Haunted Halloween with Gretchen McNeil and a Giveaway

Halloween, 2011 (from Ten)
by
Gretchen McNeil

Jenny stood frozen in the hallway just outside Teddy's room, body tense, feet rooted to the floor.  The sound she'd heard from downstairs was louder now, and what she'd thought were the bumps and thuds of her little brother playing in his room after bedtime now appeared less innocent.  As she gazed at him from the doorway, Teddy lay curled up in his Avengers comforter, eyes closed, chest heaving slow and steady as he slept.  Alone.

But Jenny could still hear the footsteps.

Footsteps.  Yes, that's exactly what they were.  Heavy, plodding footsteps pacing back and forth across the floor of her kid brother's room, slightly uneven with a hiccup between every other step as if the person making them walked with a limp.

Person?  Jenny swallowed, her throat parched and raspy.  No "person" made these footsteps, unless Jenny had developed a sudden case of cataracts.  Her eyes took in the entire length of Teddy's room, illuminated by the dullish blue glow of his night light, and nothing moved.  Not even a flutter from the curtains, yet she could clearly make out the steady canter of the limping footsteps.  She could actually trace them from left to right across the room, pausing for a split second at the closet door, then retreating to the other side of the room, pausing again at the edge of Teddy's bed.  Rinse, repeat.  Jenny couldn't pull her eyes away, her brain desperate to see something moving in the near darkness, unable to grasp what might be happening in her house.

Then, as suddenly as they began, the footsteps stopped.

Silence descended upon the house.  Jenny continued to stand in the bedroom doorway, sweat beading on her upper li, despite the cold.  Jenny realized she was shivering; all the warmth had been sucked out of the house.

That's when she felt it.  A bony hand gripping her shoulder.

Jenny swung around and—

Meg dropped her pen on the bed as her cell phone purred from the nightstand.  Once, twice, three times in rapid succession.  She sighed and closed her writing journal, then reached across a stack of pillows and picked up her phone.  Three texts, all from Minnie, and as she held the phone in her hand, debating whether or not she actually wanted to read Minnie's drunk texts from her boyfriend Gunner's Halloween party, the phone vibrated again.  More messages.

Meg sighed.  Typical.

She swiped her finger across the screen, and Minnie's texts began to scroll.

MINNIE: OMG, I can't believe you're not here.  What were you thinking?

MINNIE: And don't give me that bullshit about being sick.  What am I, stupid?

MINNIE: The whole football team's here.  And half the cheerleading squad.  This is the party of the century you're missing!

Meg laughed to herself.  There was no place on the planet she'd less rather be than at Gunner's party. 

Because if Gunner was there, his best friend T.J. would be, too.

And Meg couldn't handle that.

It was bad enough that Minnie was dating Gunner as a means to get closer to T.J., worse that Meg had been forced to listen to her best friend go on and on and on ad nauseum about T.J. during the last few months.  It wasn't that Meg didn't like him.  Nope it was much worse than that.
Meg was in love with T.J., too.

She'd been hiding it from Minnie for so long it had become her baseline.  Minnie would rhapsodize that someday T.J. would realize she was the perfect girl for him, and Meg would just nod and smile, all the while indulging in her own fantasies about T.J., his gorgeous dimpled smile, how his lips would feel pressed against her own…

In private, she could handle it.  She could put on her game face when it was just the two of them hanging out.  But at party after Minnie had downed a few beers?  No way.  Meg discovered first hand that spring just how painful it could be to watch Minnie throw herself at the boy Meg was in love with.

So Meg's coping mechanism?  Fake the stomach flu, stay home, and write a new short story.

Buzz, buzz, buzz.  Great.  Minnie was in rare, needy form tonight.

MINNIE: I seriously have the best costume here.  Sexy Alice in Wonderland FTW!

MINNIE: T.J.'s here.  Of course.  OMG, he's doing like a Johnny Depp pirate thing that is SO FUCKING SEXY.  

MINNIE: I'll send you a photo of us, okay?  Let me find him.

Sexy pirate thing?  Meg dropped her phone on the bed.  It buzzed almost immediately with new texts.
Part of Meg desperately wanted to see the photo, a mash up of her love for Johnny Depp and her love for T.J. Fletcher.  Then again, did she really want to see Minnie in her sexy Alice dress which barely covered her ass, thigh highs and pushed up cleavage, draped seductively over T.J.'s arm?  She wasn't sure she could handle that.  Again.
Buzz.  Buzz.

Dammit.  

MINNIE:  Huh. Can't find him.  I swear T.J. was here a minute ago.

MINNIE: OMG, if he took off with that slut Brenda Raines I'm going to kick both of their asses.

T.J.: Are you home?

Meg froze.

T.J. was texting her?  On Halloween?  While he was at the "party of the century?"

A warmth spread across her chest, all stupid and silly and delicious in the way only a text from T.J. Fletcher could make her feel.  With a trembling hand, she picked up her phone and typed, "Yeah."

The doorbell rang almost immediately.  Meg caught her breath.  Could it be T.J.?

Meg's dad stuck his head out of his bedroom door just as she stepped into the hallway.  "Trick or treaters?" he said, pushing his thick glasses up the bridge of his nose.  "At this hour?"

"I'll get it, Dad," Meg said, hoping her voice didn't sound too anxious.

He shrugged, and ducked back into his room.  Thank God.  If it was T.J. at the door, the last thing she needed was her dad hovering around her.

