Gary Jonas

The gun is loaded. Ready... Before he started the Jonathan Shade series, Gary Jonas paid his dues writing and selling short stories to various anthologies and magazines. On deck we have twenty-nine tales of horror, fantasy, and suspense. Aim... "By Death Abused" a paranormal investigator must rescue a little boy from his dead, but still abusive father. "The Blood on Satan's Harley" a headless biker roams the highways in search of new victims. "In League" a rock band's music opens gateways to Hell. "Broken Spirits" two damaged warriors track down the man who stole their souls. "Mending Wounds" a young woman with the power to harm learns she can also heal, but some things are beyond repair. "Maternal Instinct" a new mother hears a voice whispering to her baby over the nursery monitor. "So You Wanna Be a Hitman" a sociopath learns he can get paid for killing people, and launches into his new career over the course of this and four more crime tales with warped humor and action. And many more Fire

A paranormal investigator tries to help a boy deal with the ghost of his dead, but still abusive father. Of course, the investigator has a secret of his own. This short story originally appeared as a signed/limited chapbook from Roadkill Press back in 1990. It received an honorable mention in The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror edited by Ellen Datlow and Terry Windling. "By Death Abused" is also available in the collection QUICK SHOTS by Gary Jonas, so if you own that, you already have this tale. You can still buy it, of course, because you'll earn triple cool points.

Vampires in the Old West Jack Talon, a former US Marshal and infamous gunslinger, is dying of tuberculosis when he arrives in Silver Plume, Colorado with his lovely wife, Sonya. He just wants to do a bit of gambling and get on with the business of dying. Instead he finds himself face to face with Christopher Smythe, a vampire who holds a grudge against the mayor of the town.The mayor hires Jack to kill the vampire, but what Jack doesn't know is that his wife sees the vampire as Jack's salvation. Vampires don't get sick. Vampires live forever. Vampires never age. So what if you have to kill people and drink their blood. Sounds like a bargain to her. She loves her husband and doesn't want it to end with till death do us part.So she sets her own plan into motion...