Books published by Grinning Skull Press

They called themselves The Round Table. Seven friends, a bunch of nobodies in high school-until they learned the art of manipulation and how much influence they could wield with the right bit of knowledge. After years of being bullied, they had their first taste of power…and they wanted more.In college, they found their power had faded. Their petty blackmail schemes no longer made others eager to do their bidding…and that just wasn't acceptable. But the Darkness offered them everything they could possibly want-for a price. A price they were all too willing to pay.And now, twenty-one years later, married with children and successful careers, their past is coming back to haunt them and threatening to take everything they hold dear. How much will they lose before they can placate the spirit of the dead?

If you can't run with the big dogs…It was supposed to be a corporate retreat and a series of morale-boosting exercises. It was a weekend Shawn Biltmore nearly didn't survive.There was something else playing in the woods that night,something other than a bunch of corporate drones with paintball guns.And it had chosen Shawn as its new chew toy.…rip 'em to shreds.The local authorities chalked it up to a bear attack.So did the doctors.Shawn knew the truth, however, as much as he wanted to deny it.But when one of his coworkers is viciously killed,Shawn must face the truth…He's a killer who needs to be put down.Or is he?

"Leo Darke has created a heavy metal nightmare made of hard-driving prose, a dark sense of humor, and a jovial nod to 1980s horror fiction. There's sex, gore, and suspense to spare, and it all unfolds to a heavy metal beat. An enjoyable read." -Ray Garton, author of Crucifax and Ravenous "Death Metal has a new vanguard band-and a literal meaning. This band's music is truly Killer." -Mallory A. Haws, The Haunted Reading Room "Just like the punk rock era that it so finely evokes, Darke's tale is edgy, dangerous, thrilling, unpredictable, and scary. Lucifer Sam rocks. Hard." -Stuart R. West, author of Twisted Tales from Tornado Alley and Ghosts of Gannaway The Day the Music DiedWhen a private jet carrying internationally acclaimed rock band Cat O' Nine Tails vanishes over the Indian Ocean, the shockwaves were felt around the world. There was no wreckage, no bodies, no black box recordings to provide clues as to what happened to the musicians. They were simply gone.Rock 'n' Roll Will Never DieJust as the world is recovering from the loss of Cat O' Nine Tails comes news that the jet carrying the band has mysteriously re-appeared in the same air space from which it had vanished six months ago. Was it a publicity stunt? The band is unable-or unwilling-to answer that question. They were "lost. But now we're back…" with the promise of a new album with a killer new sound coming soon.There's something definitely not right with the band, but the nation is too firmly in the grip of Cat O' Nine Fever to notice. And as the formerly affable, much-loved Cat O' Nine Tails gears up for a new stadium show, it falls to Cat's original front man, sacked years before, and the members of a virtually unknown punk band, Lucifer Sam, to uncover the real threat behind the massive publicity drive.

With barely a moment to rest after wrapping up his last case, Jasper O'Malley is handed another assignment that sends him and his partner, Amelia Rio, to the Big Apple. This time around Jasper's been hired to find a missing person, one Ray Armstrong, a former associate of his.The trail eventually leads Jasper and Amelia into the tunnels beneath the city, where the case takes an unexpected turn when they stumble upon a desiccated corpse. As much as Jasper would like to believe there's a logical explanation for the condition of the body, all evidence points to one thing…There's a vampire prowling the city and preying on its citizens.Now, in addition to locating Armstrong, Jasper needs to track down and destroy the creature sucking the city dry in typical O'Malley style. God help New York City.

Evil lives deep within the mines of Gannaway.Born of hate, it preys on the miners, feeds off their superstitions. It gathers strength from the dead and drives the living insane. And it has survived for decades.It's up to one man to put an end to the evil and lay the ghosts of Gannaway to rest, but can he allay his own fears and conquer his own demons long enough to get the job done?