Meg reached the door and realized her heart was thundering in her chest.  She needed to calm down.  It's not T.J., she said to herself.  Just a late trick or treater, like Dad said.

But as Meg switched on the porch light, she caught sight of a hat through the beveled glass windows in the front door.

A tri-corner night.

Like a pirate.

Ten by Gretchen McNeil 
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (September 18th, 2012)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Hardback: 294 pages

SHHHH!
Don't spread the word!
Three-day weekend. House party.
White Rock House on Henry Island.
You do NOT want to miss it.

It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their reasons for being there (which involve T.J., the school’s most eligible bachelor) and look forward to three glorious days of boys, booze and fun-filled luxury.

But what they expect is definitely not what they get, and what starts out as fun turns dark and twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine.

Suddenly people are dying, and with a storm raging, the teens are cut off from the outside world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn’t scheduled to return for two days. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on each other, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?

Prize: 

• 1 winner will receive a signed copy of Possess.
  

Rules:

• You must be at least 13 to enter. 
• Name and email must be provided and counts as 1 entry.
• Extra entries are possible and links must be provided.
• Contest is US Only and ends November 18th.
• Once contacted, the winner will have 48 hours to respond.
• The form must be filled out to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Website      |     Goodreads       |     Twitter       |     Facebook

 Amazon     |     Barnes & Noble 

Reminder: If you are interested in the COMMENT CONTEST, remember to include your email address with your comment for an extra entry!

Please read full entry rules here.  

Don't forget to check out Lisa's Haunted Halloween post for today!

Haunted Halloween with Kristie Cook and a Giveaway

Childhood Trauma
by
Kristie Cook

I used to love scary movies. I still enjoy them, but I don’t go out of my way to see them unless I just have to. Probably because my husband is a very big baby when it comes to scary stuff. When I was younger, though, I did absolutely love them, especially the Nightmare on Elm Street movies.

I found, though, that the movies that scared me the most were not the ones I expected. The Elm Street movies, Friday the 13th, Halloween, etc., didn’t give me nightmares like Poltergeist or Alien did. I know I’m totally dating myself, but those are the good times I grew up with.

One of the most frightening movies for me (besides Coma) that I can remember was The Black Hole. I was 8 when my aunt and uncle took me to see it and I don’t remember much about it except that the bad guy had this robot that was big, square and scarier than any alien or psycho. From what I remember, it was like Ironman on steroids – several feet taller and wider and very mean. It absolutely terrified me, but I tried to be brave since I was with my aunt and uncle and not my mom.

Well, later that day, we were back at my grandma’s house, there was a storm and my aunt and uncle thought it would be fun to play hide-and-seek in the dark, like they did when they were young. We were the only three at home in this huge, 4-story, 5-bedroom house that probably wasn’t terribly old, but felt ancient to me, especially in the near-dark.

So I was “it” and I did my counting on the main floor in the kitchen, then went looking for them. I searched the main floor, then headed upstairs hoping to God they were up there. Grandma’s room was on the right at the top of the stairs and they weren’t in there.  The next room was my aunt’s. They weren’t in there. Then a bathroom, then an office. No aunt or uncle.

Last, at the end of the hall, was the room Mom and I shared when we stayed there. The door was closed. I remember praying I’d find them both there. I did not want to go down to the basement or, even worse, the sub-basement. Monsters hid in dark corners down there. If my aunt and uncle weren’t in this room, I’d just have to give up. I hated going to the basement in broad daylight with all the interior lights on. No way was I going down there with lightning and thunder booming around us and no lights.

I gripped the doorknob and dragged in a deep breath as I very slowly opened the door. Just when I could see into the room, lightning flashed. I screamed. And ran. And nearly peed my pants.

I flew through the hall and down the stairs, through the family room and into the far corner of the kitchen, screaming the whole time. You see, that freakin’ robot was in that room!

Well, not really. My aunt and uncle came down after me, laughing their heads off. They thought their “hiding” place was hysterical. My aunt had climbed onto my uncle’s shoulders and they stood right in the middle of the room with a blanket over them. The obviousness of it could have been funny. If lightning hadn’t flashed right at the moment I opened the door and peered in. If we hadn’t just seen that movie the same day. If they didn’t look like the exact same height and shape as the robot.

You know those pictures on Facebook of a mom or dad dressed as a clown or monster and hiding under a kid’s bed and the caption says something like, “Childhood trauma in 3…2…1.” That’s what that hide-and-seek game was to me.

I love being fake-frightened with so-called scary movies, but I’m not much for being real-frightened. Probably because of that day, which I think I’ll remember the rest of my life.

Power by Kristie Cook
Publisher: Ang'dora Publishing (August 24th, 2012)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Kindle edition: 317 pages
Series: Soul Savers, #4

As the stakes rise, can she find her true power?

As the Amadis prepare for war, Alexis returns to Florida with orders to relax, regenerate and replenish her depleted power. But her task list quickly grows—establish a new safe house, learn the art of conversion, find her AWOL protector, help a desperate fan, and protect her son. Oh, and figure out what’s going on with her husband, whose peculiar behavior just might get them killed.

But most important of all, her primary mission: recover her stolen pendant.

The stone in the pendant not only promises hope for the Amadis future, but its unknown qualities make it a possible weapon in the wrong hands. With guidance and power from an improbable source and an unlikely ally by her side, Alexis sets out to retrieve the stone before the enemy discovers its potential for mass destruction. But when she finds herself in the Daemoni’s lair fighting for her life, all hope seems lost. Will she discover the true power she holds in time? And is it enough to save herself, her family and the Amadis?

