Showing results by publisher "W. F. Howes Ltd" in Horror

For 15 years, Janet has been married to her devoted and boring husband, Trevor. But their marriage was not as simple as it seemed. Now Janet is on the road, hurtling towards another man, and another life. Has she found freedom, and the strength to escape Trevor’s dominating fetishes? Or is there something far more sinister waiting for her at the crematorium?

For nine months, Alfie has been caring for his twin daughters after the sudden death of their mother, Pippa. One night, he wakes to find them at the foot of his bed, and hears the chilling words: daddy, there's a man in our room. Alfie finds no sign of any man, but it isn't long before the name Black Mamba invades the family's everyday routine. What seemingly begins as an imaginary friend quickly develops into something darker, potentially violent.

Eleanor has not seen or spoken with her family in years, not since they sent her away to Saint Brigid's boarding school. She knows them only as vague memories: her grandfather's tremendous fanged snout, the barrel full of water her mother always soaked in and strange hunting trips in a dark wood with her sister and cousins. When Eleanor finally returns to their ancestral home on the rainy coast of Maine, she finds them already gathered in wait, seemingly ready to welcome her back with open arms.

Sally, a cynical 15-year-old schoolgirl, is much too clever for her own good. When partnered with her best friend, Pamela—a mouthy girl who no one else much likes—Sally finds herself unable to resist the temptation of rebellion. The pair play truant, explore forbidden areas of the old school and—their favourite—torment posh Sylvia Rose, with her pristine uniform and her beautiful voice that wins every singing prize. One day, Sally ventures up to the greenhouse on the roof alone. Or at least she thinks she's alone, until she sees Sylvia on the roof, too.

Left all alone after her mother passes away, 12-year-old Louisa watches the sky for her father. Long ago, a powerful gust of wind stole him away on the wings of his untamed magic - the same magic that stirs within Louisa. As if she is made of hollow bones and too much air, her feet never quite touch the ground. But for all her sky gazing, Louisa finds her fortune on the ground when she spots a ticket to the Carnival Beneath the Stars. If her father fits in nowhere else, maybe she'll find him dazzling crowds alongside the other strange feats.

Yewon is trapped. She's stuck in Dalbit, the small Korean village of her birth, where the ancestral bones of her relatives live in her bathtub. Reeling from the loss of her father, she works long days at the convenience store and tries to keep the peace between her mother and sister, who are constantly at each other's throats. But the nightmares are coming.

From rural England to colonial India, in murky haunted mansions and under modern electric lighting, these master storytellers unfold spinetinglers which pull back the veil of everyday life to reveal the nightmares which lurk just out of sight. These stories are more than simply frightening - they're also disquieting exposures of mortality, loneliness and the human capacity for both evil and remorse.

A new religion is rising, gathering followers of prophetess Jane Oden. Her sister, Cinzia, is by her side, but both the Church and the Nazaniin assassins are still on their trail. Knot, his true nature now revealed, is haunted by the memories of others. Astrid travels to Tinska for answers, but the childlike vampire has enemies waiting for her. And in the empire of Roden, a tiellan woman finds herself with a new protector who wants to use her extraordinary abilities.

A body has been uncovered in a mudslide just outside the village of Andwiston. In the pub they talk of murder, but Dan - sometime mechanic, constant drunk - is finding it hard to sift through his jumbled memories. Watching him from the dark is Lorna, a lost soul living in the woods, haunted by ghosts and a vision from her childhood: a cold boy standing alone in Gallinger's field.

When a series of dark rituals devastate the fledgling Church of Canta, Jane and Cinzia realise they have ignored the movements in the shadows for too long. With Knot at her side, Cinzia deals with dark beings to fight the greater evil. Meanwhile, Astrid's attempts to elude the Black Matron backfire, and she faces that which she fears above all things: her own past. Winter, in hopes of regaining something of her old life, returns to Pranna to find the village nothing like it used to be. With Urstadt the soldier and Galce the tailor at her side, she must choose how to use her still-growing, all-consuming power.

William Charles Croydon, a convicted murderer sentenced to death, amuses himself by exchanging correspondence with the misguided women who send him fan mail. But soon even that loses its attraction, and so he begins to write to the brother of his victim, Paul Danridge. At first, Danridge doesn’t reply, so he writes again, and again. After ignoring the letters initially, Dandridge finally can’t help himself and begins writing back.

An affecting tale of the struggle to retain one’s humanity in the face of societal breakdown. With the population sliding toward unemployment, homelessness and desperation, one woman ekes out a living fashioning “reborns” for clients of a particular taste.

After being cast out from his home village, Sevim wanders through the marshes, fatally wounded and waiting for death from hunger or cold. His dying mind plays tricks on him and he imagines shapes in the mist - fantastic creatures, monsters and spirits. One of these spirits seems more than just imaginary; it re-visits Sevim many times, talking to him, comforting him. It appears as a young boy, his name is Spall, and he is lonely.

The fourth book in the epic Chaos Queen series. Many forces converge on the great city of Triah, bent on its destruction. By sea, Empress Cova of Roden sails with her armada, determined to bring the rival nation under her yoke. From land, Winter, the Chaos Queen, brings her tiellan army, set on revenge. And their advance brings a yet more terrible army still: awoken by the Chaos Queen's powers, daemons mass on the border between worlds, waiting for a way in.

Sfaera-shattering revelations reveal there is more to the Nine Daemons than anyone could have imagined. Knot, still reeling from a shocking death, tries to put himself back together in time to fight. Two ex-Nazaniin assassins, Code and Kali, form an unlikely alliance. Cinzia, more suspicious than ever of her sister Jane Oden--Canta's prophetess - rallies as many people as she can to save the Sfaera from imminent destruction. And Winter, the Chaos Queen herself, realises she must finally choose sides and face the greatest test of her life: finding the humility to seek help.

The story of the Cumbrian witches in the small village of Bleaberry Beck is told in hushed tones and a quiet reverence that speaks of superstition and fear. Richard Henderson, Medieval Studies student at Oxford University, couldn’t be less intrigued. Picking up a ‘poppet’ from the village shop, he happily set off home with this birthday present for his little sister. But the faceless wooden doll holds the secret to a chilling curse.

Seventeen-year-old Marie has had a lot to cope with in her young life. But things are getting better, especially when she gets a job working for the widower Dr Slade, looking after his four-year-old daughter, Amy. At first, her new job seems perfect. Marie loves Amy, and Amy seems to like Marie too. Then things start to change. It seems that not everyone is happy with the new arrangement. There appears to be someone else in the house—someone who is determined to come between Amy and Marie...

The Savages are the greatest weapon the Empire ever forged. They are the ones no one will miss: the poor, the criminal, the indigent. Snatched from the street by the city guard, they are thrown in their thousands at the Empire's enemies. If they live, they fight again. If they die, there are always more to take their place. Evie is a warrior, charged by a grieving wife to find a lost husband, a man who holds the key to exposing the pressgangs. A man Evie herself once loved.