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Atmospheric

Strong emphasis on mood and setting

53 items found (10 series, 43 stories)

Watchers Of The Sky

Watchers Of The Sky

Story

by Sammie Settlemire

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Sadie Harper is barely keeping her life together. Between the heat, the exhaustion, and the constant feeling that she’s falling behind, she’s convinced she’s just one bad day away from breaking. But when a strange symbol forms in the sky — sharp, metallic, and pulsing like it’s alive — Sadie realizes the world is breaking first.Her phone begins rearranging its own numbers. Clouds twist into shapes that point directly at her. And no one else seems to see it.As the sky’s signals intensify, Sadie is pulled into the hidden world of the Watchers — rare individuals born with a connection to the sky’s ancient language. Some can bend light. Some can stabilize storms. Some can read the patterns that shape reality itself. Sadie, however, is something different. Something the Watchers haven’t seen in generations.Her awakening draws the attention of an older force — a presence that has been waiting for her since before she was born. It knows her name. It knows her past. And it knows what she’s capable of, even if she doesn’t.Now Sadie must navigate a world she never asked to enter, uncover the truth behind her connection to the sky, and decide whether her gift is a warning… or a weapon. Because the signals aren’t random. They’re a countdown. And Sadie is the one they’re counting down to.

Action-Packed
Unexplained Phenomena
Fish Out of Water
Atmospheric
Grief and Healing
After the Before Times

After the Before Times

Story

by Jake Korum

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In a post-apocalyptic California, a stray dog struggles to survive amid the ruins left by a mysterious disaster that has upended the world for humans and animals alike. Taken in by a group of animal rescuers, the Initiative to Save Humanity (ISH), the dog—soon named Swayze—finds a fragile sense of safety and community in their care. As Swayze and the rescuers navigate the dangers of this changed world, they cling to hope and the bonds they form, determined to protect one another and rediscover what it means to belong.

Action-Packed
Atmospheric
Dark
Unexplained Phenomena
NSFW
Beneath the Light of the Moon: Book One The Crimson Heir Saga

Beneath the Light of the Moon: Book One The Crimson Heir Saga

Story

by Rhea Winter

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He was never supposed to love her.\ She was never supposed to survive him. \ Claire Halloway came back to Clearwater to escape her past. \ Instead, she found him. \ Damien is everything she should stay away from—mysterious, impossibly beautiful, and surrounded by secrets that seem to grow darker every night. Yet from the moment their eyes meet across the mist-covered lake, Claire feels something she can't explain. \ Something ancient.\ Something familiar.\ And something dangerously close to love. \ Then she discovers the truth.\ Damien isn't human. \ He's a vampire—and he's spent centuries fighting the hunger inside him. But when a ruthless woman from his past returns, determined to reclaim him, Claire becomes the one thing Damien cannot afford to lose. \ Because something else has awakened in Clearwater. \ The lake is whispering her name.\ The oldest families are hiding a centuries-old Covenant. \ And beneath the moonlight, Claire is beginning to remember a destiny that was written in blood long before she was born. \ They call her the Crimson Heir.\ Now Damien must choose between the woman he loves and the darkness that has waited centuries to claim her. \ Because some love stories are written in the stars. \ Others are written in blood.\ And when the lake remembers Claire's name, there will be no escaping what comes next.

Forbidden Love
Small Town
Atmospheric
Coming of Age
Dark
The LOVE & HELL TUNNELS

The LOVE & HELL TUNNELS

Story

by JUAN BUTLER

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Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1994. Five teenagers—Kyle, 40 Ounce, Shadow, Raven, and King—step into the twin drainage tunnels marked \*\*LOVE & HELL\*\* to find their missing friend, Lolita. All Kyle found left of her was a shining anklet. Special Agent Maggie Andez is assigned to investigate, but beneath the ordinary American suburbs, midnight exists while the sun still shines—and the things lurking in the dark already know your name.   ​Underground, the Marker grows to an impossible height, using telepathy to lock eyes with his prey. Hold his gaze for more than a few seconds, and you slip into a fatal trance. The only escape requires an ally to shake you loose while both of you are bathed in bright sunlight. The Marker judges humanity on soul merits; there must be more good in you than bad, but many live dangerously close to that thin line. Once marked, the nightmare escalates as the Howlers are unleashed to hunt down the condemned.   ​\*The LOVE & HELL Tunnels\* is a grounded, atmospheric coming-of-age nightmare based on true events. Five entered; only one came back out. The human characters are fictionalized, but the terrifying creatures and the tunnels were shockingly real—a local Tulsa legend turned real-life horror. When the survivors escaped and tried warning the police, begging them to call in the military, their sightings were dismissed as drug-fueled hallucinations.   ​Decades later, the physical tunnels have vanished, transformed by time, but the trauma remains. Created as a multimedia project intended for film adaptation, this story captures genuine terror for horror fans who haven't been truly scared in years. It stands as a chilling warning: live as pure a soul as you can, because the creatures beneath the surface are real, and they are still judging.

Survival
Hidden World
Ancient Secrets
Atmospheric
Found Family
readerful

Gigalo

Story

by Gigalo

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Big City
Atmospheric
Political Intrigue
Second Chance Romance
Thought-Provoking
Silent Sentinel

Silent Sentinel

Story

by Patricia Oshier Stepp

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Summer Camp, scary stories under der a moonlit night, silence in the woods. Most stories are made up scary fun, some...are not...

Atmospheric
Dark
The Architects of War: The Enemy Beyond the Stars

The Architects of War: The Enemy Beyond the Stars

Series

by M. leFevre

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The War Before the War 2099 There are wars that begin with a gunshot. There are wars that begin with a bomb. And then there are wars that begin generations before anyone remembers why they are fighting. The war between the Sultans and the Luveniles was the third kind. For sixty years, the two colonies had stood on opposite sides of the galaxy, watching one another through satellites, listening through intercepted transmissions, and preparing weapons that neither side wanted to admit existed. Children were born knowing the name of the enemy. They were taught the stories. They were taught the betrayals. They were taught that peace was nothing more than a temporary pause before the next attack. But the truth had been buried. And buried beneath the truth was something far more dangerous. The war had not really begun sixty years ago. It had begun eighty-five years earlier. 2014 — Earth Reckoning Humanity had long since stopped calling Earth home. The old planet still existed, but Earth had become a historical monument—a dying world surrounded by the ruins of civilizations that had once believed they would last forever. Humanity had spread across the stars. Two of its greatest colonies were the Sultan Dominion and the Luvenile Federation. At first, there had been no hatred between them. In fact, they had once been allies. The Sultans controlled the mineral-rich world of Sultan Prime, while the Luvenile established their civilization on Luvenile, a planet known for its oceans, massive forests, and advanced scientific communities. Together, they built something humanity had never achieved. A civilization that stretched beyond a single solar system. Trade routes connected their worlds. Scientists worked together. Families crossed between colonies. Children grew up speaking both languages. For almost twenty years, there was peace. Then someone discovered something beneath the surface of a small Luvenile moon. Its name was Aurelia. And what was found there would change everything. Deep beneath Aurelia's crust was a material unlike anything humanity had ever discovered.

