Search Worlds Without End

When he was a little boy, there was a house behind Alex Lowry's house. Except he was the only one who could see it. Only he could hear the woman singing from within.

Decades later, after the pandemic costs Alex his corporate job, he picks up work delivering specialty items to homebound clientele and, against all odds, he realizes he enjoys his new life. His world is simpler. Quieter. Until he once more hears the tuneless, wordless song of the woman from the house behind. Until the cracks in the facade of his simple, quiet life begin to yawn, and a past he thought he had outrun begins to gain on him.

Until he finds himself slipping into the world behind.

"SOMEONE'S MOVING INTO THE LAUTER HOUSE..."

Cathy was six when the man next door killed his wife and himself.

It was early morning and she was playing outside when she heard the first shot. And then another shot. And another. The sounds echoed around the neighborhood like thunder. People came out of their houses to see what was happening.

Later, she saw the blood and the bodies....

Now, the house is no longer vacant. Someone new has moved in. Something terrible is happening to the neighbors. And Cathy has a secret of her own...

Jason has a gift for writing, and his talent has its rewards. His first letter results in free meals at a fast-food chain; another yields passes to an amusement park. As he goes through life, writing letters makes things go his way, opening doors to colleges, connecting him with the President - and Jason feels the might of his own power.

But there's a dark side to his machinations - and someone knows it. Threatening letters in the mail fuel his nightmares... until opportunity knocks and a company hires Jason to write for them. But this "dream job" is about to consume his mind - and reach for his very soul.

Successful author Todd Klein and his wife Rosita live a quiet small town life. Todd's latest novel is selling well and despite recent budget cuts, Rosita relishes her job at the local library. After years of marriage, they're still in love, the mortgage to their suburban home is paid off, and their future is bright. Until, that is, Todd makes an appointment at the Department of Motor Vehicles to renew his license.

Jorge Guiterrez, Rosita's younger brother, hasn't been so lucky. A few months earlier, his bad temper finally caught up with him. After arguing with a supervisor, Jorge quit his cushy job and hasn't been able to find a new one. The bills are piling up and his wife is starting to pressure him. Until, one day, he is approached by a pair of mysterious strangers with an even more mysterious job offer... at the DMV.

Zal Tombasian, a young programmer at Data Initiatives, has a pretty boring existence. As his friend and co-worker Bernard tells him, "Your social life consists of sitting at home eating junk food and playing online games." Zal doesn't even bother to put up an argument. He's never been much for adventure. Until his company is hired to work on their largest account yet... by the DMV.

When Dion Semele moves to Napa, all he wants is to fit in.

But something really strange is happening to Dion, and odd-girl-out Penelope understands completely. Something is happening to her, too. You see, they were made for each other.

As Dion's new life becomes a twisted nightmare, he learns that maybe he and Penelope were made to raise hell together, too. Soon they are caught in a battle for control of their souls as malignant forces plunge Napa into an abyss of debauchery and blood.

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.

Steve Nye writes for an alumni magazine and his long-term relationship is on the steady path to marriage. But his quiet life takes an unexpected turn when he receives a phone call from his mother. His father attacked her and has been committed to a mental asylum. The doctor says he's suffering from dementia. But Steve's father seems so calm, clear-eyed, and perfectly lucid when he whispers, "I killed her..."

Is it simply another symptom of delusion and madness? To find the answer, Steve investigates the cryptic message leading him down a terrifying path of his own making - and of his own nightmares...

With a promise of more freedom, and the chance to get out from under the thumbs 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. 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 that defy explanations are happening on school grounds. But there is an explanation - it's just not something that anyone can begin to believe... or hope to survive.

Barry and Maureen found the house of their dreams in Utah's beautiful Bonita Vista. It didn't bother them that they had to join a homeowner's association. They just never realized the Association would invade every aspect of their lives and that the penalty for bending the rules could be the death of them...

"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 Montgomery, Arizona, want to buy a new car or home, or if they need a small business loan, they have no choice but to work with The First People's Bank. As The Bank makes increasingly bizarre demands on its customers, it becomes clear the town may be in too deep... and the penalty for an early withdrawal is too terrifying to imagine.

