Madame Cruller's Couch & Other Dark and Bizarre Tales

A small-town psychic’s trailer burns, leaving little in the wreckage but her lovely green couch. A great find for a couple who make their living scavenging and selling secondhand items. Yet Madame Cruller’s couch is imbedded with something unpleasant, and we’re not talking fleas. A young man, accompanied by a shadowy specter since birth, unwittingly exacts revenge against those who threaten him. A hoarder learns that dogs can sometimes be loyal to a fault. A dark and terrible secret threatens the plans two brothers have of racing their car in a television-themed challenge. A pony and a steer have had enough of their arrogant owners and decide to take the “bull by the horns,” so to speak. Thanks to the couple who own her town, Christmastime has become an annoyance for Donna Wilson. But during this year’s command-performance Yuletide party, Donna discovers a nightmare that rivals any holiday horror story she’s ever read. Surviving the brutal 1968 Vietnam War riots in Chicago, a desperately optimistic man travels cross-country to join a commune…only to realize that “peace” can be as dangerous as violence. A peculiar and devastating plague rapidly spreads across the globe, throwing the survivors into a battle for their sanity and their lives. These are some of the stories in this chilling new collection by two-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author, Elizabeth Massie. ***** “Elizabeth Massie is personally one of my favorite authors.” - Bentley Little, author of The Town, The Bank “Elizabeth Massie never fails to engage the heart and mind.” – Jack Ketchum, author of The Girl Next Door, The Lost