. The second: There are things about Melliford Academy that none of the teachers will talk about, even when pressed. Things that should be easy answers. The third: The first student found dead with a folded paper dove perched on their chest. ❖❖❖ Complete and fully edited. Comments and critiques are both welcome and appreciated. I write characters from many different backgrounds, with many different experiences. If you share those traits and find that I have misrepresented anything, please let me know! I am feedback-friendly and here to learn :)

Four strangers are trapped in an elevator and forced to reveal details about their most malicious deeds within the hour to prevent a fall to their death. But as secrets are exposed, tension escalates, leading to a reality no one is prepared for. ***** Tasha Pierce receives an anonymous invitation she believes is from her ex-boyfriend hoping to see her in the high-rise building where he resides. But upon ascending in the elevator with three strangers, one of them hits the emergency stop and demands they share details of their most malicious deed within the hour to prevent falling several stories to their death. As secrets are revealed and the hour closes in, who the people are and why they are trapped in a precarious elevator together soon becomes the least of her worries. ***** ONC Prompt 56: You are on a typical awkward elevator ride with a group of other people, and suddenly someone says, "So, I bet you are wondering why I've gathered you here," before hitting the emergency button. ***** | ONC 2023 Round 1 Ambassadors Pick | Copyright©2023 by L.L. Sanders

(Scarecrows of Coldharbour Farm #1) WINNER Wattys 2021 | '...adorable and heartbreaking...' Erin loved to build scarecrows. She made a dozen in all. Her Pa showed her how. But he's dead now. Everyone is dead. The Many Years Storm saw to that. Terrified and alone, Erin endured the storm in her hilltop farmhouse. She watched the sea levels rise, flooding everything in sight, washing away all but one of her scarecrows, Number Twelve. Then, on the day the rain stopped, Twelve inexplicably came to life and jumped down from her cross. No sooner had Erin told Twelve about her eleven missing sisters, they decided to build a boat and set out across The Endless Blue to find them all.

On the eve of Halloween, two innocent but curious souls drop by a gloomy mansion where they meet something completely different from what they expected. · the winner of the bramamar-2022 writing contest · translated from russian, 2022