One name springs to mind when we think of classic suspense films; Alfred Hitchcock. His silhouette is instantly recognisable as no one else has quite the same pouty lips and round, chubby face. The way he posed for photographs and his penchant for making cameo appearances in his films bear witness to his larger-than-life personality, but it was his ability to tell a spellbinding tale coupled with his technical brilliance that earned him the epithet of "Master of Suspense". His groundbreaking use of camera movement and the way he framed shots to maximise anxiety and fear place films like "Vertigo" among the very finest examples of creative achievement ever produced within the seventh art. In "Rear Window", he builds edge-of-your-seat tension by placing us in James Stewart's wheelchair and making us watch events unroll through his eyes, and the use of cutting-edge special effects in "The Birds" is almost as impressive as the fact that more than three thousand birds were trained for the film. What else do these three films mentioned have in common, along with "Psycho" and "Rebecca" and so many others? That's right...they were based on novels or short stories; the written word. In "A Hint of Hitchcock", we turn our attention back from the screen to the page, and bring you, the avid suspense reader, modern tales that chill and surprise, all inspired by the work of the master of suspense. Better Not Look Down - Josh Pachter, Golden Curls - Rebecca A. Demarest, More Than Suspicion - Joseph S. Walker, Paranoia - Paulene Turner, The Suitcase - Jason Fischer, Rebecca Redux - Elizabeth Elwood, Highwayman's Hitch - Cameron Trost, Relish - David Carroll, Karma is a Thief in the Night - Roger Johns, Scallion's Head - H.K. Stubbs, Closed Circuit - Mark Blackham, Vault - Andy Rausch

A Hint of Hitchcock: Stories Inspired by the Master of Suspense

Literature & Fiction

CARROLL, David

Elwood, Elizabeth

Pachter, Josh

Demarest, Rebecca A.

Walker, Joseph S.

Johns, Roger

Trost, Cameron

Turner, Paulene

Rausch, Andy

Fischer, Jason

Short Stories & Anthologies

Black Beacon Books

The Black Beacon Book of Horror features dark and disturbing tales from some of the most original and imaginative authors writing in the genre today. These tales of psychological, supernatural, folk, gothic, and cosmic horror will usher you into the darkest of realms and leave you there to fend for yourself. You'll lose your way in abandoned houses and hospitals, and be trapped on stormy beaches and along foggy country roads. There are haunted dolls, creepy-crawlies, malevolent spirits, creatures of legend, Lovecraftian terrors, and the demons within our own minds. But as varied as the settings and themes are, each tale has that one essential trait; the power to make you glance over your shoulder just to be sure the terror hasn't found a way to leave the page.

The Black Beacon Book of Horror (The Black Beacon Books of Horror)

Belviso, Meg

Turnbull, David

Harrison, Kev

Davis, Matthew R.

Schembri, David

Dawson, Sam

Chapman, Greg

Adams, C.C.

Broadbent, Elizabeth

Genre Fiction

Flicker: A Post-Apocalyptic Novel

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Science Fiction

Dark Reflections: Stories Influenced by the Masters of Dark Literature

Kane, Paul

WINNER OF THE AUSTRALIAN SHADOWS AWARD FOR BEST NOVELNOMINATED A NOTABLE INDIE BOOK OF 2013Parkton  is a dangerous town, full of dark secrets, and 14-year old Byron James finds himself stranded there. To make matters worse, his two new friends  - his only friends - turn out to be class rejects with an unhealthy interest in monsters. They want to discover the truth to the infamous monster house at number 809 Jacob Street, and Byron is soon caught up in  their game.Joey Blue is an old bluesman who fell into his songs  and couldn't find his way out again. Now he's one of the Gutterbreed, a  slinking shifting shadow haunting the town's too-numerous alleys. When an old dead friend comes begging for help, Joey's world is torn apart. He is forced to stare down the man he has become in order to rescue the man he once was - and there is only one place he can do that.The house on Jacob Street calls to them all, but what will they find when they open its door?

