Showing results by author "Peter Swanson" in All Categories

Helen is at her first year in science at Culver-Stockton College at the small river town of Canton Missouri, a college and town with an occult past. Her boyfriend tries to help her make sense of the strange happenings at the Mississippi River, and in the skies... as he tries not to be outshone by her handsome science teacher.

Joe goes to work as a carnie for a week and meets worldly carnies: Carlos, a young man looking for trouble; Lady Fortuna, a guilt ridden old fortune teller; Pinda, a self assured young woman he thinks he might want to run off to see the world with; and Miss Toulon, who decided where to place the glass maze having been told in no uncertain terms by loud voices in her head. But Lisa, who has also just graduated from Joe's high school, shows up. She's no longer a shy stranger and Joe falls for her too, even though choosing her would mean staying on the farm. Strange things happen and there are...

When private detective and former teacher Henry Kimball is hired to investigate an ex-pupil's cheating husband, he senses all is not quite what it seems, and before he knows it he's gotten far too close to the other woman. As the case gets ever stranger, he turns to the only person he can trust, Lily Kintner, someone with dark secrets of her own.

At a pizza place in uptown Minneapolis, scenesters and a psychic try very hard to find the next cool party and a pure state of punk living in the summating year of 1989. Their overripe imaginations (and beer) bring out bizarre fatal accidents, memories of once being devil possessed, and a vengeful ghost of a hippie who had overdosed.

In the wasteland of Britain in the year 500, a cranky Merlin tutors a teenage Arthur. Missing the comfort of the Realm of Dragons, Merlin amuses himself with two simultaneous sneaky marriages to the feuding witches, Nimm and Mother Hubbard. With the help of young Parsifal, they all begin the search for the holy grail, their town's communal cauldron, which was stolen by a Pict witch to make a demon bell. Recovering the cauldron will end the drought in time for Arthur to be King. Along the way they meet a host of colorful characters and face obstacles of a most phenomenal nature. Classic ...

On the eve of his college graduation, Harry is called home by his step-mother Alice, to their house on the Maine coast, following the unexpected death of his father. But who really is Alice, his father's much younger second wife? In a brilliant split narrative, Peter Swanson teases out the stories and damage that lie in her past. And as her story entwines with Harry's in the present, things grow increasingly dark and threatening - will Harry be able to see any of it clearly through his own confused feelings?

Joan Crawford returns to MGM in 1953. Her comeback to her alma mater is to make the garish musical Torch Song. Joan suspects that it’s hokum, and that she’s getting too old for such parts, but she is desperate to make it work. That includes living at the studio in her dressing room during production. All the while, a psycho killer Joan Crawford drag queen stalks Hollywood to eliminate other Joan Crawford drag queens, and Joan is so strung out on vodka and super strength diet pills that she isn’t sure if she has taken up murder herself. Her gay best friend is poised ready to help her ...

In this outrageous sequel to The Joan Crawford Murders it is now 1969 and Joan is in England at Bray Studios to film her 80th movie, Trog. Bray is also where Hammer Films made many of their masters of horror. Joan finds that she begins to suspect that a suicide in the village was really a murder. Monsters, ghosts and the studio’s past come back to life. And she might have just saved the life of Queen Elizabeth II at nearby Windsor Castle from a greedy mummy in the nick of time.

In this sensational short story, sex, drugs and murder interrupt the filming of a Frankenstein movie in the swinging '60s. Will the killer be found and brought to justice? Will the movie even get finished?

The envelope is unremarkable. There is no return address. It contains a single folded sheet of white paper. The envelope drops through the mail slot like any other piece of post. But for the nine complete strangers who receive it—each of them recognising just one name, their own, on the enclosed list—it will be the most life altering letter they ever receive. It could also be the last, as one by one, they start to meet their end.

Is food mostly just what we think it is? In this silly version of Hansel and Gretel, a serious story is still suggested about children wanting candy. The adventure goes beyond the candy house, even to a mountaintop castle, with 16 colorful illustrations (also by the author).

In this spooky kid's tale with lots of pictures, when a boy feeds the crows, he is rewarded with a jewel and a key. That sends him on an adventure that includes a ghost story. Along the way, mistakes are made but a new furry friend is found.

في رحلةٍ جوية من لندن إلى بوسطن، يقابل تيد سيفرسون فتاة مذهلة تدعى ليلي كيتنر. أثناء احتساء المارتيني، يمارس الغريبان لعبة يكشفان فيها تفاصيل دقيقة عن حياتهما، لكن ما بدأ بمجرد مزحة بين تيد وليلي أخذ منعطفًا جادًا عندما اعترف تيد بصورة شبه جادة أنه يريد قتل زوجته. وقد تفاجأ حقًا عندما أخبرته ليلي أنها تود مساعدته في قتلها.