Action-Packed
Atmospheric
Survival
Luna Lumina

Luna Lumina

Story

by Levi Perry

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Seventeen-year-old Luna has never wanted to be anyone’s savior. She would rather understand the world around her than be placed at the center of it. But when long-buried secrets surrounding her family begin to surface, Luna discovers that the strange power awakening within her is tied to something far older—and far more dangerous—than she ever imagined. Drawn into a hidden world shaped by lunar magic, ancient enemies, fractured loyalties, and a history no one seems willing to tell her completely, Luna is forced to question everything she thought she knew about her father, her past, and the role others believe she is destined to play. As the darkness closes in, the people around her carry secrets of their own. Some want to protect her. Some need what she can become. And some may already know how her story is supposed to end. Luna must decide who to trust while learning to control a power she barely understands—one that could protect the people she loves or make her the very thing their enemies have been waiting for. Dark, atmospheric, and character-driven, *Luna Lumina* is the first book in a planned young adult fantasy trilogy about family, identity, sacrifice, and a reluctant heroine caught between the life she wants and the destiny others have chosen for her. For readers who enjoy mysterious magic, hidden histories, dangerous fantasy worlds, strong family bonds, and heroines who refuse to accept easy answers.

Atmospheric
Ancient Secrets
Hidden World
Coming of Age
Reluctant Hero
The Song of Ash and Root

The Song of Ash and Root

Story

by Kimball Eakle

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Centuries after the Ashfall shattered an ancient alliance, Kael, a stubborn Valcrestian scholar, uncovers evidence that the accepted history of the catastrophe may not be complete. His search draws him east, where he crosses paths with Rhane, a disgraced Khel warrior condemned not for losing a battle, but for surviving one. Their journey carries them through ruined strongholds, ancient mysteries, forgotten magic, and the remains of a world still divided by old wounds. As the Dominion expands its influence, Kael and Rhane begin to uncover truths that challenge what their peoples have been taught about the past—and about one another. *The Song of Ash and Root* is a character-driven epic fantasy about memory, survival, loyalty, identity, and the dangerous difference between unity and control. It follows people forced to decide what they are willing to preserve, what they are willing to question, and whether belonging can survive disagreement.

Atmospheric
Ancient Secrets
Action-Packed
HELARA: Before I Was Lara

HELARA: Before I Was Lara

Story

by T. N. Harsh

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Lara has always known who she is. At least, she thought she did. As her birthday approaches, small fractures begin appearing in the life she has always considered ordinary. A strange scar she can’t explain. Dreams that feel more like memories. A symbol she recognizes despite having no idea where she’s seen it before. And glimpses of a place that shouldn’t exist—but somehow feels familiar. Then reality begins answering back. The harder Lara tries to hold on to what she knows, the more impossible it becomes to ignore the feeling that something has been buried inside her for a very long time. Something older than memory. Something waiting. Because Lara isn’t simply discovering another world. She’s beginning to remember who she was before this one.

Ancient Secrets
Atmospheric
Hidden World
Self-Discovery
Mystery Box
BitterSweet

BitterSweet

Story

by Rose M Joy

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"If you insult a god, he'll probably curse you for life". "Prove it".   Genessa Till has been shipped around like a good all her life. From thriving kingdoms to simple towns to refugee camps and places many don't even venture. At 19 years old, she is sent to Marin, one of the riverine areas in her country, a place her owners promise her is the last one. Genessa is ready to spend her life peacefully there, till she sees something so surreal it's hard to decide if she will do the logical thing and tell, or enjoy this little bit of attention?

Slow Burn
Found Family
Ancient Secrets
Atmospheric
readerful

The War of First Light

Series

by Devin D. Taylor

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**The War of First Light** is a sweeping fantasy saga about the fall of a luminous civilization, the scattering of its people, and the unlikely alliances forged when an ancient darkness threatens to consume far more than one world. What begins beneath the twin moons of Aelaria soon expands into a struggle that draws together humans, elves, dwarves, orcs, and the surviving Aelari against Zharu’un, a cosmic force of corruption and hunger. As old rivalries collide with new loyalties, scholars become survivors, champions rise from distant peoples, and friendships are tested by sacrifice, betrayal, and war on a mythic scale. At its heart, *The War of First Light* is a story about what remains when certainty fails: faith, memory, fellowship, and the courage to stand when victory seems impossible. It is the first great saga of **Faded Legends**, a world of ancient histories, forgotten civilizations, and stories recovered from ages long past.

Action-Packed
Atmospheric
Quest
Ancient Secrets
Self-Discovery
Shattered Myths

Shattered Myths

Series

by J. Magdaleno

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**Magick was never meant to remain hidden forever.** For generations, seven ancient bloodlines have guarded powers older than recorded history, bound by uneasy alliances, inherited obligations, and secrets that could reshape the mortal world. At the center of those secrets is **Azure Creed**. Born into a legacy he never fully understood, Azure finds himself drawn deeper into a world of forbidden magick, immortal beings, ancient creatures, secret organizations, and family histories deliberately buried for centuries. What begins as a search for answers soon becomes something far more dangerous—a struggle over who should control magick, who deserves to wield it, and what happens when the old rules begin to collapse. But Azure is only one piece of a much larger story. Across decades and continents, the **Shattered Myths** series follows witches, immortals, supernatural creatures, covert agents, and the powerful families whose choices have quietly shaped history. Alliances shift. Legends prove dangerously real. Love complicates destiny. Events once dismissed as myth reveal themselves as fragments of a hidden truth. As the boundaries between worlds weaken, the consequences of the past begin reaching into the present—and every secret uncovered brings the world closer to a conflict that has been waiting generations to begin. **Some myths were created to explain the impossible. Others were created to keep it hidden.**

Atmospheric
Dark
Ancient Secrets
Revenge
Hidden World
Homestead Amish Country

Homestead Amish Country

Series

by Author DeeAnn Gorman

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Homestead out amongst Mennonite communities. Mary Bontrager Schwester, Ma’am Agnus Bontrager, Dat Horace Bontrager, Tobias Bontrag, Braudar. Dat owner of-the Wine vineyards deep within a forest of green lush trees. Where grapevines grow plentiful by love of nature. Many Old Order Amish women bore aprons full of freshly picked grapes. Barefoot ladies up to the elbows in grapes of all colors and kinds. While Amishman and Mennonite men are in fields of grapes growin only to be picked for wine bottles here and sold. The large sand rock houses refrigerated by a gas generator. A wooden sign above the door reads Built on honesty. Inside greeters are Mary Bontrager Schwester and Grossmama. Property owner Horace Bontrager,( Dat) and Agnus ( Ma’am ). The property owners, a large white family adorned two porches beautiful inside and outside Then the Chocolate House where candy made daily. Packaged then sold to customers. Delicious decadent chocolate. Much to everyone’s delight. Bontrager Cousins worked hard for the store. Our Pride and Joy Cheese factory full of delicious home made cheeses. Best Cheesecake, samples daily from happy employees handing it out as free treats. The Gold nugget jewelers hand made rings , necklaces. Very well known for quality jewelry. Nestled in a large barn inside cases of finished jewelry. Quality jewelry sold here. The family Bakery housed homemade bread, cookies and pies . Freshness guaranteed. Braudars Tobias and Isaac Bontrager. As well as taking care of the grounds there. They were also proud owners of many horses . Pastures full of them. Give Thanks for your love for Gott as a whole. Reading your Bible and following his example is best. May you find peace in your life as a family. May those of us that gather together find friends who are family members Mary is the heart of herself, wandering through life in a world of Mennonite. Being noticed by Harley Hershberger known by everyone as a Wheat farmer. Most of his work done on his own small farm. Down the road apiece. Surroundings were very beautiful Evergreen trees. A windmill connected to a water wheel. Inside the barn ground oats made daily. Integrating sorghum to make bread sold to restaurants. His Rock farm house inherited from his Dat . His Braudars also lived there. This place     down in a gully. Surrounded by rocks . A trail leading to a lake treasured by family. To top it off they made binoculars. Sold to stores a catalog that they ordered from. Quality assurance guarantee in all products. Literally everything around the earth is a vast quantity of valuable information that can only come from a mature enough mind to find out what it gives forth in gifts. Ideas to make money from and create something to sell. Church held in neighbors barns turn church The bench wagon delivers benches for all day church meetings . Wild goats standing way up high on cliffs. White goats creatures standing there firm keep our grass chewed short. Sounds of running water from cliffs . Partakers in a river of life gathere often. Baptized people and it was a healing experience. Many walked away with their lives forever changed by a miracle. In fact the English had the subject matter analyzed and studied. Then wrote a magazine article about the healing benefits The mud from the river bed cured all wounds from infection or scars. Some say our beloved animal friends even taken there. To be healed from pain and twisted gut. Sightseeing a must though these foothills. Promise of life of a lifetime for happiness bound to souls entrusted to give their lives to Gott. The Temple of quiet is built upon its promise to keep your soul clean. When entering into silence for a month. This individual has committed to cleansing totally leaving to go back to their lives at home freed from any bad feelings Talking when they leave. Many different things have happened    Down in The Mennonite Country.

