Free and Bargain Horror Ebooks October 2012

[NightBird]

Anyone interested can post their finds here. Please do a search before posting to avoid duplication, and please try not to post self-pubs. Thanks.

Books listed in my posts are from Amazon US unless otherwise indicated.

[NightBird]

Joe Hill's Heart-Shaped Box is $1.99 (down from $10.99).

Judas Coyne is a collector of the macabre: a cookbook for cannibals . . . a used hangman's noose . . . a snuff film. An aging death-metal rock god, his taste for the unnatural is as widely known to his legions of fans as the notorious excesses of his youth. But nothing he possesses is as unlikely or as dreadful as his latest discovery, an item for sale on the Internet, a thing so terribly strange, Jude can't help but reach for his wallet.

I will "sell" my stepfather's ghost to the highest bidder. . . .

For a thousand dollars, Jude will become the proud owner of a dead man's suit, said to be haunted by a restless spirit. He isn't afraid. He has spent a lifetime coping with ghosts—of an abusive father, of the lovers he callously abandoned, of the bandmates he betrayed. What's one more?

But what UPS delivers to his door in a black heart-shaped box is no imaginary or metaphorical ghost, no benign conversation piece. It's the real thing.

And suddenly the suit's previous owner is everywhere: behind the bedroom door . . . seated in Jude's restored vintage Mustang . . . standing outside his window . . . staring out from his widescreen TV. Waiting—with a gleaming razor blade on a chain dangling from one bony hand. . . .

A multiple-award winner for his short fiction, author Joe Hill immediately vaults into the top echelon of dark fantasists with a blood-chilling roller-coaster ride of a novel, a masterwork brimming with relentless thrills and acid terror.

Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door is $2.99 (down from $6.99).

A teenage girl is held captive and brutally tortured by neighborhood children. Based on a true story, this shocking novel reveals the depravity of which we are all capable.

[NightBird]

The Fall: Book Two of the Strain Trilogy by Chuck Hogan and Guillermo Del Toro is $1.99. Also $1.99 at Kobo and B&N.

From the authors of the instant New York Times bestseller The Strain comes the next volume in one of the most imaginative and frightening thriller series in many, many years Last week they invaded Manhattan. This week they will destroy the world.

The vampiric virus unleashed in The Strain has taken over New York City. It is spreading and soon will envelop the globe. Amid the chaos, Eph Goodweather—head of the Centers for Disease Control's team—leads a band out to stop these bloodthirsty monsters. But it may be too late.

Ignited by the Master's horrific plan, a war erupts between Old and New World vampires, each vying for control. At the center of the conflict lies a book, an ancient text that contains the vampires' entire history . . . and their darkest secrets. Whoever finds the book can control the outcome of the war and, ultimately, the fate of us all. And it is between these warring forces that humans—powerless and vulnerable—find themselves no longer the consumers but the consumed. Though Eph understands the vampiric plague better than anyone, even he cannot protect those he loves. His ex-wife, Kelly, has been transformed into a bloodcrazed creature of the night, and now she stalks the city looking for her chance to reclaim her Dear One: Zack, Eph's young son.

With the future of humankind in the balance, Eph and his team, guided by the brilliant former professor and Holocaust survivor Abraham Setrakian and exterminator Vasiliy Fet and joined by a crew of ragtag gangsters, must combat a terror whose ultimate plan is more terrible than anyone has imagined—a fate worse than annihilation.

[NightBird]

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova is $2.99 (down from $9.99).

B&N

Kobo

To you, perceptive reader, I bequeath my history....Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters. The letters are all addressed to "My dear and unfortunate successor," and they plunge her into a world she never dreamed of-a labyrinth where the secrets of her father's past and her mother's mysterious fate connect to an inconceivable evil hidden in the depths of history.The letters provide links to one of the darkest powers that humanity has ever known-and to a centuries-long quest to find the source of that darkness and wipe it out. It is a quest for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, the medieval ruler whose barbarous reign formed the basis of the legend of Dracula. Generations of historians have risked their reputations, their sanity, and even their lives to learn the truth about Vlad the Impaler and Dracula. Now one young woman must decide whether to take up this quest herself-to follow her father in a hunt that nearly brought him to ruin years ago, when he was a vibrant young scholar and her mother was still alive. What does the legend of Vlad the Impaler have to do with the modern world? Is it possible that the Dracula of myth truly existed-and that he has lived on, century after century, pursuing his own unknowable ends? The answers to these questions cross time and borders, as first the father and then the daughter search for clues, from dusty Ivy League libraries to Istanbul, Budapest, and the depths of Eastern Europe. In city after city, in monasteries and archives, in letters and in secret conversations, the horrible truth emerges about Vlad the Impaler's dark reign-and about a time-defying pact that may have kept his awful work alive down through the ages.Parsing obscure signs and hidden texts, reading codes worked into the fabric of medieval monastic traditions-and evading the unknown adversaries who will go to any lengths to conceal and protect Vlad's ancient powers-one woman comes ever closer to the secret of her own past and a confrontation with the very definition of evil. Elizabeth Kostova's debut novel is an adventure of monumental proportions, a relentless tale that blends fact and fantasy, history and the present, with an assurance that is almost unbearably suspenseful-and utterly unforgettable.

