Showing results by narrator "Sam Rosenthal" in All Categories

Coffin Blossoms. A reminder that hope does spring eternal. In death itself, there is often beauty, life, and on rare occasions, even humor. The 24 stories in this anthology straddle the line between humor and horror in unique ways. Some wearing a wry smile. Others with tongue firmly in cheek. Ghosts, demons, vampires, myths, monsters, and murderers turned on their heads and shaken ‘til dizzy, then presented for you here, in Coffin Blossoms....

On Valentine’s Day, notorious bad boy and right-wing podcaster Adam Erb is found dead in the back of his limousine, his mouth stuffed full of erectile dysfunction pills disguised as candy hearts. Huck Carp, an adversary of Erb’s and a doctoral student in applied sociology, suggests to police that the perpetrator is a severe psychopath. Imagine his surprise when, in front of his would-be girlfriend, they arrest him for the crime.

Back in 1979, when Solomon Zuch and Delphyne Shea were in high school, they shared an intense, romantic liaison on Halloween night. It became one of Solomon's most treasured memories. Twenty years later, Solomon is the married manager of the All Hallows' Eve Shoppe, a pop-up store that reopens every year to sell Halloween supplies to customers in north Columbus, Ohio. Delphyne Shadow, as she is now popularly known, calls herself the Madonna of the Underworld, and every year she hosts the most infamous Halloween party in town, the Nightmare Bash.

Exiled from his homeland, Cor’il Silvermoon was left to roam without direction. Bestowed with unimaginable power by the awakening Threads, he struggles to understand his purpose. But when he discovers that terrible forces are tearing the Realm asunder, Cor’il realizes that no one can withstand the storm alone. Forced to confront the mythical monsters that pillage the land, he faces a Realm that has become much deadlier, encountering new friends, dangerous enemies, and impossible challenges.

Colonizing Mars has always been a fascinating idea in the long term, but to rescue humans from annihilation, is a reality for which we are unprepared in 2030. United States President Jeff Clancy appointed retired Colonel Robert Lang to create a shelter prior to the upcoming Earth impact by the mile-long asteroid APOPHIS. Lang proceeds to build a fifteen thousand people's shelter; A Bio-Dome, at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean to become the first fully sustainable colony at the ocean’s floor.

Travel Tales: Wild Animals is a collection of wildlife-viewing stories including some very scary tales of often coming close to serious trouble with wild animals in your travels but managing to just barely escape. It is also a collection of the fearful sorts of things that can and do happen to travelers, but, mostly, these will not happen to you. But if they do, you get to experience real raw fear, including sometimes fear for your very own life. These are very unsettling occasions that may pop up now and again in your travels.

Ben’s traumatic memories of Vietnam are no match for the pain of his real life. Alzheimer's has taken his beloved wife of more than 50 years, and his daughter is consumed by domestic abuse. Slipping into darkness, Ben confronts his daughter's abusive husband in a showdown that proves there's nothing a father won't do to save his child.

Welcome to Hayfork, Iowa, a peaceful farming community nestled in the heart of a tranquil valley, a town that looks after its own. It’s a place where gossip is king, but secrets are kept from outsiders, and those who are born there live and die at the mercy of the weather, or the forgiveness of the land. Now a strange terror roams the sky at night, a dread horror lurks among the corn, and a troubled widow gives birth to a boy who glows in the dark. Death on the streets and blood in the fields seed suspicion and division deep in the valley’s fertile soil.

Dale Jones has lost everything. He’d lost his job and his money, and now, his wife has been shot and killed by Sheriff Riker. It's enough to break a man, and it does. But while on the run, Dale stumbles across something incredible: a baby animal unlike anything he’d ever seen before. A creature sent by God—or the devil—with the power to exact Dale’s revenge and bring the town of Duke, Arizona to its knees. At high noon, gunslingers on horseback meet sharp claws and bloodstained teeth. Will the sheriff and his men prevail, or will Dale and his new pet rule the West?

In 1933, Mississippi was in the throes of both the Great Depression and Prohibition. Dirt-poor living was the way of life for most. Some folks were forced to turn to any means possible to put food on the table. In Winchester County, the Lawtons turned to brewing moonshine to make ends meet. Though dangerous and illegal, their operation ran smoothly until John Kirkwood, a highly ambitious federal revenue agent, came to town. Thanks to a dirty deal with a man with deep pockets, Kirkwood sees ridding Winchester County of its moonshiners as his way to fortune.