Found Family
Small Town
Thought-Provoking
Atmospheric
The Drowned World and the Lifeline

The Drowned World and the Lifeline

Story

by T. Barnes

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### **The Drowned World and the Lifeline** **In a flooded wasteland, a young engineer must protect her brother and floating home from a ruthless warlord targeting their resources.** When catastrophic sea level rise turns the Bay of Bengal into an endless grey expanse, nineteen-year-old Anja and her younger brother, Sami, are left clinging to the crumbling rooftop of their submerged home. Armed only with her late father’s engineering wisdom and a desperate drive to keep Sami alive, Anja navigates a sea of rot and false hope until a floating sanctuary—the **Lifeline Cooperative**—offers them a second chance at life. But peace on the water is short-lived. When a toxic red tide poisons the flotilla's water supply and power systems fail, Anja uncovers a terrifying truth: the disaster isn't natural. A militarized empire operating out of a rusted northern refinery is waging a covert war of attrition. Led by the calculating warlord Voss, the refinery seeks to starve the Cooperative, breach its defenses, and seize its most precious asset—a pristine pre-Collapse seed bank. To save her new home and her brother’s future, Anja must evolve from a quiet mender into a key operative. Navigating traitors inside the gates, covert infiltration missions, and high-stakes tactical warfare, she learns that surviving the drowned world requires more than sharp tools—it requires the courage to stand against the tide. ### **Why You'll Love This Story** - **Gritty Atmospheric Post-Apocalyptic Fiction:** A grounded, realistic look at technical survival, resource scarcity, and community resilience in a flooded world. - **Smart, Engineering-Minded Protagonist:** Anja relies on logic, salvage mechanics, and strategic thinking rather than superhuman combat skills. - **High-Stakes Conflict:** Featuring espionage, sabotage, complex moral choices, and an immersive cat-and-mouse game between two surviving factions.

Atmospheric
Dark
Survival
The Bridge: Volume I – The Foundation

The Bridge: Volume I – The Foundation

Story

by Adrian Pruitt

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**The Bridge** is not simply a memoir. It is an invitation to investigate the invisible foundations that shape every life. Through deeply personal stories spanning childhood trauma, family secrets, military life, failed rescue, hidden shame, and the long search for identity, Adrian never asks readers to simply witness his past. Every chapter becomes a bridge from his story to their own. Rather than asking, *"What happened to me?"* the book asks deeper questions: *What shaped me?* *What did I learn to believe?* *What patterns did I inherit?* *What do I want to hand forward?* Combining authentic storytelling with practical reflection, **The Bridge** introduces concepts such as the Fixed Point, Generation Zero, the Forensic Audit, and Companion Guides that help readers recognize the difference between survival and healing. This first volume (15 Chapters), **The Foundation**, explores the earliest experiences that quietly formed identity, trust, safety, shame, and resilience. It demonstrates that while we cannot change what was handed to us, we can decide what continues through us. **The Bridge** is written for anyone who has ever wondered why they respond the way they do, where those patterns began, and whether a different future is possible. Because healing does not begin by rewriting the past. It begins by understanding the foundation beneath it.

Atmospheric
Underdog
Survival
Thought-Provoking
Self-Discovery
Midnight Fairy Tales: Bleeding Neverland

Midnight Fairy Tales: Bleeding Neverland

Story

by D. M. Shelley

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Wendy Darling didn't want magic. She wanted her family to stop falling apart.\ \ But when a boy made of shadows and stolen smiles pulls her from her window - along with her brothers Michael and John - she finds herself in a place where time doesn't heal. It *consumes.* Neverland is alive, and it is hungry. The forests breathe. The Lost Boys have forgotten what innocence felt like. And Peter Pan is not the hero the stories promised. He never was.\ \ Wendy has her brothers to protect and a world full of dangers she doesn't yet have a name for. Tinka, a fairy with her own agenda, is never quite the ally she appears to be. Hook moves through the dark like a man who has already lost everything and has nothing left to fear. And then there is Nyx - a figure who belongs to no story Wendy has ever been told, and whose presence in Neverland may be the most dangerous secret of all.\ \ Every step deeper cost something she won't get back.\ \ To find a way home, she'll have to face what this place is really built on - and what it's already started building in her.\ \ *Some doors don't open from the inside.*\ \ **Bleeding Neverland** is a dark psychological reimagining of Peter Pan for readers who always sense something wrong beneath the magic.

Dark
Survival
Atmospheric
Ancient Secrets
Till Death

Till Death

Story

by Nikki Rollingwood

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**Till Death: A Gripping Psychological Thriller** **SHE STAGES THEM AS LOVERS. SHE SEES THEM AS PREY.** > *A campus killer stages fake romantic suicides. To stop her, Tauny must tap into the dark instincts inherited from her serial killer grandfather.*   When two popular university students are found dead in their dorm room, locked in an intimate embrace beside an empty neon vape pen, local authorities and campus officials are quick to label it a tragic accident—a mutual overdose pact amidst a growing student drug crisis. Case closed. Except for Tauny May Baker. To the rest of the student body, Tauny is just a quiet, reserved graduate student trying to blend into the background. But beneath her ordinary surface lies a terrifying secret: she is the granddaughter of one of the country’s most infamous serial killers. And along with his blood, she inherited his clinical, predatory radar—an ability to see the meticulous calculation behind human violence. Where the police see grief and reckless youth, Tauny sees impossible symmetry: hospital-corner bed folds, unnatural body posture, and a crime scene arranged like a gallery exhibit. She knows instantly that a killer is hunting on campus, hiding in plain sight behind the mask of a grieving, "perfect best friend" who is obsessed with turning her victims into eternal legends. When Detective Jase starts investigating the deaths, Tauny must play a dangerous game of hide-and-seek. She has to drop subtle clues to steer his investigation toward the truth without revealing *how* she knows—or risking Jase uncovering her own dark lineage. But as Tauny quietly digs into the killer's social circle, the killer takes notice. To outsmart a monster who treats murder as fine art, Tauny is forced to do the one thing she fears most: stop fighting her genetics, tap into her grandfather's ruthless mind, and embrace the darkness inside her to survive.

