What happens when you challenge a group of fiction writers to take an everyday, normal, ho-hum situation and give it a smack upside the head? The answer is a trip into the sometimes dark, sometimes goofy-but always entertaining-alternate reality we call our minds. These playgrounds in our brains, these forests of many delights, this is where writers dwell. This is where we tend the gardens of the obscure, the weird, the unexpected. This is the state in which authors truly live and breathe, at home among our creations, deeply involved in our worlds and the emotions they elicit from readers. . . and from ourselves. Every moment of every day we are crafting our own realities, giggling to ourselves, or causing our own hearts to skip a beat. Where one man sees a dog, we see a fully-shifted lycanthrope stalking his prey. Where one woman sees a child playing in the sand, we see the world's youngest explorer discovering dinosaur bones or alien artifacts. People don't always understand us or our crazy tales, but we don't mind. We're all proud to call ourselves Blyssfully Abnormal.

**Mature readers

Kamielle is being hunted. With her mob-involved husband on her trail, she goes from Chicago to Oakland and thinks she has finally found peace…until someone tries to kill her. Again. FBI Agent Michael Carter isn’t looking for a woman to complicate his world. He’s looking for a serial killer who preys on prostitutes during the full moon. What he finds is a woman who seems to have a past she can’t get away from. When she almost dies, he becomes her savior. Michael looks into Kamielle’s past and finds out her husband is a very dangerous man. As they try to unravel the mystery that has become Kamielle’s life, they find standing together is easier than standing alone, and outrunning the hunter is harder than they expected.

**Mature readers.

Jon Carter is dangerous, deadly, and always works alone. Hardly anyone knows anything about him except he does the jobs no one else in the CIA can. Then his new boss pairs him with a desk-jockey and former ballerina for an undercover mission to Russia. Not ready for the fast-paced world of Black Ops, Elana Miller quickly realizes Jon is her only hope for survival. But can she survive the heat of pretending to be his lover or will she get them both killed? When everything goes terribly wrong, Elana has to become the operative she never expected to be. Running for their lives, the two learn nothing is as it seems and everyone runs out of time before they expect to.

**Mature readers.

A small town on the edge of nowhere had seemed like the perfect place for Dr. Barnaby Williams to start his private practice. But, when a horrifying encounter during a therapy session has him doubting his own sanity, it becomes clear that something sinister is going on in his sleepy little town. Something that goes far beyond the rigid boundaries of his own scientific beliefs.

Convinced by his assistant, Terry Bradford, that he has a responsibility to help his patients in any way that he can, they embark upon a journey of terrifying discovery, leading from the depths of a dream to the very edges of madness itself.

However, as they fight to keep the madness from spreading, a malevolent presence works to advance its own hidden agenda. Growing more powerful by the hour, it will stop at nothing to succeed before they can unravel the mystery of its unholy desires.

Will the fragile, newborn bond between them be strong enough to help them overcome their individual demons before the darkness overwhelms them? Or will the gates of the monstrous cataract be flung wide once more, allowing something unutterably evil to reclaim this planet for its age-old masters?

Mina Jewel swears the boogeyman slaughtered her abusive stepfather. But as far as the quiet town of Port Orchard, Washington is concerned, Mina is a cold-blooded killer and Cadric Jaden had been a saint. After enduring nine years of psychiatric care and whispers of her guilt, Mina is hell-bent on clearing her name, exposing Cadric for the sadistic pedophile he really was, and uncovering the true identity of the strange being who saved her life.

Through a whirlwind of near-death experiences and sanity-shattering revelations, Mina discovers that Washington is a hotbed of supernatural activity, Cadric’s sinister plan didn’t die with him, and that she could hold the key to ending the suffering of millions. . . But first she has to survive.

**Mature readers

Someone is messing with Mina Jewel's head, and she's about to crack. Desperate for a solution, but worried about backlash if her hunch is wrong, Mina steps outside of Presence to seek answers to an impossible question. What she discovers will obliterate everything she's ever known about Presence, her family, and herself.

But Mina doesn't have time for self-pity or to rage at the world. The future of one innocent child hangs in the balance. To right the wrong, Mina must make a choice, knowing that lives will be destroyed no matter what she decides.

