Screaming to Get Out & Other Wailings of the Damned
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This exclusive digital collection of stories includes:
Opening The Way: An Introduction
Tattoos
Going Home
The Revenge of Cthulhu
Holes
The Man Who Had a Death Wish
The Summoning
The Watcher From the Grave
Each story contains special story notes penned by the author!
Back From the Dead
Tim Gaines was the town pariah. Mocked and teased continuously since he was in the sixth grade, he approaches his senior year of high school with a sense of cautious trepidation. Years before, when he was in the sixth grade, a group of boys led by Scott Bradfield - a popular, well-liked kid from well-to-do parents - spread a vicious rumor that he was a devil-worshipper. The rumor stuck, and is believed by most of the students and even a few of the teachers and administrators. It’s a rumor Tim can’t beat, and one he sometimes feels he’s brought on to himself due to his love of horror novels and movies.
Now Tim has become friends with a loose-knit group of kids who have also become social outcasts thanks to other rumors about them by the student elite. With their mutual support, Tim has begun to come out of his shell. He’s going out with them, being invited to parties, and even begins to have a romantic interest in a girl, something he never thought would happen to him in high school.
But all that will change when Scott Bradfield and his friends set their sights on Tim again. Only this time, they need his help. Like most of the student body of Spring Valley High School, they sincerely believe Tim Gaines is a devil-worshipper. And they believe he has a dark power. Now they want to use him and that power for their own sinister plight...
...To bring back the dead homeless man they’d kidnapped and brutally beaten to a pulp in the guesthouse that resides on the Bradfield residence.
They want him brought back not because they're scared of getting caught for his murder, but so they can savagely beat and murder him again...
...and again...
Fetish
Something is in search of human prey in the gang-ridden communities of Los Angeles...
When the member of a notorious street gang is found decapitated and dismembered at the bottom of the LA River, it quickly becomes apparent something is amiss. Detective Daryl Garcia connects it with the murders of six other gang members killed in the same way. It looks like the work of a serial killer, but the gang members don’t think so. They believe the murders are the work of rival gang members.
Someone has a dark desire of the most depraved fetish...
Detective Garcia becomes determined to find the killer at any cost. Together with Rachael Pearce, a journalist he falls in love with, he searches for the killer through the gang underground and the world of prostitution and drugs. And as suspect after suspect is released with no solid evidence to connect them to the crimes, the search for the killer becomes more urgent as the gang-infested areas of the city reach a boiling point to the brink of rioting. In a community of gang members – who are killers themselves – how does Detective Garcia find the most monstrous killer he has ever encountered?
Madness wears many faces...
Do Unto Others
Jim Cornell used to believe in God.
But when things went bad – his daughter getting cancer, his layoff from his well-paying job, the strain of his marriage – he began to have no use for God anymore.
When Jim’s forced into a situation that will require his participation in another man’s murder, his faith will be tested. Because while Jim used to believe in God, he’d never given that much thought to the Devil.
Now he’s going to have to. Because, like it or not, Jim is involved with people who have a deep religious faith, too.
Jim is about to discover that where there is light, there must be darkness. There’s more than one kind of religious faith and his is about to be put to the ultimate test.
The Corporation
Michelle Dowling found her dream job. The offer on her desk from Corporate Financial Consultants included a high five figure salary, generous benefits and cushy perks. Finally, after escaping the psychological abuse of an emotionally cold mother and a series of dead-end jobs, she could start planning for a future with her fiance, Donald.
However, Michelle forgot the cardinal rule for any job offer; always read the fine print. She really should have gotten more details about her overtime hours, company policies, and exactly what they meant when they said “Welcome to the Corporate Financial Family”.
Michelle isn’t afraid of hard work. She’s a dedicated employee, the kind any manager would want for his firm. But this Corporation requires much more than just dedication...
The Beloved
You've seen her before. Perhaps somebody you know is dating her, getting himself into debt by taking her out to fancy restaurants and buying her expensive gifts. Yet you see her for what she really is.
Elizabeth Weaver saw it in her brother Ronnie's new girlfriend, Diana. Something about the woman rubbed Elizabeth the wrong way. She refused to get a job and help Ronnie around the house and seemed to bask in the attention and expensive gifts he showered her with. And as Ronnie began neglecting the rest of his family, they finally took notice, only Elizabeth saw what the others didn't - that Diana wasn't quite human.
And neither were her children.
Don Grant has tracked the creature for years, ever since it turned his wife into something barely more than a living zombie. He's traced its history through the centuries. It feeds off our lust for it, the violence it goads us into creating, and it grows stronger and seductive with each new victim. Now Don has caught up with it and he has to stop it fast, or the nightmare will be unleashed on a whole new family.