Atmospheric
Dark
Thought-Provoking
Friends to Lovers
Mystery Box
Going Down

Going Down

Story

by Curtis Alcutt

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**GOING DOWN**\ *A Supernatural Anthology Thriller* Every elevator ride in Mason Towers tells a different story. A nervous woman riding down to meet a blind date. A guilty man confessing to a stranger who turns out to be a detective. A widow returning to the building where his wife disappeared fifty years ago — and finding her waiting. But beneath the building, carved into the sub-basement floor directly under the elevator shaft, something has been waiting far longer than any of them. Mason Towers is a 33-story Freemason-built high-rise in downtown Oakland, California. It was constructed in 1923 on a site the builders chose deliberately — a convergence point where something ancient, something sealed, something that predated even the Templars by centuries, lay dormant beneath the earth. The building was never meant to be just a building. The elevator was never meant to just take people somewhere. Every 33 years, on the night of October Friday the 13th, the building takes three lives. Fire. Fall. Electrocution. Always the same three methods. Always ruled accidental. Always before dawn. Someone has always known. He has worked in this building for thirty years. He is mute, which means everyone talks freely around him. He hears everything. He has been preparing for October 13th, 2025 his entire career. His name is Earl. And he has never said a word. *Going Down — ten episodes. One season. The elevator is waiting.*

Atmospheric
Ancient Secrets
Dark
Mystery Box
Haunted House
NSFW
The Geometer

The Geometer

Story

by Jon Praker

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*The Geometer* follows Marek, a man whose ordinary understanding of reality is shattered when he is drawn into a world governed by patterns, symbols, and impossible geometry. As he searches for answers, he discovers that geometry is not just a branch of mathematics, but the architecture beneath existence itself. Guided by enigmatic figures and pursued by forces he barely understands, Marek must learn to read the hidden structure of reality before it consumes him. Every revelation demands a sacrifice, and every step deeper into the pattern changes not only what he believes—but who he is. Part philosophical journey, part metaphysical adventure, *The Geometer* is a novel about perception, transformation, and the price of seeing the world as it truly is.

Dark
Hidden World
Self-Discovery
Thought-Provoking
Atmospheric
NSFW
You Are Here

You Are Here

Story

by Mike Cohee

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NINE STRANGERS\ ONE ABANDONED MALL\ IT’S 1985…AGAIN\ For years, an abandoned shopping mall has sat empty on the edge of town, sealed behind chained doors and fading memories. Former employees begin returning, each drawn back by something they can’t quite explain. At first, everything feels wrong in the right way. Stores appear exactly as they remember them. Neon signs. Synth Music. Styles frozen in another era. Even the food court feels untouched by time. And scattered throughout the corridors are shoppers who shouldn’t be there. As the night unfolds, they realize the abandoned mall has been waiting decades for its shoppers to return. As the night unfolds, they realize the mall was never truly abandoned. It feels like nostalgia. A second chance. A return to the past…or so they thought. ` For some, the past haunts them.
 For others, it calls them back.`

Haunted House
Mystery Box
Atmospheric
Nostalgia
LA MONJA DE ANDALUCÍA- inedita

LA MONJA DE ANDALUCÍA- inedita

Story

by Peju Perezña

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En la tradición del real maravilloso de Carpentier y del realismo mágico de García Márquez, pero con la culpa trágica de Graham Greene, P. J. Pérez-Peña construye una novela barroca y circular en la que la santidad y el deseo se tocan. Santo Domingo, 1961. En los últimos meses de la Era de Trujillo, un país entero respira miedo. En ese infierno vigilado, Andrés Connery Lora —hijo de un marino escocés y de una criolla cibaeña— ve a Sor Carla Inés Bracamonte, novicia andaluza, en la iglesia de Las Mercedes. Lo que nace como devoción se vuelve incendio. De los atabales sincréticos de Duvergé a la casa-refugio de Montecristi, del delirio a la transfiguración, el amor prohibido no los destruye: los muda de naturaleza. Su consumación no deja ceniza, deja un clavel que respira, reliquia viva custodiada durante cincuenta años por Marcial, un niño de cuartería que será el último testigo. Una novela sobre lo que ocurre cuando un amor imposible, en lugar de pedir perdón, pide la eternidad.

Atmospheric
Forbidden Love
Haunted House
Ancient Secrets
The Forgotten Debt

The Forgotten Debt

Story

by Randell J Rankin

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A debt unpaid is a burden. A debt enforced with relentless mercy is a trap. On a struggling farm in the heart of rural Tennessee, relief arrives not through honest work, but through cold, unexplainable mending. A fractured tractor runs like new by morning. A collapsing barn stands rebuilt by dawn. For Frank and a family built on hard-scrabble dignity, every unasked-for repair feels less like a blessing and more like an invasion. But the entity behind these acts isn't a savior. It is a presence bound by an ancient, unrelenting obligation—a ghost obsessed with balancing a physical ledger that was closed long ago. As the mortgage looms and the financial pressure tightens, the ghost's interventions reach deeper: into Martha's kitchen, into a child's bedroom, and into flesh and bone itself. The boundary between gratitude and horror erases as the family realizes the terrifying truth:

Thought-Provoking
Dark
Atmospheric
Small Town
Slow Burn
Smoke

Smoke

Story

by G.E. Biggers

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When a Detective falls into a paralyzing trance, he discovers he's trapped in his own mind with only his broken past to help him escape his coma and clear the smoke. Every step taken is a step down memory lane as the Detective races against a clock he can't see, a woman he doesn't remember and a past stuffed so deep it may actually kill him if uncovered. Journey through the mind and past of the Detective as he takes on a case with a unique victim: Himself.

Slow Burn
Dark
Atmospheric
Through Blood & Stone

Through Blood & Stone

Story

by Haüden

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## **Isilme is dying.**  \ Once a prosperous nation whose exports sustained the continent, Isilme has sealed its borders, displaced its people, and vanished from the world stage. Trade collapses. Refugees flood neighboring lands. Entire economies begin to fail. No one knows the truth. Hidden beyond the mountains, the Belserion Empire— a nation so secret most believe it nothing more than a myth— is slowly destroying Isilme from within. As the consequences ripple across the continent, every nation mistakes the symptoms for isolated disasters. Ancient rivalries erupt into rebellion. Immortal rulers tighten their grip on power. A medical catastrophe threatens countless lives. Noble houses abandon centuries-old alliances in pursuit of influence, reshaping the political landscape with every move. From the royal courts of Anaria to the hospitals of Ossira, from the immortal throne of Oplines to the fractured Great Houses of New Vufriycia, people from every corner of the world— nobles, scholars, soldiers, rebels, rulers, and outcasts— are swept into conflicts they never chose. Each nation believes it faces a different enemy. None realize their struggles all begin with the same forgotten empire. As kingdoms edge toward war, governments fracture, and civilizations fight to survive, the truth behind Isilme's fall remains buried beneath centuries of secrecy. But secrets cannot stay hidden forever. And by the time the world learns the Belserion Empire is real, it may already belong to it.

