Ghost Girl Horror

By Erik Handy

Ghost Girl Horror collects THREE of Erik Handy's panic-inducing books featuring true terror from beyond the grave!

She Never Dies is a ghost story involving a group of college students trying to survive the wrath of a vengeful spirit.

In Cheerleader Massacre, a priest's attempt to rescue a juvenile prank gone horribly wrong leads each of these young women down a path of supernatural terror . . . and pity those who weren't even involved as the terror envelops EVERYONE!

In the final book, Dead Pool, five high school seniors are stalked one-by-one by a spectre from the past.

All titles in this collection have been previously published.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Erik Handy
• Release date: Oct 21, 2015
• ISBN: 9798223758501

Erik Handy

Erik Handy grew up on a steady diet of professional wrestling, bad horror movies that went straight to video, and comic books. There were also a lot of video games thrown in the mix. He currently absorbs silence and fish tacos.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Is it real? Joe asked Bobby. He leaned on the counter in a vain attempt to add gravitas to their conversation. You can tell me, man.

Bobby smiled like he knew the world’s biggest secret.

Come on, Joe tried again. I gotta know.

It’s real, Bobby answered.

Bullshit.

If I’m lying, I’m dying and I ain’t dead yet. It’s real.

Looks like a mosquito flew in front of the camera.

Bobby’s smile widened. Wasn’t a mosquito.

What the hell was it then? Joe insisted. I won’t tell anyone.

Bobby considered Joe’s request for a few moments, letting his buddy stew with anticipation. He looked around, but he and Joe had the whole gas station to themselves.

All right, man, he finally said, gesturing for Joe to come around to his side of the counter. You can’t tell anybody I told you.

Bobby stopped the live recording of the pumps’ exterior cameras and pulled the tape out of the VCR. It wasn’t a mosquito. From behind the small, black television monitor, he pulled out another video. And it wasn’t a ghost.

Well? Joe impatiently replied.

Bobby grinned and pressed PLAY. Look at the car that pulls up.

Joe watched a white station wagon pull up to a pump. Its wipers swished back and forth once. That was when the ghostly spot appeared on-screen. It quickly and eerily took on the form of a human body.

I went outside afterwards, Bobby continued. A little bit of mud flew off the windshield. One in a trillion shot.

Joe shook his head in disbelief.

What do you think? Bobby said.

Son of a bitch, was all Joe could manage.

Bobby shrugged as if it was no big deal, but it was. He had fooled his boss, the local news, his friends, and some believers of such paranormal nonsense. It was almost too easy. People who wanted to believe in ghouls and goblins were so gullible when shown flimsy evidence.

Neither man said anything as Bobby switched the videos.

Joe built up the courage to say, You believe the road’s haunted?

This road here? Bobby replied.

Yeah.

Bobby swatted a gnat away from his face.

Don’t get me wrong, this world’s a strange place, he said, pausing for dramatic effect. But no. I don’t. The area around mile marker 110 is. Or so they say. I don’t believe that crap. People like to tell scary stories and people like to hear them. He let that hang in the air as if it was the most profound statement ever.

All right, man, Joe quickly said. I’m heading out.

Bobby let a smirk slip through. All right. I’ll see you later at Nolan’s?

Damn straight. Later, man.

As Joe walked away, Bobby’s attention was drawn to movement at the back of the store. Someone might have come in when he was talking to Joe and he just missed it. But the front door was right by the counter. One of them would have looked up and noticed someone.

He let his mind piece together what he thought he saw:

A woman.

At the back of the store.

Watching them through the shelves of overpriced chips and sodas.

Her hair, dirty and messy.

When Bobby caught sight of her, she ducked down.

Shit, he said, looking at the internal security monitor tucked below the pump surveillance unit. That’s all I need. It’s been quiet all evening and now this homeless chick . . . .

No one was inside the building.

He looked back up at the store.

Wait.

There –

HONK!

He jerked around.

Joe was driving away, shooting a peace sign at him.

Someone else sat in the backseat.

Joe should have been alone.

Bobby couldn’t make out who the person was or if the image was just an optical illusion created by the bright fluorescent lights and distance.

Too many ghost stories, he thought. Maybe I’m the one starting to get freaked out by them.

Bobby, caught up in trying to figure out if his eyes were betraying him, didn’t respond to Joe’s goodbye. He just watched his friend drive away, up the on-ramp, and onto the darkening highway.

***

Joe zoomed onto the interstate, radio blasting some generic rock music made for the masses. He had a party to get to. A party loaded with drinks and girls.

