Nightmares Unhinged: Twenty Tales of Terror

by Joshua Viola, Aaron Lovett (Illustrator), Alten Steve (Foreword by)

Overview

Nightmares come in many forms. Some rend the veil of sleep with heart-stopping madness. Others defy sanity to leave a helpless corner of your mind twitching for release. Sometimes, hours after waking, a nightmare drifts across your memory, tainting your day with wisps of discomfort. NIGHTMARES UNHINGED reveals horror in all its mutable forms--abject to absurd--through twenty tales of terror.

Contributors include Mario Acevedo, Edward Bryant, Dustin Carpenter, Sean Eads, Keith Ferrell, Warren Hammond, Jason Heller, Gary Jonas, Stephen Graham Jones, J.V. Kyle, Aaron Michael Ritchey, Jeanne C. Stein, Steve Rasnic Tem, and Dean Wyant. Foreword by New York Times bestseller Steve Alten. Edited by Joshua Viola. Illustrations by Aaron Lovett.

A portion of the book's proceeds will be donated to Rocky Mountain Cancer Assistance in honor of Melanie Tem.

Contents:

Foreword

"Terrors In The Night"

Steve Alten

Introduction

"Reclaim Your Fears"

Joshua Viola

"The Brollachan"

Steve Rasnic Tem

"Fangs"

J.V. Kyle

"Be Seated"

Keith Ferrell

"The Man Who Killed Texas"

Stephen Graham Jones

"Scarecrows"

Joshua Viola

"Zou Gou"

Mario Acevedo

"Needles"

Joshua Viola and Dean Wyant

"The Projectionist"

Jason Heller

"The Wolf's Paw"

Jeanne C. Stein

"Danniker's Coffin"

Keith Ferrell

"Deep Woods"

Aaron Michael Ritchey

"Diamond Widow"

Dustin Carpenter

"The Camera"

Joshua Viola

"Lost Balls"

Sean Eads

"Bathroom Break"

J.V. Kyle

"Marginal Ha'nts"

Edward Bryant

"Delicioso"

Warren Hammond

"The Librarian"

Joshua Viola

"Gurgle. Gurgle."

Mario Acevedo

"Taking The Dare"

Gary Jonas

Afterword

"Melanie Tem: Hubble's Child"

Edward Bryant

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780985559090
Publisher:	Hex Publishers LLC
Publication date:	09/08/2015
Pages:	280
Sales rank:	1,066,880
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.63(d)

Table of Contents

5
FOREWORD
TERRORS IN THE NIGHT
STEVE ALTEN

7
INTRODUCTION
RECLAIM YOUR FEARS
JOSHUA VIOLA

11
THE BROLLACHAN
STEVE RASNIC TEM

23
FANGS
J.V. KYLE

33
BE SEATED
KEITH FERRELL

43
THE MAN WHO KILLED TEXAS
STEPHEN GRAHAM JONES

61
SCARECROWS
JOSHUA VIOLA

71
ZOU GOU
MARIO ACEVEDO

83
NEEDLES
JOSHUA VIOLA & DEAN WYANT

97
THE PROJECTIONIST
JASON HELLER

109
THE WOLF'S PAW
JEANNE C. STEIN

115
DANNIKER'S COFFIN
KEITH FERRELL

133
DEEP WOODS
AARON MICHAEL RITCHEY

139
DIAMOND WIDOW
DUSTIN CARPENTER

149
THE CAMERA
JOSHUA VIOLA

165
LOST BALLS
SEAN EADS

179
BATHROOM BREAK
J.V. KYLE

193
MARGINAL HA'NTS
EDWARD BRYANT

207
DELICIOSO
WARREN HAMMOND

215
THE LIBRARIAN
JOSHUA VIOLA

229
GURGLE. GURGLE.
MARIO ACEVEDO

243
TAKING THE DARE
GARY JONAS

257
AFTERWORD
MELANIE TEM: HUBBLE'S CHILD
EDWARD BRYANT

263
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

265
ABOUT THE AUTHORS

269
ABOUT THE ARTIST

269
ABOUT THE EDITOR

Editorial Reviews

"Featuring an impressive line-up of speculative fiction luminaries-Mario Acevedo, Jason Heller, Jeanne C. Stein, Steve Rasnic Tem, Warren Hammond, etc.-this stellar collection of twenty nightmare-inducing short stories is appropriately titled: it's a check-underneath-the-bed-before-you-go-to-sleep kind of anthology."
-PAUL GOAT ALLEN

