AustLit

'Are the disappearances the work of a human killer...or something far darker?

'From USA Today bestselling horror/thriller author Darcy Coates comes the chilling legend of a monster no one can escape.

'DON'T WALK ALONE, OR THE STITCHER WILL FIND YOU.

'Abby Ward lives in a town haunted by disappearances. People vanish, and when they're found, their bodies have been dismembered and sewn back together in unnatural ways. But is it the work of a human killer...or something far darker?

'DON'T STAY OUT LATE, OR THE STITCHER WILL TAKE YOU.

'She and her younger sister live by a strict set of rules designed to keep them safe-which is why it's such a shock when Hope is taken. Desperate to get her back, Abby tells the police everything she knows, but they claim their hands are tied.

'DON'T CLOSE YOUR EYES, OR THE STITCHER WILL REMAKE YOU.

'With every hour precious, Abby and her friends are caught in a desperate game of cat and mouse. They have to get Hope back. Quickly. Before too much of her is cut away. And before everything they care about is swallowed up by the darkness waiting in the tunnels beneath the home they thought they knew.' (Publication summary)

'When Christa joins a tour group heading deep into the snowy expanse of the Rocky Mountains, she's hopeful this will be her chance to put the ghosts of her past to rest. But when a bitterly cold snowstorm sweeps the region, the small group is forced to take shelter in an abandoned hunting cabin. Despite the uncomfortably claustrophobic quarters and rapidly dropping temperature, Christa believes they'll be safe as they wait out the storm.

'She couldn't be more wrong.

'Deep in the night, their tour guide goes missing...only to be discovered the following morning, his severed head impaled on a tree outside the cabin. Terrified, and completely isolated by the storm, Christa finds herself trapped with eight total strangers. One of them kills for sport...and they're far from finished. As the storm grows more dangerous and the number of survivors dwindles one by one, Christa must decide who she can trust before this frozen mountain becomes her tomb.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'USA Today bestseller and rising queen of atmospheric horror Darcy Coates returns with a ghost story that will haunt you long after the final page.

'Keira is ready for a normal life. Hunted and haunted, all she wants is to put her mysterious past behind her and move forward with her new friends as Blighty Graveyard's groundskeeper. But then she receives an invitation to dinner at the local recluse's crumbling ancestral estate. The mansion is steeped in history that is equal parts complicated and bloody--and at its center is the man who once tried to kill her, now begging for her help.

'Dane Crispin believes his home is haunted--and that the unquiet dead clawing through the ancient house are after him. Unnerved but intrigued, Keira opens her second sight and discovers he's right: resentful specters cling to Dane...and if she can't find a way to stop them, threaten to consume everything in their path.

'There's something dark happening in the world beyond most peoples' vision, and if Keira isn't able to sever the ties between the living and the dead, the chained spirits may not be the only things twisted beyond saving.' (Publication summary)

'The Hull family has owned the Gallows Hill Winery for generations. Their wine wins awards. Their business prospers. Their family thrives. People whisper that the curse has awakened once more.

'The sprawling old house has long been perched on top of a hill overlooking the nearby town, jealously guarding the estate's secrets.

'It's been more than a decade since Margot Hull last saw her childhood home. She was young enough when she was sent away that she barely remembers its dark passageways and secret corners. But now she's returned to bury her parents and reconnect with the winery that is her family's legacy--and the bloody truth of exactly what lies buried beneath the crumbling estate. Alone in the sprawling, dilapidated building, Margot is forced to come face to face with the horrors of the past--and realize that she may be the next victim of a house that never rests...

'Darcy Coates brings you a brand-new horror novel that'll take your breath away... Gallows Hill is perfect for fans of Jennifer McMahon, Simone St. James, lovers of ghost stories and anyone mesmerized by the twisted secrets of the past.'  (Publication summary)

'Keira, hired as Blighty Graveyard's new groundskeeper, lives surrounded by the dead. They watch her through the fog. They wordlessly cry out. They've been desperately waiting for help moving on—and only Keira can hear them. But not every restless spirit wants to be saved.

'Sometimes the dead hate the living too much to find peace.

'As Keira struggles to uncover the tangled histories of some of the graveyard's oldest denizens, danger seeps from the darkest edges of the forest. A vicious serial killer was interred among the trees decades before, his spirit twisted by his violent nature. He's furious. Ravenous. And when Keira unwittingly answers his call, she may just seal her fate as his final intended victim.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'No light. No air. No escape.

'Hundreds of feet beneath the ocean's surface, a graveyard waits...

'Years ago, the SS Arcadia vanished without a trace during a routine voyage. Though a strange, garbled emergency message was broadcast, neither the ship nor any of its crew could be found. Sixty years later, its wreck has finally been discovered more than three hundred miles from its intended course...a silent graveyard deep beneath the ocean's surface, eagerly waiting for the first sign of life.

'Cove and her dive team have been granted permission to explore the Arcadia's rusting hull. Their purpose is straightforward: examine the wreck, film everything, and, if possible, uncover how and why the supposedly unsinkable ship vanished.

'But the Arcadia has not yet had its fill of death, and something dark and hungry watches from below. With limited oxygen and the ship slowly closing in around them, Cove and her team will have to fight their way free of the unspeakable horror now desperate to claim them.

'Because once they're trapped beneath the ocean's waves, there's no going back.' (Publication summary)

'A chilling ghost story that will haunt and entertain readers, from USA Today bestselling author and rising queen of horror Darcy Coates

'Leigh Harker is certain her house is haunted. Curtains open by themselves. Radios turn off and on. And a dark figure looms outside her bedroom door at night, watching her. Waiting for her to finally let down her guard and fall asleep. Despite appearances, despite all logic, Leigh knows she's no longer alone. Pushed to her limits but unwilling to abandon her beloved home, Leigh's determined to find some answers. But the more she digs, the more she begins to suspect that her house is keeping troubling secrets…and some of them could be deadly.'

