Showing results by narrator "Joe Hempel" in All Categories

It takes a lot of commitment to make a marriage between a modern ceremonial magician and a chaos witch work, but when a malevolent entity takes up residence in Rhys and Moira's home, their love will be pushed to the limits. Brewing up a solution is easier said than done when your magical styles are polar opposites; throw a psychic ex and a secret society in the mix, and things are bound to get messy.

The third collection in the Music and Murder Mystery Series, Back in Black features one story for each song from the seminal hard rock album of the same name. This book showcases ten brilliant mystery writers at the top of their game, including Reed Farrel Coleman, Heather Graham, Tori Eldridge, Ward Larsen, and Andrew Child, among others.

Welcome to a very special issue of Weird Tales. This issue celebrates the Bram Stoker Awards, the “Oscars” of the horror trade. They are presented every year by the Horror Writers Association (horror.org), a group founded in 1985 (and incorporated in 1987) by a collective of masters of that genre, including Joe R. Lansdale, Karen Lansdale, Robert McCammon, and Dean Koontz. This issue is packed with short stories, flash fiction, poems, and an essay—all written by past winners of the Bram Stoker Award.

When US DEA Special Agent Lelisa Desmond refuses to follow an order to bury evidence in a high profile case, her superior hires a hit man to forever silence her deep in the ocean off Grand Cayman Island. Lelisa survives the first attempt on her life, but someone close to her is mistakenly murdered in her place. With no one to trust, Lelisa enlists Inspector Alec Dyer for assistance but soon learn she's his number one suspect in the homicide. She sets off on a daring mission to bring down the man who ordered her execution.

In a post-nuclear Eastern Europe, Hammel E Varka departs for a remote island to join a survey team cataloguing the abandoned Gollitok prison in the hopes that he will redeem his family's tarnished reputation. After the passage across the strait leaves a team member injured, Varka quickly realizes that this survey is far from routine and that what he thought he knew about the island was a cover for more horrifying truths. As his team presses deeper into the decaying facility, hidden agendas splinter the team, and they find themselves beset with dangers beyond their worst nightmares.

When famous eighties pop star John Paul George is found floating facedown in his pool, Hampton Cove’s premier sleuthing tabby Max and his feline friends are on the case. Soon they’re chasing leads and following clues, helping their human Odelia Poole, reporter for the Hampton Cove Gazette, solve the murder. Meanwhile, new cop in town Chase Kingsley has his own problems to deal with. An old scandal threatens to get him kicked off the force.

Tragedy strikes Harry's family leaving him with nothing but sorrow, grief, and a mysterious box whose contents leave him shaken to the core. Everything he thought he knew about his father teetered on the edge of lies. Despite this, he decides to carry out his late father's final wishes: to meet up with some of his old friends whose fathers had been best friends with his own—for a traditional camping trip their fathers had taken annually in years passed.

Angels and Demons, Myths and Legends... It's been six months since Reginald Baskin became a vampire too fat to live happily with the beautiful undead — six months in which Reginald and his two-thousand-year-old maker Maurice have learned that safety does not come with power. These days, Maurice is Deacon of the Vampire Nation, but plenty beneath Maurice are still plotting to depose him … or dispose of him. But when a new and ancient threat rears its head, the Nation faces extinction and the truest of deaths — and Reginald, Maurice, and Nikki might be the only vampires who can stop it.

Surviving a car crash was just the beginning. Now, you are David, a newly orphaned teen trapped in Grandma’s isolated cottage in the Virginia mountains—and something in the house wants you dead.

Ryan Davenport is Mayor of Ravenden. He's a type A personality who likes things neat and orderly. He runs a tight ship and will do whatever it takes to keep Ravenden and those he cares about safe. But Gracie Montgomery doesn't make that easy. She's a carefree spirit with a death wish because she knows she can't die, at least not by fire. A rare fire witch known as the phoenix means fire can never really hurt her. This makes her reckless and wild, a danger to those around her.

When Japanese nature show host Daisuke Matsumori finds himself on an alien world, he hopes to rekindle his passion for his work. Traveling through a newly discovered wormhole in the Papuan highlands, he joins biologist Anne Houlihan on Junction, a patchwork planet of competing alien ecosystems.

Being Alpha is a fulltime job, but so is being a mate, father, son, brother, and friend. The weight of the Pack sits upon my shoulders and there are few that know what that feels like. I thought we were done having kids, but my mate is pregnant again. With four daughters and a possible fifth on...

The city stole her memory. The desert taught her how to fight. Sometimes people leave the city and don't come back, but Rhmañña Reddy had everything. An education, a good job, financial security. So why did she disappear? And why was she seen consorting with outsiders from the perimeter? In...

A cowboy's life has no place for a mate. Sure some cowboys make it work, but when Emmett takes on more responsibilities at Collier Farms, he knows he's sacrificing his own chance at true love. Or so he thinks. One night out on the range. One gorgeous stranger. One unexpected night of passion...

Gaige Penrod yearns for the light of musical greatness. A self-taught metal guitarist with a dream of being the greatest, he finds himself drawn to a concert celebrating an eclipse, where he is overcome by an otherworldly presence that changes him forever.

Blorange tabby Max and ragamuffin Dooley are on the case again. This time a world-famous reality star has been found murdered in her own bed, and it looks like the crime just might be terror-related. The Kenspeckles, stars of the well-known reality show Keeping Up with the Kenspeckles, are in town to film a new season of their show, so the case soon turns into a complete media circus, with the Kenspeckles insisting the entire investigation is filmed for their show.

Justin Lucas just started at a new high school, but there are no classes in really important stuff like English literature, mathematics, science, or history. Instead, the entire curriculum is dedicated to playing dodgeball. Justin is...perplexed. Where are the pencils and textbooks? Why are there so many explosives strapped to the balls? And what's up with the barbed wire? Does the school administration really think it's appropriate to wrap the balls in barbed wire?

A hurricane is due to hit Florida hard. Two men take the opportunity to rob an expensive home. Surprised by neighbors, the burglars kill two people...and seven-year-old girl Lemon Madras disappears. Is the little girl dead or alive? Agent Tom Lange is taken off suspension and brought in to find her.

We all have that one older funny family member. You know the one, he tells stories from his experiences and usually has people rolling their eyes. William Stokes is that person! He presents a delightful collection of memories that are truly life lessons even today! Stokes, through his memories and wit, provides opportunities to learn through laughter, sharing of memories and love.

The Bruton Inn, located outside of the small Maine city of Hollis Oaks, is home to something sinister. An icy presence has made its way from a dark past to the present day. Cold spots, shadows, and whispers permeate the halls, and guests are beginning to change. For two front desk employees, the dark rumors are about to come to light. They call upon an urban shaman and his connection with the spirit world to dig up the truth. Will they be able to stand against this malevolent force?