In this collection of three novellas, authors L.A. Banks, Brandon Massey, and Tananarive Due offer up horror tales that draw on African-American history. Banks' "Ev'ry Shut Eye Ain't Sleep" is a haunted house tale with a time travel twist. Massey's "Patriarch" involves frightening family secrets in Mississippi, and Due's “Ghost Summer” finds a 12-year-old "ghostbuster" investigating a cold case in Florida. You'll be terrified and delighted by these stories, which "successfully combine scary themes with rich historical detail" (Publishers Weekly).

As teenagers, best friends Alice, Roxanne, and Del dabbled in the occult in order to summon a lover. Soon after this, math teacher Father Romero arrived at Our Lady of the Hills school--and the girls became convinced that he was a spirit sent to deflower them. They attempted to seduce him, and later accused him of inappropriate behavior. Their lies ruined his life and his career, and in the years since his disgrace, Romero has lived a secular life. However, he revisits the past when he makes a bargain with the mysterious Varick, who promises to enact revenge on the trio in this "sad, erotically charged update of a classic horror theme" (Publishers Weekly).

As a teenager visiting relatives in coastal Florida, Nia witnesses a terrible event: her violent, mentally disturbed cousin Bernice commits murder and is immediately dragged into the ocean by a monstrous sea creature. As Nia escapes, she loses consciousness and becomes a statue. Still imprisoned in stone, she awakens years later to discover that Bernice is now immortal and that the sea creature--called Arahab--is still out there. What's more, Bernice and Arahab are working together to rouse Arahab's father, the biblical Leviathan, and destroy the world. Publishers Weekly calls this novel "equal parts horror, contemporary fantasy and apocalyptic thriller."

Think sharks are scary? Try the "Demonray," the prehistoric killer manta ray at the center of this biological thriller that's part Jaws, part Jurassic Park. Having evolved from a deep ocean dweller into a surface-level superpredator, this 12-foot-long, two-ton monster eats sharks for breakfast--but will also settle for human flesh. And that's just what it does, thanks to special adaptations that allow it to breathe air and fly. When the Demonray starts terrorizing the California coast, it's up to ichthyologist Jason Aldridge and marine scientist Lisa Barton to track it down and put a stop to its feeding frenzy...before humans become an endangered species.

Still reeling from the collapse of his marriage, Joseph Blackwood arrives in the sleepy Newfoundland fishing village of Bareneed with his young daughter Robin, hoping for some peace and quiet. Unfortunately, he's picked the worst possible vacation spot. First, a mysterious epidemic sweeps through the town, leaving its victims unable to breathe. Then, the sea starts spitting out bodies--long-dead drowning victims (often in period clothing) who look exactly the way they did on the day they died. What's going on here? And can anyone stop it? Canadian author Kenneth J. Harvey brings his native Newfoundland to life in this chilling novel.

Based on the failed 19th-century Arctic expedition led by Sir John Franklin, this novel by Dan Simmons recounts the search for the Northwest Passage. The aging adventurer commands lead ship Erebus, while the embittered Captain Crozier helms the Terror. When both ships become encased in ice, the crew is stranded and--with neither provisions nor any hope of rescue--resorts to mutiny and cannibalism. But that's nothing compared to "The Thing," a supernatural predator that stalks them and appears to be impervious to their weapons. You'll be glad you're safe inside when you read this truly terrifying historical horror novel.