It was just another school night.

This semester was a breeze, Creative Writing and Film Appreciation. They were fluff courses meant to give him some easy credits. No problem. They didn’t cut into his social life at all and he appreciated that. However, he dreaded the next semester’s offerings. He would have to step it up if he wanted to graduate before the decade was out.

Maybe I’ll take three classes then.

A light somewhere off the side of the road grabbed his attention. Someone was out there with a flashlight in the wooded area lining the interstate.

Bums, he thought.

Or ghosts.

He laughed that off.

Ghosts are bullshit. They have to be. Bobby proved it.

He noticed he was going twenty over the speed limit, but the sooner he was away from this area, the better. Even with a modern highway cutting a path through this patch of wilderness, there was a base vulnerability that gnawed on Joe’s nerves – a gut feeling that urged him to keep moving.

I’ve got a party to get to, he said, looking back on the road ahead. Shit!

A woman was on the hood, squirming like a salamander up to his windshield.

The impossible sight blinded Joe. There wasn’t much left to see anyway. His freezing brain mercifully allowed him one final action.

He twisted the steering wheel hard to the right.

His car veered off the road and slammed into the concrete barricade that lined the shoulder.

The wall did not give.

Chapter 2

Jen looked over at Candy. Did you hear that?

Candy was equally worried. It sounded like a car crash.

The young and cheerful college students may have had some shortcomings in their intellectual abilities, but they had a strong instinct for self-preservation, particularly while being in the woods adjacent to the interstate. At present, they were inclined towards running away from danger instead of confronting it.

Did you hear that, Ryan? Jen said.

Ryan shook his head, focusing on the small object in his hands.

What was that sound? Candy said.

Ryan shrugged and then held up a digital voice recorder the size of a cell phone.

I got it working, he said. Let’s roll.

The girls made sure to stick close to Ryan. He could protect them. After all, this was his idea.

Well, not entirely his idea.

So much had been made of the I-4 Ghost lately that the women couldn’t pass up a chance at their own fifteen minutes of fame. Their friend of a friend Bobby got his, which proved that anyone was able. Besides, Bobby didn’t actively search for his evidence. He didn’t earn his brief stint in the spotlight. Here they were, three college students who were out in the woods at night with just a flashlight and a barely functioning voice recorder, plunging headlong into the unknown. They were actually working for their temporary celebrity.

However, neither woman had any clue what ghost-hunting would entail – even when Ryan explained what they would be doing. They almost balked when he told them where they would be going, but he assured them that if there was any trouble at all, they would hightail it to their car and get the hell home.

I think we should leave, Candy said.

Jen nodded.

Are there any spirits out here who would like to talk to us? Ryan said, ignoring his friends. He sounded extraordinarily alive at the prospect of communicating with the dead.

All the trio heard was some distant traffic noise and the rustle of the green around them. No unearthly voices replied to their presence.

Are you sure it’s safe out here? Jen asked Ryan. The near-silence was getting to her. There was a dull ringing in her ears. She wanted to leave. She wanted to go to Nolan’s party. Right now.

It’s not safe, per se, Ryan replied, not bothering to look up from the voice recorder. We’ll be okay. We won’t stay much longer.

The two young women huddled closer to each other. Candy swatted something crawling across her neck.

This is starting to suck, she said.

Ryan led them further on for a bit.

Is there anyone out here who wants to talk to us? he asked again.

Jen was overcome by a feeling of intense sadness, which enveloped her like a comforting blanket and seemed to penetrate deep into her bones. Despite not being due to start her period for another week, she felt like crying. She realized that leaving this bleak environment and seeking out a brighter, more uplifting place would help alleviate her heavy mood.

Barely audible, near their position, Boooo.

Ryan, Jen half-whispered. Let’s get out –

Ryan hushed her.

What is your name? he confidently asked.

Jen didn’t want whoever spoke to respond again.

Let it be a trick of the wind or highway noise, but don’t let it be –

Then, Boooo, a little louder than before.

The three turned toward where the sound came from.

Ryan stepped forward. The girls tried to hold him back, but he shook them off. He stuck his recorder into the area where the source of the response could have been.

He licked his dry lips before he said, Why are you here?

Jen’s stomach plunged into her groin.

Candy squeezed Jen’s hand.

BOOBS!

A man who looked like a walking herpe leaped out of the bushes.

The three college kids jumped and screamed to the man’s delight.

