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Description:

Some people are optimists and some people are pessimists, but Dr. Offig is a “gruesome-ist!” Visit him in his cluttered and curious office for a chocolate éclair oozing with fresh cream and he will surely tell you one of the wonderfully creepy stories he is famous for — the kind that makes your eyes bug out in disbelief, your skin shiver and crawl and your tummy wiggle like a very large bowl of incredibly nervous Jell-O. And once in a while they might — just might I say — even make you laugh out loud.

But be forewarned, most dearest, charming, intelligent and, might I add, particularly shrewd reader — these stories can also become very, very, very (yes, THAT very) addictive. Once you finish with one of Dr. Offig’s stories, you will most certainly want to read another, then another, and then another still.

Which sometimes makes it hard to go to sleep with the lights out...

“Creepy stories, twisted endings, unearthly beasties lurking in the corners—these nerve-rattling
narratives will keep you turning pages as you turn on more lights!
— Denyse M. Hammen, Director of Entertainment & Marketing,
HyperiCon Speculative Fiction Convention

“Paul Gifford proves that he can not only write wickedly delicious horror tales for an adult audience,
but entertain the young with just as successful a hand!”
— Lawrence Dagstine, Author
Fresh Blood

“This is truly Young Adult Horror at its best; it’s creepy, funny, haunting and captivating.
You won’t be able to put it down.”
— Deanna A. Crews,
VP Marketing, Promotions & Event Planning, CFS Inc.

“PS Gifford’s work puts me in mind of Roald Dahl on a spooky outing. Highly enjoyable.”
— DJ Burnham, Author
Test Drive

"Brilliant, witty, spooky & spilling over with Giff ord’s best work yet.
This is a collection that will keep you coming back for more!
—Kimberly Raiser , Author
Stranded: Stories from the Edge of Infinity

Excerpt:

Mary realized that she was fully awake now, so she thought she would read for a little while. She reached over to switch on the bedside lamp and blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted to the light. She picked up the book and started reading, but as she read the words she found that she was not absorbing any of them. Her mind kept wandering back to the beautiful jack-in-the-box.

She stared at it across the room, tucked behind the glass door, and once more she felt a strange sensation, as if the box was beckoning her. Finally, she sat upright and swiveled her legs onto the floor. She looked around for her slippers, fumbled her feet into them and after stretching, got up and once more made her way over to the display case.

She studied it again for a few minutes as the desire to play with it continued to build inside of her, even though her grandmother told her not to touch it. She wondered why she was feeling such a strong attraction to it; after all, she hadn’t played with anything like this since she was a very little girl.

Suddenly the door to the case popped open; apparently her grandmother hadn’t locked the case. Mary opened the door just wide enough to pull out the jack-in-the-box and took it back to her bed. She sat down and began to slowly turn the handle, and once more the haunting music began to play.

Faster and faster she turned the handle, until all at once the lid of the box burst open and a smiling jack sprung out at her, which made Mary gasp in surprise. She studied the exaggerated, almost grotesque features of the antique jack bopping up in down in front of her, then she giggled at her own nervousness. How silly of me to be so nervous, she thought. It is a jack-in-the-box, after all. Of course a jack is going to spring up.

Several moments later there came a nervous tap on Mary’s door. She put the jack-in-the-box down on the night stand and clutching her doll Colleen for comfort, she cautiously crawled out of the warmth of her uncomfortable, lumpy bed and walked over to the door. “Who is it?” she asked nervously, once again thinking about whether the house was haunted.

“Do you want to play?” replied an angelic, childlike voice on the other side of the closed door.

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