Michelle Von Eschen

Tucked away in the Chihuahuan Desert lies a motel unlike any other... Fueled by online trends, a shift in the American zeitgeist has led to the instatement of the Lazarus Act, legalizing the 'recreational use' of human corpses. Ellis Mercer, recently bereaved, embarks on a secret mission to America's first 'necrotel' to recover his wife's remains, before her corpse and his memory of her are desecrated by the motel's twisted membership. As he uncovers the murky inner workings of Motel Styx, evading its suspicious staff and encountering a wild array of death-obsessed guests, he will be forced to face an unsettling truth: there is more than one way to define love. Motel Styx is an explicit, disturbing, witty tale about lust, loss, and the last taboo.

Beyond the borders of a barely civilized and struggling population, the barren fields of the North stretch into oblivion. Old, abandoned farmhouses, crumbling in a million tiny ways, stand on silent watch over the emptiness. Old Farmhouses of the North features ten tales of quiet, literary horror exploring the predators and plagues of the human condition. Called "darkly poetic", "haunting", "emotionally crushing", "enthralling", and "stellar" by readers. Spend a dark night in a pumpkin patch in Noche Oscura, search for a different kind of buried treasure with Butcher and Shaw, expect the unexpected in What to Expect When You're Expecting, enter if you dare The Bug House...all of this and more from the bleak, yet beautiful landscape of Michelle von Eschen's mind.

Once upon a time...a woman wrote a collection of short stories, none of which end particularly well for their characters. This is a mini collection showcasing the diverse skill of Michelle Kilmer (von Eschen) and written for debut at Crypticon Seattle, a horror convention, in 2019. Featuring five short stories of loss detailing how far life is from a fairy tale. Follow a fiery scourge in Firesick, become transfixed by a mysterious, real life painting in The Hands Resist Him, consider what you can and can't live without after an alien invasion in Takers, strap into an advanced future technology in Pain Management, Inc., and take a back seat as a woman takes control of her destiny in The Opportunity.

What lurks beneath your skin...and your psyche? Thirteen individuals learn terrifying truths about themselves or others in this macabre offering from award-winning author Michelle von Eschen. From werewolves, sea zombies, and giant, sentient tapeworms, to a strange case of pyrophobia, and a mother's front row seat to a child-stealing pandemic, this collection runs the gamut of odd to horrific. Take a look inside, but remember: It's not always pretty when you find out what you're made of.

In an undead world, death is only one mistake away. How does one survive the zombie apocalypse? 17-year-old Ian Ward couldn't tell you because he is dying in one. From a closet in a second floor bedroom of an abandoned house, he recounts his tale of "survival" in a backwards journey through the choices that put him there. When the world ends, Mistakes I Made During the Zombie Apocalypse is the anti-survival guide that just might keep you alive.**This is a novella based in the same world and plague as Michelle's novels When the Dead and The Spread**