A girl begins to question why she and her parents wear monstrous masks they have never, ever taken off, though she may have been better off not knowing. An insomniac spends every night watched by a dark, silent figure in the bedroom, and while this figure disappears by morning, he seems to be growing stronger and bolder. It turns out that when things go missing, spidery little creatures with the missions of disarray and madness, gathering and harvesting are to blame; humanity has deeply wronged them, and between their antics they’ve been planning a much more sinister revenge. These and several other horror stories await in Set Sytes’s new collection, which includes The Violet Dark, an unsettling, dreamy (or nightmare-y, rather) novella revolving around an addictive drink.

A collection of stories about ghosts and other spooky subjects.

Electric Literature 25 Best Novels of 2014 Largehearted Boy Favorite Novels of 2014 "An extraordinary new literary talent."--The Daily Telegraph "In part a portrait of the artist as a young woman, this deceptively modest-seeming, astonishingly inventive novel creates an extraordinary intimacy, a sensibility so alive it quietly takes over all your senses, quivering through your nerve endings, opening your eyes and heart. Youth, from unruly student years to early motherhood and a loving marriage--and then, in the book's second half, wilder and something else altogether, the fearless, half-mad imagination of youth, I might as well call it—has rarely been so freshly, charmingly, and unforgettably portrayed. Valeria Luiselli is a masterful, entirely original writer."--Francisco Goldman In Mexico City, a young mother is writing a novel of her days as a translator living in New York. In Harlem, a translator is desperate to publish the works of Gilberto Owen, an obscure Mexican poet. And in Philadelphia, Gilberto Owen recalls his friendship with Lorca, and the young woman he saw in the windows of passing trains. Valeria Luiselli's debut signals the arrival of a major international writer and an unexpected and necessary voice in contemporary fiction. "Luiselli's haunting debut novel, about a young mother living in Mexico City who writes a novel looking back on her time spent working as a translator of obscure works at a small independent press in Harlem, erodes the concrete borders of everyday life with a beautiful, melancholy contemplation of disappearance. . . . Luiselli plays with the idea of time and identity with grace and intuition." —Publishers Weekly

An album-by-album celebration of the life and music of Mac Miller through oral histories, intimate reflections, and critical examinations of his enduring work. “One of my most vivid memories of him is the way he would look at you while he was playing you a song. He tried to look you right in the eyes to see how you were feeling about it.” —Will Kalson, friend and first manager Following Mac Miller’s tragic passing in 2018, Donna-Claire Chesman dedicated a year to chronicling his work through the unique lens of her relationship to the music and Mac’s singular relationship to his fans. Like many who’d been following him since he’d started releasing mixtapes at eighteen years old, she felt as if she’d come of age alongside the rapidly evolving artist, with his music being crucial to her personal development. “I want people to remember his humanity as they’re listening to the music, to realize how much bravery and courage it takes to be that honest, be that self-aware, and be that real about things going on internally. He let us witness that entire journey. He never hid that.” —Kehlani, friend and musician. The project evolved to include intimate interviews with many of Mac’s closest friends and collaborators, from his Most Dope Family in Pittsburgh to the producers and musicians who assisted him in making his everlasting music, including Big Jerm, Rex Arrow, Wiz Khalifa, Benjy Grinberg, Just Blaze, Josh Berg, Syd, Thundercat, and more. These voices, along with the author’s commentary, provide a vivid and poignant portrait of this astonishing artist—one who had just released a series of increasingly complex albums, demonstrating what a musical force he was and how heartbreaking it was to lose him. “As I’m reading the lyrics, it’s crazy. It’s him telling us that he hopes we can always respect him. I feel like this is a message from him, spiritually. A lot of the time, his music was like little letters and messages to his friends, family, and people he loved, to remind them of who he really was.” —Quentin Cuff, best friend and tour manager

