The dense Bavarian forest outside the town of Rattenberg has long been rumored to harbor something sinister, something wild - mythical beasts that vanish into the shadowy woods after each attack, leaving carnage as the only evidence of their existence. Many villagers turn a blind eye to what is happening, but those who believe tremble at the mere whisper of the word: werewolf.

Two bullies go hunting for trouble but instead find a young boy and his imaginary friend in Jason Parent's Easy Pickings, a short-story selection from Bad Apples: Five Slices of Halloween Horror.

The night uncovers all we wish not to see. A troubled man enters a dusky park before sunset. A young woman follows, hidden in shadow. Both have returned to the park to take back something the past has stolen from them, to make right six long years of suffering, and to find justice or perhaps redemption - or maybe they'll settle for some old-fashioned revenge. But something evil is alive and awake in those woods, creatures that care nothing for human motivations. They’re driven by their own insatiable need: a ravenous, bottomless hunger.

Major Crimes Detective Samantha Reilly prefers to work alone - she's seen as a maverick, and she still struggles privately with the death of her partner. The only person who ever sees her softer side is Michael Turcotte, a teenager she's known since she rescued him 11 years ago from the aftermath of his parents' murder-suicide. In foster care since his parents' death, Michael is a loner who tries to fly under the bullies' radar, but a violent assault triggers a disturbing ability to view people's dark futures.

Christy Barnett is sleeping when her aging German shepherd Molly growls into the darkness outside her bedroom. She wakes to a dim glow provided by her Kindle's screen, thankful that she had fallen asleep while reading again. The power has gone out, the world outside her window is eerily dark and silent. And Molly is weary of something that waits in the hallway, hiding in the shadows. A dark cloud has fallen over the city of Aberdeen, MD. The population disappears in an instant.

Bryan Armstrong and Kyle Detwiler, two college students on the cusp of graduation, are the lucky winners of a contest to become interns on the paranormal television show The Specter Slayers. Their excitement turns to jubilation when they discover that they'll be aiding in the investigation of The Danver Church, one of the most haunted places in America. Nestled in the remote mountains of Pennsylvania, the church is world renowned for the massacre that occurred there forty years earlier.

Nothing is at all what it seems, and for four strangers, they'll have to discover why before they're driven over the edge of madness. Within them are the keys to free themselves. They'll need to traverse a landscape of horrors and fettered secrets. Unknown to these prisoners, another four desperately hunt for their own freedom - a freedom denied them by the tormenting existence of a monster. They will have to rely on all of their talents and each other to defeat the beast.

An elderly funeral home worker, struggling with the loss of his wife, finds an unnatural attraction to a corpse at work resembling his late bride in her younger years.

Life isn’t kind to Lance York. A full-time job has eluded him for years, his wife loathes the sight of him, his bank accounts are empty, and his wealthy father-in-law revels in his failures. After he lunges in front of a car to save a sick and disoriented woman, Lance awakens in a quarantined hospital. A devastating plague is spreading worldwide, driving those infected with it insane. Their bodies begin to mutate into horrors that have haunted mankind’s nightmares for centuries. The world descends into chaos as the infected flee to the shadows, emerging at night to devour the remnants of civilization. With the help of an unlikely ally, Lance must navigate through the collapsing city of Pittsburgh, striving to escape the madness of the apocalypse that unfolds around them.

Prepare to scream forever! Howie Payne and Nick Enlow work the midnight shift at Big Carl’s Video Transfer and Media Services. An odd AVI clip begins to appear in their public drive on a nightly basis. At first Howie and Nick think it’s a serialized art house horror film someone on the day shift is sending them in secret. As the clips progress, however, the now obsessed duo discover something deeper and darker in the videos.

A vampire from the Grim Sith sept is sucking the souls out of young women from the Boston area, but this sinister crime is far worse than a vampire seeking substance. He's selling the souls to the highest bidder and it seems business is booming. A vampire, a werewolf, and a Necromancer are a most unlikely team, but Garran, Harrison, and Isabella plan on putting a kink in the dubbed Soul Taker's plans. It's personal now. One of their friends has fallen victim to the Soul Taker's charms, but to stop him from hurting anyone else, their efforts may involve raising the dead.

On the day of his release from a mental institution, Pace is taken "hostage" by Faust, Pia, and Hayden, three escapees from the hospital who disappeared after the presumed rape and beating of Cassandra Kaltzas, daughter of the Greek munitions tycoon Alexandra Kaltzas. Each suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder, experiencing complex delusions and sometimes fantastical identities. Pace tries to piece together what happened when apparently one of their alternate personalities tried to kill Cassandra.

Summer has just begun, and fear is in season. School’s out, and the faculty at Fairington Elementary School are free for the summer. Emily Young can’t deny her attraction to Aaron Jackson, the ed tech from her classroom, but she’s afraid of being hurt again. Meanwhile, Aaron is determined not to let his phobia of drowning prevent him from enjoying the sun and the sand of Maine’s best beach town. But they’re about to learn real fear. Fairington is home to a monster.

When several young girls are abducted from various locations in Edinburgh, Detective John Granger and his brother Alan, a reporter, investigate the cases from different directions. The abductor is cunning, always one step ahead, and the only clue he leaves behind at each scene are the brutalized corpses of black swans.

Brinkley Springs is a quiet little town. Some say the town is dying. They don't know how right they are. Five mysterious figures are about to pay a little visit to Brinkley Springs. They have existed for centuries, emerging from the shadows only to destroy, to kill. To feed. They bring with them terror and carnage, and leave death and blood in their wake. As the night wears on, Brinkley Springs will be quiet no longer. Screams will break the silence. But when the sun rises again, will there be anyone left to hear?