It's the end of the world……as Murray Macabe knows it. The security of his home life has been ripped out from under him when his mother was brutally murdered. Rejected by his aunt, Murray only has one place left to go, and that's to live the rest of his life with a woman he barely knows.To Grandmother's House He GoesAt first, life with his grandmother doesn't seem like it's going to be that bad, but Murray soon learns his grandmother harbors dark secrets.Double, Double Toil and Trouble; Fire Burn and Caldron BubbleAs bad as Grandma's secrets might be, they are nothing compared to the secrets held by the neighbors, three elderly women who have set their sights on Murray for their own dastardly purposes. Soon Murray finds himself fighting for his very life, and there's no one to turn to for help because everyone knows there's no such thing as witches.

"These tales are top class horror with a smile, which is just as scary as a scowl or a snarl." -Maynard Sims, author of the DCI Jack Callum series "A collection of horrific gems to curl up with on a dark night. Just make sure all the lights are on. Oh, and that you know where your cat is." -Catherine Cavendish, author of The Devil Inside Her and Waking the Ancients Welcome to Tornado Alley, where the tales are as dangerous and as twisted as the storms that ravage the great plains of Kansas. Here, you'll meet an arachnophobe whose plans for a romantic weekend become a nightmare far worse than anything she could ever have imagined. Holidays are all about food and family, but this year there's a darkness hovering over Don Carmelo's Thanksgiving feast. A hen-pecked husband finally decides to heed his wife's advice to man up and become a man, but will she like the changes in her husband? They say you should never judge a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes. Harv Perkins is about to find out what it's like to not only walk in another man's shoes, but to wear his skin as well. Ding, dong, the witch is dead, that's what the residents of Beckham County are proclaiming. But down in the morgue, something is stirring. All these and more! Eleven tales to thrill and chill you!

Suffer the little children to come unto me… and be like goats in my paradeThe city of Portland, Maine, is preparing for a parade to end all parades, one that will usher in a thousand years of darkness. The only thing is, they don't know it. Four strangers will engage each other on the Devil's battlefield and fight not only for the future of the city, but for the entire world. Warren Pembroke, Satan's Chosen One. He has been charged with making sure everything goes according to the Dark Lord's plan. Svetlana Barnyk, a gypsy street performer cursed with the Gift of Sight. She lives in fear of the day when Zee Doctor will return to reclaim the gift he bestowed on her. "Tobacco Joe" Walton, an ex-con who served a 43-year term for committing a savage crime in the name of Justice. He is seeking redemption, but Ol' Scratch has other plans for him. Erik Marsh, a crime beat reporter driven to the edge by the atrocities man has committed against his fellow man. All he wants is to preserve his sanity and spend time with his son. Will they be able to defeat the Devil and stop the Goat Parade, or will the world be plunged into an age of darkness and endless suffering?

Lake Livingston: August, 1961.Mark Gaitlin is 15, the son of one of the wealthiest men in Texas, and on the most boring summer vacation of his life. His days are filled with the pomp and circumstance of country club life, while his nights are a parade of one embarrassment after another at the hands of giggling teenage girls.But the piney woods above Lake Livingston are dark at night, and hold many secrets for an impressionable youngster on the cusp of becoming a man. And one night, after skinny dipping in the lake with a mysterious local girl, Mark Gaitlin's life takes a crazy turn into the fire and brimstone religion of backwoods snake handlers and abandoned villages haunted by old family secrets. If he can survive the snakes and the ghosts and his own family's dark history, he just might make it out of the woods alive.And something else...he just might become a man.

You Can't Outrun Your Past… …as Cady is about to find out. Years ago, Cady was involved in an accident, one that claimed the life of a young woman, but due to a technicality, he was cleared of any charges against him. Once free, he fled to the other side of the country, hoping to start fresh.NightmaresNow, he's on his way to meet his girlfriend's uncle, her only living relative. Nervous doesn't begin to describe how he feels. He's terrified his worst nightmare might come true-that they'll question him about that accident. He'll soon learn there are worse things to be worried about.First, there are the centipedes…Second, there's the prison cell…