Power, the next installment of the Soul Savers Series, takes you on a hot and edgy ride with twists and turns you’ll never see coming, leaving you breathless and once again begging for more.

Prize: 

• 1 winner will receive an ebook of ANY of the Soul Savers books (winner's choice!) 
• NOTE: PROMISE (book 1 in the series) is currently FREE on Amazon and Barnes & Noble 
  

Rules:

• You must be at least 13 to enter. 
• Name and email must be provided and counts as 1 entry.
• Extra entries are possible and links must be provided.
• Contest is US Only and ends November 17th.
• Once contacted, the winner will have 48 hours to respond.
• The form must be filled out to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Website     |      Book Site       |        Twitter        |      Goodreads

Amazon     |       Barnes & Noble 

Reminder: If you are interested in the COMMENT CONTEST, remember to include your email address with your comment for an extra entry!

Please read full entry rules here.  

Don't forget to check out Lisa's Haunted Halloween post for today!

Haunted Halloween with Jennifer DeLucy and a Giveaway

Whisper of Light Excerpt
by
Jennifer DeLucy

Nothing makes you look over your shoulder more than talk of a hag in your house. The laundry room, the piano room, any space that would normally be dark at night would stay fully lit this evening. It would be hard to fall asleep with all the lights on, but honestly, it wasn’t not like we’d be all that relaxed anyway.

Adalia was no slouch. She suspected more was happening than we’d let on. She only had to look at the facts. We’d known something had followed her here from the very first night she’d arrived, yet now we were sounding the alarms?

“How come we can’t turn the lights off?” Adalia observed, staring at the floor lamp in the corner.

“We’re just playing it safe, honey. Just in case,” I said.

“In case what?”

I sighed. This kid was persistent. “In case our visitor is feeling mischievous.”

“Like how? Are we talking blanket stealing mischievous? Cuz I’ve had that happen already.”

“Well, let’s not worry about it too much. Just try and get some sleep, okay?”

“Okay.” She rolled over on the couch, pulling the blanket closer around her.

I looked at Gil, and he shared my worried expression. We’d already spent two nights with a hag in the house and she hadn’t done anything yet, but she’d decided to show herself to Adalia tonight, so she’d probably been biding time, maybe to feel out the competition.

We took turns nodding off, me two hours, Gil two hours, and after Gil woke me from my first round of sleep, I dragged myself up from the air mattress and blinked blearily. The DVD player read 2:46 a.m.

“I need to use the bathroom,” I said. “Spot me two minutes?”

“No prob.”

Shuffling across the kitchen and into the laundry room, I rounded the corner to the half-bath and shut the door behind me. There was a poorly insulated window to the right of the toilet, and the room’s position in the house always made it so damned cold compared to the rest of the downstairs—especially the toilet seat. Pleasant.

After I’d completed the task, I glared at the mirror on the wall. Any time you watched a movie with ghosts in it, they always appeared in a mirror, and that wasn’t so far from the truth. Ghosts did love mirrors, but not because of the added dramatic effect. Actually, Laura said that spirits were attracted to reflective surfaces, mainly because they couldn’t see themselves in it, and the phenomenon fascinated them. Humans could sometimes spot a spirit in glass or water, but the spirit itself could not, because the very definition of a lingering astral meant that they never fully acknowledged what they were.

So I approached the mirror with some trepidation, half-scolding myself for being a sissy.

Standing bravely in front of it, I was met with the most horrific vision mankind could ever behold—myself. My hair was insane, my eyes were droopy, my skin washed out. Good grief, I needed to start using facial cream, pronto. But other than that and the window behind me, the coast was clear.

I snorted, turning around to leave, and was immediately nailed to the floor in frigid shock at the sight of a face—the menacing, nearly lunatic expression of a haggard old woman smiling at me from outside the window. My words caught in my throat as I tried to call for Gil. The look of her was grotesque, with absolutely corpse-like skin, deep gray, sunken flesh beneath her eyes, filthy teeth. The worst were those eyes. They glowed a putrid green, with tendrils of red that spidered along their whites. As I stood there she laughed, low and sinister, and though she was outside of the window, I knew she could be beside me, before me, behind me, at any moment she wished.

Finally, I said the first thing that came to me. “Get the hell away from us, you bitch!”

Redirecting one’s feelings into anger wasn’t always a healthy way to deal with fear, but it worked just dandy this time, thank you very much. I had no idea if the tactic had made the tiniest difference to the hag, but it had given me the clarity to run the hell out of the bathroom and call for Gil. I was grateful that I’d been breathless with fear when I did, since the sound wasn’t likely to wake the others while still getting Gil’s attention.

Flying into the kitchen, he caught me as my knees gave way. “Hey, Nicky. What the hell?”

“She was outside the bathroom,” I said, still unable to control the full body trembling. “She was outside the window. The bathroom…”

“Jesus.” He pulled a chair out from the table and led me to it, then darted off to the bathroom to have a look. I steadied my breaths, still fast in tandem with the beating of my heart. I was more terrified than I’d been in years. I’d never seen anything so creepy before, and I was praying to every deity known to man that I’d never see it again.