Source : publisher's blurb

'Homeless, hunted, and desperate to escape a bitter storm, Keira takes refuge in an abandoned groundskeeper's cottage. Her new home is tucked away at the edge of a cemetery, surrounded on all sides by gravestones: some recent, some hundreds of years old, all suffering from neglect.

'And in the darkness, she can hear the unquiet dead whispering.

'The cemetery is alive with faint, spectral shapes, led by a woman who died before her time...and Keira, the only person who can see her, has become her new target. Determined to help put the ghost to rest, Keira digs into the spirit's past life with the help of unlikely new friends, and discovers a history of deception, ill-fated love, and murder.

'But the past is not as simple as it seems, and Keira's time is running out. Tangled in a dangerous web, she has to find a way to free the spirit...even if it means offering her own life in return.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A sci-fi horror novel from a USA Today bestseller and rising queen of atmospheric horror, in print for the first time!

'When a guard discovers an unusual lifeform on her remote moon outpost, she disregards protocol to investigate, with catastrophic consequences. The parasitic alien wears its victims' skins and adopts their personalities. It's a perfect disguise, and allows the creature to spread without being detected. By the time humanity realizes it's facing extinction, a third of its space stations have already gone dark.

'As the alien's ruthless progress collapses communication networks, wipes out defenses, and leaves hundreds of stations to fend for themselves, a handful of remarkable individuals must find a way to battle the greatest threat the universe has ever encountered...or die trying.' (Publication summary)

'She only went off the trail for a moment...

'22-year-old Eileen goes missing while hiking in the remote Ashlough Forest. Five days later, her camera is discovered washed downriver, containing bizarre photos taken after her disappearance.

'Chris wants to believe Eileen is still alive. When the police search is abandoned, he and four of his friends create their own search party to scour the mountain range. As they stray further from the hiking trails and the unsettling discoveries mount, they begin to believe they’re not alone in the forest… and that Eileen’s disappearance wasn’t an accident.

'But by that point, it’s too late to escape.' (Publication summary)

'The stark world continues to change. Each passing day twists it further, pushing the survivors closer to the brink of extinction. But, for the first time, there is hope.

'Clare and Dorran have set their sights on returning home to Winterbourne Hall. It's a daunting journey, but vital. Humanity needs more refuges—safe areas where food can be grown without attracting the attention of the hollow ones—and the old gothic manor is their best bet.

'But their home is no longer a sanctuary. It's become a trap: carefully crafted for them, lying in wait for their return. By the time they realize just how dangerous Winterbourne has become, it's already too late.

'The fight for survival is far from over.

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'There are eyes in the dark. There are whispers in the mist. There is danger lurking in the snow, and one false step could end it all. Something is waiting for Clare on the edges of the snowy woods ... something monstrous, something unfeeling.

'Something desperately hungry.' (Publication summary) 

'Nowhere is safe. Clare and Dorran scramble to secure their temporary sanctuary from the hungry things outside. The hollow ones, ravenous beings unaffected by the violent winter storms, patiently lie in wait. It's not a matter of if Clare and Dorran are attacked, but when. And Clare knows she'll have to venture out into the night soon…

'Somewhere far away, Clare's sister Beth is trapped, with only hours to live. Hundreds of miles separate the sisters and the land between them is infested with monstrosities. There's a bitter deadline to this rescue mission, but Clare won't lose Beth without a fight.

'She knows she can't survive the trip by herself. But even with Dorran at her side, can she truly hope to face the ruthless predators and make it to her desperate sister before it's too late? They all may be lost to the dark winter.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Josephine lives next door to a haunted house.

'She began to suspect something was wrong with the old gothic building when its family fled in the middle of the night, the children screaming, the mother crying. They never came back. No family stays at Marwick House long. Animals avoid the place. Once, Josephine swore she saw a woman’s silhouette pacing through the upstairs room… but that’s impossible. No one had been there in a long, long time.

'But now Marwick House is waking up, and if Josephine isn’t careful, she may be its next victim...'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'She's always watching...

'When Guy finds the deeds to a house in his mother’s attic, it seems like an incredible stroke of luck. Sure, the building hasn’t been inhabited in forty years and vines strangle the age-stained walls, but Guy is convinced he can clean it up and sell it. He’d be crazy to turn down free money. Right?

'The house is hours from any other habitation, and Guy can't get phone reception in the old building. He decides to camp there while he does repairs. Surely nothing too bad can happen in the space of a week.

'But there’s a reason no one lives in Rookward House, and the dilapidated rooms aren’t as empty as they seem…

'A deranged woman tormented a family in Rookward forty years before. Now her ghost clings to the building like rot. She’s bitter, obsessive, and jealous… and once Guy has moved into her house, she has no intention of ever letting him leave.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Daniel is desperate for a fresh start at life, so when someone slides a note under his door offering him the groundskeeper’s position at an old estate, it seems too good to be true. Alarm bells start ringing when he arrives at Craven Manor. The mansion’s front door hangs open, and leaves and cobwebs coat the marble foyer. It’s clear no one has lived there in a long time...but he has nowhere else to go.

'Against his better judgment, he moves into the groundskeeper’s cottage behind the crypt. But when a candle flickers to life in the abandoned tower window, Daniel realizes Craven Manor is hiding a terrible secret…one that threatens to bury him with it.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.