Showing results by author "R.E. Sargent" in All Categories

Thirty-nine terrifying stories that will keep you up all night and make you want to call in sick to work. Enjoy stories of karma, fear, supernatural horror, deadly women, and retribution.The Better Off Dead Series delves into the farthest corners of your mind, where your deepest, darkest fears lurk. These masters of horror will haunt your dreams and stalk your nightmares, taking you to the edge of sanity before pushing you to the brink of madness!

Institutionalized is the latest anthology from the creators of The Better Off Dead series. This installment brings you stories of the mentally unbalanced, the damaged and disturbed, and the criminally insane. Some are locked up. Some are not. We recommend you sleep with one eye open.

Stephanie Duran never considered herself a heroine. Her life was a series of poor choices and failed relationships, until she stumbled upon a mysterious portal that allowed her to travel to the past to save lives. While on a trek to save the victims of a serial killer, something evil hitched a ride back with Stephanie, destroying her home and almost killing her. Traumatized by her near-death experience, Stephanie suffers from self-doubt and questions her ability to change fate.

Stephanie Duran hoped for the American dream - a husband, a family, a house with a white-picket fence - but every man she ever trusted betrayed her. Forsaken by her last lover, Stephanie finally understands that the American dream will never be her reality. Devastated and emotionally destroyed, she pours all her anger-fueled energy into remodeling her new house - the one part of her dream she could control - when an unexplained phenomenon bestows upon her the mysterious power to right wrongs before they happen.

Lana Brooks is a prolific and best-selling author who seemingly has it all: money, fame, and a dream apartment overlooking the Manhattan skyline. What could possibly be wrong in her life? Confident in her writing abilities, Lana is shocked when a reader shreds her reputation while reviewing her latest release. Distracted by the review to the point where it affects her writing, Lana takes matters into her own hands, not realizing she is going to get way more than she bargained for.

The Better Off Dead series delves into the furthest corners of your mind, where your deepest, darkest fears lurk. These masters of horror will haunt your dreams and stalk your nightmares, taking you to the edge of sanity before pushing you to the brink of madness!

Be afraid. Be very afraid. That noise in the dead of night. The shadow that slips by almost unnoticed. The fear that pulverizes your sense of reasoning and pushes you deep down under seven layers of covers. There is no escaping it, and when the dark forces of the universe come after you, the world will know exactly what you are made of. Will you run? Will you fight? Maybe you’ll join forces with the darkness that rips through your quiet little life. Everyone’s dying to find out.

Don’t deny it. Your mind has dwelled for hours on the things you would do if your name was Karma. Malevolence towards those that wronged you festers and there is no relief - until now. Plunge headfirst into these sinister tales where karma finally takes control and vengeance is a dish that is best served hot.

Beware of the night, for it shows no mercy. Anxieties run rampant as the last sprinklings of light twinkle out on the inky horizon. The shadows dance their choreography in the damp, dusky air. Night is taking over, and it knows how to keep a dark and deadly secret, for it allows no witnesses. And that screaming you hear nearby? Watch out, because you might be next. The Sinister Supernatural Stories series brings you delicious horror that focuses on elements of the supernatural. Pull up a chair and dig in, but never after dark—everyone knows bad things always happen after dark.

Dominick Maxwell had an average life...with one exception. Everyone he was close to ended up dead. When Dom's sister - his last living relative - is attacked and dying, Dom thinks he has lost it all, until he realizes that he is the prime suspect. Fearing he is next - and possibly about to end up in jail - Dom disappears and urgently tries to find out the answer to the question that has been haunting him for years.

Jessica Nichols wanted it all, but the only way for her to have it was to kill the one person she most admired, taking over her life in the process. Her newfound career as best-selling author Karen Carter was going well - that is, until an unknown stranger threatened to expose Jessica for who she really was.

Lana Brooks is a prolific and best-selling author who seemingly has it all: money, fame, a dream apartment overlooking the Manhattan skyline. What could possibly be wrong in her life? Confident in her writing abilities, Lana is shocked when a reader shreds her reputation while reviewing her latest release. Distracted by the review, to the point where it affects her writing, Lana takes matters into her own hands, not realizing she is going to get way more than she bargained for.

Jessica Nichols wanted the one thing that eluded her - The distinction of becoming a best-selling author. The only thing standing in her way was a stack of rejection letters. Unable to get her foot in the door, she finds herself destined to spend her life working dead-end jobs. Desperate to make it, and rapidly running out of options, Jessica crosses a line she can never come back from.

Sometimes, the dead do come back. Sometimes, they crave your flesh...and sometimes, they desire your very soul, but they aren’t the only thing you have to fear. You don’t believe in what you can’t see, yet something is there, watching, waiting. You can feel its unholy intentions deep down in the marrow of your bones. You don’t know where it came from, but you know with every fiber of your being that it is not from this earth, and as you feel its gaze searing through your skin, you know the end just might be near.

Stan Armstrong dedicated his entire life to science. Branded as a maverick and a risk-taker by his colleagues, his unorthodox experiments and outlandish theories of time and space resulted in loss of funding and, ultimately, his termination from tenure at the university where he’d spent his entire career. Stan’s insatiable quest to explore extreme hypotheses and to prove the unproven were matched only by his neurotic lust to peel back the mysterious layers of time and space to expose the hidden secrets of the universe.

Your existence is the epitome of normal…until it isn’t. In an instant, everything changes. The peaceful security you hold dear to your heart has been ripped away, and you are left fighting for your life. But don’t think for a second you have a chance in hell of surviving. Your odds are never good when staring into the face of pure evil. Join us for tales of savagery and slaughter, where the innocent, or not-so-innocent, find themselves in the most ferocious situations they have ever encountered.

They stalk their prey from deep in the menacing shadows, poised and ready to strike at the penultimate moment. Their victims unexpecting, unaware, until they wake in dark rooms, dank basements, or on chilly floors stained with the rotting blood of other hapless victims. The stench fills their nostrils and permeates their pores, the bile rising up in their burning throats. They scream and try to escape, but all attempts are futile. Fear dances like spiders down their spines as they hear ominous footsteps approaching — their eyes spread wide in horror as they realize the end is near.

We’ve all had that nightmare. You wake up in a strange place with no memory of how you got there. There’s blood on your hands, and you’re overwhelmed by fear — until you realize it’s not yours. It’s then you see your victim in a pool of blood, you’re holding the murder weapon, and your only relief is waking up with a scream trapped in your throat.

Razor-sharp teeth. Vicious claws. The soul-piercing eyes that stare you down right before it pounces. What will you do when it’s you against a purveyor of pure evil? You think it’s just a dream? Think again. These nightmare creatures have transcended the pages of the books they were written into, they’ve ripped their way from the silver screen, and now they are coming for you. There is nowhere to hide - they will find you. But the question remains. Do you have what it takes to conquer the beast or will you let it destroy you?

A woman scorned. The sanctity of her sanctuary threatened. The betrayal of trust...even loyalty. Don’t ever tell her not to take it personally, because that’s exactly what it is. Personal. Your first blunder was mistaking her kindness for weakness. Your second was betraying her. The third? Underestimating her. Don’t say we didn’t warn you. Take the plunge into these tales of deadly women who will stop at nothing until vengeance is theirs. The Better Off Dead series delves into the farthest corners of your mind, where your deepest, darkest fears lurk.