Considering she had just attended her mother's funeral, Gloria Jaymes never expected to see the woman again, but then her dead mom shows up at her house.Gloria's mom is... different. She's younger than when she died, dressed in clothes from the 1980s. And nobody else in Gloria's family seems to recognize her.As Gloria tries to figure out the reason for her mother's reappearance and the odd behaviors the woman begins to exhibit other bizarre events occur. The changes to Gloria's world are small and subtle, at first... then they become much more startling.The freaky situation might just be connected to a mysterious shed in a small California town. The strangers who gather around the shed seem to know Gloria's name... and maybe they aren't strangers after all.With Gloria, Bentley Little presents one of his most complex and compelling novels one that is certain to surprise readers on every page.
After his divorce, Hunt Jackson decides to start over in Tucson, where an old buddy fixes him up with his wife's friend, Beth. The attraction is immediate, and they're married a few months later. But Hunt's happiness is marred by his bizarre encounter with an insurance agent whose insistence that Hunt increase his coverage sounds, incredibly, like a threat. The agent — tall, gaunt, oddly dressed in an old-fashioned suit and fedora — is himself a menacing figure. And it soon becomes clear that whoever turns down his 'offer' suffers catastrophic consequences: property destruction, fire, tornadoes — in tornado-free Arizona! What is going on? Hunt and Beth are determined to find out — never suspecting that the company's policy for life insurance will turn out to be more terrifying than death...
Darkness is descending on the small town of Rio Verde, Arizona. An evil older than time is rising from the desert, waiting for night to fall and a reign of terror to begin...
Brad Woods has performed a lot of autopsies, but never one like this. The body is purged of all blood.
Fear has made Sue Wing run from the darkened school and into night, a fear so powerful she can only name it using the Cantonese myths of her grandmother: Cup-hu-girngsi... the corspe who drinks blood.
Reporters like Rich Carter don't believe in the supernatural, but all the signs are pointing to the same conclusion: a vampire is stalking the streets of Rio Verde.
No, Rich Carter doesn't believe in such things. Not yet. But he will come to believe with a faith borne of horror after horror...
“The shrine. How does it operate? Do you just pray to it or do you have to bring it something or what?”
In this unsettling novella by Bentley Little, many strange occurrences unsettle the inhabitants of William Tell Circle:
For Helen, a knock on the door brings an unexpected visitor along with lavish gifts, and it seems all her wishes have been granted…but at what cost?
For young Frank and his friends, a fabled neighborhood shrine may answer their prayers for a girlfriend, just as their older brothers hope the same source will grant them money. But the older boys' improvised ritual turns into something horrible…
For Gil Marotta, a rescue mission to the shrine leads him into a chilling confrontation with the local witch…
The Circle tells the story of a normally quiet community, plunged into the kind of surreal nightmare only Bentley Little can deliver.'
'It begins in a small Southwestern town. Then it spreads. Across the country a series of strange deaths have overtaken the living. And a stranger compulsion has overtaken the dead. In a travesty of life, they drift with bizarre purpose toward an unknown destination. The walkers have become an obsession for investigator Miles Huerdeen. His father is one of them. Now, lured into the shadow of the restless dead, Miles is a step closer to a secret as old as time. . . to a reality as dark as Hell. For Miles is following them into the deep end of an unfathomable nightmare.'
With his novels, “Bentley Little has created nothing less than a nightmarishly brilliant tour de force of modern life in America.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) In Beverly Hills, a wealthy CEO goes on a bloody rampage and videotapes the slaughter. He leaves behind a chilling cryptic message...“This is where it begins.” Miles away, an alarmed mother receives an unsettling letter from her estranged husband, stained with bloody fingerprints. And all across California, children are becoming affected by a monstrous change—and their parents, by a mounting fear. Social worker Carrie Daniels and reporter Brian Howells are determined to find the link between these baffling crimes. But they shouldn’t look too deeply into the lives of the victims. It’s quite dark there. And God help them, they won’t like what they find.