Weathering the Seasons is a collection of short stories, flash fiction, and poetry. The genres range through fiction, non-fiction, romance, suspense, thriller, self-help, reflection, and several other types of writing.

Recovering narcissist Skip Gershwin loses his teaching job and his condo on the same day. It’s only through the intervention of his friend, cognitive scientist Gudrun Frege, that he’s saved from plummeting head first into a vortex of total despair. During this trying moment in his life, the one thing that sustains him is his strange fascination with the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair, the largest and most spectacular fair ever held in the United States.

Martian science specialists Jeff Walker and Lori Anderson set off on an adventure into the unknown as they are sent on a mission to investigate the source of an ultraviolet beam of light which originates from the canyon Valles Marineris. Commander Beckerson is an overzealous 30-year military man determined to find the source of the transmission and those who sent it, in an effort to eliminate whatever threat it poses. President Barclay is a diplomat faced with an impossible situation and must negotiate to save mankind from permanent extinction.

Cor’il Silvermoon is missing, presumed dead. Twisted, terrifying nightmares wander Cygil, corrupting everything in their midst. Orcish hordes and Red Sword armies battle for dominance, fighting furiously in massive battles across the land. The Realm is mired in dark times. Kendra Alscoradon has a plan, but she is hesitant. To pull Cygil out of darkness, she must confront her past, make new allies, and go undercover to spy on her enemies. Along the way, she learns stunning information about herself and her past that changes everything, forcing her to make some difficult decisions.

Following a traumatic event, a young woman with undiscovered extrasensory perception finds herself battling sinister forces determined to stop her from uncovering a long-buried and mysterious family secret. Barbara Roselia Vance excelled in high school, earned a BS degree in math, and a master's in computer science from the University of Chicago. She turned down scholarship offers to Ivy League schools to stay in Chicago to look after her cancer-stricken mother. She worked for a successful company.

The Great Stupidity is a witty work of fiction that offers a satirical look at an historic public health crisis. Author Andy Lazris transports listeners back in time as the Black Death strikes a small village in France. Village leaders send off a blacksmith's son on a ridiculous quest to cure the disease - and on his journey, he encounters many "experts" who "know" how to solve this crisis.

The year is 2199, only days away from the new millennium. On Earth, there is a fragile peace that has lasted nearly 25 years since the war. Those who survived the chaos cling to the hope of one day escaping the dying planet. The last war was the first fought alongside machines, sentient beings designed to kill. It was their minds that freed them to kill so efficiently. They were conscious. After the war, the machines were remodeled, dumbed down, and controlled. Now, hundreds of thousands of subservient human-like robots co-populate the planet.

Cupiditas: Evil's Root is a sequel to Michael Segedy's thriller romance, In Deep. The novel is set in South America. Like In Deep, it is full of twists and turns, romance and adventure, with dark underpinnings that show how powerful, ruthless political and corporate structures cast shadows over the lives of all of us. In this exciting mystery, you'll meet fascinating characters you'll never forget: drug lords, mass murderers, a courageous old grandfather, and two young Americans brave enough to confront the greatest power on Earth.

Every dog deserves a forever home, and after being given up several times, Wrigley has finally found his. The smart, good-natured dog now spends his days at SunRidge Assisted Living, comforting and doting on 45 seniors. Wrigley has free run of the place - going where he senses he’s needed - but his preferred spot is beside his favorite resident, Marjorie Thompson. All is well until a curmudgeon named Walter Kepsen moves in across the hall from Marjorie. Walter can’t stand Wrigley, or anything else, for that matter. But something dramatic is about to happen that will shake SunRidge.

When American expat journalist Steve Collins sets off for the middle of the Amazon jungle to cover a plane crash with a US senator aboard, he has no idea how his life is about to change. Steve's editor informs him that Jennifer Strand, a gorgeous, spunky young journalist embedded with the US Embassy, will be accompanying him to the crash site. Although wide apart in their political views, they manage to set aside their differences as they attempt to unravel the mystery behind the senator’s death.