Ancient Secrets
Atmospheric
Dark
Mystery Box
Thought-Provoking
NSFW
Negative Space

Negative Space

Story

by Nikki Rollingwood

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**A luxury campus. Perfect smiles. And a lens that sees the monsters hiding behind them.** For seventeen-year-old Jazlynn, Horizon Academy isn’t a prestigious reform school—it’s a prison. Shipped off to the sun-drenched Florida coast by well-meaning relatives after her parents’ sudden, unexplained car crash, she is instantly suffocated by the school’s eerie perfection. The students are robotic. The rules are absolute. The smiles are empty. But on her birthday, Jazlynn receives a final, smuggled gift from her parents: a high-end digital camera. When she looks through the viewfinder, the perfect facade shatters. On the playback screen, her flawless roommate is missing her eyes—replaced by light-absorbing, hollow black voids. To the naked eye, she looks normal. But the camera reveals a terrifying truth: the student body, the local police, and the entire town have been hollowed out from the inside. Desperate to survive and find answers, Jazlynn joins the school yearbook committee to carry her camera in plain sight. But as she digs deeper into her parents' final, encrypted files, she uncovers a horrifying legacy. Her parents didn't die in an accident. They were murdered to drag her here, directly into the jaws of a parasitic cult led by the elegant, shadow-eyed Dean Lamia Maras. Scheduled as the next harvest, Jazlynn has only one play left. She must expose the horror to the entire school—or lose her soul to the dark.

Dark
Ancient Secrets
Atmospheric
The Anatomy of Malice

The Anatomy of Malice

Story

by Nikki Rollingwood

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**In the shadow of the Blackbear Ridge peaks, nothing is ever truly accidental—especially not the death that just made headlines.** Georgia, the voice behind the true-crime podcast *The Anatomy of Malice*, has spent years dissecting the dark underbelly of human nature. But when a "freak" avalanche at a luxury resort kills a high-profile guest, Georgia discovers a detail the authorities missed: a surgical, artificial incision along the mountain’s crest. She hasn’t found a tragic coincidence. She’s found a signature. As she digs deeper, Georgia realizes the avalanche wasn’t an act of nature—it was an act of design. The architect behind it is someone who doesn’t just plan the tragedy; she curates the audience, and Georgia has been cast in the starring role. When a rare, vintage brooch is left behind as a deliberate taunt, Georgia finds herself trapped in a high-stakes game where every move she makes—and every step she takes to uncover the truth—is exactly what the Architect anticipated. Forced to abandon her digital life and go into hiding, Georgia realizes that to stop the next "accident," she has to stop playing detective and start playing the Architect’s own game. Caught between the secrets of her own family’s business and a predator who is rewriting her life in real-time, Georgia must determine if she can break the pattern before the final act of the performance begins. **In this chilling psychological thriller, the lines between storyteller and victim blur. In the game of *The Anatomy of Malice*, the pen is sharper than any blade—and the Architect is always watching.**

Thought-Provoking
Dark
Friends to Lovers
Atmospheric
Haunted Blood

Haunted Blood

Series

by Rory North

Read
Atmospheric
Coming of Age
Fish Out of Water
Hidden World
Found Family
Myths, Magic, and Mayhem Series

Myths, Magic, and Mayhem Series

Series

by Nikki Rollingwood

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*Myths, Magic, and Mayhem* is a series where beauty is dangerous, loyalty is binding, and magic grows like roots beneath the skin. Each story follows characters who stumble into ancient rituals, living folklore, and towns that remember more than people do. In these pages, myths breathe, magic bites, and mayhem blooms quietly, creating an atmosphere of suspense and peril that keeps readers on edge.

Ancient Secrets
Dark
Small Town
Atmospheric
Hidden World
BLOOD MONEY

BLOOD MONEY

Story

by Oriyomi Ismail

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When Jason Carter arrives in Houston searching for a better future, the last thing he expects is to become entangled in the world of billionaire Richard Blackwood. After unknowingly saving Blackwood’s life, Jason is drawn into a dangerous web of wealth, corporate power, family betrayal, and long-buried secrets. As hidden truths begin to surface, Jason discovers that the greatest inheritance is not money, but the burden of a legacy built on sacrifice, deception, and blood. With powerful enemies closing in and every decision carrying life-or-death consequences, he must fight for his future while uncovering the truth about his past. **BLOOD MONEY** is a BOOKY Award-winning crime thriller filled with suspense, emotional twists, unforgettable characters, and shocking revelations that will keep readers turning pages until the very end. Its feature screenplay adaptation was officially selected by the ICJ International Film Awards.

Dark
Mystery Box
Big City
Atmospheric
Political Intrigue
NSFW
Brother Against Brother Civil War

Brother Against Brother Civil War

Story

by Steven Shepard

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March 1864. The American Civil War is reaching its agonizing twilight, but for the citizens of Shreveport, Louisiana, the horror is just beginning. Captain Douglas Ivey, CSA, starts his morning with a quiet cup of coffee on his mother's front porch, unaware that an unstoppable Union juggernaut—30,000 soldiers of the Army of the Gulf—is marching straight toward his home with devastating intent. Tasked with a high-stakes, borderline-suicidal reconnaissance mission, Douglas is ordered down the Red River Road to locate and count the invading enemy. What begins as a strategic military assignment quickly spirals into an intimate nightmare. The mission thrusts Douglas, his closest friends, and members of his own family directly into the path of an oncoming war machine, fracturing loyalties and putting everything he loves in mortal danger. Spanning the massive, 565-page canvas of a nation tearing itself apart, the narrative follows the explosive fallout of Douglas's discovery. As the Union army advances, the Ivey family is split across ideological and physical battle lines. From the gritty, tactical tension of deep-reconnaissance scouting to the grand, visceral chaos of major military campaigns, the story explores the brutal realities of 19th-century combat through the eyes of those forced to fight it. As General George S. Patton famously observed, "Compared to war, all other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance." For Douglas and his kin, this insignificance becomes a tragic reality. They are stripped of their peace, their security, and their innocence, forced to endure the absolute limits of human endurance. Ultimately, the story builds to a gripping climax where survival is just the first step. As the smoke finally clears over the blood-stained soil of Louisiana, the surviving members of the Ivey family face an even greater challenge: how to heal, how to forgive, and how to reconstruct their shattered lives from the ashes of a war that changed them forever.

Action-Packed
Atmospheric
Reluctant Hero
Survival
Thought-Provoking
NSFW
The Lantern in the Rain

The Lantern in the Rain

Story

by Sabine Phoenix

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When Mara Willow discovers a mysterious lantern that appears only during the rain, she finds herself drawn toward a world hidden beyond the ordinary. Guided by its strange glow, Mara journeys into the Gloam, a realm filled with forgotten secrets, ancient magic, and mysteries waiting to be uncovered.   Along the way, she encounters unexpected companions, a magical sea, and a forgotten truth that connects the lantern to a much larger destiny. But the path ahead is not without danger. To discover what the lantern truly means, Mara must confront her fears, unlock the secrets of the past, and learn that even the smallest light can shine through the darkest storms.

Hidden World
Quest
Ancient Secrets
Self-Discovery
Atmospheric
The Dancing Wolfeman, Volume I

The Dancing Wolfeman, Volume I

Story

by Rick London

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Titus Wolfe - high school music teacher by day, and DJ extraordinaire by night, becomes a wolfman. But not your typical wolfeman. Not the vicious, brutal and savage man-eating killer, but a savior. Titus's love for music is his saving grace, and also for his alter-ego wolfman. Music calms this savage beast, and along the way he meets the woman of his dreams and befriends those he saves. Romance, humor, adventure, music & dancing ensues. The ride is just beginning....

