The Perry family's new house is perfect-except for the weird behavior of the neighbors, and that odd smell coming from a dark corner in the basement. Pity no one warned the family about the house. Now it's too late. Because the darkness at the bottom of the basement stairs is rising.
“Bentley Little keeps the high-tension jolts coming.”
“On a par with such greats as Stephen King, Clive Barker, and Peter Straub.”
Praise for the Novels
of Bentley Little
“A tightly allegorical piece of horror.”
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“A plethora of gore and perversion.”
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“Stephen King–size epic horror.”
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“Little has the unparalleled ability to evoke surreal, satiric terror … should not be missed.”
—Horror Reader
“An explicitly repulsive yet surrealistically sad tale of everyday horror.”
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“A chilling tale.”
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“A master of horror on par with Koontz and King … so powerful that readers will keep the lights on day and night.”
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“If there’s a better horror novelist working today, I don’t know who it is.”
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“A must-have for the author’s fans.”
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“Little’s often macabre, always sharp tales are snippets of everyday life given a creepy twist.”
“Haunting … terrifying … graphic and fantastic … will stick with readers for a long time. Just enough sex, violence, and Big Brother rhetoric to make this an incredibly credible tale.”
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“Wonderful, fast-paced, rock-’em, jolt-’em, shock-’em contemporary terror fiction with believable characters and an unusually clever plot. Highly entertaining.”
—Dean Koontz
“Bentley Little’s
—Stephen King
“
—Michael Prescott, author of
“Flowing seamlessly between time and place, the Bram Stoker Award–winning author’s ability to transfix his audience … is superb … terrifying. [
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“Little possesses the uncanny ability to take everyday situations and turn them into nightmares.”
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“This is Bentley Little’s best book yet. Frightening, thought provoking, and impossible to put down.”
—Stephen King
“A singular achievement by a writer who makes the leap from the ranks of the merely talented to true distinction with this book. This one may become a classic.”
“Little is so wonderful that he can make the act of ordering a Coke at McDonald’s take on a sinister dimension. This philosophical soul searcher is provocative.”
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“I guarantee, once you start reading this book, you’ll be up until dawn with your eyes glued to the pages. A nail-biting, throat squeezing, nonstop plunge into darkness and evil.”
“Frightening.”
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“A thinking person’s horror novel.
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“By the time I finished, my nerves were pretty well fried, and I have a pretty high shock level.
ALSO BY BENTLEY LITTLE
THE
HAUNTED
Bentley Little
A SIGNET BOOK
Copyright © Bentley Little, 2012
All rights reserved
THE
HAUNTED
One
“They’re here again, Dad.”
Julian came out of the kitchen, coffee cup in hand, and walked across the living room to where his son, James, was holding on to the edge of the curtains, peeking through the crack and out the front window. Julian reached for the cord to pull open the drapes.
“What are you doing?” James cried, panicked. He flattened against the wall so as not to be seen.