When the Port Orchard police come to Mina Jewel for help, she knows it should be an interesting case. But not even the promise of a preternatural mystery can keep her interest very long with all the other crap on her plate. A sudden rush of missing teens and no clues to track them with, an enemy from her past resurfacing without warning, and a life-shattering revelation bring Mina face to face with one of her worst fears. And all this before she's even recovered from losing her baby or truly accepting her Lycanthropy. But there is no time for Mina to pick up the pieces of her broken life when innocent lives are at stake. How far will Mina push herself for the greater good. . . and at what cost?

A rogue werewolf threatens the safety of Port Orchard, Washington, but all Mina Jewel can think about is the sudden flood of unrelated missing children cases. Between her private eye gig, a rash of unexplained and debilitating health issues, and her duties to Presence--an underground society of psychic investigators and practitioners--Mina barely has time to deal with her screwed-up private life. Time is running out for the little ones, and Mina knows it. Frustrated with her lack of leads, Mina becomes careless, endangering Presence and thrusting herself into a war between Lycans she doesn't trust and the people who fear, hate, and hunt them. Now Mina must decide who to side with, knowing if she chooses wrong, the missing children won't be the only ones to lose.

~~My name is Maxwell Houston Jackson and I've died three times that I know of. I can tell you that death is highly over-rated. Aside from the blinding flash of searing pain, followed by the mildly-confused state accompanying death, you'd hardly know that you've passed on. Perhaps that's why there are so many spirits hanging around this plane of existence.~~ Maxwell Jackson has been thrown into that shadowy world that drifts between the living and the dead. His death-defying experiences give him the gift... or is it a curse... of being able to communicate with the dead. And those pesky spirits just will not shut up! That's just the beginning of Max's many challenges. The Seattle Police Department, numerous dearly departed souls and even the local Vampire community all give him a run for his money in this book as he solves a string of unsolved murders in the city. The book also has a nice little glossary to allow the reader to check out the places that Max has visited. After all, the truth is out there... and it can be more frightening than what you read.

**14 years and up. Mature readers

Peter Toombs never stopped loving Diana Ward. Not after they broke up; not after she married someone else; not after she died. Peter never got over how he failed Diana when she needed him most when they were in college. Even as he became a successful TV writer, his failure haunted him more than the monsters he created to scare others.
His obsession prompts him to lease Diana's childhood home in the small Utah town of Bern. He's convinced that if he lives there, she will come back for him. When he sleeps, he dreams of ghosts: Diana's, the ghost he believes should be in the house, and the ghost of someone he never met. The townsfolk, however, don't like having a stranger in Bern. They have secrets they don't want Peter to learn. Secrets about Diana and her death. Secrets about Peter and the ghosts that follow him.
Joined by his friend Connor and Diana's widower Aaron, Peter must survive Bern and discover the truth behind Diana's fate. Learning the truth could exorcise the ghosts from Peter's life or it could break his heart and bring him face to face with his worst fears.

Dark times are ahead for Mina Jewel and those she holds most dear. The return of an old nemesis, impossible creatures stalking the night, and a major threat to every Lycan in Washington State all converge to send Mina spiraling out of control.
But that's only the beginning. . .

A night of spooky fun exploring a haunted house takes an unexpected turn when Anthony meets the undead Emily. Their awkward, newfound bond attracts an eccentric group of demon-fighting paranormal investigators—as well the cult of dark mages holding Emily's soul captive for their mysterious schemes.

Following an anonymous tip left at her office, Mina Jewel begins investigating a bizarre string of random murders. When she finds herself under “The Surgeon’s” blades, she realizes there’s nothing random about the murders at all, and the crazed serial killer has bigger plans for Port Orchard, Washington.

Between a suffocating heatwave, her volatile dealings with Justice, and a difficult physical recovery, Mina’s gifts are going haywire. Without help, she’s afraid she’ll lose control and her Fury will burn everything in its path.

But there’s no time for recovery or fixing her personal problems. When the Surgeon targets Mina’s pack mates, a disturbing pattern begins to emerge. For their safety, the pack is sent away, and it’s up to Mina to stop the killer alone.