Action-Packed
Atmospheric
Big City
Reluctant Hero
Survival
Acadia

Acadia

Story

by Frederic S. Cozzens

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"Acadia" by Frederic S. Cozzens is a travel narrative written in the mid-19th century. The work captures the author's experiences and observations as he journeys through Nova Scotia, reflecting on the culture, history, and beauty of the Acadian region. The narrative includes insights into local customs, notable personalities, and the impact of historical events, particularly the exile of the Acadians. The opening of "Acadia" sets the stage for a delightful travelogue filled with humor and vivid imagery. The author begins by describing his arrival in Halifax after a journey at sea, capturing the quaintness and charm of the town through his observations. He discusses the uniqueness of Nova Scotia, its hospitable inhabitants, and the vibrant market scene that highlights the region's cultural richness. Along with the humor, there is a sense of nostalgia as the narrator hints at the historical significance of the Acadians, eventually leading into an exploration of their stories and experiences. As he embarks on his adventures throughout the province, he conveys an underlying ethos of appreciation for the natural beauty and the simplicity of Acadian life.

Nostalgia
Atmospheric
Bloom After Midnight

Bloom After Midnight

Story

by Sabine Phoenix

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After the death of her beloved grandmother, botanist Evelyn Thorne returns to Moonshade Manor, a forgotten estate deep within the Louisiana wetlands that has been abandoned for generations.   While exploring the surrounding swamp, Evelyn discovers a flower unlike anything she has ever encountered. It blooms only at midnight, glows with an otherworldly light, and seems to recognize her. When she reaches out to touch it, a whisper breaks the silence:   "You came back."   Drawn into a mystery spanning more than a century, Evelyn uncovers hidden journals, a locked greenhouse, a vanished woman, and a forbidden love story that her grandmother spent a lifetime protecting. As long-buried family secrets emerge, she realizes the mysterious bloom is far more than a rare plant.   It is a doorway.   To uncover the truth, Evelyn must confront the past, unravel the curse that has haunted Blackwater Manor for generations, and decide whether some secrets should remain buried forever.   Filled with Southern Gothic atmosphere, unforgettable mysteries, and touches of magical fantasy, Bloom After Midnight is a story about family, love, sacrifice, and the hope that can blossom even after the darkest night.

Atmospheric
Ancient Secrets
Hidden World
Mystery Box
Self-Discovery
Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick

Story

by Sarah Bantu

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Forget the green beer. Forget the plastic shamrocks. Forget the myths of little green creatures and fairy tales. Long before he became a legend, he was just Patricius an arrogant, wealthy sixteen year old Roman British boy who cared about nothing but his own comfort. But when brutal Irish raiders tear through his home, his world is violently shattered. Dragged across the sea in chains, Patricius is sold into slavery, stripped of his name, and left to survive the freezing winters of a wild, pagan land.\ Forced to herd sheep on a desolate mountain, the terrified boy must either break under the cruelty of his captors or forge himself into something unbreakable.\ *The Confessio* is the raw, cinematic, untold true story of Saint Patrick. From a daring, near-impossible two-hundred-mile escape to a powerful, miraculous return to the very land that enslaved him, this is an epic tale of survival, grit, and a faith that would forever transform a nation.

Survival
Fish Out of Water
Self-Discovery
Coming of Age
Atmospheric
Beyond the Silence: A Journey from Trauma to Triumph

Beyond the Silence: A Journey from Trauma to Triumph

Story

by William Charles Larsen

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For forty years, William Larsen ran from pain. Trauma, addiction, mental illness, and hopelessness shaped his life—until he discovered a different path.\ Beyond the Silence: A Journey from Trauma to Triumph is a raw and deeply personal memoir about surviving childhood trauma, decades of alcohol addiction, mental health struggles, chronic illness, and the crushing weight of shame. Told with unflinching honesty, William shares the experiences that shaped him—from abuse and loss to self-destruction and multiple encounters with death.\ For years, alcohol seemed like the only way to escape the memories and emotions he could not face. Yet every attempt to outrun the past only deepened the wounds. Beneath the addiction was a man searching for acceptance, purpose, and a reason to keep going.\ This is not a story of instant transformation or easy answers. It is the story of a long and difficult journey toward healing. Through recovery, faith, the support of others, and the steadfast love of his wife Regina, William began to confront the pain he had spent a lifetime trying to bury.\ More than a memoir, this book is an invitation to those who feel trapped by their past. Through reflection questions, journaling prompts, and practical insights drawn from lived experience, readers are encouraged to examine their own stories and take steps toward healing.\ Whether you are struggling with addiction, carrying the weight of childhood trauma, facing mental health challenges, supporting a loved one, or simply searching for hope, Beyond the Silence offers a powerful reminder that the darkest chapters do not have to define the rest of your life.\ A story of resilience, redemption, faith, and second chances, this memoir demonstrates that healing is possible, hope can be restored, and no life is beyond transformation.

Survival
Underdog
Atmospheric
Chosen One
Quest
NSFW
The Marrow of the Sky

The Marrow of the Sky

Story

by Ember Graves

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The empire of Valdris runs on dragon blood. Every three years, the Conscription comes — and the lower wards of Oakhaven know better than to hope their names won't be called. When Elara Voss watches her younger brother Corvin chosen for the Wyrm Corps, she does the only thing she can: she steps forward in his place. What waits for her at the Rookery is worse than she imagined. The Initiates are not trained — they are broken. The Wyrms are not mounts — they are weapons, half-mad with pain, bonded to soldiers through a process that kills as many as it saves. And the bond Elara forms with a dying Wyrm named Obsidian is unlike anything the Corps has seen before. Obsidian should not have survived. Elara should not have bonded with him. And the things he shows her in the dark — the memories buried in his marrow, the truth about where the empire's power really comes from — should not exist. truth in a world built on beautiful lies. For readers of epic fantasy with horror undertones, morally complex characters, and a bond between woman and dragon that neither of them asked for — and neither of them can survive without.

Revenge
Reluctant Hero
Ancient Secrets
Survival
Atmospheric
Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick

Series

by Sarah Bantu

Read

Forget the green beer. Forget the plastic shamrocks. Forget the myths of little green creatures and fairy tales.\ Long before he became a legend, he was just Patricius an arrogant, wealthy sixteen year old Roman British boy who cared about nothing but his own comfort. But when brutal Irish raiders tear through his home, his world is violently shattered. Dragged across the sea in chains, Patricius is sold into slavery, stripped of his name, and left to survive the freezing winters of a wild, pagan land.\ Forced to herd sheep on a desolate mountain, the terrified boy must either break under the cruelty of his captors or forge himself into something unbreakable.\ *The Confessio* is the raw, cinematic, untold true story of Saint Patrick. From a daring, near-impossible two hundred mile escape to a powerful, miraculous return to the very land that enslaved him, this is an epic tale of survival, grit, and a faith that would forever transform a nation.