Circle of Light by Jennifer DeLucy
Publisher: Omnific Publishing (October 9th, 2012)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Paperback
Series: Light, #3

Empath and Pathcrosser to the dead, Lillian Hunt has finally come into her own as a Sentient being. All seems well in her brave new world...that is, until a tragic turn sends her tight knit Sentient group on a rescue mission through lore-infested Europe. Their goal is to save the love of Lily's life—vampire Sentient, William Maddox — from both the prejudice of their own society and the dark intentions of ancient vampires. But how will they keep hope alive, even as time runs out?

Prize: 

• 1 winner will receive a signed copy of Seers of Light and a $25 Gift Card to Amazon!
  

Rules:

• You must be at least 13 to enter. 
• Name and email must be provided and counts as 1 entry.
• Extra entries are possible and links must be provided.
• Contest is US Only and ends November 17th.
• Once contacted, the winner will have 48 hours to respond.
• The form must be filled out to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Website     |      Twitter     |      Goodreads  

Amazon     |      Barnes & Noble

Reminder: If you are interested in the COMMENT CONTEST, remember to include your email address with your comment for an extra entry!

Please read full entry rules here.  

Don't forget to check out Lisa's Haunted Halloween post for today!

Haunted Halloween: Adult Title Giveaway!

Last year we held a giveaway for some Adult Titles and this year we thought we'd do it all over again! We know A LOT of our readers will be happy about that and we have some amazing titles that we'd like to give away to YOU! So, check out what you can win and good luck to each and everyone of you!

FIRST PLACE WINNER
Will receive 13 books

Fate's Edge By: Ilona Andrews
Death's Rival By: Faith Hunter
Bitter Seed of Magic By: Suzanne McLeod
Unbroken By: Rachel Caine
The Bride Wore Black Leather By: Simon R. Green
Magic on the Line By: Devon Monk
Mysterious Minnesota: Digging Up the Ghostly Past at 13 Haunted Sites By: Adrian Lee
Encounter with Hell: My Terrifying Clash with a Demonic Entity By: Alexis McQuillan
In the Presence of Spirits By: Barbara Parks
Restless in Peace By: Mariah de la Croix
A Wedding in Haiti By: Julia Alvarez
The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving By: Jonathan Evison
The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro

SECOND PLACE WINNER
Will receive 11 books

Poughkeepsie By: Debra Anastasia
Dead Mann Running By: Stefan Petrucha
Taken By: Benedict Jacka
Left Hand Magic By: Nancy A. Collins
Acquainted with the Night  By: Piper Maitland
The Cross: Vampire Federation By: Sean McCabe
Haunted  By: Jeanne C. Stein
A Haunted Love Story By: Mark Spencer
The Receptionist By: Janey Groth
All Woman and Springtime By: Brandon W. Jones
The Aleppo Codex By: Matti Friedman

Those are some serious Adult Title Prize Packs, right? I think they are pretty amazing if I do say so myself! AND they are for TWO LUCKY WINNERS!!! YAY! So, come on all you over 18 year olds and enter to win today!

• Each winner will receive one of the above prize packs depending on what place they have won.

Rules and how to enter -

• Please fill out the Rafflecopter form below to enter this giveaway.
• Name & Email Address must be provided. (Easy Entry, just click the form & it does it for you!)
• You must be at least 18 years old to enter.
• This giveaway is open to US residents only. SORRY! Postage is killing us this month. I hope you understand.
• Giveaway ends: November 17th, 2012 (12:01AM EST)

NOTE: This is the SAME Rafflecopter form you will find at A Life Bound By Books. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A HUGE THANK YOU to all the many publishers who have donated this month for our Haunted Halloween Event. Without you and the many authors and friends, this event would be nothing that it is today. Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU!

Reminder: If you are interested in the COMMENT CONTEST, remember to include your email address with your comment for an extra entry!

Please read full entry rules here.  

Don't forget to check out Lisa's Haunted Halloween post for today!

Haunted Halloween with M.R. Merrick and a Giveaway

Unseen
by M.R. Merrick


Rachel applied the last stroke of mascara and turned the power off on the stereo. The music that pumped from the speakers stopped and silence fell around her. This was the first time in her life she’d lived on her own without roommates and getting used to the solidarity was taking longer than she expected.

A loud bang sounded behind her and she jumped. Darkness filled the hallway behind her and she stared into the shadows. Chills ran down her spine as the hairs rose on the back of her neck, and she crept forward. 

“Hello?” she asked, but naturally there was no answer. Her bare feet pressed into the carpet as she stepped closer to the edge of the hall. The silence was a weight bearing down around her and she jumped as something moved in the shadows. A dark blur slid from one room across to the other, and she shivered. Rachel swore the chill wasn’t just in her bones, the room was colder now.

As she came to the opening of the hallway she reached for the light switch but hesitated. The thought of dipping her hands into the shadows for even a moment had her on edge. Images of a rotting hand with sores and callouses pulling her into the darkness flashed through her mind and she pulled her hand back.

Cool air tingled along her neck like someone was blowing against her skin and Rachel flinched, quickly flicking the light switch up and turning around, but there was nothing there. She rubbed the side of her neck and found her skin cool to the touch. She shivered again and stared down the now well-lit hall. 

This wasn’t the first time she’d had a strange feeling about this place, but the rent was cheap and cheap was what she could afford. Not having roommates was a little harder on her bank account.
“This is ridiculous. Get yourself together,” Rachel said, storming down the hall and flicking on the lights to each room.  With the exception of the bathroom and her bedroom, all the other rooms were empty. No furniture and definitely no corpses that roamed in the shadows. 

She turned the lights off and went back to the kitchen, slipping on her high heeled shoes. A loud horn honked from the street outside and her pulse leapt again. A checkered yellow cab idled on the street, waiting to take her to the party.     

