Cirrus@Austlit

'Are the disappearances the work of a human killer...or something far darker?

'From USA Today bestselling horror/thriller author Darcy Coates comes the chilling legend of a monster no one can escape.

'DON'T WALK ALONE, OR THE STITCHER WILL FIND YOU.

'Abby Ward lives in a town haunted by disappearances. People vanish, and when they're found, their bodies have been dismembered and sewn back together in unnatural ways. But is it the work of a human killer...or something far darker?

'DON'T STAY OUT LATE, OR THE STITCHER WILL TAKE YOU.

'She and her younger sister live by a strict set of rules designed to keep them safe-which is why it's such a shock when Hope is taken. Desperate to get her back, Abby tells the police everything she knows, but they claim their hands are tied.

'DON'T CLOSE YOUR EYES, OR THE STITCHER WILL REMAKE YOU.

'With every hour precious, Abby and her friends are caught in a desperate game of cat and mouse. They have to get Hope back. Quickly. Before too much of her is cut away. And before everything they care about is swallowed up by the darkness waiting in the tunnels beneath the home they thought they knew.' (Publication summary)

'Some houses breathe...

'Elle is thrilled to spend a month minding the beautiful Gillespie property. More than an hour's drive from the nearest town and surrounded by forests, the ageing mansion is ideal for someone seeking solitude.

'But things start to go very wrong, very quickly.

'Elle discovers a crumbling graveyard nestled in the woods. It contains a generation of the house's residents, all with an identical year of death.

'Scratching in the walls... slamming doors... whispers in the night... a locked room...

'As Elle explores deeper into the house, she begins to unravel the property's dark and dangerous history. At its centre is Jonathan Gillespie, a tyrannical cult leader and the house's original owner.

'And as Elle soon learns - just because he's dead, doesn't mean he's gone.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Could you survive a week in a haunted house?

'Mara is the daughter of spiritualists. Her childhood was filled with séances, scam mediums and talk of ghostly presences.

'When Mara finally left her family’s home, she vowed she would never allow superstition or false religion into her life again. Now she’s ready to start over with her fiancé, Neil, in a world based on rationality and facts.

'But her past isn’t ready to let her go just yet.

'Mara and Neil purchase Blackwood House, a derelict property outside of town. They’re warned about strange occurrences in the crumbling building. Doors open by themselves, voices whisper in the night, bloody handprints appear on the walls, and cold spots linger in the basement, where the house’s original owner was murdered.

'But Blackwood was dirt-cheap and came with a large plot of overgrown land. Mara loves her new home, and disregards the warnings.

'Because ghosts aren’t real…

'…are they?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.