A free short story about the start of Haunted Week, the event which changed the world in the Downside books. This is NOT in continuity; you don't need to read it to read the novels and you don't need to have read the novels to read/understand the story (although it will probably make some of it a little clearer). THE BRAVE TALE OF MADDIE CARVER was originally published on the Paranormal Haven blog. It's been expanded and given a new ending here, and is a free holiday gift for readers. It's only 2300 words.

Karen Marie Moning has called Stacia Kane’s Downside Ghosts series “dark, sexy urban fantasy at its finest.” Now, in this breathtakingly suspenseful eBook novella, Kane has written a prequel to her thrilling series. Before Chess Putnam was a magic-wielding Churchwitch, she was a student in the Church of Real Truth—with a keen sensitivity to magic, a strong rebellious streak, and a penchant for self-destruction. And in Finding Magic, a grisly ghost murder becomes Chess’s baptism of fire. When eighteen-year-old Chess Putnam is offered the chance to train with a special team of investigators known as the Black Squad, she feels torn. She’s never been a team player and hates how one male Inquisitor condescends to “the new kid.” But at her first bloody crime scene, she gets a taste for investigation—and is hooked on the high. Though the seasoned Inquisitors consider the series of ghost murders random events, Chess starts to detect a pattern. Is a psycho killer summoning ghosts from the City of Eternity and using them as murder weapons? As Chess gets closer to the dark truth, she puts herself in grave danger and risks losing everything she’s fought so hard for. Includes a special preview of Stacia Kane’s upcoming urban fantasy thriller, Chasing Magic !

THE DEPARTED HAVE ARRIVED. The world is not the way it was. The dead have risen, and the living are under attack. The powerful Church of Real Truth, in charge since the government fell, has sworn to reimburse citizens being harassed by the deceased. Enter Chess Putnam, a fully tattooed witch and freewheeling ghost hunter. She’s got a real talent for banishing the wicked dead. But Chess is keeping a dark secret: She owes a lot of money to a murderous drug lord named Bump, who wants immediate payback in the form of a dangerous job that involves black magic, human sacrifice, a nefarious demonic creature, and enough wicked energy to wipe out a city of souls. Toss in lust for a rival gang leader and a dangerous attraction to Bump’s ruthless enforcer, and Chess begins to wonder if the rush is really worth it. Hell, yeah.

It’s a thin line between right and wrong. It’s an even thinner one between wrong and dead… Terrible has always been on the wrong side of the law, living up to the only name anyone ever gave him. As the chief enforcer for Downside’s most powerful criminal, it’s his job to collect debts and protection money by any means necessary. And he’s very good at his job. But part of that job is also to keep Bump’s various employees safe. So when a street dealer is found dead and a prostitute is brutally attacked, Terrible immediately starts using his fists to hunt down the ones responsible. He’s determined to find and destroy them. They’re determined to use his desire for the woman he secretly loves to break him.

ENEMIES DON’T NEED TO BE ALIVE TO BE DEADLY. For Chess Putnam, finding herself near-fatally poisoned by a con psychic and then stopping a murderous ghost is just another day on the job. As an agent of the Church of Real Truth, Chess must expose those looking to profit from the world’s unpleasant little poltergeist problem—humans filing false claims of hauntings—all while staving off any undead who really are looking for a kill. But Chess has been extra busy these days, coping with a new “celebrity” assignment while trying on her own time to help some desperate prostitutes. Someone’s taking out the hookers of Downside in the most gruesome way, and Chess is sure the rumors that it’s the work of a ghost are way off base. But proving herself right means walking in the path of a maniac, not to mention standing between the two men in her life just as they—along with their ruthless employers—are moving closer to a catastrophic showdown. Someone is dealing in murder, sex, and the supernatural, and once again Chess finds herself right in the crossfire.

The third book in this gritty, sexy, urban fantasy trilogy. Rogue spirits and psychopomps are terrorising people, and now someone is planning to open the gates to the City of Ghosts and unleash the dead on humanity. Faced with her greatest challenge yet, Chess has to travel to the spirit city to finally lay all her ghosts to rest… Chess Putnam has a lot on her plate. Mangled human corpses have started to show up on the streets of Downside, and Chess’s bosses at the Church of Real Truth have ordered her to team up with the ultra-powerful Black Squad agency to crack the grisly case. Chess is under a binding spell that threatens death if she talks about the investigation, but the city’s most notorious crime boss – and Chess’s drug dealer – gets wind of her new assignment and insists on being kept informed. If that isn’t bad enough, a sinister street vendor appears to have information Chess needs. Only he’s not telling what he knows, or what it all has to do with the vast underground City of Eternity. Now Chess will have to navigate killer wraiths and a lot of seriously nasty magic – all while coping with some not-so-small issues of her own. And the only man she can trust to help her through it all has every reason to want her dead.

