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  The Boarded Window - A perfect...

  Ambrose Bierce

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  Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was born on 24th June 1842 at Horse Cave Creek in Meigs County, Ohio. His parents were poor but they introduced him to literature at an early age, instilling in him a deep appreciation of books, the written word and the elegance of language.  
   
  Growing up in Koscuisko County, Indiana poverty and religion were defining features of his childhood, and he would later describe his parents as “unwashed savages” and fanatically religious, showing him little affection but always quick to punish. He came to resent religion, and his introduction to literature appears to be their only positive effect. 
   
  At age 15 Bierce left home to become a printer’s devil, mixing ink and fetching type at The Northern Indian, a small Ohio paper. Falsely accused of theft he returned to his farm and spent time sending out work in the hopes of being published. 
   
  His Uncle Lucius advised he be sent to the Kentucky Military Institute. A year later he was commissioned as an Officer.  As the Civil War started Bierce enlisted in the 9th Indiana Infantry Regiment.  
   
  In April 1862 Bierce fought at the Battle of Shiloh, an experience which, though terrifying, became the source of several short stories. Two years later he sustained a serious head wound and was off duty for several months. He was discharged in early 1865.  
   
  A later expedition to inspect military outposts across the Great Plains took him all the way to San Francisco. He remained there to become involved with publishing and editing and to marry, Mary Ellen on Christmas Day 1871.  They had a child, Day, the following year.  
   
  In 1872 the family moved to England for 3 years where he wrote for Fun magazine. His son, Leigh, was born, and first book, ‘The Fiend’s Delight’, was published. 
  They returned to San Francisco and to work for a number of papers where he gained admiration for his crime reporting. In 1887 he began a column at the William Randolph Hearst’s San Francisco Examiner.  
   
  Bierce’s marriage fell apart when he discovered compromising letters to his wife from a secret admirer. The following year, 1889 his son Day committed suicide, depressed by romantic rejection. 
   
  In 1891 Bierce wrote and published the collection of 26 short stories which included ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’.  Success and further works including poetry followed.  
   
  Bierce with Hearst’s resources helped uncover a financial plot by a railroad to turn 130 million dollars of loans into a handout. Confronted by the railroad and asked to name his price Bierce answered “my price is $130 million dollars. If, when you are ready to pay, I happen to be out of town, you may hand it over to my friend, the Treasurer of the United States”.  
   
  He now began his first foray as a fabulist, publishing ‘Fantastic Fables’ in 1899.  But tragedy again struck two years later when his second son Leigh died of pneumonia relating to his alcoholism. 
   
  He continued to write short stories and poetry and also published ‘The Devil’s Dictionary’.  
   
  At the age of 71, in 1913 Bierce departed from Washington, D.C., for a tour of the battlefields where he had fought during the civil war. At the city of Chihuahua he wrote his last known communication, a letter to a friend. It’s closing words were “as to me, I leave here tomorrow for an unknown destination,” Ambrose Bierce then vanished without trace.

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  3 Stories - Dark Romanticism - A...

  Edgar Allan Poe, ETA Hoffmann,...

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  There is something about the number 3.    
   
  The Ancient Greeks believed 3 was the perfect number, and in China 3 has always been a lucky number, and they know a thing or two.   
   
  Most religions also have 3 this and 3 that and, of course, in these more modern times, three’s a crowd may be too many, except when it’s a ménage à trois.  It seems good things usually come in threes. 
   
  Whatever history and culture says WE think 3, a hat-trick of stories, is a great number to explore themes and literary avenues that classic authors were so adept at creating. 
   
  From their pens to your your ears.

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  Send in the Clowns - Reworked

  Rachel Lawson

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  Lance Alexander Sr., also known as The Necromancer, cunningly infiltrates a circus in order to ensnare a nefarious killer vampire clown who not only takes innocent lives but also flees the scene with the entire circus troupe. In order to catch the killer, Lance disguises himself as a sword-swallowing clown.  
  Warning coulrophobia sufferers, scary clowns in the book.

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  Waiting (Unabridged)

  Rosalie Parker

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  Rosalie Parker runs the independent UK publishing house Tartarus Press with R. B. Russell. Her previous collections include The Old Knowledge (Swan River Press 2010) and Damage (PS Publishing 2016). "In the Garden" was selected for Best New Horror 21 (2010), and "Random Flight" for Best British Horror 2015. Rosalie lives in Coverdale, North Yorkshire, the magnificent landscape of which inspires and sometimes provides the settings for her writing.
  WAITING: All through August Abigail looked out for the ship, counting the masts on each vessel and reading their names before they reached the harbour.

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  Graveyard Whispers: Book summary...

  Hazel Quinn

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  This content is an independent and unofficial summary created for informational and educational purposes only. It is not affiliated with, authorized, approved, licensed, or endorsed by the original author or publisher. All rights to the original work belong to its respective copyright holders. This summary is not intended to substitute the original book, but to offer a concise overview and interpretation of its main ideas. 
   
  Step into the hushed shadows of Graveyard Whispers, an audiobook that beckons you into a world where the past and present entwine beneath moss-covered stones. In this spine-tingling journey, you’ll: 
  Wander lantern-lit pathways between silent tombs, each whispering secrets of lives long departed.Unravel cryptic epitaphs and half-forgotten murals that hint at restless spirits unable to find peace.Feel the brush of unseen presences in the cool night air—soft footsteps on gravel, distant sobs, and faint murmurs carried on the wind.Piece together scattered journal entries and whispered confessions that bind the living to the dead in a tapestry of sorrow and suspense.Confront the thin veil between worlds as spectral figures emerge from the mist, offering both warning and invitation. 
  Narrated with a haunting, intimate cadence and woven with subtle sound design—from the clang of wrought-iron gates to the rustle of dry leaves—Graveyard Whispers draws you ever deeper into its eerie embrace. Press play…and listen closely, for every tombstone has a story to tell.

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  The Immortal's Redemption

  Kelli Ireland

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  This paranormal romance between star-crossed lovers “is hot in all the right ways and took me to the edge of my seat again and again, delivering in the end” (Larissa Ione, New York Times–bestselling author).When a brooding Irishman shows up at the hospital where she works, Kennedy Jefferson realizes her fugues are more than simply lost time. She knows this stranger is a threat—even as her body craves his masterful touch.Dylan O'Shea is the druid's assassin charged with finding the single woman who can stop an evil goddess from destruction. He's searched to find Kennedy for centuries. But Dylan finds himself inexplicably drawn to Kennedy—the woman he's ordained to kill.With Samhain fast approaching, duty and desire are on an unstoppable collision course.

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