Self-Discovery
Survival
Fish Out of Water
Coming of Age
Atmospheric
Roots and Wings

Roots and Wings

Story

by Jack Gunderson

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Welcome to Silver Creek City!  A young man stared at his test, trying to focus, but the cool breeze drew his gaze to the beautiful day outside. Clack, clack, clack, clack! The boy's gaze snapped to the window in time to see a grinning, shirtless, long-haired boy about his age glide by on his skateboard. The young man tried to focus on his test, but the only questions he could think of were, "Who the heck was that kid, and what was he doing *out there?"* I carried this image in my mind for several years, wondering about these two young men. Who were they? What happened before? What happened after? Finally, things slowly came together, and a short story that looked only slightly like this one began to emerge and take shape into a book. The book grew into a series. And now, here we are. I feel like I should give you a warning before you start. This story is about teenage boys. Sometimes they are wonderful. Sometimes they're gross. Sometimes, they're both at the same time. I tried not to clean them up to make them more "presentable." If you are under 16, I respectfully ask you to reconsider this book. You may want to wait a bit. It is often deeply personal. If you choose to proceed, be prepared to get muddy. \~Jack  Update, September 12, 2026 I've envisioned this as being a series for quite a while now. This was intended to be the first volume. However, after I wrote this volume, it became clear I needed to expand the series further. Now, the childhood portion of the book will be part of a prequel trilogy. I've expanded the material to include more of what happens in the summer and fall of 1998, which will eventually be released as the first volume in publication order, as "June 1998- New Year's Day 1999." The 1999 content will actually be part of a follow-up volume: "January 1999-May 27, 1999. So now, what we have here in what was going to be "volume 1" will be spread out and expanded through several volumes.  \~ Jack

Thought-Provoking
Coming of Age
Self-Discovery
Atmospheric
Small Town
NSFW
Noble Rebel

Noble Rebel

Story

by Melanie Kallai

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Beyond the walls, nothing is as they told her.  More than a century after global eruptions plunged the climate-fragile world into chaos, seventeen-year-old Barrett is destined for a Noble life in the coastal stronghold of Nuevo Leben, until Ronan, a dangerously perceptive rogue, shows her evidence that her mother is alive and captive in Old North America. Barrett's perfect future shatters. She must cross a deadly wasteland to find her, guided by the last person she should trust. As they face a forgotten world of hostile tribes, vicious predators, and unexpected allies, Barrett questions everything, including her growing feelings for Ronan and her place in this fractured world. But the further she travels from Nuevo Leben, the more she wonders whether its walls kept the world out, or kept her in.

Coming of Age
Survival
Self-Discovery
Atmospheric
Slow Burn
We Are Not Animals

We Are Not Animals

Story

by Maria Linn

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Twelve-year-old brown bear Cara Dyson has always been drawn to Homo sapiens: dangerous creatures who roamed the planet long ago. Cara inherited this dark, unusual fascination from her father Buick, Animalia’s most renowned historian. He set out on a secret mission two years ago to gather definitive evidence that climate change was humanity’s undoing, and no one’s seen hide nor hair of him since. When Cara finds a clue to her father’s last known whereabouts, she runs away to find him.  But the sheltered young bear isn’t prepared for life outside the gates of her highly regulated, vegetarian society. In the wilds, animals react to Cara in baffling ways: fish flee, rabbits rebuff, hyenas tease. When a starving snake tries to steal her provisions, Cara realizes food—something she never had to think twice about back home—is scarce. Standing between Cara and the truth about her father is a herd of zealots led by Dunkin, a cruel predator who’s trying to bring back a more natural, animalistic way of life. If Cara can’t stop him and expose the shocking secret her father uncovered about humanity’s extinction and the rise of the animals, history will repeat itself. Before Cara can stand up to Dunkin, though, she must conquer an even more vicious enemy: the nasty voice inside, whispering that her famous, brilliant father abandoned her because she wasn’t worthy of his love.

Cozy
Ancient Secrets
Atmospheric
Quest
Self-Discovery
Dusk & Dawn: A Faery Tale

Dusk & Dawn: A Faery Tale

Series

by Anie G. Ross

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A romantasy series revolving around faery lords.  The Dusk & Dawn Story: *A young woman with a gift is bound to an endless cycle of romance and death, pulled between two faery rulers of opposite courts: Summer and Autumn. From Coventry 1121 to New Orleans 1788 to modern day, nine lives isn't nearly long enough.*

Atmospheric
Dark
Hidden World
NSFW
The Ballad of Cotton and Grace

The Ballad of Cotton and Grace

Story

by Marco Velos

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Sportswriter Bish Weatherly writes the story of Harry "Cotton" Purcell, the most talented ball player who never made the majors, and Grace, the wife who followed him across Prohibition-era America. Spring 1922, Indianapolis. Bish has been in love with Grace since he before he introduced her to Harry years earlier. Now, with Harry at spring training and Grace pregnant and alone in a new city, Bish positions himself as the reliable friend—helping her find housing, buying gifts, being there when Harry isn't. Harry, son of ruined Alabama aristocracy, hits like Babe Ruth but can't control his "surly disposition." Each success fuels his conviction he deserves the major leagues; each setback confirms he's been cheated. As his career spirals through brilliant performances and self-destructive collapses, Bish documents it all on the pages of the newspaper while growing dangerously close to Grace. The crisis comes in Nashville, 1925. Harry is hitting .357 alongside Lou Gehrig. Gehrig goes to the Yankees. Harry doesn't. When Grace—exhausted and desperate—finally offers Bish the love he's claimed to want for years, he discovers things about himself that he didn't want to know. Decades later, Bish lives on, telling himself he did the right thing—until writing the story reveals he was never the man he pretended to be. *The Great Gatsby* meets *Remains of the Day*, set in 1920s minor league baseball.

Atmospheric
Slow Burn
Forbidden Love
The Phoenix Within

The Phoenix Within

Story

by Tabitha Polenz

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**Phoenix** - *Inner Strength, Resilience, & Renewal* We all have a story, but many choose to tell only the highlights the palatable parts — snippets — accepted by the public. The rest is tucked away in silence. But what if we told the whole truth? Not just the chapters we survived, but the ones that nearly ended us. Not just the memories softened by time, but the moments that seared themselves into our nervous system and shaped who we have become. The path that led here didn’t move in a straight line. Sometimes the past arrives uninvited in the middle of what we think is an ordinary moment. Sometimes , what is happening now only makes sense when you find its origins in the past. And if you pay close enough attention, you’ll see how the present has been echoing the history all along. We will cross continents and class lines, silence and spectacle. We’ll live through poverty and rub elbows with power, dive into spiritual initiation, and survive institutional neglect. Moments where survival felt accidental. Others where it felt deliberate. Motherhood, medicine, money, and myth all played their part. None of it fit neatly. And eventually there will be a place, a moment when timelines converge , and everything changes. This isn’t a story wrapped in inspiration or stitched together with perfect lessons. It’s not a sanitized version of suffering that leaves the hard parts on the cutting room floor. It’s the whole thing shadows, and all — a — the shards, scars, testimony not to tragedy, but to transformation. Because I was never supposed to be here, not like this. According to the statistics, the curve, the therapists, and the odds… I should have disappeared. But I didn’t. I walked through fire until I became it. *And as you travel with me, listen to the songs. They are not background. They are the emotional doorways into everything that foll*

Thought-Provoking
Dark
Survival
Self-Discovery
Atmospheric
NSFW
The Sunkillers

The Sunkillers

Story

by Alex Waldman

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After centuries on Earth searching for people like herself, Chloe knows that magic is a terrible burden. When she screams her loneliness to the void of space, she’s finally granted her wish of company as a group of magical humans appear and drag her through a portal to another planet in the future. As she tries to find her place in a new culture, she discovers she was conceived for a political purpose and that her exile to the past was orchestrated by the fascist leaders of one of the ruling political parties. Now that she’s back, they’re insisting she help them remake the government, using the emergence within her of another type of magic wrapped up in sex and mind control. The enigmatic leader of a rival party tries to support her in resisting the fascists’ control, but truly helping means risking impeachment or even assassination. With the freedom of her new society on the line, Chloe must decide if she’s willing to risk enslavement to awaken her dangerous mental magic and if she’ll trust the man learning he’ll break every taboo to keep her safe and win her heart.

