Violet and Scarlet are just like every other child their age: energetic and excitable. Being twins means having a constant playmate, and they’ve been thick as thieves since the moment they were born, balancing each other and playing confidante or co-conspirator as needed. Violet, older by a few minutes (and don’t you forget it) is her father’s daughter; level-headed, curious, eager to learn. Scarlet is the fierier and more whimsical of the two, always getting them into trouble. Together, they run around their gardens and into the park near their house, having grand adventures where they fight dragons and brew potions in their wild imaginations. After all, magical ability manifests by the age of thirteen, and that birthday came and went, and no one in the family has shown any magical inclination that they know about. They are perfectly normal young girls with their whole lives ahead of them, content with their parents in a grand, comfortable home in Virginia, where nothing dramatic ever happens. Until, one night, their Aunt Cal – a mysterious and chaotic woman at the best of times, who comes and goes like a summer storm with no concern for the drama she stirs in her wake – visits their parents, a month after their thirteenth birthday. She comes bringing news of the impossible – magical blood is in their family line. Violet and Scarlet may be powerful witches and must go to Wyvern’s Landing immediately to be assessed. Suddenly, these two perfectly normal girls might not be as normal as they thought they were. A real adventure awaits them at Wyvern’s Landing, a magical school hidden in the rural flatlands of Ohio. Behind the veil and within the hallowed halls, excitement and danger and mystery await, as well as burgeoning power that will require both of them to harness and control.

Don't talk to strangers… Faced with his parents' divorce, eleven-year-old Lucas runs away from home in the hope that his family will get back together to find him. While walking through the empty streets, he is picked up by a mysterious woman, who offers to take care of him and provide him with a loving family. The boy then wakes up in shackles, confined to a bed in a decrepit house in the middle of nowhere and will have to face his deepest fears in order to survive in his new home. Join Lucas in a desperate attempt to get back to his family in Madhouse, the first published book from horror-thriller author Miguel Estrada.

An American diplomat's family moves into an ancient stately mansion. They're warned by the owner that it is haunted by a most horrifying and gruesome spirit who had once cruelly murdered his own wife. The story progresses with creaking floor boards, mysterious passages, dark attics, clanking chains, and weird howling. Yet, the reader is totally unprepared for Oscar Wilde's brand of tongue in cheek humor as he takes all the ingredients of a traditional ghost story and turns it on its head, and creates a hilarious parody instead of a morbid saga! The Canterville Ghost was the first of Oscar Wilde's short stories to be published. It appeared in a magazine in 1887 and provides a prophetic glimpse into Wilde's genius for comic timing, dialogue and situational comedy. He had a successful career as a journalist and poet and consequently turned to fiction and drama. The plot is one that leaves the reader chuckling at every turn. The American diplomat and his family are products of a purely pragmatic culture which has no patience with sentimentality and superstitions. The English mansion is steeped in legends about ancient curses and the diabolical doings of a seventeenth century specter. The Americans believe in a robust, healthy and practical way of life and use all manner of branded cleaning products. The two youngest members of the family called the Stars and Stripes set wicked traps for the ghost, while the daughter Virginia is the only one who can truly appreciate the poor ghost's situation.

Discover the best in science fiction, fantasy, and horror with the 2020 Del Rey ebook sampler! 2020 is a year of new chapters. Max Brooks, who helped us survive a zombie pandemic, now searches for a more elusive threat: Bigfoot. Kevin Hearne, the author of The Iron Druid Chronicles, takes us back to that beloved world with a new spin-off series—and dreams up a different epic fantasy series with an entirely new mythology. Peter F. Hamilton masterfully builds a blazing space opera series. Silvia Moreno-Garcia, who dazzled us with her vision of 1920s Mexico and the Mayan underworld, reimagines the classic gothic suspense novel with the story of an isolated mansion in the 1950s Mexican countryside. These eleven recent and upcoming works are full of action. A young space pilot tries to save his best friend—the heir to a galactic empire—from a ruthless rebellion. A girl whose interdimensional doppelgängers have died in 372 worlds discovers a secret that puts her life in jeopardy. A man whose daughter has newfound, terrifying powers must risk his life to save hers. The last human in the galaxy hides her identity while trying to discover the truth about humanity. A woman traveling through time finds a mysterious child with unimaginable power. A spell allows women to control their own fertility in an epic feminist fantasy. This captivating ebook sampler contains excerpts from: DEVOLUTION by Max BrooksTHE WOMEN’S WAR by Jenna GlassSALVATION by Peter F. HamiltonINK & SIGIL by Kevin HearneA PLAGUE OF GIANTS by Kevin HearneTHE VANISHED BIRDS by Simon JimenezTHE SPACE BETWEEN WORDS by Micaiah JohnsonTHE LAST HUMAN by Zack JordanMEXICAN GOTHIC by Silvia Moreno-GarciaTHE NOBODY PEOPLE by Bob ProehlBONDS OF BRASS by Emily Skrutskie

John 5:19We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. Recently bereaved detective Nadine Meyers is assigned to investigate a brutal massacre, with eight-year-old Mary the sole survivor. Nadine suspects the parents were responsible for murdering all six of their adopted children in a single horrendous act. As she befriends Mary, she discovers a secret that takes the case in a whole new direction, one she could never have imagined.