Avid Reader, Amazon
‘Sleep. It consumes me. Every inch of my body. Every part of my mind. Until it is shrouded in darkness and I’m subdued by the black. Time passes. It could be an eternity for all I know. But it’s not. My subconscious emerges from a realm devoid of light. And that’s when the nightmare begins. Again.’
Mark Young invites you into a world of dark fantasy and horror. The first of 13 chilling stories in this collection, The Heartbreaker is a story of a soldier deceived by those seeking to exploit his ‘gift’ – a supernatural power acquired as a casualty of war, fighting for his country. Pushed to his limits, Steve Wrangler is forced to make horrific choices in order to survive.
You can read a free sample here.
Stories included are:
BLACK MIST. Under the watchful eye of her sinister step-father, Ray, teenager Rosie takes time out from her studies when she is leant a mysterious book by the equally mysterious proprietor of Liandri’s Second-Hand Book Store & Other Antiquities. As the threat increases on Rosie’s life, our heroine decides enough is enough and turns to the pages of this curiously gothic-looking book for help.
CURSE OF THE DREAMWEAVER. Jackson Moon is a young football star who has it all. Career. Fame. Fortune. And a loving family. He’s about to lose it all. All in a single moment. One bad choice. And for every choice that’s made – there’s always a price to pay.
THE ARTIST. Actress Josephine Winthrop is invited to dinner by the elusive benefactor of her play. The Count, as he is known, seduces Jospehine into a world of love, passion, art and opportunity. But The Count is not all he makes out to be and things take a sinister turn when Josephine begins to feel she’s not quite all there.
LET’S NOT TALK ABOUT KEVIN. Locked up in the basement, Kevin wonders why his parents don’t love him anymore. With no friends or family to talk to, and only a radio for company, things take a sudden turn for the better. Or at least that’s what he hopes for when unexpected visitors arrive.
HEAVENLY WATERS. Kicking back in his boat on a secluded lake is how Tony enjoys his spare time. Cracking open a can of beer, he hopes to catch a large pike rumoured to be hiding in these calm, but murky waters. But he gets more than he bargained for when something much larger and more beautiful snags his interest. A seductive mermaid leads him into a hidden paradise where pleasures beyond his imagination await his arrival.
THE GOOD BOY. Plagued by the loss of his missing son, and haunted by dreams of his own childhood, Jacob Stone receives a call to visit his ex-wife who claims she has seen the ghost of their son, Toby. Pulling the clues together, Jacob goes in search of the boy to discover what happened to him. And to find out if he’s dead or alive.
LIVING WITH YOUR PARENTS CAN BE MURDER. What could possibly go wrong when you’re in your forties and still living with your parents? A mother who’s an incessant nag. A father who doesn’t say boo to a goose. And a green demon who constantly plays devil’s advocate. In this comedy horror, Sandy Bulwinkle is about to find out what can go wrong when his living situation comes crashing down and he can’t take the pressure any more.
THE VANISHED. Be careful what you wish for is how the saying goes. But what if you wish for something buried deep in your subconscious? Something you didn’t even realise was there? Bullied. Lonely. Confused. Growing up is hard for Matthew. And his life is about to get even more horrifying when his dreams and his nightmares come true – finding himself in a post-apocolyptic world all of his own making.
THE UNFORGIVING. Struggling to cope with single-parent life, Mike Saunders does his best to connect with his five-year-old son, Aiden. And as Aiden’s behaviour becomes even more strange and erratic, the father of one finds himself revisiting the past in the hope of making a better future for both him and his son.
GONE. Forty. Single. And still trolling the bars seaching for the one, Ethan has outlived the life he once knew. Now in the middle of a hot summer, a single bite from a mosquito is about to change all of that. Faced with a sudden illness that feels like death, he wakes to find an unexpected companion lying in his bed.
THE DIARY OF ETHEL EDIE BROWNE. On the outside Penny Arbuckle appears to be prim and proper – a gentrified young woman living in modern times. But independent and confident, Penny’s fearlessness is put to the test when an old diary from the 1920s mysteriously appears on the bedroom floor. Can reading the thoughts of a housewife who lived a hundred years ago bring the past to life? After all, they’re only words on a page. Aren’t they?
PROTÉGÉ. It’s a blazing hot day and Ben Chambers is stuck in traffic on the motorway, late for an interview. On his arrival his host, a man called Vanguard, challenges him to a game of chess. But who is interviewing who? What is Vanguard’s secret? And why was Ben really invited to a secluded lodge in the middle of the woods?
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The Heartbreaker (the first anthology in the “13” Dark Fantasy and Horror series) is available is to purchase for Kindle digital download in the following territories:
- Amazon.co.uk
- Amazon.com
- Amazon.in
- Amazon.de
- Amazon.fr
- Amazon.es
- Amazon.it
- Amazon.nl
- Amazon.co.jp
- Amazon.com.br
- Amazon.ca
- Amazon.com.mx
- Amazon.com.au
It’s also available to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.
The paperback is here! If you like a good old fashioned book in your hands, The Heartbreaker: 13 Dark Fantasy & Horror Stories is now available from Amazon in the following territories:
Mark Young 