809 Jacob Street

The first Black Beacon Book of Mystery brings you original and reprinted tales from locked-room mysteries and armchair detective puzzles to noir adventures and police investigations. It includes a brilliant Sherlock Holmes pastiche and the second Oscar Tremont novella. This is the perfect anthology for the avid mystery fan. Follow the clues, put all the pieces together, and solve the case before the detective. The game's afoot!

The Black Beacon Book of Mystery (The Black Beacon Books of Mystery)

Adamson, Mike

Tallerman, David

Floyd, John M.

Newton, Kurt

Richardson, Duncan

Lupton, Robert Allen

Norris, M.H.

Introducing Oscar Tremont, Investigator of the Strange and Inexplicable.Join Oscar Tremont on his first four cases as he tackles mysteries too strange for the police and assures his clients that a rational explanation lies behind what at first appears to be impossible. You will find clues, question suspects, don disguises, break into abandoned houses, solve codes and puzzles, and if you really have your wits about you, crack the case before our hero.Oscar Tremont, Investigator of the Strange and Inexplicable consists of two novellas and two short stories that display the keen intellect of a private investigator who is bound to make a name for himself in the mystery genre.? The Hunt for the Stayne Fortune? The Ghosts of Walhalla? The Witch at the Window? The Secret of the Severed HandThese four mysteries will challenge and surprise even the most experienced armchair detectives.Are you up to the task? Yes? Then the game's afoot!

Oscar Tremont: Investigator of the Strange and Inexplicable (Oscar Tremont - Short Mysteries)

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Mystery

Tales of deadly machinery have long fascinated us, from Edgar Allan Poe’s classic pendulum to the Terminator films. Murder and Machinery pays homage to this tradition, offering you gripping tales following this theme but set in different times and places, from colonial America and London during the First World War to dystopian futures on this planet and beyond. Never before has an anthology brought tales of science fiction and suspense together in such a terrifying way, showcasing the nightmarish imagination of authors who know how to play on the reader’s fears and who share those fears of uncontrollable machines, or perhaps even more frightening, of fellow humans mastering technology for their own evil purposes. 
A word of advice before you start. By all means, settle down in your living room and let this anthology of technological terror and mechanical madness enthral you, but first, you might want to lock your doors and switch the power off at the mains. Best keep it low-tech tonight. Trust me. I hope you have candles? 
The Secret Zeppelin - Duncan Richardson 
#Selfie - Linda Brucesmith 
Fargan’s Termination - Paul Williams 
A Little Kindness Goes a Long Way - Chisto Healy 
The Box - Sarah Jane Justice 
The Wheel - Michael Picco 
The Wedge - Kurt Newton 
Tenterhooks - Cameron Trost 
Leonora - Danielle Birch 
Vanitas - James Dorr 
Don - Steve Dubois 
Foul Beasts - Karen Bayly 
A Whole New World - KG McAbee 
Suicide Blonde - Paulene Turner 
Driverless - Robert Bagnall 
The Screen in the Sky - Kerilee S. Nickles 
"Anxiety about machines taking over our existence and eventually becoming the catalyst for our destruction as a species is not a new concept. However, it is one that seems to have been shoved to the back of the fear line in the last decade, the dark fiction genres instead overrun with zombies, serial killers, and spirit possessions. We’ve forgotten, it seems, that the scariest creatures are the ones we usher willingly into our own homes. Luckily, the authors of Murder and Machinery: Tales of Technological Terror and Mechanical Madness are here to remind us. In a potluck of dystopian, steampunk, and sci-fi-inspired horror, Murder and Machinery has something for every speculative fiction fan, especially those for whom creepiness is best served on cold metal." - Rebecca Rowland, posted on Ginger Nuts of Horror

Murder and Machinery: Tales of Technological Terror and Mechanical Madness

Healy, Chisto

Dorr, James

Picco, Michael

Justice, Sarah Jane

Bayly, Karen

Brucesmith, Linda

Birch, Danielle

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