A college freshman finds herself stranded in Arizona with no place to stay and nowhere to run.

Cabin fever closes in on an isolated park ranger, as two sinister beauties lurk in the desert outside his door.

A California divorcee is starting a promising new life. But her young son knows better - because he's seen what's creeping outside the window.

A cross-country traveler is on a journey of self-discovery. But one tourist trap holds its own dreadful surprises...

Four strangers with one thing in common: a mysterious train choking the sky with black smoke, charging trackless across the American night... and carrying an unstoppable evil, raised from the bowels of history, that will bring their worst fears to life.

How far would you go...with a hitchhiker who's left behind an unimaginable trail of horror and destruction?

How would you feel...if your father's new bride was something dredged up from the bowels of hell?

What would you do...if you discovered an old letter suggesting that one of America's Founding Fathers had been a serial killer?

How long would you last...in a mysterious border town that promised to let you in on one of its most gruesome secrets?

Called the Master of the Macabre by Stephen King, the Bram Stoker Award winner presents his first collection of short stories. This book contains 32 stories of hot blood and frigid terror that could only come from the mind of Bentley Little. And that's a scary place to be.

CompWare is in serious trouble after a promised merger falls through, so they do what other businesses have done to bolster their public image: they hire a consulting firm to review and streamline their business practices.

But there's something strange about the firm they hire--more specifically, the quirky gentleman who arrives to supervise the project: Mr. Patoff, tall and thin and wearing a bow tie, and with an odd smile that never quite reaches his eyes.

In his first interactions, the consultant asks a few inappropriate questions, and generally seems a nuisance. Over time, Patoff gains more power, to the point where he seems to be running the whole company. He enacts arbitrary and invasive changes to office protocol. He places cameras all over the building, making workers paranoid; he calls employees at all hours of the night, visits some of their homes and menaces their families.

People who defy the consultant get fired... or worse.

They soon realize they're not just fighting for their jobs: They're fighting for their lives.

The perfect getaway turns into a nightmare when a girl vanishes without a trace...

Gary, his girlfriend, Joan, and their friends intend to make the most of their three day vacation from UCLA partying at Burning Man. But soon after they arrive at the festival in the remote desert, Joan disappears. 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 uncover....

Daniel Martin has never forgotten his childhood encounters with Frank Watkins, the man who built his family a summer home out of cardboard and plywood. Frank's gaze was oddly confusing, as if he was attempting to discern the proper way to behave because he didn't know how to respond in a human manner. Since Frank obviously wasn't an alien, young Daniel thought maybe the man was crazy. In the end, Daniel would learn the terrifying truth about Frank Watkins. And as an adult, Daniel is about to discover there are more of THEM out there...

Five strangers from across America are about to open the door to an unspeakable evil...

They share a dark bond. A haunted childhood. A shocking secret. A memory of the houses they lived in - each one eerily identical to the next. From the remote foothills of the west to the green lawns of suburbia, they are returning - to the past, to the unspeakable events they long to forget... to the house.

Now, their journeys are about to converge in a terrifying challenge to confront their nightmares - or be trapped inside them forever....

Bob Jones is ordinary, from his appearance right down to his very name. No one seems to take notice of him, not his co-workers, his girlfriend, or even his own parents. But Bob learns he's not alone when he's taken in by a band of people that suffer similarly.

Calling themselves "The Ignored", the deadly vengeance they intend to wreak is sure to make them more than just memorable...

Everything is about to change...

When Ross Lowry moves into his cousin's guest house in the small community of Magdalena, Arizona, he expects nothing more than breathing room and a brief respite from his economic woes.

But something is not right in the desert.

After a raucous party on New Year's Eve, the luck of the attendees undergoes an immediate U-turn. The rich and successful suddenly find themselves facing catastrophic failure while the less well-off are unexpectedly flush with good fortune.

This is only the beginning...

Soon the citizens of Magdalena are experiencing unnatural desires. Next their children begin to disappear and freakish creatures emerge from the surrounding wilderness. The community is unraveling at a frightening pace. But these are merely the early warning signs of a showdown with a powerful force of darkness that could obliterate the world forever, and only Ross Lowry sees the danger that lurks ahead...

