Dread Softly

A woman struggles to outsmart the demon who bargained for her father's soul. An elderly shut-in with a monstrous secret is tormented by a door-to-door salesman. Six-eyed creatures congregate on the ceiling of a remote bungalow, puzzling a newly rescued tabby cat. An imp's loyalties are torn between a vulnerable child and the god of dreams.

In her debut horror collection, award-winning author Caryn Larrinaga spreads her nightmares under your feet. Fed by the dread her anxiety brings her, each of these eleven tales is a journey into an unsettling universe just parallel to our own—one populated by haunted objects, unwanted urges, and creatures from beyond human understanding. Dread softly.

"A stunning collection of stories.... Each page turns another corner through Larrinaga's dark and vivid imagination."

—Sonora Taylor, award-winning author of Little Paranoias: Stories

"These 11 tales are delightfully dark and full of unnerving surprises"

—Well Worth a Read Reviews

"Larrinaga has a way of taking you into strange, fantastical POVs without ever making you wonder how you got there…"

—Fallen Fiction Reviews

"A captivating collection"

—Margin of Terror

"Disturbing scary stories told without relying on guts and gore"

—Advance the Plot Reviews