Evoking the paranoid tension of Rosemary's Baby and the unnerving atmosphere of the cult horror film Jacob's Ladder, The Cracks in the Labyrinth is a disturbing psychological thriller set in present-day Caracas, where the government has devolved into a "democratic dictatorship"-a creepy suspense novel meant to challenge your deeper, subconscious fears of losing control. It consumed the sanity of an entire country... And it was not from this world. It couldn't have been. Whatever caused the incident known as "The Red Christmas" drove Venezuela into madness. Even ten years since it happened, none of the survivors of that night dare to attempt to make sense of it all, including Adam. Living ostracized to hide from the brutal way of life in Caracas, he's working tirelessly as an online writer to help his brother and sister flee the country. Now, as he's about to have enough money to take them to safety, he receives an email from his old girlfriend ... which is remarkable, considering she's been presumed dead for years. Adam tries to think nothing of the email or the broken video file attached to it. He convinces himself that it has to be a computer virus of some kind until he discovers something terrifying: the video might link his sister to the worst night of his life, the night his girlfriend went missing, the night of "The Red Christmas". Then he realizes this could be a threat; his sister's life could be in danger. As he starts to investigate who sent the video, Adam begins to uncover dark truths about his neighbors and finds evidence that there might be a larger conspiracy at play. The problem is that he's starting to suffer from hellish hallucinations that make him question what is real. Soon, the only clear thing to him is that someone doesn't want him to dig up the past. Will Adam be able to stay sane long enough to find out what really happened the night of "The Red Christmas"? Will he succeed in helping his family escape the country?

Dr. Hortense Gray practices experimental psychology on an uninhabited island off the coast of California where people go wanting to die and leave fighting to live. Seventeen-year-old Daphne Janus is her newest patient. Watch a 40-sec trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMt5fO1xtHw

Following a nuclear holocaust, Nathan Taylor and his family face grim choices in order to stay alive. Fleeing deadly radiation, plague and desperate men, Nathan, an army officer, leads his wife and their two teenage sons away from chaos and madness toward his ancestral home in Kentucky. Horrors lie in their path. From the prison struggling to maintain control of its inmates, to the desperadoes who enslave anyone who comes their way, even survival may cost Nathan his humanity...or that of his sons, Joshua and David. Nathan struggles to keep his family intact, but it requires making brutal choices. He wants to protect his sons, but knows they now must be deadly and cold at times. Nathan's home has been spared from the worst of the destruction, but a larger conflict over scarce resources erupts. For the survivors to have any chance they will have to fight and the desperate journey has transformed young Joshua and David into men called upon to lead and sacrifice. Torn between harsh realities, and wanting to hold onto fleeting childhoods, they are often conflicted and angry about the roles thrust upon them. Much will depend on how Nathan and his sons respond to a madman and his military regime seeking to conquer the fledgling community they are helping to build. GLIMMER OF HOPE is an epic tale of one family's endurance and triumph after tomorrow's apocalypse.

Rifton Girls' High School is the most elite all-girls school in the city. With a strict scholarship-only admission, a grand school campus and plentiful funding from its wealthy alumni, it is no doubt that the already-talented young ladies within its halls will develop further into future leaders. Unfortunately for some of them, one outcast concealed in the shadows will soon ruin their plans when she tears apart the facades of select students in the name of revenge. From the perspective of a troubled teenage mind, a story of merciless revenge unfolds - and all MASKED GIRLS will be exposed. ❝DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE PAWN.❞ © 2018 maskedst. All Rights Reserved. ACHIEVEMENTS | #2 in #thriller, zodiac awards honorable mention, the teen fiction awards 2018 finalist, added to 'bright young minds' reading list on @mystery.

Lily is a laidback slacker with a phobia for commitment...who happens to owe the devil her (nonexistent) firstborn. When the ruler of Hell comes knocking, what choice does she have but to let the devil play matchmaker? *** Lily has never been good at relationships, not that it matters to her. That is until Eve, a seductive woman claiming to be the devil's apprentice, shows up to collect a debt Lily doesn't remember owing: her firstborn child. Without a firstborn to give, and with the threat of eternal damnation at her heels, Lily finds herself on a chaotic matchmaking quest with the devil herself. Eve swears she's only playing matchmaker to collect the debt owed to her, but with each failed set-up, Lily suspects there may be something more to the devil's plan. [[word count: 60,000 - 70,000]] Cover designed by Joe Resch [[Wattys 2020 Winner]] Content warning: this story includes dark humour, mature themes, and scenes of violence and gore

Vires Academy: A school where many of the students develop an unnatural power. Some say it could be called a super power. The school is where they can learn to control and manage these powers in a balanced environment. But what happens when something starts to kill them off one by one. An unkown force is brewing and now the kids are forced to show the world what they are capable of. What happens when these kids must face others with similar powers, others that want more then to just injure their opponent. Who knew super powers could be so interesting.

When Adrienne's app TMI is a resounding success, she can't wait to reveal the dirty secrets of the glamorous "it" crowd of her prestigious school, but soon, lines begin to blur and she might find herself being the one who falls. *** Adrienne's plans have come to fruition. Her app, TMI, has taken Petraka Academy by storm, with its promise to reveal and confirm the juiciest gossip. It is also endorsed by the shiny "it" crowd who can't wait to ridicule the fallen. But they have no clue that Adrienne is coming for them, ready to push them off their pedestals one by one. Because she knows something no one else would believe. She knows that top-of-the-food chain Rosie Geld killed Audrey Hart. And once the truth hits TMI, everyone will know, and the guilty will finally pay. [[Watty Award winner in Mystery/Thriller]] Content warning: This story contains themes of bullying, sexual assault, eating disorders, drug use, abuse, violence and suicide. *** Cover designed by Holly Thurston