Once upon a time, waiting for the mail was filled with warm anticipation, but the suicide of the local mailman has left the residents of this tiny Arizona town shell-shocked. Nothing this bad has ever happened here. But now it has and more bad things are on the way.

Soon there's a new mail carrier in town, one who's delivering lethal letters stuffed with icy fear. He's bringing bad news and before too long the killing will begin.

Nothing - not even the most outstanding citizens or the most secret weaknesses - will be safe from The Mailman's sinister power...

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...

The Reata is an exclusive spa isolated in the Arizona desert - a perfect getaway from the city for people like Lowell Thurman and his family, booked for a relaxing five-day retreat. But what unfolds is anything but tranquil... unnerving encounters with strange employees, wild parties in empty rooms, something unspeakable in the pool. Then one by one, guests begin disappearing.

The Thurmans are afraid - because out in the middle of nowhere, with no escape, and no one to hear them scream, they're left with only one terrifying choice: unlock the dark secrets of The Reata themselves before the real carnage begins.

Springerville is famous for the legend of the Mogollon Monster. Of course nobody really believes it. It's just a good campfire story, something to attract gullible tourists - until an excavation team unearths the figurine of a screaming woman, the jawbone of a deformed animal, and a child's toy. How odd that they were buried together. Odd, too, is the foul odor lingering in the air, the strange noises at night, and the man's face found hanging from a tree.

Now the locals are locking their doors. Because after sundown, campfire stories can seem very, very real.

Strange things are happening in the small town of Randall, Arizona.

The local minister vanishes, his church defiled by blasphemous obscenities scrawled in blood... A crazed old woman in her eighties becomes pregnant...Herds of animals are discovered butchered in a field... And one by one, the good folks in town are falling victim to the same unspeakable fate... Now, an itinerant preacher has arrived spreading a gospel of cataclysmic fury.

Darkness is falling on Randall, Arizona. The smell of fear lingers in the air. And stranger things are yet to come...

Juniper, Arizona, is an off-the-map desert town the retail giant called The Store has chosen for its new location. Now everything you could possibly want is under one roof, at unbelievable prices. But you'd better be careful what you wish for. This place demands something of its customers that goes beyond brand loyalty. At The Store, one-stop shopping has become last-stop shopping.

Bill Davis is the only one in town who senses the evil lurking within The Store. But he can't stop his two teenage daughters from taking jobs there and falling under the frightening influence of its sadistic manager. When Bill finally takes a stand, he will get much more than he bargained for...

Welcome to McGuane, Arizona. Population: 200...199...198...197...

Gregory Tomasov has returned with his family to the quaint Arizona community of his youth. In McGuane, the air is clean, the land is unspoiled. Nothing much has changed. Except now, no one goes out after dark. And no one told Gregory that he shouldn't have moved into the old abandoned farm on the edge of town. Once upon a time something bad happened there. Something that's now buried in its walls. Something now reborn in the nightmares of Gregory's young son. Something about to be unleashed.

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.

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.

Once, the southern California campus was praised for it's high honors and distinguished tradition. But this semester, the esteemed institution is going through a change. This semester, UC Brea is really coming alive...

In a dark campus parking lot, a female student senses a presence, but it's too late to scream... An unnatural appetite possesses a school janitor who lingers in the stairwells, waiting... and after nightfall, the sixth-floor library is strictly forbidden. Anyone who's gone there knows why.

Because something at UC Brea wants to teach the students a lesson...

The Perry family's new house is perfect-except for the weird behavior of the neighbors, and that odd smell coming from a dark corner in the basement. Pity no one warned the family about the house. Now it's too late. Because the darkness at the bottom of the basement stairs is rising.

With a good job and a pretty girlfriend, Bob Jones's one complaint in life is that he is ignored--until he is inducted into a secret society of the nondescript and dejected planning a horrifying revenge.

The discovery of an apparent murder victim in a dusty Arizona town convinces Sue Wing's grandmother that Cup-hu-girngsi, Corpse-who-drinks-blood, is on the prowl again.