West Lothian Writers have celebrated Halloween with an annual writing challenge since 2013. This collection is just a few of the spine tingling, creepy or down right silly, short stories and poems our members have crafted for the holiday. Read on, if you dare.

All that lab technician Daniel Dreghorn wants is a better job, more money, a new flat - oh, and perhaps to meet a few more girls. It's not much to ask of life, is it? All his dreams are answered with one visit to a faulty cash machine, but is it too good to be true? Yes, Daniel, it is...Daniel's life goes from bad to mad as a series of deaths are attributed to him and some very shady characters start to believe he is more than he seems. As Daniel's colleagues at the university beco...

WINNER OF THE COSTA BOOK OF THE YEAR 2013WINNER OF THE SPECSAVERS POPULAR FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2014WINNER OF THE BETTY TRASK PRIZE 2014‘I’ll tell you what happened because it will be a good way to introduce my brother. His name’s Simon. I think you’re going to like him. I really do. But in a couple of pages he’ll be dead. And he was never the same after that.’There are books you...

Tying the knot can leave you in a tangle…James is everything Tish has ever wanted in a husband – he’s handsome, dependable, and will make an excellent father. Unlike Tish’s first love, the disreputable Fergal, who abandoned her for a music career and now lives a lavish celebrity lifestyle. Fergal broke her heart and James helped to mend it.Tish and James have just bought a cottage in the country. The next step? Kids and a lifetime of domestic bliss. Well, that’s the plan. A...

'Dark, gripping and believable' GRAHAM MASTERTON.Are you looking for an addictive serial killer thriller with a dark twist?EVERY NIGHT, A FAMILY DIES...While a blizzard rages through the streets of Liverpool, a family are slaughtered in their beds. Their mutilated bodies are dragged onto the landing to form a strange pattern. None of the neighbours hears a sound.EVERY NIGHT, SHE TRIES TO SAVE THEM...DCI Eve Cla...

Available together in ebook for the first time ever, this duo of brilliant short stories featuring a guest appearance by DI Tom Thorne showcases the crime writing talent of number one Sunday Times bestseller Mark Billingham.Underneath the Mistletoe Last NightWhen young Jack finds 'Father Christmas' dead beneath the tree, DI Tom Thorne, who has volunteered to work on Christmas Day, must get to the truth with the help of his reliable team and some incriminat...

The second in the detective series featuring DI Geraldine Steel⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I really enjoy this author, once you start reading you can't put down' Amazon customer⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Leigh always writes books I get lost in and the Geraldine Steel series is just fabulous!' Beyond The Books'A well-written, soundly plotted, psychologically acute story' Marcel Berlins, The TimesWhen a man dies in a gas explosion, the polic...

She can’t prove he did it. But she might die trying…From the Sunday Times No.1 bestselling author of the Logan McRae series, comes a standalone spinoff featuring DS Roberta Steel.Revenge is a dangerous thing…Detective Chief Inspector Roberta Steel got caught fitting up Jack Wallace – that’s why they demoted her and quashed his sentence. Now he’s back on the streets and women are being attacked again.The top brass have made i...

A terrifying novel of a young man who is willing to defy everything. Even death...Fabian Hightower has been killed in a car crash. At least, that is what a policeman is asking Alex, his mother to believe. But Alex knows she saw him that morning - at a time when he must have been dead.When the funeral is over Alex tries hard to forget her bizarre experience. But her mind seems to be playing strange tricks on her, turning her grief into horror. When she turns...

**'**An atmospheric, smart, often terrifying read.' LOUISE PENNY'Like Nicci French, Kate Rhodes excels at character, pace and sense of place.' ERIN KELLY'Readers will care as much about Alice as they do about identifying the murderer and solving the mystery' SOPHIE HANNAH'An utterly brilliant, exhilarating read. I devoured every page.' ELIZABETH HAYNESONCE AN ANCIENT BURIAL SITE. NOW...

From the multimillion copy bestseller Amanda Prowse, the queen of heartbreak fiction.***When eighteen-year-old Dot meets Sol, she feels that love has arrived at last. Solomon Arbuthnott is a man who can bring colour and warmth to her drab life in sixties London – and what's more, he is a young, handsome soldier with excellent prospects. Someone who wants to give her everything she has dream...

The third instalment in an occasional series of short stories covering the elapsed time between the books in The Falconer Files series. An insanely gripping village detective series with a delightful slice of humour. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Lillian Jackson Braun and ***M***idsomer Murders._____________This story covers events th...