Londres-Boston, vol de nuit. Ted Severson rencontre la superbe et mystérieuse Lily Kintner. Ils bavardent, boivent des cocktails, et voilà que peu à peu se déclenche un jeu de la vérité au cours duquel, un détail après l'autre, Ted se dévoile à l'oreille bienveillante de Lily. Il lui avoue l'échec de son couple : sa femme, Miranda, le trompe. Il en vient même à confier qu'il la tuerait bien. Et que ce ne serait finalement que justice. Or Lily déclare le plus sérieusement du monde qu'elle est prête à l'aider. Après tout, des tas de gens méritent de mourir, pour toutes sortes de raisons.

Eine Flughafenbar in London. Es ist Abend, und Ted Severson wartet auf seinen Rückflug nach Boston, als sich eine attraktive Frau neben ihn setzt. Kurz darauf vertraut er der geheimnisvollen Fremden an, dass seine Frau ihn betrogen hat. Mit ihrer Reaktion jedoch hat er nicht gerechnet: Sie bietet ihm Hilfe an - beim Mord an seiner Ehefrau. Ein Trick? Ein morbider Scherz? Oder ein finsteres Rachespiel, das nur ein böses Ende nehmen kann?

"After Dinner Conversation" Magazine - February 2021 People Used To Die Every Day: A young man is caught in a lie to his partner; he has been illegally "sleeping" at night. Pandora's Dreams: A new technology allows the recording, playback, and sale of dreams. The Library Of Gromma: A young boy must protect the machine that preserves the memories of his grandmother and his community. The Human Experience: A married couple negotiates the genetic future of their unborn child. Simon: A man is on trial because he killed the devil. Father Dale's Drive-Thru Exorcisms: A semi-retired couple living ...

Neuf personnes, sans aucun lien apparent entre elles, reçoivent simultanément une liste de neuf noms, dont le leur. Une simple liste, sans la moindre explication. Certains y voient une mauvaise blague, d'autre une erreur, en tout cas rien de vraiment digne d'intérêt. Mais lorsque deux d'entre eux sont retrouvés mort, un terrifiant compte à rebours s'enclenche. De nouveaux meurtres s'enchaînent mais aucun rapport entre ces neuf individus ne se dessine. Jessica Winslow, agent du FBI, est bien décidée à tirer tout cela au clair, d'autant que son nom figure également sur la liste.

Libraire spécialisé en littérature policière, Malcolm reçoit la visite surprise du FBI. L'agent Gwen Mulvey sollicite son avis sur deux affaires étranges : une série de meurtres tout droit sortie d'un roman d'Agatha Christie et un "accident" rappelant un livre de James M. Cain. Or Malcolm, quinze ans plus tôt, a publié sur son blog une liste intitulée "Huit crimes parfaits", où figuraient ces deux intrigues. Serait-il possible qu'un tueur s'en inspire aujourd'hui ?

Há algum tempo, antes de se tornar sócio da Livraria Old Devils, localizada em Boston—uma meca para os fãs de mistério—o aficionado por romances policiais, Malcolm Kershaw, também conhecido como Mal, escreveu um artigo para o blog da livraria com uma lista dos assassinatos literários mais insolúveis, quase impossíveis de serem decifrados—que ele chamou de Oito Assassinatos Perfeitos.

Was, wenn die Wahrheit deine furchtbarsten Ängste übertrifft?

Das Leben hat Kate Priddy gelehrt, dass man stets mit dem Schlimmsten rechnen muss. Um die Albträume, die sie seit Jahren verfolgen, endlich hinter sich zu lassen, stimmt sie einem Wohnungstausch mit ihrem Cousin Corbin zu: Sie wird seine Wohnung in Boston beziehen, er ihr Apartment in London übernehmen. Am Tag ihrer Ankunft jedoch wird die junge Frau aus der Nachbarwohnung ermordet aufgefunden. Corbin behauptet, Audrey kaum gekannt zu haben - aber warum besitzt er dann einen Wohnungsschlüssel von ihr? Auch Kates neuer Nachbar Alan scheint irgendetwas zu verbergen. Ohne es zu ahnen, schwebt Kate bald schon selbst in Lebensgefahr. Doch wem kann sie überhaupt trauen?