"Poe, Lovecraft, King-step aside for the new kids on the block who bring goose bump horrorand pit-of-the-stomach dread to stories of the modern world and the future. Ebola in theheartland, an Iraq veteran with a problem, a high school bully who gets his due, a librarian withan exclusive clientele, a far-future alien race that delights in cruelty-the stories in
NightmaresUnhingeddeliver creepy surprises, sweat-inducing fear and chilling revulsion. These are stories bymasters at their peak, stories you will still be thinking about long after you've laid down thebook."
-JESÚS TREVIÑO, director of Star Trek Voyager, Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Babylon Five

"The sheep you so desperately count into slumber are about to sharpen their teeth, burrow into your brain and infest your dreams."
-MARK HENRY, author of Battle of the Network Zombies
"What is fear? It is many different things for each individual. What Joshua Viola has done in this anthology is touch on every exposed nerve one might have. Like a master chef in his kitchen, Viola manages to put together a delicious dish of 'Macabre Under Glass.' Some of the dishes may be challenging and new to your palette, but it is a many splendored meal with each course displaying its own variety of flavors. It was truly satisfying and yet, now, I am hungry for more even though I have a terrible time sleeping with such a full belly."
-JONATHAN TIERSTEN, actor Sleepaway Camp

"With a delicious story for seemingly every fear, Nightmares Unhinged features a treasure of writers-both established and rising-who know how to peel away all layers of protection and dig into your deepest phobias. These stories will leave you fascinated, vulnerable, and truly considering leaving your bedroom light on at night. If you are looking for short story horror at its creative peak, Nightmares Unhinged is a must-read."
-CARTER WILSON, author of The Comfort of Black

"This collection of chills by Colorado authors takes a retro, Twilight Zone approach to horror and offers it in a distinctly Western mood. There's a nostalgia to this book's type of creepy; fans of old-fashioned, midnight horror will enjoy. Best read after dark."
-STANT LITORE, author of The Zombie Bible

"Get ready for blood, terror and the unexpected in Nightmares Unhinged, a devilish anthology from a cast of superb writers."
-MIKE BEFELER, author of Mystery of the Dinner Playhouse and The Paul Jacobson Geezer-Lit Mystery Series


"Recommended doses of terrific and terrifying tales,Nightmares Unhingedis the perfect remedy for feeling just a little too cozy and secure."
-J.L. ABRAMO, award-winning author of Gravesend

"Less a collection of stories and more a warning list of places never to be-the library, fields with scarecrows, Mexican bars, the dentist, work parties, your neighbour's house, and if you're male and play golf, don't you ever, ever go looking for your balls under a bridge.A lot safer to just stay at home and read this book."
-PAUL CAMPION, director of The Devil's Rock and VFX Artist for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Constantine and Sin City

"From the moment you open Nightmare's Unhinged, it chokes the air from the room and leaves you holding your breath until you finally close its pages. Unfortunately, no matter how hard you try, you'll never get rid of that sinking feeling it will leave with you."
-JOSH DANFORTH, Celldweller Productions

"Nightmares Unhinged has stories that will frighten even the most thick-skinned reader."
-CAT ZINGANO, UFC Bantamweight Number One Contender

From the Publisher

★ 2015-11-10
Viola (Luna One, 2014, etc.) amasses a series of blistering horror stories, including a few of his own, from authors who tell of vampires, demons, killers, and things better left hidden in the dark. Steve Rasnic Tem opens this collection with "The Brollachan," a Lovecraft-ian narrative in which a creature's evil may live on through its lineage. The stories here are largely traditional with contemporary touches. Some take familiar setups in unexpected directions. In the post-apocalyptic world of Stephen Graham Jones' "The Man Who Killed Texas," for example, a guy makes a harrowing decision to protect the Lone Star State from a plague; and humankind survives an alien invasion in Mario Acevedo's "Zôu Gôu" only to discover that the horror may not be over. Others play with the relative safety of modern settings: a golfing buddy disappears from a golf course in Sean Eads' "Lost Balls," while the office Christmas party in J.V. Kyle's (a pseudonym for Viola and Keith Ferrell) "Bathroom Break" takes a ghastly turn. The prose is consistently outstanding, and there isn't a single dud here. A few stories, however, do stand above the rest. Ferrell's Poe-esque "Be Seated" turns a simple chair into a macabre entity; Jason Heller's "The Projectionist" features a beast that'll make readers quiver or queasy or a little of both; and in Viola's "The Librarian," a man who checks out and returns the same six library books every week isn't even the eeriest part of the tale. A couple of stories are predominantly tongue-in-cheek: there's a vampire curious about a batch of especially delicious victims (Kyle's "Fangs"), and guess what stoners do with a magic lamp in Acevedo's "Gurgle. Gurgle."? All 20 stories, disconcerting in their own ways, leave impressions individually as well as collectively. Illustrations from artist Lovett[b1] —searing images that look as if they've been etched in stone and spattered with blood—precede each story. A slew of gloriously disturbing, well-told tales to unnerve readers.

Kirkus Reviews