The man reeked of alcohol and something else, something filthy and bitter.

From behind the drunk stepped his equally inebriated friend. This second man bellowed laughter.

Real fucking funny! erupted Jen. All traces of melancholy and fear were swept under a rug of anger. She didn’t care if the two bums were dangerous – she was ready to beat their asses.

The second drunk took one step toward her and pantomimed tweaking her nipples.

Boobs! he laughed.

Ryan, pissed that he got so scared in front of the women, stormed away. Let’s go.

Candy hugged his heels as did Jen, but not before she shot the drunks the bird.

The men hooted for a few moments before they walked back the way they came.

You see the tits on that one? one asked the other.

Which one? The blonde?

No. The feisty one. He shot his friend the bird, jogging the man’s booze-addled memory.

Oh, yeah! I’d fuck her.

After me!

They cleared the brush and came to a dark road. Across the street, away from the highway, a plot of land was fenced off. Construction equipment lay dead among the frames of homes frozen mid-erection.

A sign facing the road declared the land as the FUTURE SITE OF SUNSET HOMES.

Chapter 3

Lacey was trapped beneath the man.

Adrian, she moaned.

Adrian responded by picking up the pace.

Lacey knew she would be sore in the morning, but having Adrian inside her was well worth any pain. His stroke was unrelenting. Sometimes that was all she wanted.

Lacey felt her orgasm build up from the pit of her stomach. The moment was nearly heavenly.

She let go and her vision turned white. Electricity ran down her legs, up her spine, and into her head. She realized she was gripping Adrian’s toned body too tight, but he just smiled down at her as she finished. Lacey was so euphorically numb that she didn’t feel Adrian also going off.

But he wasn’t through with her yet.

Adrian grabbed Lacey’s wrists and put her hands over her head. Lacey couldn’t push him off even if she tried. He was so damn strong. She braced herself for what he had in store for her. Adrian started on her again by licking her soft neck from ear to shoulder.

That was when Lacey first heard the crying.

Lacey cocked her head.

What’s wrong? Adrian said, letting up off Lacey.

You hear that?

Adrian listened for a moment and then got off Lacey. Someone’s crying. I thought Jen was gone.

Me, too. Lacey rolled out of bed. She suddenly envisioned a woman in a black room, crawling in slick mud. Jen? Is that you?

The crying stopped.

Adrian got up and threw his clothes on.

Jen, Lacey called out again, grabbing her robe off the back of the bedroom door.

Lacey?

Jen, what’s wrong?

Lacey found Jen standing in the living room. The anguish on Jen’s face swiped the wind from Lacey’s sails.

It’s Joe, Jen said between sobs. Candy just called. Joe’s dead.

Lacey breathed a sigh of relief and immediately felt terrible for doing so.

But it’s true, she told herself, coming clean with her guilt. I’m glad it wasn’t one of my friends.

Lacey only knew Joe through parties, but he and Jen were acquaintances from high school – or so Jen claimed. The young woman claimed a lot of things.

I heard it happen, Lacey.

You heard what happened?

We were out in the woods and we heard a crash.

Jen broke down.

Lacey looked over at Adrian, who shrugged.

Let me make some coffee, Lacey said, squeezing Jen’s shoulder. Then you can tell us what happened.

Chapter 4

Ryan rounded the corner of his apartment building when his cell phone rang. It was Jen again.

Ryan rolled his eyes and sent the call to voicemail. The last thing he wanted was to listen to her go on and on about what happened in the woods. He was still fuming over being made a fool of in front of the women. How was he going to get anywhere with them if they thought he was a joke?

His digital voice recorder bulged in his pants pocket.

I’m an idiot, he thought. Man, I’m tired. I’m a tired idiot.

He was through with this night. Right now, he didn’t care about ghosts. All Ryan wanted was to lock himself inside his apartment and go to bed. He wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of his plan.

Not even the dead cat in the hall.

The poor black thing’s head was the only part intact. Everything else was a shredded stew of matted hair and dried blood. A tightly wound group of flies buzzed over the corpse. They briefly scattered when Ryan breezed by.

Gross. What animal would do this to another?

I hope it wasn’t a person . . . .

Ryan unlocked his apartment and the weight of the last few hours lifted from his shoulders. He was going to turn off his phone and block out the outside world while he slept. It felt good to be home.

He turned back before closing the door and saw the cat walking away.

Chapter 5

The next day, Lacey stumbled from class to class, running simply on routine. Once she had calmed Jen down, Candy stopped by, which