John Connolly, bestselling author of five brilliantly scary mystery novels, now turns his pen to the short story to give us a dozen chilling tales of the supernatural. In this macabre collection, echoing masters of the genre from M R James to Stephen King, Connolly delves into our darkest fears – lost lovers, missing children, subterranean creatures and predatory demons.

Framing the collection are two substantial novellas – The Cancer Cowboy Rides charts the fatal progress of a modern-day grim reaper, while The Reflecting Eye is a haunted house tale with a twist and marks the return of private detective Charlie Parker, the troubled hero of Connolly's crime novels. The perfect antidote to Christmas cheer, Nocturnes is a masterly volume to be read with the lights on - menace has never been so seductive . . .

John Connolly was born in Dublin in 1968 and is a regular contributor to the IRISH TIMES. His debut -Every Dead Thing - swiftly launched him right into the front rank of thriller writers. He is the first British writer to win the US Shamus award.

Jeffery Deaver loves writing short stories. 'All bets are off,' he says. 'Short stories are like a sniper's bullet. Fast and shocking. I can make good bad and bad badder, and most fun of all, really bad seem good.' This is collection of short stories that is instantly gripping and impossible to put down.

Author of the internationally bestselling Lynley novels, now adapted for television by the BBC, Elizabeth George divides her time between Washington and London.

Taking its cue from the fractured times it describes between 1960 and today, each beautifully interwoven tale is deeply rooted in the sixties, each is haunted by the Vietnam war. This is a book about a group of peers from small-town Harwich, Connecticut: in 1960, there's a newcomer to the town, who introduces Bobby Garfield to the joy of reading and the horrors of 'low men in yellow coats'; by 1966, it's bellbottom pants, pot, patchouli and peace-signs and at Maine University, Pete, who has fallen victim to the addictive game of ‘hearts in Atlantis’, will learn a lesson in humanity; by 1983, 'Nam vet 'Blind Willie' is paying penance; in 1999, there are reunions, funerals, and the eternal questions - 'why we're in Vietnam'; a year later, Bobby comes home to where his heart is, where the past is always present, as 'Heavenly Shades of Night are Falling'.

Duddits was our finest hour, man, Duddits was how we defined ourselves.

Suspenseful, frightening, sometimes howlingly funny, Dreamcatcher is a powerful masterpiece from Stephen King, his first full-length novel in three years.

In Derry, Maine (scene of It and Insomnia) four young boys once stood together and did a brave thing. Something that changed them in ways they hardly understand. A quarter-century later, the boys are men who have gone their separate ways. Though they still get together once a year, to go hunting in the north woods of Maine. But this time a man comes stumbling into their camp, lost, disoriented and muttering about lights in the sky. Before long, these old friends will be plunged into the most remarkable events of their lives as they struggle with a terrible creature from another world. Their only chance of survival is locked in their past... and in the boy they rescued all those years ago.

'A writer of excellence ... King is one of the most fertile storytellers of the modern novel' The Sunday Times

From the powerful force of the world's bestselling writer comes a riveting tale of an original '58 Buick. 'Come close, children, and see the living crocodile.'

There's a terrifying secret shrouded in Shed B at the back of the Pennsylvania State Police Barracks. For twenty years, the Buick has lured curious officers to watch its terrifying displays.
Now young Ned Wilcox, son of a recently deceased officer, has started hanging around the barracks, mowing the lawn, helping out. One day he peers through the windows of Shed B and discovers the secret. And, like his father, Ned wants answers. He deserves answers. And the secret begins to stir...