Jennifer Plummer and the Divine Flesh have exactly three things in common: They're trapped inside Jennifer's body, they despise each other, and they're in love with Daryl Plummer, Jennifer's ex-husband.

Suggesting this historic anthology is just a regional horror collection is like calling Frankenstein's monster a simple misstep in medical technology. Road Kill is no longer just an annual anthology of horror stories. It's a serial collection of some of the most serious voices in Lone Star literature. It's a chronicle of Texas terror, and Vol. 9 is eerie, edgy and feral. It will haunt you long after its first reading. It's as fine a selection of horror fiction as you'll find today. It's alive!

Thirty years ago, the town of Peace Falls was flooded to build a hydroelectric dam. To this day, its ruins remain below the surface of Chapel Lake—including the church, miraculously undamaged after all these years, its steeple visible above the water. When his younger sister's body is found washed up on the shore, Owen Saddler follows in her footsteps to the cabin she'd rented on Chapel Lake, diving among the ruins below the surface.

Three years after losing her teenage daughter, with her marriage on the brink of unraveling, Barbara needs a break—time away, time alone, time to process. The lake house is perfect. It's quiet, remote, picturesque, and best of all, she has the whole place to herself. Barbara's weekend getaway takes a terrifying detour when a young woman emerges from the woods, screaming for help. She's been abducted. Her deranged captor is in close pursuit. Barbara will need all her courage and cunning if they're both to survive the nightmare headed their way.

Ben Weaver relocated to a small desert town to escape his past failures. But not everyone is happy with Ben’s arrival. When a young girl vanishes from her bedroom the morning of the town’s famous Harvest Moon Festival, Ben uncovers an unsettling legend dating back to the town’s inception. With the local’s distrust of outsiders, Ben will discover how dangerous this sleepy desert town can be.