Tucking a loose strand of hair that dangled around her face behind her ear, she adjusted her outfit in the mirror. After a quick once-over of her ensemble she gave a silent nod of approval. She took a few items out of her purse and transferred them into a small clutch, taking only what she needed for the night and snapped it shut. Smoky, her poised black cat leapt onto the table, rubbing against her arm and pawing at the clutch. A single white tuft of hair formed a triangular patch on her chest and she meowed in protest. 

“I’ll be home soon, baby,” Rachel whispered, scratching Smoky just under her chin. The purring response was immediate. 

The horn sounded again and Rachel sighed. “I’m coming!” she yelled, as though the driver could hear her scream from inside.  “You be good.” She smiled and gave Smoky a long, smooth stroke along her back before moving towards the door. 

As she walked past the mirror she’d just spent hours in front of something moved in the reflection. She took a few more steps and then stopped, debating whether or not to take a second look. 

After getting herself worked up in the hallway she refused to be pushed around by her own imagination and she gave into her curiosity. Stepping back in front of the mirror she found a long couch and a single painting of the ocean looking back at her. 

“I told you,” she said, looking herself in the eye. 

She tore her gaze away as Smoky meowed again. The cat sat perfectly poised on the table, studying her face with vibrant green eyes. The horn honked again and Smokey released another meow. “I’ll be home later,” she said, trying not to sound annoyed and turned back towards the mirror. 

The couch and painting were gone, blocked by a mass of decrepit faces and bodies that filled her living room. Solid white eyes stared back at her, while flaps of skin dangled from their faces. Green rot and blood-stains filled in the gashes along their skin, and they stood silent, staring into the mirror.
Rachel screamed and ran into the kitchen. Her heels clacked twice along the tile before she slipped. 

One shoe folded out sideways beneath her and her leg twisted hard and fast to the side. She lost her balance and pain split across her ankle. She fell to the ground and hit the kitchen table with her hands, pushing it a few inches in the opposite direction. 

Adrenaline pulsed through her veins and her heart palpitated like it was going to be torn from her chest.  A gut-wrenching pang twisted in her stomach and she turned onto her back, skittering backwards across the floor. But to her surprise, nobody was after her. In fact, her living room was empty. 

Heavy pants slipped through her freshly painted red lips and her eyes panned the room. She could hear a pounding in her ears as her heartbeat raced. Smoky stood between her and the living room and hissed at the air. Goosebumps trickled down Rachel’s shoulders and she trembled.

She took a few deep breaths before recomposing herself. She slipped her shoe back on and climbed to her feet. Her ankle hurt, but not enough to cancel a night of fun with the girls. She’d been waiting far too long for this, plus, it was her favorite night of the year: Halloween. Nothing was keeping her down. Not tonight. 

She cautiously approached the mirror and the goosebumps prickled up and down her arm with each step. She looked into the living room, then took another step forward and peeked into the mirror. A sign of relief filled her as the painting and couch were back in the reflection or a near-empty room. 

She let out a deep breath. “What’s gotten into me?” She asked, looking down at Smoky. “I need this night out more than I thought.” She grabbed her clutch and disappeared out the door towards an impatient and aggravated cab driver.

After hours of dancing, drinking, and laughing with friends, Rachel returned home feeling renewed, exhausted, and more than a little off balance. She fiddled with her keys and stumbled into the doorway, kicking her shoes across the floor. Smoky meowed, awaiting her arrival on the kitchen table. 

“Hey kitty,” she said, the words somewhat slurred from her mouth. She threw her clutch and keys on the table and ran her fingers through the cat’s fur. Opening the fridge she grabbed a cold bottle of water and flicked off the kitchen light. “I may have had one drink too many,” she said, pausing to stare blankly at the cat. After a moment she snapped out of her daze and smiled. “Bed time, Smoky, let’s go.”

Drinking half the water bottle in her first gulp, she screwed the cap on and placed it on the bedside table. She tore her clothes off piece by piece and left them strewn about the room. While pulling back the purple and red duvet on her bed, a strand of crispy hair fell from its place on her head and danced along her shoulder.  

“Dammit. I can’t go to sleep with all this crap in my hair.” Rachel sighed and ran her hands through the sticky hair-sprayed locks.

The bathroom was already full of steam as she dropped her underwear to the floor and stepped into the shower. Hot water nipped at her skin while her body adjusted to the temperature, and all the warm feelings of her evening began to wash away. She tilted her head back and water splashed over her face and hair, breaking down the product she’d invested hours of time putting into it. 

As the buzz of alcohol began to run down the drain, images of what she’d seen in the mirror flashed through her mind. Both of her eyelids shot open and tension crept into her shoulders. Hard streams of water beat against her skin as the fear returned and she felt something slide over her shoulders. 

She paused, standing still in the water, telling herself it was all in her head. She tried to picture something else, remembering the tray of shots they’d had at the club. When that didn’t work she pictured the young kid who still appeared to be in his ‘awkward’ phase hitting on her.  One cheesy pick-up line after another echoed through her head, but even that memory was overrun with anxiety when she realized the feeling wasn’t leaving. 

The water seemed to tighten its hold, squeezing her skin. That gut-wrenching pain filled her stomach again and her breath caught in her throat. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. This isn’t happening, she thought to herself. It can’t be. She slowly lifted her eyes and glanced down at her shoulder, but there was nothing there. The water continued to splash against her skin, and although she couldn’t see it, she could still feel something squeezing against her skin. 