Just when she thinks she’s figured it out, her investigation takes her down a path she never imagined possible. A path leading to betrayal, cover-ups, and another piece of the puzzle of her traumatic childhood.

From the author of CRY DOWN DARK comes a frightening collection of short stories, poetry, and essays that will leave you screaming and begging for more.
In this nightmare room, you'll find living tattoos, a strange karaoke host, a vengeful widow, a salesman not that interested in making a sale, and more.
“An Appointment with the Knifeman” takes you inside the home of a serial killer, but who did we follow through the door? A disgruntled pharmaceuticals employee gets the better of his boss in “Hemingway at Work” and a teen girl learns that tattoos truly are forever in “Bury All Your Secrets in My Skin.”
If you think poetry can't be scary, wait until you read Tranchell's “Dead Again Tomorrow” about a man who dies every day … and wakes up each morning.
Collected here for the first time are Tranchell's horror movie columns “The Show Begins at 10:31” and a special essay on Stephen King.
ASLEEP IN THE NIGHMARE ROOM includes eleven short stories showcasing Tranchell's wide range of styles and characters; four poems that will stop your heart, make you laugh, and make you cry; and his own unique insights into the horror movies he's grown up with and the author who shaped much of his world.
Do you dare enter the nightmare room? If so, turn off the light, hide under the covers, and start to dream. Tranchell and his demons will be with you soon.

Still reeling from the devastating blow of betrayal by her closest friends and confidants, Mina Jewel must put aside her personal pain to complete one last dangerous task before she leaves Presence forever.
In a panicked race against time to rescue a very special child, it soon becomes obvious that the psychopathic Surgeon has more torment in store than Mina can handle on her own. She must learn to cope with her crippling PTSD and gather new and unlikely allies to complete her mission and put an end to the terror gripping Port Orchard, Washington.
Will Mina be able to trust again, or will Aria, Presence, and the Latrator pack be lost forever to the Surgeon's blade?

In 1890, a disease that turned sane men into ravenous werewolves swept through the United States like wildfire. On the brink of humanity’s extinction, Nikola Tesla and a mysterious order of scientists known as the Tellurians revealed a bold plan: the uninfected would abandon the Earth’s surface by rising up in floating salvation cities, iron and steel metropolises that carried tens of thousands of refugees above the savage apocalypse. The remnants of mankind huddled fearfully in the clouds, waiting for the werewolves to devour each other.

Yet, twenty years later, only one salvation city remains aloft, while the beasts still rule the world below. Time has taken its toll on the miraculous machinery of the city, and soon the last of the survivors will plummet to their doom. But when Elijah Kelly, a brakeman aboard the largest of the city’s Thunder Trains, is infected by the werewolf virus, he discovers a secret world of lies and horrific experiments that hide the disturbing truth about the Tellurians.

When the beast in his blood surges forth, Elijah must choose between the lives of those he loves, and the city that is humanity’s last hope of survival.

**Mature readers

In 1890 a disease that turned sane men into ravenous werewolves swept through the United States like wildfire. On the brink of humanity’s extinction, Nikola Tesla and a mysterious order of scientists known as the Tellurians revealed a bold plan: the uninfected would abandon the Earth’s surface by rising up in floating salvation cities, iron and steel metropolises that carried tens of thousands of refugees above the savage apocalypse. The remnants of mankind huddled fearfully in the clouds, waiting for the werewolves to devour each other.

Twenty years later, only one salvation city remains aloft, while the beasts still rule the world below. Elijah Kelly, an infected Thunder Train crewman exiled to the ground, ranges ahead of his beloved home, determined to keep it safe no matter the cost. But a telluric deadzone has caught Wardenclyffe in its riptide, forcing it toward airspace where its miraculous machinery will no longer function. Desperate to neutralize the deadzone before the flying city crashes, Eli discovers a brutal truth: humanity still exists on the ground, paying a terrible vampiric price for their survival.

Faced with an impossible choice between sacrificing thousands of innocent lives or betraying the rebels fighting for their freedom against an oppressive regime, Eli will be forced to rely on an unlikely ally lurking deep within his own blood to defy the inevitable.