Nightmares- Volume 8- A Billy Wells Horror Anthology

By Billy Wells

Nightmares- Volume 8- A Billy Wells Horror Anthology
A collection of horror/thriller stories with surprise endings to chill you and thrill you to the bone.
The nightmares include:
CHARLEY: Mandy is the only one who can see her imaginary friend who lives in the swamp.
THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER: A billionaire’s heir falls madly in love with a woman he sees as the most beautiful in the world while others see something markedly different.
THE BOY WHO CRIED BOOGEYMAN: John returns to the house where the boogeyman tried to eat him when he was ten years old.
THE RECKONING: A grizzly and two graduates travel eighteen hundred miles to have a rendezvous with destiny and the devil.
SOMETHING IN THE WELL: Jules has no choice but to go to the well where a demon granted a wish that saved his father’s life for a price.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Billy Wells
• Release date: Jul 7, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005082772

Billy Wells

I have published eleven collections of horror stories with surprise endings, Check out my latest video for the gory detailsI have written 238 short stories so far in my quest to exceed Ray Bradbury's 400 short stories. It goes without saying it will be an uphill climb.Stephen King is my favorite horror writer, and I admire what King has accomplished in the horror genre in terms of movies made from his considerable volume of work.My channels on You Tube has amassed over 7,000,000 hits, mostly from my "Dead Celebrities" videos and have over 13,000 subscribers.I love movies and had seen over 1,500 by the age of 13 when there was snow on 13 channels after midnight.I read constantly and have rated over 700 books on Goodreads.My favorite horror movies are Halloween, Night of the Living Dead, and the Evil Dead. My favorite movie of all time Is Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life with James Stewart. My favorite authors are Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, John Sandford, Michael Connelly, Robert B. Parker, Clive Cussler, James Patterson, Jeffery Deaver, Dean Koontz, Edgar Allen Poe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, James Lee Burke, Richard Matheson, Lee Child, and Jack Kilborn/Konrath.Since reviews are the life's blood of every author, I would greatly appreciate a review of any of my books and hold anyone who does in high esteem for all eternity.

Book preview

Nightmares-Volume 8

A Billy Wells Horror Anthology

Five Selections From

Black As Night, Shivers & Other Nightmares, Don't Look Behind You, Scary Stories-Vols. 1-5, Midnight Snacks, Scare Factory, and Stories To Make Your Skin Crawl

Copyright © 2021 by Billy Wells

Published by Billy Wells at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This story is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

Contents

Charley

The Eye of the Beholder

The Boy Who Cried Boogeyman

The Reckoning

Something in the Well

About Billy Wells

Reviews in Today’s World

Other Books By Billy Wells

Charley

When Marie came down from her bedroom and entered the kitchen to start breakfast, she saw a trail of muddy footprints across the ceramic tile floor. The tracks came from the laundry room. Upon further inspection, she found they started at the door to the outside, which stood ajar. Returning to the kitchen, she followed the footprints to her daughter’s bedroom.

Entering the pink polka dot decorated space, Marie found her little nine-year-old, Mandy, with golden curls and blue eyes buried under a pile of blankets.

Mandy, have you been sleepwalking again?

The little girl opened her eyes and yawned broadly. I don’t remember getting out of bed, Mommie.

Looking more closely at the carpet, Marie noticed bits of grass in the fiber. Pulling back the bedclothes, her hand shot to her mouth to stifle a scream. Her eyes widened from the sight of streaks of mud and pieces of leaves and grass covering Mandy’s feet and the lower part of the bottom sheet.

You’ve been outside again, Marie said, trying not to lose her composure. Where do you go in the middle of the night? You could’ve been killed. There are big gators not far away in the swamp."

Mandy looked at her dirty feet and finally said, Charley wouldn’t let anything happen to me."

Stop talking about Charley. He’s just a figment of your imagination. He can’t protect you from the gators and the snakes. He’s not real.

Mandy looked at her mother and decided it was useless to debate the existence of Charley. After all, no one could see him, but her.

Wrap the dirty sheet around yourself and get in the bathtub. I don’t want you tracking mud all over the house. I just cleaned the carpets yesterday.

I’m sorry, Mommie. I don’t remember sleepwalking.

When you’re clean, get dressed, and come to the kitchen for breakfast.

Thirty minutes later, Mandy sat down at the table in the nook and started eating a bowl of Frosted Flakes. Harold, her mother’s live-in beau for the last three years, lowered the morning paper and said, I heard you went walking in the swamp last night.

Mandy continued eating and said nothing. She had loved her real daddy so much, but this man, who came to live with them after her father disappeared in the swamp, scared her. He was tall and muscular with a short military haircut. He had an enormous spider tattoo on his bicep, which made her skin crawl. Sometimes he had a very bad temper and hit her mother. She hated him and wanted nothing to do with him.

Seeing the sour look on Mandy’s face, Harold grabbed her wrist and pulled her chair around to face him, Look at me when I’m talking to you. Mommie just started a new job, and our insurance won’t kick in until the first of the month. If you get hurt, we’ll have to pay through the nose.

I can’t help it. I don’t know when I’m sleepwalking, Mandy whined.

Well, I have no choice, but to lock you in your room every night for the next two weeks. Don’t worry, I’ll keep you company while Mommie is waitressing. I know a few bedtime stories. How would you like that? Harold said, leering at her with a cruel smile.

Take your hands off her, Harold! Marie shouted, picking up a frying pan from the stove.

Do you see the way she looks at me? She may not like me, but damned if she’s not going to show me some respect. She needs discipline; the kind she’s never gonna get from you. Harold released her, and Mandy slid her chair back in its place. With a stern expression, she ate another spoonful of Frosted Flakes without looking in his direction.

Marie ignored Harold’s comment and continued to glare at him while putting the frying pan back on the stove. After a time, her scowl softened, and turning to Mandy, she spoke calmly, "We’re going to have to do something about your sleepwalking. Going outside by yourself at night is extremely dangerous. A wild animal might drag you away. And the swamp could swallow