THREE MISSING CHILDREN. Over the past three years, the quiet Yorkshire village of Stormer Hill has lost three of its children. No bodies were ever discovered. No evidence found. No witnesses.

THE WRITER. Struggling to find inspiration for his new novel, celebrated crime author, and ex-police officer, Alex Palmer, believes the story of the missing children could end his writer's block, but is he prepared for the story that's about to develop?

THE DETECTIVE. Tom Nolan, a seasoned detective and loner involved in finding each missing child. Nolan is tasked with chaperoning Palmer and walking through each case. But as both men revisit the past, and dig deeper, neither are prepared for the chilling discovery to why the children were taken.

THE BRETHREN. A secret cult. Two men, and a series of brutal and unimaginable murders spanning over seven years with one intention; to show the world that death can be justified if it's for a greater good.

EVIL HAS A NEW FACE

It's been one year since the horrific murders of Stormer Hill, and the events of that time continue to resonate with Detective Constable Tom Nolan. In an attempt to find the second killer, known only as the Ragman, Nolan joins West Yorkshire's Murder Investigation Team.

Partnered with Jennifer Morrison, a straight-talking detective with her eye on promotion, the two officers are assigned to track down a new killer whose victims are all found dressed like human dolls. As the investigation progresses, Nolan becomes an intricate piece in the killer's grand vision that puts his life in danger.

But with the body count rising daily and the pressure to find who the media is labelling the Doll Maker increasing, Nolan discovers more than just a series of grisly murders...

Within the human dolls, the answers he has sought for nearly a year may finally be found.

SLICE OF PARADISE

An unknown danger lurks beneath the sand at a secluded beach. A couple encounters a deadly creature during their nighttime dive. A father fights to save his daughter from a harrowing nightmare. A newlywed’s honeymoon is interrupted by the apocalypse. A maid discovers a shocking secret at the exclusive resort she works for.

Beach vacations are meant for relaxing and unwinding away from the drudgery of normal life. The sparkling sun, shimmering on cresting waves. A light breeze as you sit with toes in the sand, a cold drink in one hand. Utopia on an island. But what happens when that paradise suddenly becomes a purgatory of pain?

What will you do when the beaches fill with bodies and the waters run red with blood? When creatures crawl the coastline and the jungle teems with terror. How will you survive when a tropical respite becomes an arena of peril?

Slice of Paradise is an all-original anthology featuring fifteen shocking stories of beach vacation horror. For even more scares, check out the companion anthology Beach Bodies out now from DarkLit Press.

This anthology includes stories by Craig Wallwork, Philip Fracassi, Scott J Moses, Mark Towse, Spencer Hamilton, Aiden Merchant, Drew Starling, Ashlei Johnson, Rowan Hill, Simon J. Plant, Alyson Hasson, Sheri White, Denver Grenell, Kay Hanifen, and Nick Kolakowski.

Twenty-nine-year-old Jack Glass is cursed. He knows that he will die before he reaches the age of thirty due to a rare genetic heart condition. His birthday is less than two weeks away.

If his life couldn't get any stranger, his girlfriend has involved him in a mortality experiment that involves killing every manic depressive and lonely soul in his town. As each day passes, and Jack draws closer to his own end, he begins to question his girlfriend's motives, and how their lives have become so fortuitously interlinked. But has the weight of all their victims become too much? Is the line between life and death interchangeable? Can one suffer a life worse than death?

Seeking these answers, Jack is forced to accept that however fragile his heart is, the fate of glass is to break.

The Legend Continues…

In the spirit of popular Dark Fiction and Horror anthologies such as Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories and Behold: Oddities, Curiosities and Undefinable Wonders, and the best of Stephen King’s short fiction, comes the Tales from The Lake anthologies.

This 5th and final volume includes:

• “Always After Three” by Gemma Files - A young couple discovers that in a downtown condo you almost never know who your neighbours are, or what they might be doing.
• “In the Family” by Lucy A. Snyder - A former child actress reveals dark family secrets to her long-lost niece.
• “Voices Like Barbed Wire” by Tim Waggoner - Sometimes forgetting is more painful than remembering.
• “The Flutter of Silent Wings” by Gene O’Neill - A heartbreaking tribute to a Shirley Jackson classic.
• “Guardian” by Paul Michael Anderson - Even creatures beyond time and space need friendship.
• “Farewell Valencia” by Craig Wallwork - When you’ve got no reason to live, there’s a hotel that can give you every reason to die. So book in, unpack, and prepare to be checked out, forever.
• “A Dream Most Ancient and Alone” by Allison Pang - A lake mermaid with a penchant for eating children forms a tenuous friendship with an abused girl trying to escape her past.
• “The Monster Told Me To” by Stephanie M. Wytovich - In order for Bria to deal with her past, she must confront the ghosts of her present.
• “Dead Bodies Don’t Scream” by Michelle Ann King - If the universe won’t give her a miracle, Allie will make one for herself. But dark magic has a price.
• “The Boy” by Cory Cone - Grief-stricken from the loss of her husband, a young woman fears she may lose her son as well, if she hasn’t already.
• “Starve a Fever” by Jonah Buck - Fleeing down a bayou highway with a sick criminal in the backseat, a getaway driver must sate his passenger’s horrifying needs while evading the police.
• “Umbilicus” by Lucy Taylor - A father becomes involved in a scheme to rescue a friend’s lost son—with terrifying results.
• “Nonpareil” by Laura Blackwell - Maisie’s wedding cake business needs every client it can get—but between the groom’s unpleasant family and the mysterious bride’s strange requests, Maisie has a tough job baking a cake that will please everyone.
• “The Weeds and the Wildness Yet” by Robert Stahl - Reeling over the death of his wife, Charlie stumbles across a mysterious object—the legendary monkey’s paw. Despite the terrible events that befall that fictional family, he can’t help but give it a try.
• “The Color of Loss and Love” by Jason Sizemore - A couple set out to rescue an unfamiliar couple, only to face an airborne disease.
• “A Bathtub at the End of the World” by Lane Waldman - A little girl plays with her toys in a locked bathroom. Everything is fine, except for the zombies outside.