Faces in the Shadows Book Description "Alyssa, you do have a special gift," said Sydney Jackson, administrator of the children's hospital. Alyssa Layton, teacher and hospital volunteer, comes in to see twin girls. They were found home alone, presumed abandoned, and won't talk. Alyssa works her magic. She learns a man kidnapped their mother from her home. With this information, police close a human trafficking scam operating off the coast of Florida. The children's mother is rescued along with other hostages. Nightmares plague Alyssa's dreams. Faces drift with the shadows not allowing recognition. Chad Staley moves to the condo next door. They renew a college friendship. Chad, child psychologist, recognizes similarities in Alyssa's fears to those of the children he treats. Is this why she reaches those who have been harmed? Just when Chad and Alyssa become involved, Sydney's handsome brother, Greg, shows up for a visit. An artist from New York, he falls hopelessly in love with Alyssa. When Alyssa's father dies and leaves an inheritance, including property in New York, she fulfills her dream to help abused children. It breaks her heart seeing terror in their eyes when they leave the hospital with their abusers, or to be sent to the unknown, a foster home. They need a safe place to go for further recuperation. She builds the "Next Step Center," which becomes that place. Will Greg Jackson be a part of this dream? He lives in New York and offers to paint murals of animals on the walls for the children. Will the faces in the shadows follow Alyssa to New York? Will Chad?

In Ruskin Bond’s stories, ghosts, jinns, witches—and the occasional monster—are as real as the people he writes about. This collection brings together all of his tales of the paranormal, opening with the unforgettable, ‘A Face in the Dark’, and ending with the shockingly macabre, ‘Night of the Millennium’. Featuring thrilling situations and strange beings, A Face in the Dark and Other Hauntings is the perfect collection to have by your bedside when the moon is up.

'Miss Frame shows an insight into the minds and lives of other patients which brings them back into the scope of art. And her skill at penetrating the feelings of the staff unites patients and staff in such a way as to make them all, however whirling, members of the same tragic microcosm.' --The Times Literary Supplement

When Marie-Therese, daughter of Marie Antoinette, slips into the streets of Paris at the height of the French Revolution, she finds a world much darker than what she's ever known. When Marie-Thérèse Charlotte of France learns of the powerful rebellion sweeping her country, the sheltered princess is determined to see the revolution for herself. Switching places with a chambermaid, the princess sneaks out of the safety of the royal palace and into the heart of a city in strife. Soon the princess is brushing shoulders with revolutionaries and activists. One boy in particular, Henri, befriends her and has her questioning the only life she's known. When the princess returns to the palace one night to find an angry mob storming its walls, she's forced into hiding in Paris. Henri brings her to the workshop of one Mademoiselle Grosholtz, whose wax figures seem to bring the famous back from the dead, and who looks at Marie-Thérèse as if she can see all of her secrets. There, the princess quickly discovers there's much more to the outside world - and to the mysterious woman's wax figures - than meets the eye.

Religion is universal human culture. No phenomenon is more widely shared or more intensely studied, yet there is no agreement on what religion is. Now, in Faces in the Clouds, anthropologist Stewart Guthrie provides a provocative definition of religion in a bold and persuasive new theory. Guthrie says religion can best be understood as systematic anthropomorphism--that is, the attribution of human characteristics to nonhuman things and events. Many writers see anthropomorphism as common or even universal in religion, but few think it is central. To Guthrie, however, it is fundamental. Religion, he writes, consists of seeing the world as humanlike. As Guthrie shows, people find a wide range of humanlike beings plausible: Gods, spirits, abominable snowmen, HAL the computer, Chiquita Banana. We find messages in random events such as earthquakes, weather, and traffic accidents. We say a fire "rages," a storm "wreaks vengeance," and waters "lie still." Guthrie says that our tendency to find human characteristics in the nonhuman world stems from a deep-seated perceptual strategy: in the face of pervasive (if mostly unconscious) uncertainty about what we see, we bet on the most meaningful interpretation we can. If we are in the woods and see a dark shape that might be a bear or a boulder, for example, it is good policy to think it is a bear. If we are mistaken, we lose little, and if we are right, we gain much. So, Guthrie writes, in scanning the world we always look for what most concerns us--livings things, and especially, human ones. Even animals watch for human attributes, as when birds avoid scarecrows. In short, we all follow the principle--better safe than sorry. Marshalling a wealth of evidence from anthropology, cognitive science, philosophy, theology, advertising, literature, art, and animal behavior, Guthrie offers a fascinating array of examples to show how this perceptual strategy pervades secular life and how it characterizes religious experience. Challenging the very foundations of religion, Faces in the Clouds forces us to take a new look at this fundamental element of human life.

Thanks to all of you who took the time to read my book. I hope that you all loved it and I hoped that it touched you in some way. it took some time for me to work on this book. a lot went into making this book real a lot. In this book I hoped that you found that one story that you will remember. And want to read often and recommend to your friends. Once again thanks for your time from my heart to yours. this book is about life, love and laughter. not just my life my love my laughter. but of those that have lived their life around me. and have given me so much to be thankful for. and I hope that I have given you.