The feeling vanished as Rachel turned in the shower, and her fear faded. She was looking at a tile wall littered with drops of water that looked back at her - there was nothing in there with her. “I’m having serious issues tonight?” She shivered and let the water rush over her face, but even in the heat of the shower, the chill didn’t leave her bones. It ran down her arm and along the sides of her body, only to find its way back up to her neck. 

She stayed in the water until after the hot had turned cold. She let the stream snap her back to reality and sober her up.  When she finally summoned the courage to move, she leaned forward and turned off the water.

Pulling back the shower curtain in a rush, she stepped onto the fuzzy bathmat and turned on the ceiling fan.  The steam drifted upwards and as the room cleared, she saw what looked like hand prints in the foggy mirror. 

She tried to ignore them. It was nothing. She didn’t know what she’d seen earlier. Maybe it was just the hype from Halloween. She was excited, she’d had a few pre-party beverages and now, after more drinks than she could count, she was over-tired and intoxicated. 

Living on her own had her imagination running wild and tonight, she was letting it play tricks on her. She’d lived here for four months and every once in a while she got these strange feelings. So far, she’d just chalked it up to the adjustment. No roommates, no boyfriend, just her and Smoky; the way she wanted it to be. It was a big change and all of this was just part of it. As she got used to being alone, it would fade. At least that’s what she kept telling herself. 

As she crawled into bed, the duvet felt cool against her skin. Rachel squirmed against the silky white sheets and let them wrap themselves around her.  

“Come on, Smoky,” she called, but the cat didn’t come. Strange, she thought. Smoky is always waiting in bed for me. She waited a few moments and called out again, but still, nothing.  “Suit yourself.”

Rachel turned in the bed, spreading out along the cool sheets and stirring as she tried to find the perfect position.  She tried her left side, then her right, and finally her back, but she couldn’t get comfortable. It was like there was something bulging from her mattress that refused to allow her comfort. 

Using her shoulders and feet, she lifted her body up and dropped it against the bed. Over and over again her body hit the mattress until she was certain she’d broken in her spot and found a way to get comfortable. 

She pulled the blankets up to her chin, glanced at the clock, and closed her eyes. It was after three in the morning and the house was silent. She fought to keep her eyes closed, hoping she could bask in the quiet and fall asleep, but when the bed creaked, the stillness of the room became overwhelming. She waited to hear the footsteps of Smoky crunching across the duvet, but they never came. 

The creak came again and the muscles in Rachel’s shoulders tensed. Deep breaths in and out were all that kept her from jumping out of bed. This is all in my head. I’m getting myself all worked up, and thinking about it is only amplifying everything. She flipped onto her back and repeated those thoughts again and again.

The bed squeaked and this time she felt something putting pressure on the far end of the mattress - more pressure than a cat could manage. 

That’s it. I can’t do this. She tried to sit up, but her body wouldn’t comply with the demand. Cold air brushed her feet as the blanket lifted slightly and her pulse became thick in her throat. She wanted to pull her feet back but she couldn’t. She couldn’t move at all. 

Chills shuddered across her shoulders as something trickled across her ankle. With the panic that lunged in her chest came the pain of twisting it in the kitchen all over again. She gasped and tried to scream, but all that came out was air.

The blankets moved again and more cool air washed over her legs. She could feel the weight of something…someone, moving up the bed beneath the covers. The blankets shifted and moved and she felt fingers sliding up the outside of her ankle.

This isn’t happening. This isn’t happening.

The fingertips walked higher, moving along both sides of her legs.

This is just a dream. No, it’s a nightmare.

The fingers’ pressure increased as they scaled her body, digging into her flesh. Her heart flung from one side of her chest to the other, ready to burst at any moment. Sweat had gathered on her brow and she realized she was moving, but it wasn’t in the way she wanted. Her body trembled and shook violently as beads of salty sweat ran down her face. 

On three, I’m going to wake up. 

She winced in pain as the fingers turned into full-on grabs.

One.

Fingers nipped at her hips and tore themselves up her torso.

Two.

 The duvet moved again and the cool air touched her skin as another set of hands joined the first.
Three! She shouted in her head, but nothing happened. 

The second set of hands squeezed against her calves and Rachel cried out silently, her voice ensnared in her throat.

Stop. Please stop.

The mattress shifted as something climbed higher up the bed. 

Smoky! She screamed the name in her head. Smoky where are you?

The first set of hands pulled at her breasts and moved higher over her chest. She could feel the invisible intruder’s fingers reaching for her throat. Tears streamed down her face as her body convulsed. She was sobbing uncontrollably but there was still no sound escaping her lips.
Cold, unseen fingers wrapped around her throat. She screamed silently for Smoky again. Please come. Please help me…

The hand began to squeeze and the air was slowly stolen from Rachel. A loud hiss came from the door way and the hand around her throat pulled away. The cold fingers slid down her body and across her stomach before they vanished. Another hiss came, this time it was louder, and the mattress moved as something heavy moved across it. 

Smokey jumped onto the bed and the duvet crunched beneath her paws. It was too dark to see, but Rachel could feel a strange energy coming off the feline. She was so close and the cat gave off an aura of protection.  The mattress shifted and something retreated as Smoky stalked across the bed until eventually, Rachel felt whatever it was slip off the edge. 

“Oh god, thank you, Smoky!” she said, and the words managed to spill from her lips. She tore her body up from the mattress and covered her face, crying so hard it hurt. 