Shapeshifter
Mark Wiseman thought he had his curse under control. He thought he’d kept it secret.
He was wrong.
Bernard Roberts is a wealthy, influential man, and he knows all about the curse that runs through Mark’s veins. He knows how Mark’s parents were killed eight years ago. If Mark wants Bernard to keep this knowledge to himself, he’ll have to do what Bernard wants. He’ll have to use his curse to kill.
But if Mark Wiseman begins to lose control of the curse, he will lose everything he has: his life and freedom, and the woman he loves.
They
They walk among us unnoticed, unassuming.
A year after the auto accident that killed his wife, Vince Walters is finally beginning to move forward with his life. With the support of friends, he’s digging back into his career and even beginning to date again.
When his estranged mother, Maggie Walters, is murdered, Vince is stunned by the hideous nature of the crime. Maggie lived a quiet life in a small, rural Pennsylvania town, attending church, reading the Bible, and subscribing to an increasingly paranoid view of the End Times as prophesied in The Book of Revelations. Her brutal killing, which bears all the signs of being related to a sinister satanic cult, is inexplicable given her life of faith.
However, a visit from a childhood playmate confirms what Vince is beginning to uncover about his mother’s past: that she was involved with a cult during his early childhood, but later defected and went into hiding with him. As hard as Maggie worked to bury her dark past, it seems that they finally found her.
Now they’ve found Vince. And this time, they are not going to give him up.
They have plans for him.
Praise for THEY:
“J. F. Gonzalez spins a great yarn, and this one is a classic example. Creepy, interesting and devious. I loved it.” Jonathan Maberry, NY Times Bestselling author of Rot and Ruin.
Acknowledgements
"Introduction" and individual story notes copyright 2014 by J. F. Gonzalez
“Laura” originally appeared in Shroud #4, Fall 2008. Copyright 2008 by J. F. Gonzalez
“After Nightfall” originally appeared in Dred #1, October 2005. Copyright 2005 by J. F. Gonzalez
“Screaming to Get Out” originally appeared as a digital chapbook from DarkFuse. Copyright 2009 by J. F. Gonzalez.
“Home” originally appeared in the privately printed anthology Set’s Quartet, Thunderstorm Books in June 2013, with subsequent publication in D.O.A II edited by David C. Hayes and Jack Burton, Blood Bound Books, July 2013. Copyright 2013 by J. F. Gonzalez
“Ricochet” originally appeared in Screaming to Get Out & Other Wailings of the Damned, Thunderstorm Books, 2013, in a 90 copy signed and numbered limited edition, with subsequent U.K. publication in Splatterpunk, Fall 2013; Copyright 2013 by J. F. Gonzalez
"Mutant" originally appeared in Horror World, June 2007. Copyright 2007 by J. F. Gonzalez
"Captivity" originally appeared in the lettered edition of Clickers III: Dagon Rising, Delirium Books. Copyright 2010 by J. F. Gonzalez
"Witness" originally appeared in Astounding Tales, September 2005, with subsequent print publication in Dark Discoveries, Winter 2006; copyright 2005 by J. F. Gonzalez
“Balance” originally appeared in Splatterpunk, Summer 2013; Copyright 2013 by J. F. Gonzalez
“The Smile” originally appeared in the deluxe limited edition of The Beloved, Altar 13 Books; Copyright 2010 by J. F. Gonzalez
"Christian Woman" originally appeared in Shroud #11, Spring 2011; copyright 2011 by J. F. Gonzalez
"The Wasting" originally appeared in The Harrow, August 2007; copyright 2011 by J. F. Gonzalez
“Breaking Point” originally appeared in Gang Related, April 2002; Copyright 2002 by J. F. Gonzalez.
This collection is dedicated to the life and memory
of my sister Trish Chervenak,
who was also my oldest and dearest friend
Now I must tend my garden...
No part of this book may be used or reproduced, stored into or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or any other means now known or yet to be invented) without the prior written permission of the copyright holder, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews. For information, contact the author: www.jfgonzalez.com.
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed are either fictitious or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events and individuals is coincidental. This book is sold as is and neither the publisher, nor the author, will be responsible for any direct or consequential damages that may arise from the misuse of the information within.
A Signed Limited First Edition of this book was previously published in 2013 for collectors by Thunderstorm Books with a slightly different table of contents.
Screaming to Get Out & Other Wailings of the Damned © 2014 by J. F. Gonzalez
Cover Illustration and Design © 2014 Elderlemon Design
First Midnight Library eBook edition © 2014
All rights reserved
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