[NightBird]

Feed by Mira Grant is $1.99. First in the Newsflesh series. From Orbit, an imprint of Hachette.

B&N

Kobo

The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beat the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED.

NOW, twenty years after the Rising, Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives-the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will out, even if it kills them.

[Kindoll]

Amazon UK are doing a "Grisly Reads" promotion.



Amazon Kindle Grisly Reads

I think they're all under £2.

[conanfan]

Beck Sherman's Revamp is free today from Amazon. Well reviewed by, among others, the San Francisco Book Review.

[NightBird]

Blood Crimes: Book One by Dave Zeltersman is free.

Blood Crimes is a genre-bending collision of dark urban fantasy and crime that rides shot-gun with Jim and Carol as they carve a homicidal path cross-country. Jim is infected with the vampire virus. Carol isn't. Yet. But they're united in their hunt for society's most dangerous predators for Jim's dinner -- so he can feed without harming the innocent. What they don't know is that they're not alone. There are others on their trail, and the climax of Blood Crimes is a shocking jolt of pure mayhem and rock 'n roll violence.

[NightBird]

Samhain Horror has a free book at their website (multiformat).

Shadows in the Mist by Brian Moreland.

The truth will not stay buried.

During World War II, Germany’s Hürtgen Forest was a killing field. But there was something worse than the enemy in the mist. An ancient power was waiting to prey upon those who opposed the Third Reich.

Jack Chambers survived the war, but even after all these years, he still has nightmares about Hürtgen—and the unholy horrors he battled there. Now he is determined to reveal the truth behind his platoon’s massacre and entrusts the task to his grandson, Sean. But Sean’s quest sets him in a deadly race against those who wish to bury the truth forever—and those who plan to use it to unleash hell on Earth.

There is also a coupon for 30% off for The Fallen Boys by Aaron Dries. At $4.55=$3.19. Coupon code: TRICKORTREAT

The road to forgiveness is covered in blood!

Marshall Deakins has tried to come to terms with the tragic suicide of his young son. But it still tortures him. His search for answers will lead him down a twisted path paved with secrets and grotesque lies. Instead of peace he finds madness, held captive as part of a deranged plan filled with suffering…and blood. As the nature of his captors’ insanity is revealed, Marshall will need to confront the truth about his son and his own past if he hopes to have a future.

Be sure the coupon code reduces the price before checking out.

They also have a couple of other books on sale:

Daughter of Evil by Nile J. Limbaugh is $3.15 or at Kobo for $2.79 with a 30% off coupon or $2.99 with a 25% off coupon.

She’ll seduce you…to death!

The quiet little town of Tollet’s Mines is becoming even quieter lately. Like a tomb. Young men and boys are disappearing or turning up dead. Cause of death remains a mystery, but witnesses reported seeing the victims in the company of a beautiful girl before they died. How can they know that she’s been dead for years? With each ghastly death, the spectral seductress comes one step closer to realizing her nightmarish goal—a vengeance that has stretched from beyond the grave.

Swamp Monster Massacre by Hunter Shea is $2.45 but is a novella. You could get it cheaper at Kobo with one of the 25% off coupons ($2.32) or 30% off coupon ($2.16).

The swamp belongs to them. Humans are only prey.

Deep in the overgrown swamps of Florida, where humans rarely dare to enter, lives a race of creatures long thought to be only the stuff of legend. They walk upright but are stronger, taller and more brutal than any man. And when a small boat of tourists, held captive by a fleeing criminal, accidentally kills one of the swamp dwellers’ young, the creatures are filled with a terrifyingly human emotion—a merciless lust for vengeance that will paint the trees red with blood.

[NightBird]

Freebie from Permuted Press - Dead Tropics by Sue Edge.

IN THE MIDST OF A CATASTROPHE LIKE THE WORLD HAS NEVER SEEN, ONE WOMAN WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO PROTECT HER FAMILY.