Smoky meowed and crawled up the blankets, nuzzling her head against Rachel’s chest. “Thank you, baby, thank you,” she whispered, pulling Smoky close. Her limbs were still shaking and her heart hammered inside her chest, but as the cat began to purr, it pushed calmness inside her.

Rachel didn’t move from her bed for the rest of the night. She sat perfectly still, gripping Smoky against her body. She watched as the red digits on the clock changed every so often until sunshine crept through her blinds, breaking away the cold energy of the room. Only then did she have the nerve to pull the blankets back and move. 

When she finally managed to coax herself out of bed, she found red scratches, swollen skin, and finger-shaped bruises that covered her from her neck to her feet. A chill had instilled itself inside her bones and no matter what she did, she couldn’t shake it. 

She called her friends later that day and tried to explain what had happened, but naturally, nobody believed her. They claimed she must have had too much to drink, or perhaps it was a nightmare. One of them even asked if she’d taken any drugs that night. Rachel wasn’t surprised by their reactions, but she knew it was none of those things. It was something in this house and if it wasn’t for Smoky, well, she didn’t like to think what might have happened if Smoky hadn’t been there. One thing was for certain, whether her friends believed her or not, she wasn’t staying here. The next day was the first of November and the perfect time to find a new place to live. 

Shift by M.R. Merrick
Published: February 1st, 2012
Reading Level: Young Adult
Series: The Protector, #2

Devastated by a terrible loss, Chase is trying to balance the life he’s been left with, a family he’s still getting to know, and power he never thought he’d have. He doesn’t understand why the Goddess has named him the Protector and granted him two gifts: the Mark, a tattoo that now covers his back, and the ring. But between getting interrogated by the Circle and psychic attacks from Riley, the Mark is the least of his concern. There’s a demon inside Rayna that’s fighting to be released, and it’s not her inner witch. It’s something else—a monster threatening to tear her apart.

As Chase struggles to control his magic, his enemies are closing in. Everyone has staked a claim on his ring, and destroying it may be his only chance to stop Riley. But Chase must decide if stopping him is worth risking the lives of everyone he cares about, or if protecting the ring will be enough to save his world.

Prize: 

• 1 winner will receive an ebook of Exiled (book #1).
  

Rules:

• You must be at least 13 to enter. 
• Name and email must be provided and counts as 1 entry.
• Extra entries are possible and links must be provided.
• Contest is International and ends November 16th.
• Once contacted, the winner will have 48 hours to respond.
• The form must be filled out to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Reminder: If you are interested in the COMMENT CONTEST, remember to include your email address with your comment for an extra entry!

Please read full entry rules here.  

Don't forget to check out Lisa's Haunted Halloween post for today!

Haunted Halloween: COVER VOTING!

 Are you ready to vote for your favorite covers?? 

PLEASE VOTE BY LEAVING A COMMENT

Voters:

PLEASE ONLY CAST YOUR VOTE ONCE! 

• To vote, put your email address and the number of the cover you like into the comment.
• Email addresses may be used to verify votes, only if needed.
• If you are participating in the comment contest as well, say "I'M VOTING!" in the comment and you will get an extra entry into the comment contest.  
• Anonymous votes are NOT allowed. Sorry! 
• Vote for your favorite!

 Participants:

• Feel free to post about the voting starting. Please encourage people to vote for their favorite. 
• You can cast a vote for your own cover, but only once. 

Rules: 

• Voting will end Wednesday, October 31st at midnight EST. 
• Only vote once!

VOTE FOR THE COVER YOU LIKE BY LEAVING A COMMENT WITH THE NUMBER POSTED ABOVE THAT COVER.

COVER #1

COVER #2

COVER #3

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COVER #5

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COVER #8

 

 To vote, include the number of your favorite cover and email address in your comment!

Reminder: If you are interested in the COMMENT CONTEST, remember to include your email address with your comment for an extra entry!

Please read full entry rules here. 

Crossroads Tour: Ty Drago

1. How do you know when someone is a zombie?

Well now hold up!  If we’re talking about THE UNDERTAKERS, then don’t call ‘em zombies!  Zombies are slow and stupid, while Corpses – the villainous invaders who animate the dead and wear them like suits of clothing – are fast, smart and well organized.  They project an illusion of normalcy around themselves, so that 99.999% of the world see ordinary men and women.  Only kids, and only a few kids, are “lucky” enough to be able to penetrate these masks, and spot the rotting cadavers underneath.

So, to answer the question: you don’t.

Not unless you’re an Undertaker.

2.  Can you give us a teaser from Queen of the Dead?

Thirteen-year-old Will Ritter and the rest of the Undertakers have won their first victory, but the celebration is cut short when a new threat emerges through the Void between worlds.  Lilith Cavanugh, the Queen of the Dead, is even more ruthless and dangerous than her predecessor, and her ambitions are even more sinister.

To defeat her, the Undertakers will need to prevent an assassination, rescue Will’s family, and somehow convince a skeptical F.B.I. agent that their cause is just.  But how to you convince a grown-up that monsters are real?


3.  Are you addicted to any TV shows? What do you watch in your spare time? 

I am a crazed Doctor Who fan and have been since I was a teenager.  When it’s on, it’s my favorite show.  When it’s not, I mourn it and wait for my other favorite shows: Fringe, The Walking Dead, How I Met Your Mother and NCIS!