The Downside Ghosts series has been called "gripping and brilliant," "a must-read," and "one of the best paranormal fantasy series available." Now all four previously published short stories set in this world are collected in one place, plus one new, never-before-seen novella. In this volume are: RICK THE BRAVE (from HOME IMPROVEMENT: UNDEAD EDITION) HOME (originally published on Heroes & Heartbreakers) CLOSE TO YOU (originally published on Heroes & Heartbreakers) KEEPING IT CLOSE (web original) PLAYING WITH FIRE (New!) Each story is presented in its entirety, with a note on its conception and writing. If you're a Downside fan, this is a must-have for your collection. Recommended for mature readers.

As a Debunker, Chess Putnam is used to investigating reports of suspected hauntings and sending ghosts back to the City of Eternity beneath the surface of the earth. What she isn't used to is having suburban housewives refusing to acknowledge the presence of ghosts in their homes. There are lots of reasons why someone might harbor a spirit, and none of them are good. At least Chess has Terrible on her side. But things are never as black and white as they seem, especially not when love is involved, and Chess finds herself making a decision she never thought she'd make.

READING, WRITING, AND RAISING THE DEAD When Chess Putnam is ordered by an infamous crime boss—who also happens to be her drug dealer—to use her powers as a witch to solve a grisly murder involving dark magic, she knows she must rise to the challenge. Adding to the intensity: Chess’s boyfriend, Terrible, doesn’t trust her, and Lex, the son of a rival crime lord, is trying to reignite the sparks between him and Chess. Plus there’s the little matter of Chess’s real job as a ghost hunter for the Church of Real Truth, investigating reports of a haunting at a school in the heart of Downside. Someone seems to be taking a crash course in summoning the dead—and if Chess doesn’t watch her back, she may soon be joining their ranks. As Chess is drawn into a shadowy world of twisted secrets and dark violence, it soon becomes clear that she’s not going to emerge from its depths without making the ultimate sacrifice.

A DEADLY HIGH Magic-wielding Churchwitch and secret addict Chess Putnam knows better than anyone just how high a price people are willing to pay for a chemical rush. But when someone with money to burn and a penchant for black magic starts tampering with Downside’s drug supply, Chess realizes that the unlucky customers are paying with their souls—and taking the innocent with them, as the magic-infused speed compels them to kill in the most gruesome ways possible. As if the streets weren’t scary enough, the looming war between the two men in her life explodes, taking even more casualties and putting Chess squarely in the middle. Downside could become a literal ghost town if Chess doesn’t find a way to stop both the war and the dark wave of death-magic, and the only way to do that is to use both her addiction and her power to enter the spell and chase the magic all the way back to its malevolent source. Too bad that doing so will probably kill Chess—if the war doesn’t first destroy the man who’s become her reason for living.

The Holidays Are Hell Churchwitch Chess Putnam has seen, and banished, her share of ghosts, but not of the Christmas Past variety—the holiday has been illegal since the Church of Real Truth defeated the undead and took control of the world in 1997. Yet when she and her boyfriend, Terrible, make a trip to an abandoned auto junkyard, they find more than the rusted auto parts and spare tires they’d bargained for. They also run across a creepy Miss Havisham-type hell-bent on reuniting with her long-dead husband just in time for Christmas—even if it means taking Chess and Terrible down with her into the City of Eternity… If Chess and Terrible don't manage to keep these ghosts in the past, they won't have a future…

A Downside Ghosts serial short story released in 11 parts on the author's blog. Now also released in the anthology Five Down.

There’s nothing like home renovation for finding skeletons in the closet or otherworldly portals in the attic. Now here’s the perfect treat for any homeowner who’s ever wondered, ‘What’s that creaking sound?’ (just before the ceiling comes crashing down!). Editors Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner return with an all-new collection, this time on the paranormal perils of Do-It-Yourself. As well as a brand-new Sookie Stackhouse story by the Number 1 Sunday Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris, there are 13 more cautionary tales of home renovation by bestselling authors Patricia Briggs, James Grady, Heather Graham, Melissa Marr, amongst others. This is an outstanding line-up of frightening and funny fixer-upper tales guaranteed to shake foundations and rattle readers’ pipes. This is the fourth anthology following on from Wolfsbane and Mistletoe, Many Bloody Returns and Death’s Excellent Vacation. Includes: "If I Had a Hammer" (Sookie Stackhouse #12.5) by Charlaine Harris "Wizard Home Security" by Victor Gischler "Gray" (Mercy Thompson #0.5) by Patricia Briggs "Squatters' Rights" by Rochelle Krich "Blood on the Wall" by Heather Graham "The Mansion of Imperatives" by James Grady The Strength Inside by Melissa Marr "Woolsey's Kitchen Nightmare" by E.E. Knight "Through This House" (October Daye series 4.5) by Seanan McGuire "The Path" by S.J. Rozan "Rick the Brave" (Downside Ghosts series 3.5) by Stacia Kane "Full-Scale Demolition" (Spellcrackers.com series 0.5) by Suzanne McLeod "It's All in the Rendering" by Simon R. Green "In Brightest Day" by Toni L.P. Kelner