Lori Nelson has always seen herself as an ordinary woman, doing the best she can to juggle family and her work as a nurse. But the most dangerous creature in nature is the mother whose offspring is threatened…

When miners release an ancient virus Lori is at ground zero of the deadly battle for survival. With the help of a laconic ex-soldier, can Lori find the strength to fight the spreading threat and save her family?

[NightBird]

I hope we see some great horror bargains this month!

Here's a fun one:

In 1971 William Goldstein co-wrote the screenplay for The Abominable Dr. Phipes starring Vincent Price. He then wrote 3 books based on the screenplay. Premiere Digital Publishing brought them out in ebooks last year. The first one, Dr. Phibes, is on sale for $.99 at Amazon, BN, Apple, Google, and Kobo. (Links to each store inside).

The others are $2.99, or you can get the boxed set of all three for $7.99, less at Kobo Dr. Phibes The First Trilogy Collector's Box Set with coupon.

The first book of the horror cult-classic Dr. Phibes Series; Dr. Phibes, tells of the good doctor’s obsession to exact revenge upon the nine victims he has deemed are responsible for the death of his beautiful wife; Victoria Regina Phibes. Each are murdered more abominably than the one before yet all according to a bizarre ritual based upon the ten curses of the Old Testament.

[NightBird]

Free from Robert W. Walker - Abaddon

SALEM'S CHILD

Tortured and mutilated, the witches of Salem went screaming to their deaths.

For almost three hundred years their souls writhed in exquisite agony, helpless to act.

Then the boy came. He was young, trusting... receptive to their boundless hatred; an empty vessel waiting to be filled with the burning poison of their revenge.

Like a plague rat, he carried their contagion from victim to victim, infecting minds, corrupting bodies, and condemning souls to everlasting torment.

Beware his luminous green eyes, for they radiate sickness and death, beware this foul...

CHILD OF SALEM

(ABADDON was previously published in paperback as SALEM'S CHILD. It is set in modern day Salem and Danvers, MA, and is approximately 81,000 words long.)

[NightBird]

Free short ghost story by Frank Tuttle - Passing the Narrows

'Passing the Narrows' first appeared in Weird Tales magazine in the Spring 2000 issue. It was later voted best story in that issue by Weird Tales readers.

'Passing the Narrows' is the tale of a haunted American South, an ancient evil, and a defeated yet defiant riverboat crew. The stern-wheeler Yocona has been ordered by a Federal sorceress to make a frantic run to Vicksburg via the Yazoo River, and that means passing the Narrows on a moonless night, a passage every riverboat master knows is suicide...

[conanfan]

Free (as of 10/12) at Amazon (possibly a repeat?) from Jack Kilborn/J.A. Konrath: Afraid

WELCOME TO SAFE HAVEN, POPULATION 907...

Nestled in the woods of Wisconsin, Safe Haven is miles from everything. With one road in and out, this is a town so peaceful it has never needed a full-time police force. Until now...

A helicopter has crashed on the outskirts of town and something terrible has been unleashed. A classified secret weapon programmed to kill anything that stands in its way. Now it’s headed for the nearest lights to do what it does best. Isolate. Terrorize. Annihilate.

Soon all phone lines are dead and the road is blocked. Safe Haven’s only chance for survival rests on the shoulders of an aging county sheriff. And as the body count rises, the sheriff realizes something even more terrifying - maybe death hasn’t come to his little town by accident...

REVIEWS

"AFRAID is a masterpiece of unrelenting horror. And I'm not exaggerating. Masterpiece. It's the best piece of fiction I've read in several years. It simply NEVER lets up." (James Rollins, NYT bestselling author of Black Order )

"AFRAID is a bungee jump into pure terror, a story that plays brilliantly on all our primal fears, and stands shoulder to shoulder with the very best of Harris, Koontz, and King. A classic horror novel." (Blake Crouch, author of Locked Doors )

"Kilborn kicks down your psyche's front door and RAISES HOLY EVER-LIVING HELL. Never have I read a novel so gruesome and simultaneously relentless. AFRAID throbs with unmitigated, inexorable. sheer friggin' TERROR." (Edward Lee, author of CITY INFERNAL and BRIDES OF THE IMPALER )

"AFRAID is one of the most intense, relentless books I've ever read. This one takes no prisoners." (Marcus Sakey, author of The Blade Itself )

A bloody, terrifying, hurtling assault across a landscape of non-stop mayhem. A guilty, guilty pleasure. (F. Paul Wilson, creator of Repairman Jack )