A haunting tale of a missing girl that could only have come from the mind of Bram Stoker Award-winning author Bentley Little. The festival was intended as a getaway from UCLA for Gary, his girlfriend, Joan, and their friends. But soon after they arrive, Joan vanishes. Calls to her parents’ home yield only dead air. Her school records are gone. And there’s no evidence that Joan, or even her roommate, ever existed. Most disturbing of all is what they do find. Among Joan’s belongings is a prayer written on a small scroll. It’s a safeguard—and a warning—from something called The Outsiders. For Gary and his friends it’s the only clue. Now, if they want to find out exactly what happened to Joan, they must follow it. But they may not like what they find....
For the town of Randall, Arizona, the terror starts quietly, oddly—a senile woman in her eighties becomes pregnant. Then the town's beloved minister mysteriously disappears, leaving his church and home hideously defiled by blasphemous obscenities scrawled in blood. Farmers going out to their fields in the morning find their herds of goats slaughtered. Then, as the terror intensifies, the farmers themselves are massacred. The town begins to smell of death, and the trust which has bound neighbors to one another turns to ashes. But the relentless tide of death is only an augury of a far more unspeakable cataclysm. A stranger arrives, an itinerant preacher with mad eyes and an elemental presence named Brother Elias. He seeks out three men: the sheriff, tough, no nonsense Jim Weldon; the new minister, a gentle God-fearing soul named Father Andrews; and Gordon Lewis, a young newlywed whose pregnant wife Marina is the unknowing center of the coming fury. Together, these people must face an implacable force of evil as old as the world and as relentless as the desert sun...
When Gregory Tomasov moves into an abandoned farm on the edge of McGuane, Arizona, he discovers a terrible secret buried in the walls of the old building.
'We know who you are! Can your current bank say that? We pride ourselves on providing unparalled service to all of our customers. We're looking forward to banking with YOU!' In the small town of Montgomery, Arizona, Kyle Decker's book shop is barely breaking even. When a bank opens in the empty storefront next door, he hopes the new establishment will bring in more foot traffic. Trouble is, nobody has ever heard of The First People's Bank, and the local branch has appeared mysteriously overnight. Their incentives for new customers seem reasonable... at first. But is it a coincidence when Kyle's wife has her identity stolen, and his son receives emails that seem to know his private thoughts? Or when the manager of a competing financial institution dies a gruesome death? Soon, if people in
"Master of the macabre"* Bentley Little offers a new lesson in fear with this terrifying horror novel.
With a promise of more freedom and a chance to get out from under the thumb of a reactionary school board, the teachers of Tyler High have voted to become a charter school. Instructors and parents alike are thrilled with the prospect of independence. And yet....
The formerly laid-back principal has become unusually strict. And with her toadying secretary, she seems to be running the show. That isn't all. The janitors no longer work nights because of what they hear. The students are frightened by what they see. And things are happening on school grounds that defy rational explanation. But there is an explanation. It's just not anything that anyone can begin to believe-or hope to survive.
Bram Stoker award-winner Bentley Little cordially invites you to The Resort.
Welcome to The Reata, an exclusive spa isolated in the Arizona desert. Please ignore the strange employees and that unspeakable thing in the pool. And when guests start disappearing, pretend it isn't happening. Enjoy your stay, and relax. Oh...and lock yourself in after dark.
Opulent doesn't begin to describe the Arizona getaway where Lowell Thurman, his wife Rachel, and their three young sons have come for one glorious week. Everything at The Reata is perfect - although Rachel is a bit unnerved by the openly lustful gaze of one of the gardeners, something she doesn't mention to Lowell. Nor does he tell her about the frightening sensation he has in the pool of hands clutching at him, trying to pull him under. After all, when you're in paradise, a few glitches shouldn't spoil the fun.
But the good times come to a screeching halt, when, to the Thurmans' horror, guests begin to disappear. What's happening at the resort? Evil, ancient, and cruel. And unless they can stop it, the Thurmans will be forced to sacrifice at its altar....
Explicit violence.