Fish Out of Water
Forbidden Love
Self-Discovery
Atmospheric
Political Intrigue
NSFW
Sparkle

Sparkle

Story

by Arin Lee Kambitsis

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"In his latest fantasy, Kambitsis crafts a tale of small-town weirdness that would tickle Stephen King." - Kirkus Reviews Something evil is hidden in the woods outside of the beautiful town of Sparkle, PA, the kind of thing Peter Huffy, newly arrived in town, does not believe in. Little does he know that something is happening in Sparkle, something that hasn’t occurred on Earth since the destruction of Camelot a millennium and a half before, and the forces of good and evil are going to collide. Twelve-year-old Derek Windward is the sole keeper of Sparkle’s oldest secret. He is the only one who has witnessed the evil hiding in the darkest part of the forest, and how terrifying the power it wields truly is. It is the Bunyine - a giant, tormented creature born eight-thousand years ago in the Garden of Eden and harboring an ancient grudge for the betrayal of its masters, whom we call Adam and Eve. One morning, Derek receives a cryptic message carved into a tree. A message from the beast itself. Though what the Bunyine wants is unclear, what it would do to get it is unthinkable. Sparkle brings together the charm and wonder of fantasy and the thrills of horror, creating a unique experience for readers of both genres, and all ages.

Ancient Secrets
Atmospheric
Small Town
Spiritualists, Alchemists, & Sorcerers, Oh My!

Spiritualists, Alchemists, & Sorcerers, Oh My!

Series

by Anie G. Ross

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In a world of gaslit opulence and rigid etiquette, Blythe is a haunting anomaly—a brilliant spiritualist whose soul is trapped between life and death within an automaton body. Her only link to the living is Tarn “Madcap” Carrigan, a sorcerer-alchemist extraordinaire whose penchant for scandal is always one bad day away from another fatal mystery. With otherworldly secrets and new magic to discover, Blythe and Tarn are bound by an inseparable partnership.

Self-Discovery
Atmospheric
Slow Burn
The Resonance Series

The Resonance Series

Series

by Anie G. Ross

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***Harry Potter meets Sorcery of Thorns.*** *For fans of dark academia, magical university, and rivals-to-lovers.* Gwen O'Dorchaidhe thought her life was going to plan as the perfect heir to a pureblood line of sorcerers. Until the ordinary, untaught, *American* Chosen One entered her life, challenging everything she was raised to believe about potential. Breaking curses and challenging the outdated rules of sorcerer society is just another year at Cairn-Gait Conservatory.

Atmospheric
Forbidden Love
Reluctant Hero
Chosen One
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus

Story

by Mary Shelley

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Told through a series of letters and nested narratives, \*Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus\* follows Victor Frankenstein, a young Genevan scientist consumed by the desire to unlock the secret of life itself. After years of obsessive study, he succeeds in animating a creature assembled from the dead — only to be seized by horror at what he has made and abandon it entirely. Cast out and alone, the creature educates himself, yearns for companionship, and ultimately turns to vengeance when his creator refuses to grant him a mate. As Victor pursues the creature across Europe and into the frozen Arctic, both hunter and hunted are destroyed by the same relentless ambition. A profound meditation on creation, responsibility, and the price of forbidden knowledge, this is one of the founding works of Gothic and science fiction literature.

Thought-Provoking
Dark
Self-Discovery
Atmospheric
Benedicta Hicchecok

Benedicta Hicchecok

Story

by Kat Sidhe

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Benedicta Hicchecok is an immortal witch who values order, privacy, and control—especially over her dangerous old barn, which houses her family grimoire and the spellwork that anchors her power. When the township threatens to condemn the barn as unsafe, Benedicta faces losing both her livelihood and her magical legacy.\ Her carefully managed life is further disrupted by the arrival of her younger sister, Temperance—called Tempe—a chaotic, bohemian witch with a talent for trouble. Tempe brings with her an enormous Samoyed dog and Alexandros Papadopoulos, a polite but banished vampire fleeing supernatural politics. Though Alex’s presence is risky, his considerable wealth offers a possible solution to Benedicta’s mounting problems.\ Before plans can be made, faulty wiring sparks a fire that destroys the barn. Alex risks his unlife to retrieve the family grimoire, earning Benedicta’s reluctant gratitude. With no barn left to save, Benedicta allows Alex temporary refuge in exchange for funding a new, modern magical workspace.\ As the new arrangement settles, Benedicta pushes Tempe to contribute meaningfully to the family business. Tempe agrees to handle sales and deliveries—until Benedicta deliberately includes a stop involving Coyote, a trickster god from Tempe’s past. Tempe’s encounter with Coyote reveals that old supernatural entanglements are far from resolved.\ Meanwhile, Alex receives a package from his vampire progenitor, signaling that his banishment is temporary and that larger vampire politics may soon threaten Benedicta’s carefully warded territory.\ By the end of the opening arc, Benedicta has lost her old barn but gained a stronger foundation, an unreliable yet useful sister, and a vampire ally whose presence brings both opportunity and danger. Forced to abandon isolation, she begins navigating a future where family, magic, and supernatural politics are deeply—and messily—intertwined.

Ancient Secrets
Found Family
Atmospheric
Brides Bridge

Brides Bridge

Story

by Kat Sidhe

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Otterby is a mountain town built on what was abandoned—mines, bridges, promises, and names no one remembers clearly anymore. On Main Street, inside a purple Victorian known as *The Maid, Mother, and Crone*, two witches keep the balance as best they can. Kitty Loy is a kitchen witch who believes in the power of bread, salt, and things made by hand. Alice is a nature witch—an optimist with dirt under her nails and a deep faith in cycles, growth, and second chances. Together they form a coven of two, uneasy and incomplete after the loss of their third, a wound neither of them is ready to name. When a dead owl appears on their porch and a body is discovered on the long‑abandoned Bride’s Bridge, Otterby’s past begins to surface in troubling ways. What first looks like a simple haunting reveals a pattern tied to an old mine disaster, a doomed love story, and a bargain made long ago with powers that do not think like humans—or forgive like them. As spring stirs the land awake, Kitty and Alice are forced to confront buried histories, the cost of broken balance, and the truth that some debts cannot be ignored forever. To set things right, they may have to risk opening wounds they worked very hard to close—and accept that survival sometimes means change. *Otterby* is a standalone urban fantasy steeped in Southern gothic atmosphere, folklore, and the quiet magic of small towns that remember more than they should.

Action-Packed
Atmospheric
Dark
Hidden World
Small Town
Unorthodox - An Exorsism Story

Unorthodox - An Exorsism Story

Story

by Judah Ray

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INSPIRED BY A TRUE STORY! Madison thought she was the only sane one in the house.\ \ Fourteen and isolated in a remote farmhouse ruled by her mother Faith’s rigid devotion, Madison is convinced the madness belongs to the adults around her. Aunt Hope urges patience. Aunt Grace sees demons in everything. Faith stands between doubt and doctrine.\ \ Certain she is being suffocated by religious extremism, Madison secretly launches a livestream channel to expose her mother to the world. The followers grow. The comments validate her. And no one in the house knows they are being broadcast live.\ \ When Grace convinces Faith that Madison’s rebellion is something darker, prayer turns to accusation. Accusation turns to restraint. An exorcism unknowingly unfolds live as viewers watch religious fanaticism spiral out of control.\ \ This may seem like just another story about a rebellious teenager and her controlling mother.  Another story about faith gone too far.\ \ But the footage tells a different story.\ \ UNORTHODOX is a claustrophobic psychological horror about faith, rebellion, and a mother who refuses to abandon her child, even when the world calls her crazy.

Haunted House
Underdog
Fish Out of Water
Coming of Age
Atmospheric