"The moment I heard about this book, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it." (David Morrell, NYT bestselling author of Scavenger )

Full of colorful characters and dynamic action, this hard-to-put-down page turner will keep readers riveted and squirming in their seats. Hands down, AFRAID by Jack Kilborn is perhaps the best psychological horror novel to come along since Silence of the Lambs. (Michael Laimo, author of DEAD SOULS and DEEP IN THE DARKNESS )

Jack Kilborn's "Afraid" is a true page turner, a novel that offers a million mile a minute action and suspense. Definitely, a must have with constant thrills and chills. (Heather Graham, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author )

Jack Kilborn's AFRAID is appropriately named. It will scare the hell out of anyone who reads it. Fast and ferocious, this is a dangerous thriller that will take a bite out of you. An absolute must read for anyone who loves the adrenaline rush of a shocking story told with style, speed and savage grace. (Jonathan Maberry, Bram Stoker Award winning author of PATIENT ZERO and THEY BITE )

[NightBird]

Uninvited Books is having a $.99 sale. This company is owned by author Robert Dunbar, so I don't know how much editing is going on.

Uninvited Books

Little Boy Lost by T.M. Wright was previously published by Tor.

Feelings of Fear, a collection of stories by Graham Masteron, is $1.99. Also $1.99 at Kobo, less with any coupons available.

A collection of short stories from the master of spine-chilling terror

The secretary seeking a cosmopolitan lifestyle in Europe’s most sophisticated city; the architect whose secret life is about to become all too public; the delighted beneficiary of a superb inheritance: all very different people trying to make the best of their ordinary lives. But all of them will turn out to have something in common when they are thrown in at the deep end in situations that will turn on its head everything they have ever taken for granted.

When drowning in a puddle becomes a real danger; when an imaginary friend becomes a terrifying threat; when the gift of a lifetime turns out to have come from a formidable -and less than friendly - source: only then will the cast of characters in this deeply chilling collection of stories begin to understand what the feeling of fear really means.

The Strain by Chuck Hogan and Guillermo de Toro is $1.99. Also at Kobo, but this a HarperCollins book so probably will not allow a coupon.

B&N

The visionary creator of the Academy Award-winning Pan's Labyrinth and a Hammett Award-winning author bring their imaginations to this bold, epic novel about a horrifying battle between man and vampire that threatens all humanity. It is the first installment in a thrilling trilogy and an extraordinary international publishing event.

The Strain

They have always been here. Vampires. In secret and in darkness. Waiting. Now their time has come.

In one week, Manhattan will be gone. In one month, the country.

In two months—the world.

A Boeing 777 arrives at JFK and is on its way across the tarmac, when it suddenly stops dead. All window shades are pulled down. All lights are out. All communication channels have gone quiet. Crews on the ground are lost for answers, but an alert goes out to the CDC. Dr. Eph Goodweather, head of their Canary project, a rapid-response team that investigates biological threats, gets the call and boards the plane. What he finds makes his blood run cold.

In a pawnshop in Spanish Harlem, a former professor and survivor of the Holocaust named Abraham Setrakian knows something is happening. And he knows the time has come, that a war is brewing . . .

So begins a battle of mammoth proportions as the vampiric virus that has infected New York begins to spill out into the streets. Eph, who is joined by Setrakian and a motley crew of fighters, must now find a way to stop the contagion and save his city—a city that includes his wife and son—before it is too late.

Roger Smith has a new horror book out under the pseudonym Max Wilde for $3.99, Vile Blood.

Nasty. Can't wait for the sequel." - JACK KETCHUM 4 X Bram Stoker Award-winning author


THREE DESPERATE PEOPLE FLUNG TOGETHER IN A FLESH FRENZY OF BLOOD-DRENCHED HORROR

Terror has left Skye Martindale muted and stunted for most of her seventeen years. Terrified of the dark Other that lives within her. The Other that must be suppressed and controlled. At all costs. Then one night an act of random violence unleashes a savagery so ferocious that she is forced to face who--and what--she really is.

Fear and grief have ravaged Deputy Sheriff Gene Martindale, leaving him cold and remote, haunted by the lies he has told the world--and himself--about his foundling sister. But now the lying is over and he has to protect his young son from Skye. Even if that means killing her.

For five long years Junior Cotton--the twisted sadist who slaughtered Gene's wife and unborn child--has been a caged animal. Now he's broken loose and he's coming after Gene and his sister. To take revenge and to reveal the truth about Skye. A truth that will damn her for eternity.