Bentley Little

Everything is about to change... When Ross Lowry moves into his cousin's guest house in the small community of Magdalena, Arizona, he expects nothing more than breathing room and a brief respite from his economic woes. But something is not right in the desert. After a raucous party on New Year's Eve, the luck of the attendees undergoes an immediate U-turn. The rich and successful suddenly find themselves facing catastrophic failure while the less well-off are unexpectedly flush with good fortune. This is only the beginning... Soon the citizens of Magdalena are experiencing unnatural desires. Next their children begin to disappear and freakish creatures emerge from the surrounding wilderness. The community is unraveling at a frightening pace. But these are merely the early warning signs of a showdown with a powerful force of darkness that could obliterate the world forever, and only Ross Lowry sees the danger that lurks ahead.

With his "ability to disgust (and delight) even the most seasoned horror enthusiast" (Publishers Weekly), Bentley Little conjures up your greatest fears as he dares you to spend a night with the haunted.... Julian and Claire Perry and their two children, Megan and James, have made the move to a bigger, nicer home in their city's historic district. But something isn't right. The neighbors seem reluctant to visit. Claire can't shake the feeling that someone is watching her. Megan receives increasingly menacing and obscene texts. And James is having terrible dreams. No wonder, considering what he's seen in the corner of the basement, staring at him and shuffling closer ever so slowly. Pity no one warned the family about the house. Now it's too late. Because the darkness at the bottom of the stairs is rising....

The perfect getaway turns into a nightmare when a girl vanishes without a trace in this horror novel that could only have come from the mind of Bram Stoker Award-winning author Bentley Little. Gary, his girlfriend, Joan, and their friends intend to make the most of their three day vacation from UCLA partying at Burning Man. But soon after they arrive at the festival in the remote desert, Joan disappears. Calls to her parents' home yield only dead air. Her school records are gone. And there's no evidence that Joan, or even her roommate, ever existed. Most disturbing of all is what they do find. Among Joan's belongings is a prayer written on a small scroll. It's a safeguard--and a warning--from something called The Outsiders. For Gary and his friends it's the only clue. Now, if they want to find out exactly what happened to Joan, they must follow it. But they may not like what they uncover....

"On a par with such greats as Stephen King, Clive Barker and Peter Straub" (Midwest Book Review), Bentley Little brings his unnerving talents to the terrifying story of a dysfunctional family in crisis. Steve Nye writes for an alumni magazine and his long-term relationship is on the steady path to marriage. But his quiet life takes an unexpected turn when he receives a phone call from his mother. His father attacked her and has been committed to a mental asylum. The doctor says he's suffering from dementia. But Steve's father seems so calm, clear-eyed, and perfectly lucid when he whispers, "I killed her..." Is it simply another symptom of delusion and madness? To find the answer, Steve investigates the cryptic message leading him down a terrifying path of his own making--and of his own nightmares....

"Master of the macabre" Bentley Little offers a new lesson in fear with this terrifying horror novel. With a promise of more freedom and a chance to get out from under the thumb of a reactionary school board, the teachers of Tyler High have voted to become a charter school. Instructors and parents alike are thrilled with the prospect of independence. And yet.... The formerly laid-back principal has become unusually strict. And with her toadying secretary, she seems to be running the show. That isn't all. The janitors no longer work nights because of what they hear. The students are frightened by what they see. And things are happening on school grounds that defy rational explanation. But there is an explanation. It's just not anything that anyone can begin to believe--or hope to survive.

With his novels, "Bentley Little has created nothing less than a nightmarishly brilliant tour de force of modern life in America."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) In Beverly Hills, a wealthy CEO goes on a bloody rampage and videotapes the slaughter. He leaves behind a chilling cryptic message..." This is where it begins." Miles away, an alarmed mother receives an unsettling letter from her estranged husband, stained with bloody fingerprints. And all across California, children are becoming affected by a monstrous change--and their parents, by a mounting fear. Social worker Carrie Daniels and reporter Brian Howells are determined to find the link between these baffling crimes. But they shouldn't look too deeply into the lives of the victims. It's quite dark there. And God help them, they won't like what they find.

Five complete strangers from across America are about to come together and open the door to a place of evil that they all call home. Inexplicably, four men and one woman are having heart-stopping nightmares revolving around the dark and forbidding houses where each of them were born. When recent terrifying events occur, they are each drawn to their identical childhood homes, only to confront a sinister supernatural presence which has pursued them all their lives, and is now closer than ever to capturing their souls....