4.  What are some of your favorite Young Adult novels? 


I enjoyed the Harry Potter and Percy Jackson series.  I loved Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games Trilogy.  But my favorites in YA have to Jackie Kessler, A. S. King and Heather Brewer!  YA has come a long way since I was a kid, when Nancy Drew the Hardy Boys were about the only games in town.  It’s edgier now, more challenging, and I think that’s being reflected in the number of young readers we’re picking up out there.

The Undertakers: Queen of the Dead by Ty Drago
Publisher: Sourcebooks (October 1st, 2012)
Reading Level: Young Adult/Middle Grade
Paperback: 432 pages
Series: The Undertakers, #2

Twelve -year old Will Ritter and his rag-tag army of teenage resistance fighters may have triumphed over the Zombies last time, but that's the thing about the dead: they keep coming back.

A new Corpse leader has crossed the rift and taken command of the invasion: The Queen of the Dead is even more brilliant and ruthless than her predecessor, and her ambitions are even deadlier. Will and the crew must somehow rescue his mother, prevent an assassination, and show FBI Agent Ramirez the truth about the Corpses-and the danger the world faces.

But how do a bunch of kids prove to a grown-up that monsters are real?

 Website      |       Goodreads      |       Facebook

Amazon      |        Barnes & Noble 

HOW THE TOUR WORKS

 

Each day of The Crossroads Blog Tour, a new research question will be revealed on The Crossroad Blog Tour main page: http://judithgraves.com/events/the-crossroads-tour/crossroads-2012/ and each day the answer to that question will be found within one of the different blog posts by Crossroads Tour authors. Your job is to get the question, read the blog posts, and collect all answers by the end of the tour.

Answers are to be emailed to judithgraves @ ymail dot com by October 28th at MIDNIGHT. Winner of the grand prize will be announced on OCTOBER 31st – HALLOWEEN.

The GRAND PRIZE you’re vying for? A brand new KINDLE, preloaded with a title from each of the participating Crossroads Blog Tour Authors. That’s right folks, a free KINDLE and 13 free EBOOKS!

Crossroads Tour: Carrie Harris

1. Can you tell us one of your favorite lines from Bad Hair Day? 

I’ll give you a couple of lines, because I think it’s funnier that way and I’ve never been able to follow directions well. :)

“A guy prepped a body in a closed autopsy suite to my right; I could see him through the oversized viewing window. He wore one of those super cool protective suits that make you look like a blueberry flavored astronaut.
I wondered if they’d let me wear it. If so, I was definitely staying.”

2.  Give us 3 words you would use to describe Kate.
 
Mega science geek. And I have to admit that it took every bit of self control I have not to hyphenate. Because it counts as one word if it’s hyphenated, right?

3.  Since people have been talking about the recent “zombie” attacks, are you starting to think that maybe zombies could be real?! 

There are actually some real life “zombies” that helped to inspire BAD TASTE IN BOYS. I’m not just talking about the bath salts. There are also zombie ants and zombie mice, and you can read about them in National Geographic! But human brains are pretty complex, so I do think we’re not quite to the point where an honest-to-god human zombie is possible. Although is it a bad thing if I say I’m kind of thinking that would be awesome? In theory, anyway.

4.  Do you have any special Halloween traditions? 

Oh yeah! It’s my son’s birthday on Halloween, so we really go all out at my house. We do up the house (this year, I think it’s going to be a neon spider den, because the best kinds of spiders are NEON), and we do birthday gifts and cake and then go out for trick-or-treating because we haven’t had quite enough sugar yet. And ALL of us dress up. Last year, I was a sparkly vampire. I wrapped myself in twinkle lights. We don’t have special Halloween traditions as much as we have ALL OF THEM.

Thanks so much for having me to visit and letting me ramble on about monsters! YOU ROCK.

Bad Hair Day by Carrie Harris
Publisher: Delacorte Press (November 19th, 2012)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 240 pages
Series: Kate Grable, #2

Senior year is positively hair-raising.

Kate Grable is geeked out to shadow the county medical examiner as part of her school’s pre-med program. Except when he’s arrested for murder, she’s left with the bodies. And when Kate’s brother Jonah stumbles upon a dead gamer girl, she realizes that the zombie epidemic she cured last fall was only the beginning of the weirdness taking over her town. Someone’s murdering kids—something really hairy. And strong. Possibly with claws.

Is it werewolf awesomeness like Jonah and his dorktastic friends think? Kate’s supposed to be a butt-kicking zombie killing genius...but if she can’t figure out who’s behind the freakish attacks, the victims—or what’s left of them—are going to keep piling up.

It’s scary. It’s twisted. It’s sick. It’s high school.

Website      |      Blog      |     Goodreads     |     Twitter

 

 Amazon      |      Barnes & Noble 

HOW THE TOUR WORKS

 

Each day of The Crossroads Blog Tour, a new research question will be revealed on The Crossroad Blog Tour main page: http://judithgraves.com/events/the-crossroads-tour/crossroads-2012/ and each day the answer to that question will be found within one of the different blog posts by Crossroads Tour authors. Your job is to get the question, read the blog posts, and collect all answers by the end of the tour.

Answers are to be emailed to judithgraves @ ymail dot com by October 28th at MIDNIGHT. Winner of the grand prize will be announced on OCTOBER 31st – HALLOWEEN.

The GRAND PRIZE you’re vying for? A brand new KINDLE, preloaded with a title from each of the participating Crossroads Blog Tour Authors. That’s right folks, a free KINDLE and 13 free EBOOKS!